I am interested
Me too.
A couple of question for those who bought the “kit” M3
1) Is the included 16340 battery an IMR battery?
2) Have you noticed any difference in brightness output between the included 16340 and other brands?
3) What batteries did you use and which brands do you recommend?
TIA
Jinx
me too
Please proceed to On The Road M6 group buy thread for more info.
Outstanding review!
Can you please report the dimensions of the reflector if possible? I’m wondering if it could be fitted with a flood/diffuser optic like this one:
http://intl-outdoor.com/2-pcs-cree-xml-led-optic-45-degrees-p-472.html
It's shorter in depth, just from the picture above - the depth is much shorter compared to the width. Doubt it's 13 mm. If I can remember (big if), I'll measure this evening...
Ohh - the i3 might be better? It's a zoomie, tail switch though, but in flood mode would have same effect.
I used the TIR’s from Convoy (Simon) that he sells for the S2+. I don’t have a link (mobile right now), but they drop right in, just put the O-ring below the TIR. I think the one I your link is the same as I have. The best thing about the TIR is the floody ones eliminate the tint rings from the beam.
Dimensions on the M3 reflector: 19.03 mm wide x 9.15 mm height. It's pretty short.
It a pretty shallow reflector. I have to scarify my o-ring due to the extra thickness of Noticgon.
This setup looks pretty awkward.
Do you think it's possible to do a triple mod on this by sawing off the threaded top part of the pill and putting there triple Noctigon and optics? I assume that the guts of M6 should be the same.
No plug and play for triple mod. You will need power tools and some creative ideas to make it happen.
Thanks Tom.
I was thinking I’d have to shorten the TIR holder… Until I read ReManG’s post…
So it does fit, and with no cutting! Thanks ReManG, also were you able to screw the bezel all the way on? So the O-ring sitting behind does it seal up back there?
You’re not using the glass over the TIR correct? The math does work out 12.6mm minus 9.1mm = 3.7mm and that O-ring looks pretty thick in the photos, so I’m assuming about 3-4mm total for ditching the glass and O-ring, sounds about right.
If these fit with no modification it would be cool because you could change beam patterns by swapping out the TIR’s, I already have some 15 degree ones from fasttech, I’m going to get some 60 and 10 degree to try, in addition to the 45.
Here’s the different shops I’m looking at the 45 degree flood optic (I guess they would pretty much be the same part?)
http://intl-outdoor.com/2-pcs-cree-xml-led-optic-45-degrees-p-472.html
https://www.fasttech.com/product/1574904
Fasttech lists 12.6mm height and the others show 13mm.
_
The ones I currently have that I could try (I bought for the Convoy S2+ and S6) are 15 degree from Fasttech, they measure 12.68mm height. The look exactly like the 10 degree from IOS, looks like I could file the outer rim of the holder where it overhangs, and gain around 1.5mm.
Apparently though it’s not to hard to reduce the height of one of these, see the photo tutorial in post #19 of this thread 
: Have a Convoy S3 and hate the beam pattern? Here's how to fix it.
Thanks, excellent review BTW!
I will get some pics up tonight from the TIR and triple mod I have done on these sweet little lights…
The M6 has been ordered and I will compare it when I get it for modding.
The triple build in this only required sanding a couple of mm off the front of the driver/emitter carrier, and sanding the diameter of the Noctigon down a mm or so.
No glass over the TIR for the reflector swap…
I’ve considered that, but I want the magnetic tail. My idea for this M3 was for a ultra mini dedicated flooder with magnetic tail. I figure the zoomie will lose about half it’s output fully zoomed out.
Although I may get an i3 anyhow if there’s a group buy or flash sale, meantime I’m going to try the Ultrafire UF-10, to see if it can be modded, as it’s inexpensive and already has a magnetic tail.
So here are some pics of the TIR and triple mod. In both cases I left the stock driver alone, 2.1 amps on turbo is plenty for me compared to grafting in another driver with the e-switch.
The black O-ring is a 18mm x 1.5mm and the TIR is the standard convoy TIR. The green O-ring is a skinny 20mm x 1mm that fits in the groove around the TIR edge and the Bezel tightens up against this fairly well. It is splash proof at the least. The lower black O-ring is to center the TIR, it seems to keep everything stable when the bezel is tightened down. It is not essential, but very helpful. No modifications are needed to the driver/LED carrier. I put a light bevel on the back of the driver ring to help with reinserting the carrier, but will show a pic of that later.
This is the triple set up. Stock O-ring fits like a charm. Carrier needs shortening and Noctigon needs filing down, that is it.
I took 2mm off the front threaded area of the driver/LED carrier. I went slowly with a piece of 120 grit sandpaper, and touched it up with a file. The Noctigon is filed down and the void left on top of the driver shelf filled with Duct Seal to make it solid and hold the MCPCB (Duct Seal is sticky). There is plenty of wire for this on the stock driver, but if you want to replace the stock wires, they are in easy to get to spots for soldering on 22awg silicon like I did. The good thing about having some room above the shelf was that the wires were just left in the holes on the sides like for a regular single LED, and just brought up through the middle of the Noctigon, no holes drilled!
Also note the bevel (crappy as it may be) to help with reinserting the carrier into the body, this lets the silicone button cover tit ride up and not get pinched/pulled off.
How far I had to file the Noctigon down. Just go slow and easy, it takes a bit. It should be right at the size of the carrier diameter when you are done. In the middle with the wires, you can see the Duct Seal that I used to fill the void and hold the wires under the MCPCB, this also helps to "stick" the Noctigon in place during insertion back into the body.
Just a side by side from the unmodified carrier, to the triple carrier. The optic on the triple does not need to be sanded as the body is slightly larger toward the front. I lightly sanded the edge of mine to get it in and out past the bezel threads easier.
Some front end shots, forgot the battery in the stock light on the left...
Hope this helps someone that wants to do either of these mods, the triple is easy and using the stock driver may not increase the output much, but it still looks good to me and you can pick your tint...
Looks like fitting in triple is easier
That's interesting. Too bad the driver is harder to replace with its small diameter and switch situated right on the driver. Its mode switching looks quite awkward. Maybe M6 will be more suitable for modding.
So the empty space between the MCPCB and the pill is filled with this Duct Seal (it's something like plasticine, right?)?
Yes, duct seal is an industrial product that is much like plasticine, but a lot stickier and cheaper. I picked up 500g of it for under $2 in the local home depot. Look in the plumbing section. It has more shear strength than modeling clay.
The driver at 2.1A is plenty with the 700ma battery, running full turbo would only give about 20 minute of light, if it was not too hot to hold at that point… I have had terrible luck with swapping or modding e-switch drivers, so while this one could be done, I don’t feel the need for the aggravation I get from my attempts…
I don’t know if the M6 will have more room in the driver area, but hope to find out when mine comes in…