De-domed it’s a little to warm for my liking, but it’s working quite well so I can’t complain. I’m thinking about adding a chip or two and getting it a bit higher, see how that works. Already have 10 chips. I’m running the Powerizer LiNiMnCo 26650…supposed to be able to run a continuous 18A with 60A pulse rates…designed for use in electric cars and bikes.
I used the gasoline method, got it really clean. Also did some other tricks though. Put a copper block between the pcb and emitter, raising the emitter up off the pcb about an 1/8”. Cut the head so that the pill can sit deeper to account for this. This also lets me adjust the focal point.
I also cut the shelf of the pill out where the pcb sits, mounted 1/2” thick copper slug in the pill for the copper SinkPAD to sit on.
I’m quite sure the high mode is direct drive, which would mean the LED would probably explode. If I don’t get the DD high mode, and the KK can’t support 4.5A+ then I’ll look into the Moli IMR26700. Thanks ImA4Wheelr.
I can dedome it via gasoline, and I guess add chips as well to limit the current if I’m using a stronger battery like ImA4Wheelr said.
I’m not much good with trickery though, and I don’t think I can raise the emitter like that. I’ll have to stick with just loosening the pill and insulating the reflector. Thanks Dale.
In trying to go further with my HD2010, it would seem that the use of the XM-L2 emitter is becoming a limiting factor and very difficult to push beyond 4.2A. 11 7135 chips will run it to the ceiling, after that there are no gains to be found. 13 chips doesn’t pass that 4.2A benchmark, nor does 15. So it would appear that to go beyond 4.2A will require direct drive or a different type of driver.
Can anyone give me any ideas on how to go 5A or a little more? Want to run the HD2010 between 5 and 6A if that’s possible.
I’m thinking somehow reduce the resistance. Maybe take out all the resistors and put in fewer bigger resistors?
I know you can’t do direct drive because your battery will kill it, but other than copper braid or perhaps sanding contacts I can’t think of anything unless you want to add another battery. But then that detracts from the compactness of the HD2010.
Look who’s talking! I almost started a mod and realized I’d mess it up right off the bat in the shape I’m in today. lol Hard to think. But I did get some sweet looking copper bar stock and NylatronGS 1 1/4 x 12 for 2 different mods, makes me want to dive in!
Came really really close to touching ground with the DMM between the emitter and body to see what the de-domed XM-L2 would pull off this huge hot cell in direct drive. I mean another 1/2” would have sorted something out. But then I was looking at the work that went into this one and backed off. There’s a tiny bit of brain in there somewhere.
Took 3 lights with me to walk the trash down the lane for pick-up in the morning. That’s a 270 yd walk in the dark. I took the HD2010, M3, and K3. While the HD2010 and M3 are serious little throwers, the K3 lights up everything! Of course, it doesn’t reach as far…but it reaches a fair distance and illuminates a much much wider angle. I believe I prefer that to the pencil beam, let’s ya see what’s around ya while you’re looking downrange. And the tint is far superior.
So what I need to do is make an MT-G3 light running 2 LiNiMnCo26650 cells. 7A ought to just about do it, with a nice spread out 5 modes. Yeah, that’d be just about perfect. A nice big deep reflector like on the S2200 to get some light downrange, plenty of spill left, everything in daylight color. My dream light. How about a carbon fiber battery tube, Titanium head and tailcap with copper by the yard inside? Some copper fins showing the heat where it can go separating the Ti from the carbon fiber. Oh Yeah! To dream, the impossible dream…wait a minute, this can be done! Wayne? Wayne? You ready to crank up that lathe? Oh, well, yeah, it takes a bit o the green doesn’t it? Dadgummit! I was that close!
Edit: Did I say MT-G3? Oops, unless there’s something in the pipe’s we haven’t heard that was a typo, sorry!
FastTech hasn't got back to me after my response explaining that ICR / INR are not batch codes (with links proving so). Not looking good. I'll shoot them another ticket response asking about the status on it.
I just got some of the Samsung 20R that Tom recommended and honestly can’t tell the difference between them and any other cell I have in most of my lights. So where do they “shine”?
Ummm, all depends on the application -- thought I was only recommending them for resistance challenged configurations, like single cell linear regulated drivers at high amps for an XM-L2 on copper. I've done many repeated tests, over and over again in many custom builds where the 20R's consistently outperform others. It's not 10 amps, but like trying to achieve 4.2A on a Nanjg mod'ed t 4.2A in a C8 with an XM-L2 U2 on a SinkPAD. Also it's the best battery for a Shocker in direct drive mode, fully mod'ed -- copper braids on all springs, etc. I can get up to 5.25A on 20R's, but nothing else I tried or got can achieve that (Pana PD's, SONY 30A, Samsung 20Q's, etc.). The 20R's won't make a difference in a TN31 for example - stock or mod'ed, because your not in struggle to eliminate resistance. Also, they won't make a difference in a 2.8A Convoy stock C8, because you can achieve 2.8A with a Panasonic protected cell.
Basically it's best for direct drive configurations, direct drive by design or direct drive because your resistance is causing voltage drops that result in loss of amps.
It got slightly higher voltage than other cells and obvious you get god use of that slightly higher voltage in your designs. If you look at driving the light for some time the LG 3000mAh at 4.35 volt will be better after about half the runtime of the R cell.
If you do 26650, check the Sony cell I have just reviewed, it is even better, except for the first few minutes.
Thanx HKJ!! I looked purely at resistance, and for 18650's, your reviews show the 20R as the leader of the pack. I really like the KK ICR's for 26650's, but I'll have to check out this SONY. The LG sounds interesting but I don't have a charger now that can do 4.35v.
I just tried some readings on my 1D Maglite with Elektrolumens triple XM-L2 in DD. With the LiNiMnCo 26650 I saw 5A, with the Samsung 18650 20R I got 5.25A. This light is set-up with factory Mag switch and springs, no resistance mods. I’m going to do some tweaking and I’ll edit this post with what I see.
Thanks for the help!
Well, learn something new everyday! The big LiNiMnCo26650 allows 9.33A to flow to the 3 XM-L2 U2 emitters with resistance removed from the MagLight switch. The Samsung 20R? It got to 10.01 and I pulled it before it blew the fuse in my 10A DMM!!! Sweeeet!
Edit: As a note of reference the LiNiMnCo26650 cell had 4.09V on tap, while the Samsung INR18650 20R had 4.14V available. So at the 10A level it would appear to be a near equal to it’s much larger relative.
