Not to mention massively faster. That’s what got me to bite the bullet and scrap a couple LED’s in the pursuit of learning the heat dedome method. At this point for me it’s rare to mess one up. The two tricks that helped me the most were less heat, and more of a lifting motion when doing the dedome after the leading edge of the razor has a bite in the silicone. Too much heat tended to leave bits of silicone on the phosphor layer. I either do it while the pill cools from reflowing, or run it at 1-2A for a minute or two and give it about 10 seconds to cool before I try to remove the dome. Some LED’s need more heat, some less. The red XP-E2’s I’ve done required the most heat compared to XP-G2’S and XM-L2’s.
Thanks for the tips. I use gasoline to dedome so far but gasoline method requires the cleaning afterward and also sometime the dedome is not really clean. I might want to try this thinner instead in the future.
Are there different types of thinner available? If so which one do you use?
And wouldn’t the compressed air damage the bond wires somehow?
Just as RMM says, I’ve used both methods hundreds of times as well, I prefer using the heat and knife method, but the reality is,with the knife method it’s almost impossible to get all of the residue off, so the gas method is more cosmetically pleasing for people.
Although the residue will not effect the beam pattern (and also protect the bond wires?) people tend to prefer the fully clean look which is only achievable with gas
I’m mostly talking about XML2 and XPG2, XPL is a different story because of the White layer below the dome
MTG2 is also totally different and can not be done with gas, it has to be done with a knife
XHP50/70 seems to be the hardest so far to de dome, but maybe I’ll continue experimenting, maybe not.
Regarding the tint shift I’m not so sure, you can’t pick how the tint will turn out, it’s always different to each led, doesn’t matter which method you use, I’ve had some gas de domes come out very white tint and some knife de domes come out horribly green!
I definitely think part of de doming is luck and there is no 100% certain way, although I’m sure some people me included have a 99% success rate, bond wires can still be broken
James, i thought the XHP50 dedome experiment was a success, with the first a slice & then a quick dunk in gas method.
I have used that on XP-L dedomes since & i really like how quick it goes, next time i think i will try the first slice then an even shorter dunk in thinner, because i don’t like the gas stank that sticks to the star even after an alcohol bath.
@pilotdog68, thanks for the update on the V5 2A dedome, thats exactly what i was hoping for, i just ordered some 2A just yesterday to try that out myself, so that is some very good news 
Thanks for the tip.XPG-2 R5-1A on Sinkpad dedomed successfully.Has slightly greenish tint,it is quite nice actually.
I haven’t done a huge amount of dedomes like some but the few I have done have all been gasoline with perfect results everytime. no mess nothing to clean up. just pull out and let the gas evaporate off( a few seconds) and an led that works great. mine have all shifted yellow but w/o having done the heat method I can’t make a personal comparison. as far as tint towards the green. I trust the more experienced modders here for that info.
I recently purchased a Dedomed XPL 6K tint from you and put it to use in my 2.5in Mag head. The color appears to be very cool almost 6500K despite being dedomed. So, just letting you know the XPL dedomed you sell is a home run for me.
Thanks,
bigC
I like the tint of the xpg2 s2 1d for dedoming , i use gentle wax grease and silicon remover for a clean finish which takes 24 hrs and then rinse with alcohol. XPG CW LEFT.
I use MEK works very quickly, less than an hour.
I remember using this stuff like this years ago when I was doing auto detailing. The can said it would remove silicone. I wonder if this will dedome a LED?
3M 08984 General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner - 1 Quart
3M 38984 Specialty Adhesive Remover - 1 Quart
+1 for MEK.
+1 for MEK....w/MSDS
This stuff is naaaasty.
I checked out MEK, turns out it is illegal in Sweden 
+ i dedomed an XP-L V6 1A with thinner today, first i sliced of the dome, and the i put it in thinner for an 1 hour. Very clean & very fast, and no residual stank from gas.
I wonder if you warm the solution slightly if it works better. I used thinner once and the dome did not come off, even after two days. It was my first dedome. I did suspend it upside down fully submerged. I finally took it out and slowly began lifting it off. Lift a little, set it down, again and again until I was convinced that the wires would not be disturbed. Then I got it off after about 5 minutes. Seemed like a serious PITA.
Honestly, I do not like running them exposed. So, my method now is to slice it down as far as I'm comfortable, polish it up and be done with it. That way I do not have to worry about using costly LED seal.
If you use a very sharp & new unused razor blade (like feathers platinum for example) you shouldn’t need to polish it, after you slice it, when i use that the cut looks clear, almost clearer than the stock bumpy shaped round dome.
The thinner i used was cellulose based, and that i sliced off most of the dome before i even put it in thinner also speed up the process a lot.
Its a lot less hazardous than RUG (regular unleaded gasoline) and a far more effective solvent in every situation that we’ve ever used it in (aircraft/aerospace/automotive/marine). As with any solvent/desolate, a small measure of common sense can virtually eliminate exposure. Id be far more worried about the long term exposure of eating greasy fast food than breathing trace amounts of MEK in a well ventilated area.
Some people seem to have successes with thinner. Are there different types of thinner or just one type?
I really don’t know, but the type i used specifies that is is cellulose based, i guess that means some other types exist.
I have been really pleased with dedoming with thinner, i absolutely hate the gas stinkness the led+star gets when i have used gas before.
After the dedome in thinner, i wash it by placing it in a jar of 80% strength foodgrade ethanol, it is basically crazy strong vodka J), to get it clean from any thinner residue.
No smell on the star or led, good tint, clean & fast dedome
The only thing i wonder is how long i can leave it & if it will get damaged if i accidentally forget it in thinner, i know Mitko said that when he left led’s for to long in acetone they got damaged, and i wonder if thinner could do the same.
Use common sense with any kind of Flammable solvent. Always use in a well ventilated area, Gasoline is fairly nasty also, as it contains benzene. I started using MEK to solvent weld Plexiglas, and it works very well. I haven’t tried it but I can imagine lacquer thinner would work fairly well for de-doming. My major issue with gasoline is the smell, as it is persistent.
I tried the heat method last night on one of my FF 102's. I warmed it up with my reflow gun until it got hot enough to pull the led off the sinkpad which was also soldered to the brass pill. Let it cool for 5-8 seconds the started lightly lifting the edge farthest from the bond wires. Then suddenly a chunk came off at a slight angle from the bottom at the phospor to just above the bond wires. Not what I was hoping for. Had to slightly trim down the high spot above the bond wires. I'll use gas or some other chemical next time or stay with the slicing method.