I have one too, it recently came in.
The projection of the XPL HI (V3) looks a bit messy, yellow and blue-ish spots / zones.
Is this normal?
@Barkuti, I’m not sure how much is this going to solve the problem, because this colours are not stable, when you paint it first problem is that can be easily removed, and second that paint is not so dark black as original ring is so just wondering wich colour of the light temperature will be then. I will try tommorow and report results.
@sac02, no that spots are because there is no enought power in led to shine 100 % brightness pity that the camera can not pick it up…
There is some problem definitely, light is not stable and frequently changing output so when lower that spots are visible.
@Jerommel, what model you get ? Old centering ring or new ?
New, XP-L HI V3 (looks like 3A color bin), white centring ring.
It projects the LED perfectly, but the LED itself is a mixture of patches of yellowish and blueish white.
I should take apicture and upload it…
> dots visible on led
If irregular, those are probably patches or chunks of the several different phosphors that, combined, give the color temperature they want.
The bigger the chunks the more visible.
This has come up before — I recall the ZeusRay around March 2015 for a while was using LEDs with this kind of very visible, er, variation.
Could be the amount of mixing of the phosphors is graded and the coarser product goes cheaper, but that’s just a nasty suspicious guess on my part.
I don’t think it’s a problem, you only notice it when you’re looking at a focused image of the emitter; the phosphor colors blend in actual use.
I think so too.
Never seen it on other Cree LEDs though…
(edit) My Klarus MI7 has this ‘variation’ too (i just tested it with a lens).
(edit) My Convoy C8 (U6 3A) seems to be ‘clean’ though.
It kind of sucks with a zoomy like the B158 
Here’s one of the batch of speckly LEDs I got in ZeusRays in 2015.
(The light and dark streaks are marks on the wall, the color variation is the image of the LED face — I think these were XM-L2s)
I’d guess the regular grid of dots is structural, maybe to hold the phosphor layer on top of the primary (blue) emission layer underneath.
It’s the uneven splotchiness that reveals where the phosphors of different chemistries have ended up when the mix was painted on.
My suspicion is the bucket is labeled “SHAKE BEFORE USING” and at the bottom of the bucket there are more large chunks than small ones.
Other Zeusrays differed, e.g. see http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/argolite/zeusray/6a.jpg
from Review: Dealmetic's Zeusray zoomie (XM-L2, 1x18650)
Pardon the digression — back to the Brinyte discussion.
So we would have to look for the more expensive XP-L HI (and perhaps others) emitters…?
I have some XP-G2 that are consistent / even / clean (what’s the right term?).
The XP-E2 in my SK68 clone is good too.
Dang, couldn’t they just have stirred the pot of phosphors properly? :weary:
Indeed.
Maybe open a topic on this later.
My proposed solution should work fairly well, vidramon. At least if decent ink is still used/for sale. I may still have an inkwell my brother (and me after him) used to refill technical pens, somewhere. If you have an inkwell, drop the centering ring inside or pour some drops over it. LoL!
By the way, the B158 is a zoomie. Thanks for pin-pointing this out, I may not have thought the skin tone of the area immediately surrounding the emitter would have such a noticeable impact.
Anyone wishing to make/cover centering rings with aluminum foil? :-)
Cheers ^:)
I know what you are talking about… This light is not predicted to be with HI V3 it is original U4 and that U4 in it was perfect in it, but I make group buy for HI V3 and that first HI V3 that I was getting I was pretty pleased with them, so I decide never more to order U4 version.
Last 4 that I order one get old version and 3 new, so far I’m very displeased with new version.
I try @Barkutis proposal, complete paint one centering ring in black and compare it with old version and all that I can say to you colour temperature is not the same again !
So there are 3 options :
1. Led is not same ( old is cold white ), maybe it is cold white buy cheaper or poor quality, maybe it is neutral white ( but as far as I know this light have only one option to choose and it is cold white )
2. Driver is different so there is not enought power to shine 100% ( lower amps ) like before
3. This centering ring did all of this
I try also old vs new on 250m distance dark and I was not pleased with new on at all !
Also this is board some R5 mark ??
As far as dots refers to @hank I don’t understand you at all, simply my english is not at that level that I can understand such ‘’complicated’’ and less used expressions that in ordinary conversation.
But I can tell you one thing this is my eighth light and this one has problem 101 %, I try just before to record a video about that but camera can’t record that, you must to have a look to see what is problem.
That dots are not properly distributed and not what you think, they are messed up on the surface, and it is see clearly that there is something wrong and that light output is vary.
Vidramon, here is what mine looks like. This is on low so I could get a better picture - it looks similar on higher modes, just much brighter and more difficult to photograph. I have the white centering ring, and these multi-colored speckles in the projected image.
I received my B158 about 2 weeks ago, and 2 days ago I replaced the stock driver with BLF A6 FET +1 driver - the image with multicolor speckles is the same with both drivers, so I do not think it is the driver that is producing this pattern.
Edit: my board had the same 'R5' marking, I was unsure what it meant also.
Edit 2: I used adhesive felt (black) to try and black out the inside of the light. (felt is very light absorbent compared to any sort of paint or sharpie - even matte black paint for can be surprisingly reflective). The felt totally and completely eliminated all rings and reflections. BUT the beam intensity was much less. I think that some of the light reflecting inside the head causes the Rings and artifacts, but a good amount of the reflected light bouncing around in there eventually makes its way out as focused output. So using a highly absorbant material like felt resulted in significantly lower OTF output.
Remember any volatile — which would include adhesive and marker and paint solvent, especially when heated inside the light head — can contaminate the LED if it’s not properly sealed.
https://www.google.com/search?q=volatile+led+organic
I think what you all are looking at is the change of phosfors that Cree has gone through, coarser, more flaky, it is in all newer Cree leds. I do not think that it has to do do with cheaper manufacturing, I think it has to do with more light extraction and perhaps with better tints/output spectra (Cree catching up with other manufacturers and market demand). The same coarse phosfor structures can be seen in Osram leds and Nichia leds.
@ vidramon:
Guess what, i have a similar problem…
The light flickers a little when i zoom in and out.
No idea what causes it.
Will do a thorough inspection tomorrow.
I’m not blind and I’m not crazy, I know what I see and Jerommel also noticed problems.
Ok to simplify, I have two now both are with white centering ring and one has no ‘’flickering’’ problems and no dots on it, second have ‘’flickering’’ problems and dots on it.
Flickering are with quotes because I don’t know how to explain that, seems to me that current vary and there is not enough to shine 100 % all the time.
I contact them and ask if something other changed in production except centering rings.
Do you notice this ‘’flickering’’ problems ?
Try shaking, tapping, and such to see if the flicker happens with any kind of disturbance.
If so I’d bet on a cracked/cold solder join and look first around whatever grounds the driver to the pill.
vidramon, with regards to precisely determining the impact of the centering ring colour on the beam, you may want to take a couple of comparative beamshot pictures, in the likes of the one you posted above in #1. Just make sure to swap the centering rings between the flashlights for each shot, nothing else.
Cheers ^:)
Posted on Thu, 11/10/2016 - 03:43. Edited for a quick fix.
No, I do not notice any flickering on my mine. I did not notice any on the stock driver (played with it for several days in stock configuration) and I do not notice any now with BLF A6 FET +1 driver.
I have had this issue with some XP-L Hi B158B’s I got recently - the emitters were very inconsistent compared to the first ones I got. Some were more patchy and yellowish in places when focused and aimed at a white wall.
And a handful even had dead spots on them, as bad as half the emitter not working at all.
The sometimes inconsistent quality is a shame, as these are otherwise a great focusing light IMO.
Great idea ! I will do it today.
This bold text is about what I say for that dots on led when pointing it on the wall in full zoom ?
This dots are not standard dots like blitzwing say there is impression that 20-30% of led not working at all…