Wow Mitko, perfect hotspot with perfect tint, much better than the Olight, great job. Those poor delicious animals though…
Just put one of these in my 818, the tint is great! Much better than the S42B and S2OD!!! Or any other XP-G2 I have tried so far! Now it’s time to tune it in, will start with the reflector on the board and work my way up!
Those are some great budget friendly results. I never would have believed the XPG2 S2 2B dedomed tint could be so nice. Thanks again for linking me to this thread.
Amaz'n, truly amaz'n! Wish I could dupe the results. I rarely use 18 AWG wires - might have to give it a go, but I'm sure the wires aren't the only reason. I've tried hot de-domes but with not so good results. Maybe have to re-visit this, but been too bizy on firmware as of late.
I dedome hot, right after reflowing the emitter to the MCPCB and rarely screw up an XML2. But I wind up ruining about 1/3rd of the XPG2 when I dedome hot. A corner of the phosphor sometimes lifts off with the dome, so I probably need to maintain more heat. Any tips?
177kcd! 
Those are some serious results 
I thought XPG2 can (only) have a maximum forward current up to 1.5A. Did I misunderstood or missed anything?
Maybe you heard that for XP-E2? But XP-E2's can go up to ~2.4A anyway. XP-G2's can go much higher. djozz tested them on a bench PS - think over 6A. I can onlyget them to bout 3.5-4.5A on a cell, but apparently certain bins/batches can go higher.
No I was talking about XP-G2 as shown in the Cree data sheet. Maybe there’s another type of XP-G2?
It’s normal here to run over data sheet max current on Cree LED’s here, look around there are charts of output vs current some LED’s run well at double the spec.
O.K. But we are still talking about the same XP-G2, right?
It’s normal here to run over data sheet max current on Cree LED’s here, look around there are charts of output vs current some LED’s run well at double the spec.
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Well…. i think we use quite different hot dedome methods here
By hot dedome i ment i use a hot battery-electrical dedome method- i usualy use a realatiely bad Great Empire 6800mah battery( that is actualy 900mah): this way even fully charged it gives max 2.5 amps when direct connected to the emitter….i have to make a video though….most of times the dedome is nearly perfect btw
Alright, so you use a crappy low amp cell to power the emitter while the MCPCB is hanging in free air, wait till it heats up and pluck the dome off while the emitter is still illuminated? If so, do you need welding goggles to see what you’re doing while you lift the dome?
Something like that, its only i power the emitter while its on the table, but unter its PCB i use a paper to issulate the heat , then i power the emitter in series, 4-5 seconds working, 1 second off, repeating this 4-5-6 times( i use to that like i drink water, i damaged many till i found the way to do it like i should)…meanwhile i touch gently the dome to see if its melted, after the 10th try one will know when the exact moment to dedome is, the dome becomes hot and soft: then i dedome the emitter with 2 cuts ( the dot in the upper left corner is the starting point):
1. One fast cut but only to the emitters core from the side that is pointed on the picture:
2. A final complete cut , from the site pointed on the picture:
If its done under 10 seconds usualy results are great
If the emitter is on an alu PCB it heats up 2-3 times faster, so series in that case should be 2 seconds work, 1 off
Every VERY crappy battery will do the job, there are some Ultrafire batteries that give 3-4 amps - those aint good, they heat up pretty fast, the main idea here is to maintain a current 2.5-3amps tops…it can be done with a led driver ofc
So you are slicing the dome before lifting, creating 2 cuts 90 degrees apart (and away from the bond wires to protect them). Then lifting from the corner where you cut the dome. Thanks Mitko! If this is the method, I can manage the heat pretty well just after reflow onto the DTP MCPCB.
Does hot dedome removes silicone under bond wires?
I use gasoline dedome method but I am using medical grade gasoline, much purer than car gasoline and doesnt leave any smell but it needs at least 24h of soaking. Anyway it is very very hard to remove particles of silicone dome under the bond wires…
Great work Mitko, 176 kcd for a C8 is very very good. Was the reflector the stock reflector that came with the C8?
Usualy it doesnt, but 25-30% of times it does, the only sillicone that is left is in that place…but i actualy prefer that for the wires to be protected at some level
Yes djozz, only the glass is an AR one( it brings aditional 10-12% in the overal candelas, tested it- tails spring bypass also brings like 8-10%)
Those Ft AR glasses have issues - from 5 ordered 2 have several non AR-ed dots, i already created a ticket about that
The funny part is that that particular reflector wasnt perfect, it wasnt dusty but it has some muddy dots here and there- usualy Convoy reflectors are fine
The new host has changes btw, i usualy order 4-5-6 monthly, lately they use thicker glass and kinda longer reflector, compared from the first samples that i got months ago
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There is only one XP-G2. I don't understand... I have no clue where you saw 1.5A - as was said, we never restrict our amps based on CREE's specs. Please try to find your reference - it doesn't make any sense. We've been using XP-G2's well over 2A since they were released - no problems.