Dome. What does it do? Why dedome?

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
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  1. What does the dome do?

  2. Why would you want to dedome?

  3. Why would you NOT want to dedome?

Feel free to answer any or all questions.

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Here is an old but gold analysis:

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Well damn… That’s quite the read. So did I understand that dedoming makes the light floodier and warmer? So the dome makes it cooler and less floody?

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Yes but you have to know what you are doing, dont grab a kitchen knife and try that.

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5

My take is that removing the dome makes the LED LESS floody (more throw) and warmer.
The dome refracts the light making the pattern wider and doing some filtering to make it cooler.

But it also helps with output. So you do lose some lumens when dedoming!

So I think you have the floody part backwards.

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this is a good read : https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/02/f34/tuttle_optics_longbeach2017.pdf

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Here is how dedoming (or rather slicing at different height) affect the tint of the LH351D : LH351D slicing measurements : output, tint, tint shift, beam profile, intensity.

and 519A : 519A dedoming - Album on Imgur

519A slicing : 519A, Try Slicing!

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8

I just scratched the dome off with my fingernail, still works lol. It’s definitely warmer, for sure. I ferl like it’s less floody like you said. But I cant remember how floody it was before. But for sure warmer by like 500-1000k I’d say

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The Nichia 519a is the easiest emitter to de-dome on the market, be careful trying to “fingernail” de-dome others, you can end up ripping the phosphor off.

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Indeed it was a 519a that I just did this with. I’ll be more cautious if I try another one.

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