696 kcd max, maybe a steady 685 kcd with the UCLp lens, measured at 10m. 685 kcd is 1655 meters, 5430 feet, 1.03 miles.
One sort of problem - I measured the stock lens at 89.6mm x 2.04 mm and it's a tight fit. the UCLp I requested was 90.0 mm, and measured precisely with my digital caliper at 90.0. All UCLp's are shipped with this blue plastic protective stick-on coating, so with the coating on, I used my rotary tool and brought it down to about 89.80 mm, then it fit fine.
I was hoping the 2.25 mm thickness of the UCLp would tighten things up (0.21 mm thicker than stock), maybe get a better focus, but it had the opposite effect - initially with it all tight, I could not break 600 kcd. Loosening up the bezel bumped it up big time, so it seems like the best focus point is a little further out of the reflector, not further in, if I understand the dynamics. I may need to bump up the height a little now - could use a stick-on type of ring - the 3M type, that the centering piece can sit on.
Hoping I got time for this but my plans would be:
put copper extensions on the MCPCB pads to clear the reflector base
add in a driver and use 18 AWG LED wires
I got 2 brass screws holding the shelf down now - add 2 more, total of 4
It's not an ideal heat sink setup, but it seems to be working pretty well. There isn't much output droppage in short runs.
Well, a regular well focused FT S2 1A( the cheaper one , they have too s2 1a in their store, the cheaper is the better) driven at 4.4 amps gives like 10% more cds of the XMP/XPL champion at 6 amps - V6 1D( still havent tested V6 1A/V6 2D) a hard driven s2 2b is maybe >25% better, you can see the difference even with a naked eye and its an observation of literaly dozents builded C8s
That “thing” has been ordered ofc Cant miss it, it could be made a great search light, great indeed…too bad onone of the GB codes that i have worked
Yea, I'm taking a big chance with the FT XP-L V6 0D, but seems to be performing well.
Measured amps again and I'm getting 6.08A - this is after I cleaned up contacts of the DMM wires and banana plug connectors though (before I got 5.95A), but cells are as-is, not freshened, when I did my throw measurements this evening.
Mitko - cool you ordered one! Love to see your thoughts and results. Certainly should hit over 700 kcd, and running a dedomed XP-G2 at over 5A I would think could hit over 800 kcd.
Looked at it - interesting, more like a classic SRK setup. Hope those are screws holding down the driver contact board, and hope it's not glued - I don't see a driver retaining ring. Kind of pricey, but of course it's a SolarStorm so maybe decent quality, plus all those emitters, side switch is great of course. Head diameter is slightly smaller, maybe about a Shocker size. Should be throwy, because with 6 LED's, the reflectors have a decent size. The Shocker is bout equal to 3 C8 reflectors, and I measured close to 600 kcd on one of them, in 500's on most, all with dedomed XM-L2 U2 1A's getting over 5A to each LED.
The 6-9 days for shipping usually means they don't have them. With BG, that time scares me because it can slip way longer.
I imagine the driver is press-fit/glued like the Solarstorm SP03. The R60T looks like the perfect companion for the SP03. If I win the powerball, that’s the first light I’ll get
Well, you wont get any bonus using XPG2 in that case even using a nice scope , just less lumens, its like TK61 - when modded with V6 1D it gave arround 600k mcds, using XPG2 it gave 820 but it was a downgrade from my point of veiw:i could see jackal eyes at 2.5 kilometers with both setups yet the XPL hotspot covered a larger area
Mitko - I tried two more XP-G2 S2 2B's from FastTech on copper MCPCB's last night, and again, can only get about 4.2A max on a direct wired, no driver, soldered up bench setup using a LG HE2 @4.22v. Did not even dedome them yet. Now I looked up when I ordered these, and it was back in Aug and Sep 2014 - 1 1/2 years ago. Wonder if the newer batch's performed better? I got slightly lower amps on a Samsung 30Q @4.22v, so figure the HE2 cells do good. My old SONY VTC5's always do worse than the HE2's and 30Q's, think I spot checked one and performed lower.
I ordered qty 3 more of the FT XP-G2 S2 2B's over the weekend, just to see if latest batch FT has is any better. How are you reflowing yours? I've been using a butane torch as of late - quick method. I used to use a frying pan and bring up the heat slowly, similar to what CREE recommends. No idea if one method is really any better than the other...
I hear you bout the small XP-G2 hot spot. I recall guys complaining about the tight hot spot of the early OSTS version of the TN31 using a XP-G2. I kind of like the results I got with the XP-L, and now that's it's solid over a mile, I'm pretty happy with the results.
Tom, based on Mitko’s results I went ahead and ordered 8 S2-B2’s from FT. Also ordered 4 from Mtn. After I received them I hot de-domed 1 from each supplier. I, like you, was only able to achieve around 4.2-4.3a. Not sure what to make of all of this, but would like to figure it out.
Fenix TK 61, with XP-G2 de-domed vs. XP-L de-domed
XP-G2
XP-L
I worked hard on this particular light, had issues with current spikes frying emitters, tossed 8 XM-L2’s in the trash. Traded it off to Richard with a 32mm Noctigon sporting the de-domed XP-L emitter doing up close to 600Kcd. Hate plastic reflectors.
Yeah I never had any crazy results from those S2-2B’s either. I’ve never had any XP-G2 go over 5amps. Recently I started ordering their S2-1D’s because I like the tint better.
Well, think I posted earlier - there is some vertical room, so it's not all that bad. Problem is you need a high amp boost, or high amp buck driver and somehow manage cells in series, like a big battery mod done by CWK above, or using 4-5 pair of 18350's (might fit 5 pair, but 4 definite).
I think if we used a zener mod FET driver with a 2S setup, there would be too much voltage to burn off - not sure, others may know better.
If somehow this driver: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/37354 could be cranked up to 5A or so to the LED and output voltage reduced, it would be a great match for this light. You could make the driver diameter much much bigger for the BOSS1 - width is no problem at all .
Dale - that's a great example. I don't have two de-domed matching lights, least I know of off hand. I thought though there would be examples around, maybe going way back: rdrfronty, relic38, ILIKEFLASHLIGHTS, RaceR86 etc., plus a few others that posted some real classic stuff. One guy who did mostly de-domed throwers had some great beamshot posts, think from Eastern Europe -- he was pioneering de-domed LED's at the time I thought, and had some great comparison shots.