I think if you are looking for anything that even remotely resembles a flashlight-like beam, XP-Ls in a 10mm triple TIR is going to leave you awfully disappointed. It would only be acceptable if you want something that works about like a mule light with nothing at all in front of the LEDs. Some people do like that sort of thing but they're weird and thankfully few in number.
I have tons of extra triple optics I would be willing to start experimenting on seeing what options we have to mod them (with the XP-L dome ON) but I don’t have an extra triple MCPCB.
More of us should start emailing carlco and possible show them this (and the other XP-L) threads here, show them there is interest. Plastic injection molds are not cheap to design / produce so even tho the individual lenses can be produced for a few ¢ each its a major investment for them to design totally new optics, we need to show them there is demand.
OP you should post the email of the person you spoke with so we can also contact the same guy.
Have you seen dedomed x-pl’s in a 20mm triple TIR in person?
These shots from Dale look nothing like a mule. (triple xpl board with TIR @ 2960 lumens)
The beam offers a very wide spill whilst maintaining a fairly large hotspot. I wouldn’t gravitate towards calling the characteristics of this beamshot as a mule. (Although maybe there is no hotspot but rather the ridiculous amount of lumens coming from this Sinner Cu 18350 light washes out the camera and makes it appear like it has a hotspot?) If the xpl with 20mm TIR offers a mule beam characteristic than I won’t be buying the parts for one. But if they look like Dale’s shots in real life than you can bet your a$$ I’m going to build one J)
Second that. Currently building my third XP-L triple. I’ve been building them in several EDC-sized lights that used to have 20mm reflectors to see which host handles heat the best (err… better than the others? None will be ‘great’ since they’re so small).
The beam is nothing like a mule, and is WAY better than an MT-G2 in a 20mm reflector (built one of those too)… Plus, a 3-up XP-L generates a ton less heat with a 3A driver (emitters in parallel) than a zener’d qlite at 3A.
I’m not super disappointed yet about the lack of XP-L triple optics… The 1A tint looks pretty decent dedomed. Also they dedome really well in gas. On all of mine there’s been white silicone left behind only on the bond wires while the clear dome falls off in just about 2-3 hours. Almost like Cree designed them to be dedomed in gas.
But then again, I suppose I’d prefer not to have to dedome and gamble with tint shift and lose some of the output.
It would certainly be great if carclo did make xpl TIR’s.
As far as lumen loss, djozz excellent graphs seem to indicate that there was extremely minimal
lumen difference between domed and dedomed xpl’s (except in very high current’s, 5 amps+).
He stated that the minimum order for a group buy would be 40 pieces, @ $.45 per optic. Great news! I thought it would be a minimum of maybe 1000 or more. So this is definitely doable.
The problem is he said there may be a problem fitting the optic mechanically… As if he’s trying to sell me the xpg2 TIR… I’m waiting for his response on whether it’s a custom built TIR (as he initially mentioned for a group buy) or not.
This thread is about a triple TIR that will fit over the XP-L with the domes still on. Beam pattern with dedomed XP-L is about the same as XPG2 with the domes still on. XP-Ls in a 20mm TIR (three 10mm individual lenses) would be extreme flood even with the tightest/narrowest TIR, because of the relationship between the apparent die size (larger with the domes on) and the available size of the TIR lenses.
If it's actually a custom lens made to fit over the XP-L with domes on, put me down for at least ten, although I'll order more if others don't step up.
Yes leaftye, we should have known that Carclo wouldn’t be creating new optics in the range of 40 to 50 cents per piece, with a minimum order of 40 pieces… or hell RMM would probably buy 100’s of them himself.
If anyone wants the old 10507 for the XP-G2, then the offer stands at 45ish cents per optic, with a minimum group buy of 40 pieces.