Have you reflowed the emitters yet? If you don’t put the emitters on copper stars first you run the risk of actually blowing them or burning them up.
I did not reflow the emitters. I am going to leave the led board stock.
I did not remove the resistors I just swapped the wire from what comfychair posted.
And I’m saying Studie that if you put that amount of current through the emitters on the stock aluminum star, you run a high risk of literally burning them out. The stock aluminum star will not evacuate heat from the emitters and they will fry if you use the high mode any longer than several seconds.
Ah, gotcha.
Is that with or without the resistors?
Moving the red + wire to the lower part does that make any difference?
Bypassing the resistors, aka, following Comfy’s diagram, will essentially put the light into direct-drive, and if you’re using decent cells you will cook the emitters.
The best suggestion is to wait until you can afford to buy new emitters already flowed onto copper pads ($28 since you need 4) before bypassing the resistors. In the interim you can replace the wires with better stock, and that will improve output a little. But on the whole, this is one of those all-or-nothing mod lights. It’s like modifying a Honda. You don’t just put a 200-shot of nitrous on the engine without building the bottom end.
TA-DA!
I upgraded the wires to 22AWG. And applied a fresh new coat of arctic silver on the back of the plate and heatsink.
I should have wore gloves when doing this… I touched the reflector and tried to wipe the finger prints off and now the reflector has many hairline scratches :_(
Sorry to hear that studie. You can looking on Kaidomain for a replacement reflector. At the worst you’ll have to go down to a 3x setup if you want a pristine reflector.
If I have to clean a reflector I wash my hands and then re-soap, and after rinsing out the reflector I lightly soap-up the reflector and rinse it clean. Then I use compressed air to blow the water away, sometimes blot with cheap [absorbent] toilet paper. Of course, ideally, you don’t get the reflector dirty in the first place. :3
I was thinking maybe of just buying 3x XM-L2 on Nocs and downgrading to a 3X since I messed up the 4x reflector with my microfiber cloth :(.
I didnt know reflector material was so weak/prone to hairline scratches.
Should have wore gloves before attempting to mod my light…
Nah, like I said, warm soapy water, clean fingers, and compressed air are okay once or twice. A couple notes about the ex reflectors on KD, I looked at them as I wanted a replacement reflector for my TR-3T6. The overall diameter on all of them is 52ish-mm. The average depth, from that lip around the very edge to the very bottom of the reflector is 26mm, and the openings are all 7mm, meaning that you will need different centering rings, like the ones Richard sell. The only thing that worries me is the depth of the reflector.
And yeah, the finish on reflectors is a very delicate vapor-deposited chrome. Very thin and it’s reflectivity and efficiency are dependent on the smoothness of the surface.
Ah gotcha, thanks for the advice. It’s always good to learn more about these lights and do’s and don’ts!
Regarding the KD reflector, if it doesnt fit like a drop in reflector perhaps I might just leave it be and be more careful with the current reflector. I’ll try not to get it anymore dirty and work with gloves!
Hmmm I’m still contemplating if I should get the XML2 on Nocs to install on this light. Is it really “worth” it?
The original posters comfychair and oldlumen hasn’t chimed in anymore and oldlumen sold his lights, so is there something wrong?
Better thermal paste or adding copper shims/discs or whatever will not make any difference here if you still have the LEDs on the stock aluminum plate. It has an insulating layer of fiberglass between the LED center pad and the Al base. All the heat has to get through that layer before it can get to any of the trick thermal stuff underneath. That's why we keep telling you not to give it a big boost in current until after you have replaced the 1-piece Al MCPCB with good 16mm direct-thermal copper boards.
If I were doing it and didn't have experience or the tools for reflowing the original LEDs onto new boards, I would keep the stock Al plate+LEDs to use on a future project (camp lantern? car dome/trunk light? - something that would work well with low current, around 1.5-2A), and buy 4 16mm Noctigons with LEDs pre-mounted.