Trustfire X6 revisited (back to original driver, emitter swap to XM-L U3 Copper De-domed)

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Trustfire X6 is a big light with nice design, but it was lacking some throw..

My first mod was to change driver to KD 9A driver, with which the output was better, but not even on par with my de-domed Fandyfire STL-V6

In addition to that, that driver thermals way too easy (ask scaru..), so I needed to figure out something else instead..

So, after reading about the benefits of using a copper star, I decided to order two XM-L U3 Cu emitters from led-tech.de (de-doming is not 100% fail safe, so I had to have a spare one.. ;))

De-doming with heat and tweezers went fine for both of those -> I have a spare one for another build. :)

I noticed that the original driver of X6 was damaged when prying it off during the 1st mod, but decided to check whether it works or not. It did work, kind of, giving about 2.75A tailcap current with three cells (@4.1V) but it had only one mode. Well.. Not so bad for this kind of light.. ;)

So I removed the SST-90, cleaned the heat sink, and added the newly de-domed XM-L with a hint of Fujik. Initial test without adjusting the reflector gave me around - wait for this - 182kcd (measured at 4m), about twice as much as my de-domed STL-V6. Tailcap current was 2.75-2.80A (pretty much for a XM-L..)

Next day, after the fujik had dried, batteries charged, and reflector adjusted with new plastic spacer.. New tests with fresh batteries, together with de-domed STL-V6 and stock T08 (a bit underperforming one)

The results were (after 30s)
X6: 1030lm, 212kcd
STL-V6: 640lm, 96kcd
T08: 650lm, 35kcd

And, on top of that, the output of X6 seemed to be stable! (have to do longer tests to be sure about that, but things look very good so far!)

2

Beamshots.

Control:

Trustfire X6 de-domed XM-L:

Thrunite TN31 for comparison:

3

That is very impressive, I may have to try doing something like that. Have you measured LED current to see how much it is getting, I'm thinking you may have reached the point of diminishing returns with that driver.

4

So… 8 amps going to the emitter?
Am i reading this right…

5

Congratulations on your initial results! Im with the others on this. Those are definitely some very impressive numbers! If its not to much trouble, could you please test the actual voltage going to the emitter after its been turned on for at least 20 seconds (with topped off cells: 4.20V). Then another test by desoldering a lead going to the emitter to test the actual current being delivered (with thick short DMM leads). I wouldnt ask you to do something so invasive, but it seems that you’ve discovered a very effective combination. Lets hope its one that’s survivable.

Off the cuff, how would you compare the outdoor long-range beam profile and usefulness of the dedomed XML as compared to the STT90 with the KD driver?

6

So you put the stock driver back in for the dedomed XML right?

At first I thought you were running the 9amp driver to the dedomed XML?

7

Wow, very impressive! Looking forward to some beamshots, and also the actualy amps going throught the XML