Build/Mod: Zoomie with Brynite B158B host (wider flood mod)

Wauw!
What smart clever solutions
Up side down switch
Getting the led closer to the lens.

Yes I have some contact with Martin too, excellent English AMD fast replies.
Anxiously awaiting if your suggestions can be done.

Yeah, I really like it with the wider flood. The waterproof rating is good for us cavers. Your switch mod that pointed me in the right direction, so thanks for the write up you did on it :beer:

I haven’t tried. I’m using Nichia 219c with dome intact. It’s a very nice tight beam, I haven’t tested throw distance.

No, that’s the beauty of this mod, full focus is still intact. With the pill extended out I can still twist it all the way in. So I have extended flood range but full focus is intact and untouched.

I have never seen a good tint after any de-dome with the de-domes I have tested. I really want to keep the 219C tint and CRI intact, it’s very important to me.

I’d like to know them too, but I don’t have the equipment to test. Maybe I should get it as I am selling lights to friends. What equipment do you recommend?

Thanks! About the mods, kiriba-ru might be able to make custom copper pills that are already extended, so there could be two ways to get it done. I’ll ask Martin by email tomorrow in any case.

Does the tail cap screw on if you screw the pill back in?

Got a link to any pages of caving pictures and stories? I did a lot in the US when I was a youngster. I miss it.

“Mr. Ranger, how many miles of the cave haven’t been discovered yet?”

I did this with an sk98 a while back. I filed down the end of the pill to get the emitter closer to the lens. Then I added the extension to allow the zooming mechanism to slide fully back.

It worked well. Gave me just over focused when zoomed in and a nice wide flood when zoomed out.

Nice mod! A wide flood is very useful and not many zoomies have it.

The Kan28 is actually a switch that I tested: switch tests: KAN-28, update: stock switch UF-1405 in post#12

No, not quite. It looks like it’s almost in but it doesn’t make contact. Need the original tail cap if the pill is in it’s original spot.

Not much caves lately, but I got some photos I’ve taken down in old abandoned mines. check my photo stream on flikr for tghe latest: Akrylamid | Flickr

Some older: Mine II 03 | A Gruvtroll (mine troll) in his natural habitat… | Akrylamid | Flickr

And my absolute favorite photo I’ve ever taken so far:

I’ve made two video clips too:

Looks nice. I found a spacer for my pill in the plumbing section of a “home depot” style shop. Not a perfectly tight fit but it does the job, I can screw the pill tight on to it and it fits back down into the outer tube:

Thanks!

And thanks for the link to your test. It looks like a good enough switch to use, it will make building these lights even easier then :slight_smile:

I suppose you could also buy a spare pill and put an 8 mm spacer under the Noctogon. Then it’s just a pill swap to get either type of beam(more flood or more throw) rather than dedicated take tail caps which aren’t as readily available since they sell spare pills but not spare tail caps.

“I’d like to know them too, but I don’t have the equipment to test. Maybe I should get it as I am selling lights to friends. What equipment do you recommend?”

10-30$ China lux meters should be ok for getting throw figures. Couple of threads about them on BLF search box but if I remember right you can’t go wrong with any cheapo luxmeter.

So you are pro photographer? :slight_smile:

I am looking forward for pics in zoom in an zoom out mode :wink:

Your 12x7135 driver would be killer for old and unavailable xp-g2 s4 2b dd emitter cause in FET driver it draws about 4.2-4.5A giving around 300kcd in throw and also very fine and most intense flood mode in a zoomie world.

But since you are not candela hunter this will also be fine. :+1:

That’s the thing with my tail cap mod, I don’t have to screw the pill back in. I keep it 8mm out and it goes all the way in when I twist the tube for focus, there is enough threading on the inner tube for that. I don’t shift focus range, I only add range to flood. Full focus is same as stock. By reading others comments it appears that the Kan28 switch fits in the cradle without modding, so all I have to do is the “spring extension” mode, and that’s as easy (if not easier) than adding a 8mm spacer under the LED PCB.

I think I have one laying around. One I bought some time ago but haven’t tested it even once.

Definitely not pro. This photo is taken with a zoomie. Flood beam for the foreground lighting, then I ran to the back and light up the side with focused beam:

I might become a candela hunter yet, if I could get my hands on one of them old XP-G2s you mention I might get hooked. I am going to build a B158B with a XHP35 HI though, have to try it out with my F-8 with zener mod. F-8 has 8 x 7135s and a FET on a 17mm driver board.

Wow what a interesting pic man!

OK today I am emailing with Martin about testing of their new 18650 cells
LOL one is now double charging (so with a USB cable direct and a charger. This was kind of exciting to do because Brinytes engineers could not say much more then “don’t do it, maybe the charging circuit fries and burns” so needless to say all progress was followed closely.

But I brought this topic to Martins attention. He is going to forward the information to the engineers, and sure Mike, if you mail him with more details they will consider it very seriously (I mean you just improved an already sweet zoomie so why wouldn’t they :wink: )

Is this b158b host available for purchase?

Yeah, I promised Martin I would send him the link to my first build with impressions, so I’ll do it today even though you have, and suggest a B158C :slight_smile:

Yes. I sent an email to an email adress I found on Brynite’s website and asked. I was contacted by Martin, a very good person to deal with. He can be reached at ledflashlight@brinyte.net.

Hi Mike ,

You have done a great job. It has drawed our boss’s attention, I will translate the entire article to my boss and engineers and wait to see whether there will be any change in our future flashlights.

You know we really have a short product line on photography light on land, even we have several photography flashlights for diving, but we really have no such a flashlight which is used in photography on land.

You showed us a direction of how to design our next flashlight. We will take in some of your experience.

Thank you for your advancing spirit and effort.

Sellers that actually follows BLF user experiences.

Well done Brinyte… If you can make even floodier B158B then why not? Wider beam for even more versatility :wink:

Hi there Martin.

I just sent an email with some photos and more detailed explanation of the suggested changes for the host (or new model B158C maybe?). Let us know if it is possible and if there would be a minimum order requirement to make a batch. Others here at BLF might be interested in such hosts or lights.

Idk, but it seems that making a specialized or extended pill would be the easiest way to do it, but there may be more to it than I am seeing…

If they move the cell this 8mm closer to the front as well could that not make the length 8mm shorter?

Yep, the specialized extended pill is the easiest. kiriba-ru is making it for me :slight_smile:

This is what I suggested:

Add 8mm of threading to the inner tube, and remove 8mm of the fat part to keep same length on inner tube. Original on top, a crappy photo edit of what I’d like it to look like on the bottom:

For this to work the outer tube has to be 8mm shorter. Original on top, another crappy photo edit on the bottom.

The light will only be 8mm shorter when it’s in full flood. Otherwise length would be the same.

Of coarse maybe Brynite might prefer to make the extended pill and offer it as a separate part for flood extension. Personally I’d rather see changes to the host, would keep weight down a bit, especially if using kiriba-ru’s original copper pill vs extended copper pill, but I’d understand them if they preferred making a new pill instead of a new host.