Been modding some magnetic ring lights in recent weeks. None of these are pocket rockets compared to modern lights but they are fun to mod:
- Sunwayman V11R camo - currently modded into a triple using Carclo 10507 optic and 3x LH351D Dog Farts (2x 4000K and 1x 5000K). Soooo floody and not very bright. Thinking of dedoming one or more of the emitters for a bit more punch. Or maybe going back to a single emitter. The ring was loose so I fixed it by adding a thin plastic spacer and relubing the ring with high vacuum grease. Also replaced the stock switch with metal titanium one. Switch electronics replaced with Steve Ku electronic switch module. Also added extra spring and tuned the switch so it won’t switch on accidentally.
- Jetbeam TCR-01 - now sporting 5000K neutral white LH351D Dog Farts. Also added Lee Zircon minus-green 805 filter. Beam looks decent. Nice tint, but still cooler than what I’m used to.
- Nitecore SRT-3 Defender - picked one of these up on sale. Fantastic build quality, but as an 8-year old relatively low-powered light it lacks some modern features. For example, the star is relatively thin and small and is aluminum. Stock cool-white XML2 emitter was too dim and too cool for me. I replaced it with a 5000K neutral white SST-40 reflowed onto the stock star. This one was tricky to reflow since the red-blue aux LED was mounted on a separate donut shaped board that sat on top of the main star. There are 4 or 5 tiny wires connecting the underside of the aux board to the driver and those wires did not seem long enough to remove the aux board. There was no way I wanted to try desoldering those tiny wires. I ended up tilting up the aux board then reaching through the center of the donut with my iron to desolder the main LED wires.
Build quality of the SRT-3 feels excellent. It feels great in the hand and works well with a cigar grip. Feels higher quality than the Sunwayman or aluminum Jetbeam. Downside is its huge. Even though it uses a 16340 it is actually bigger than a number of 18650 lights I own.
- Sunwayman V11R black. Picked this up from Amazon last year on clearance. Replaced the stock rubber switch boot with the stock steel switch button that came with the light. Also swapped out the cool white XML2 for a neutral white SST-40.