With new LED offerings and subsequent increased lumens we’re routinely getting from flashlight manufacturers, how many here still go the extra yard by dedoming to increase whatever they think they’re increasing?
I don’t know about you guys but I’m pretty satisfied with stock LED output levels I’m already getting combined with the state of increasing batt capacities/performance hitting the market.
Back in the earlier days of XML’s, XPG’s, etc., dedoming became the rave pursuit as output increases for more throw was kinda going crazy.
Nowadays with multi-emitter powerhouses like the Q8 being readily available and reasonably inexpensive, I wonder if dedoming is basically overkill?
It’s more of a personal preference. Dedoming on average increases the throw distance increases roughly by 40% after dedoming. One usually dedomes a single emitter light to increase its throw. Multiple dedomed emitters or domeless emitters can be used for a flooder.
But if you’re going for ultimate throw you would use LEDs like the Black Flat or CFT90 which already don’t have a dome
So there’s really no need for dedoming anymore.
Especially since the xpg3 and similar new LEDs don’t give improvement like the old xpg2 did.
There are still areas where you can’t beat dedomed emitters:
XHP70.2 offers so much output that no flat LED can compete. Especially for the price.
SST-40 is cheap and powerful and 3V. XHP35 HI is somewhat close, but way costlier and 12V which makes it sometimes infeasible.
I guess these are the biggest deals.
But also:
Luxeon MX is probably the highest output 3V LED below $100. Dedoming it seems to make sense.
XP-L W2 provides similar throw to XP-L HI, but slightly higher output. Not much though
I expect LH351D to beat XP-L for output and roughly match it for throw, further differentiating it from XP-L HI. To be precise, I expect it to be slightly floodier.
And on top of that: many flat LEDs are only available in cool white. For those who want their LEDs to be warmer, dedoming increases LED selection.
I still got some CW XP-Gs that I was going to dedome. You lose output somewhat, but gain throw by having it be a more concentrated beam.
Also, dedoming warms the beam somewhat. Albeit unpredictably, as you can end up with a lemon-yellow beam or a beam with a nasty green tint, etc.
Since Cree came out with HI LEDs (vs HD), they kind of obviated the need to dedome LEDs. And they’re already binned, so you more or less know what color/tint they’ll be.
But I have yet to see a HI version of any G chip (eg, XP-G2 HI), let alone an E or E2. If you want a flashlight laser, you can dedome an XP-E2. Not many lumens, but a pencil-beam that’ll reach quite far.
So, sure, you can “throw” more and over a wider cone of light with sheer brute force, belting out a whole order of magnitude more lumens for the same throw, but good luck with heat, battery drain, longevity, etc. Sure, a pencil-beam thrower will be quite limited in actual usage, but for that use, it’ll be unbeatable.
Well, by “dedoming” most people here mean chemical dedoming.
Dome shaving is different.
Anyone can do it and it’s a lot safer.
No tint shift, no damage to phosphor, silicone layer left on top for protection, almost the same performance as dedoming.
