Disclaimer: I have no idea what I’m doing. Seriously. I’m figuring stuff out as I go, I’m doing the best I can to research thrice, act once. This might turn out as a failed project and $70 down the drain. But I thought this could be a very unique, fun project that would give me a decent exposure to the world of flashlight modding. This forum has been an awesome wealth of knowledge and information, and I wouldn’t be able to do this without your help. So, to anyone reading who has ever posted anything: thank you. Questions/Comments/Critiques are encouraged!
Without further ado, let me introduce my project.
I’ve found countless projects where people end up modding white LED flashlights to be the most powerfully-driven, retina-searing, lumen-pumping hand-cannons available. That’s cool. And I definitely want to try that. But I’m intrigued by color LEDs. I think this started with my Philips EnduraLED remote phosphor bulb. Popping off the yellow phosphor panels gave me a glimpse at some blindingly bright royal blue LEDs.
So I decided I would try to create a royal blue lumen cannon of my own.
I have purchased
10x Royal Blue XT-E LEDs on 16mm aluminum stars. I’m not ready to start buying raw LEDs and soldering them onto stars. My research indicates that these have similar voltage specifications to the XM-L’s. If that is wrong, then I will just modify the driver to make magic happen.
This fairly cheap 9x XM-L T6 Light. I actually chose this light for some very specific reasons. First off, the budgeting department liked this. Secondly, it’s cheap—and the connotations behind that are what’s most important. The XT-E’s are rated for a maximum of 1.5A per LED, and I imagine a cheap driver will likely be able to meet or fall below that number. This must be the first time any BLF’r has been exciting to have an underperforming driver!
I believe my initial plan will be as follows:
- Pull out the pill/whatever surface the emitters rest on, and replace the XM-L’s with the XT-E’s.
- Use my little DC-DC step down driver module to test one LED on an old PC heatsink to find out what my current ceiling is
- Seal it all up, and hope it doesn’t blow my LEDs to bits
- Possibly dedome some or all of the LEDs for maximum throwiocity
I will of course update this thread as things start to arrive. I predict I will have all the parts I need in shortly—maybe with ten days.
If this project goes well, I’m looking into building some color LED flashlights with Philips Luxeon LEDs b/c they offer a wider range of colors—from Deep Red (I imagine hunters will like this) to Green to Royal Blue. I’m getting a little ahead of myself here, but a very popular light that is frequently copied could be an excellent host