Why did you switch to hot dedomes?
For a few reasons:
- I was sick of having to deal with the smell of lots of gasoline and solvents, even though I did most of it outside.
- In the winter months the gasoline does not work as well and takes a long time.
- The tint shift seems to be less using a hot dedome than with gasoline. I only have anecdotal evidence (my eyes) to back this up, but I have seen far less nasty green dedomes since going away from the gasoline.
- Even though it is a bit more risky, a hot dedome only takes a few minutes instead of having to wait a few hours.
Richard (or anyone that can help) - I just did a XP-G2 S2 2B (from FastTech I believe) de-domed, of course the tint is a bit yellow as expected, but I'm only getting 3.6A max using a DD driver (wight's A17DD-S08). Mounted on a 20mm SinkPAD, 22 AWG wires, spring bypassed, in a X6 light. I did use gasoline.
I see you got XP-G2 S2 1D's now - assuming the best XP-G2 for de-doming? Any chance to get higher amps? First A17DD-S08 ever tried, so I got no performance experience with it.
I've tried the hot de-dome method, but failed miserably. What's your setup for the heat?
Have you tried bypassing the driver to see what you get direct drive to the emitter? I almost always do this now before building a direct drive light so I can see what kind of losses I'm getting through the driver, springs, contact points, and flashlight body.
I think that the tint is nice with the dedomed 1Ds, but I also think that the 2B looks pretty nice. I haven't found any of the XP-G2 tints to be objectionable when dedomed.
I don't think that there should be very much difference in amp draw from the 1D to the 2B besides those normal variations.
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Regarding the dedome method, I use the LED itself as the heat source, which makes sense since the heat is then being generated between the die and the dome--exactly where we want it to be.
Using my helping hands to hold the LED in the air, I hook up the LED direct drive to an NCR18650PF then wait until the bottom gets uncomfortable to touch, then use the knife to remove the dome. This all happens in a matter of seconds, so you need to have everything ready to go. If you don't wait long enough, you'll remove phosphor; if you wait too long, you'll melt the solder and the LED will move.
The XP-G2s are the hardest LED for me to dedome, and I kill or damage more of them than anything else. I've gotten better at it after dedoming hundreds of LEDs, but I still kill or damage about five times as many of them as I do XM-L2s, XP-E2s, or XP-Ls.
I think that for the hot dedome beginner, the XP-L is the easiest to dedome, but it is also the riskiest because it is the most expensive!
nice its much better method than gasoline.
A few months ago I bought some of the copper quad MCPCBs that Dsche was selling. I planned on using them to build a quad light, but have been too busy to do it so they've just been sitting around. I've received a lot of requests for these, but have been a bit torn on what to do with them. I paid retail price for them, so I've got to sell them for more than that just to break even with PayPal fees, plus every one I sell means one less light that I can build with them. What I'm going to do is offer a limited quantity of them at what I consider to be a reasonable price given the lack of supply, bundled with a Carclo quad lens. Once these are gone I won't be getting more unless more are produced sometime in the future.
There is 50 sets available. The price is $7.50 per set, which means that you will be paying around $2.50 more than what you would have paid for the same set a few months ago. You can choose between the 10621 and 10623 optics.
Thanks Rich, just ordered a set along with some other essentials. I meant to get one or two but missed out.
I had to post quickly about something that's been on my mind for the past few weeks. I've fallen a little behind on custom orders and it is finals time, so my time available to work on them has been less than usual. I stopped taking custom light orders a few weeks ago, and custom drivers (add chips, etc.) last weekend until finals are over, all existing custom orders are finished, and everything else is caught up.
I know there are some of you who have been waiting patiently for a few weeks to get your stuff. I apologize for the delay. I've been doing all I can to balance my responsibilities and get those orders out the door, but things are still moving slower than I'd like them to.
I have been surprised at how patient you all have been. I have received very few e-mails asking about order status updates, and those who have e-mailed me have been very polite. It is a pleasure to deal with all of you!
I am working on custom orders from around 11-18 on right now, so if yours was placed on that date or soon after it will be shipping soon.
I’m happy to be patient 
but just to warn you, your store let me order a couple custom drivers yesterday, so maybe there’s a glitch or something
Adding chips, or just programming? Programming is still available, but anything I have to solder should be off.
Oh ok. I ended up just with programming, but i swear it let me go all the way to the PayPal page with some add/remove 7135 orders in my cart, but I changed my mind.
Order recieved! Too bad I dedomed(not in a good way) an LED while reflowing so now I have to wait for a replacement to come in 
Really? My accidental dedomes during reflow have been some of my best! 
Lol nice. I’m sure that’s because the led is at it’s hottest!!!
Just wondering if I will get a email notification when my stuff gets shiped?
I assume ordering the STAR off-time program includes the cap/soldering needed for that to function, correct?
Yes, you will.
Correct. That's why it costs a little bit more. I also test them to make sure that the memory is working correctly because every once in a while you get a capacitor that doesn't want to behave.
Yup, had it not taken off most of the phosphorous then i’d have let it go. :bigsmile:
Thanks Richard - back in post #3343. I'll try the direct connect test. Yesterday I replaced the de-domed XP-G2 with an old XM-L2 U2-1A and got ~5.6A -- still low in my book. Then replaced the 22 AWG with 20 AWG and got oh so slightly higher, maybe 5.7A (just under 0.1A).
Funny bout the de-doming - this freak'n XP-G2 would simply not de-dome well, even with gas. Maybe you are right about the winter gas (higher ethanol % maybe?), or maybe my gas is getting old. After 2-3 hours, I started checking the dome and it came off partially just the outer layer, so left it go over night. Next morning (bout 12 hrs of soaking), the dome was still on the phosphor, but the surrounding silver surface was perfectly clear, including the wires. I slowly/carefully removed the silicone on the phosphor with a toothpick, rinsing with isop. alcohol, and actually it seemed to come off pretty clean, with no phosphor damage! Most stubborn LED to de-dome I ever did.