You could do a resistor mod to increase output, (and a emitter re-flow swap to better XM-L2s for better tint and output) but you may need to custom add some copper under the emitter plate (star) to increase the heat dissipation. it can be modded to increase output & tint, bur would take some work.
Does it have a proper shelf that the LED board sits on? You can make it into a monster light for not to much money.
Texas Avenger has heaps of parts that will fit for sale i think he made shelf’s and driver that will fit straight inside.
If you want to go cheap resistor mod the driver if you can and De-dome the LEDs to get a better tint. Actually do this any way seeing as its free maybe you will like the light better after this.
Of course, even without changing emitters, which aren’t a total loss, you can up the current some but the real issue is the hollow with a lip instead of a solid shelf. Fitting a slug in there takes care of that biggest issue then you can get a better driver from RMM. Even the stock mcpcb/LB combo would do ok with those improvements. Personally, I think the best choice for clones is the triple since 20mm copper stars can be used then, or a quad with 16mm copper stars but to use either you need to start with a solid shelf on which to put them. Reflectors are available, so are LEDs, drivers, and a slug is both a fairly simple and common mod. So the answer is yes, proper application of legal tender can give you a great light, if your willing.
There is a fet placing on PCB, you can add, mod the current res, change the emitter
When you load pics use the sunset icon, paste the link and put 100 or less in the width box. This keeps the rest of the thread from shrinking to accommodate the over sized images.
Whatever you decide to do with it, I suggest checking out the BLF Q8 SRK and get on the list, that would be the best step towards getting a supremely good SRK at a price that cannot be beat.
Here are some shots of the interior:
Yea mate there is no shelf for the LED to sit on. You will lose performance because of this. Moding it isn’t really worth while unless you fill that gap? The idea is to make a shelf for the LED to sit on either out of alloy or copper. Aluminum would be easiest and cheapest option.
Its not really hard just time consuming say if that cap is 5cm in width you get a bigger piece of alloy and shape it to fit inside. I got 30 by 30mm aluminum flat bar and shaped it into round 25mm pieces.
You can mod the light without doing this but the performance will suffer because there is no for the heat to go.
+1,
and the SkyRay King went out of production a couple of years ago.
Is that not the shelf above the driver board?
Thank you for this, I wish that I had seen this earlier.
Already on that list as of two days ago I think. Looking forward to that. I am guessing that this light is more or less useless… I messaged PayPal, and uploaded pictures to them. Going to try to get my money back.
That is the reflector that can help dissipate heat a little. The shelf sits under the LED board and is usually is not removable.
The original SRK had a ‘shelf’ that was threaded into the body, & the LED board sat on top of it. The shelf was omitted in later versions, & now the body does not even have the internal threads where the shelf would have screwed into.
As mentioned above, the light is still a good candidate for modding into a small monster, if you have the inclination. Plenty of people here to help, & some good SRK mods posted here if you search the forum.
I have a similar srk clone I’m working on… Well will be once I find the mountain electronics driver I misplaced.
I bought copper heatsinks for computer graphics cards and am going to glue them with thermal epoxy to the emitter plate directly under the LEDs. The 5 heat sinks weigh more than my x6 spacer so I think I can get some good performance.
May try my first reflow… We will see how adventurous I get.
You need a thermal path to the outside more than a heat sink under the LED board.
So the shelf would be fine even with a hole in the middle, as long as it’s under the emitters and guiding the heat to the outer perimeter.
You actually got one of the nicer SRK’s out today, some of them are even worse believe it or not.
You can salvage it by adding a shelf. This is easy if you have a lathe (which I did not) and doable by hand if not (as I did). Some 1 5.8’s bar stock is only about 1-2MM too large, so you just have to sand down that and it should press right in, you can glue it in place with some thermal adhesive if needed. Thread the screws through the shelf and up to the reflector to press the mcpcb agienst the shelf and it actually works quite well.
I made 20 like this last year and they range from ~8k lumen xm-l2 based to 17k lumen xhp50 based lights. Although the xhp50’s are not recommended on the stock mcpcb unless you have a very optimal heat path and at least 8 of them to share the load.
All of this said, with the stock LED’s you are looking at around ~4000 lumens all said and done if you have an 8x model. Not bad but the Q8 will get you more out of the box with less investment.
I have a SRK I didn’t feel like modding. So I just boosted the current and added thermal paste and plan on seeing how long it lasts. So far it is not doing better then expected, ~2400 lumens and still ticking. It is nice to use for dirty tasks since I don’t care about it.
I have several low profile copper heatsinks (60mm square 5mm thick) someplace… I bet that would help get the heat off the LEDs.
Thanks everyone for giving me ideas… I have already put in that I wish to purchase the Q8, as well as that nice slim triple emitter single 18650 light… those should hold off temptation for a couple of months or so, in the meantime I can try to find a driver, and some LEDs for this chunk o poo.
I did this to mine
Yea its a bit easier now that i have a bench sander i would hate to have to do it all by hand. I have done a few copper heat sinks by hand in the past but i used a file to get more of at once. I have to shave a reflector down so the LED wires dont touch now. I am weighting up either to do it by hand so i do not take much of or use bench sander or rotary tool. If it isn’t a big job doing it with course sand paper is easiest.
If you do make a shelf make sure you finish it of with a fine grit sandpaper so its smooth.
I think its easier for lads in the USA to find stuff in the sizes you need i have not been able to source copper in the sizes that i need from normal hardware shops. I wanted to buy a few sizes of copper and make different heat sinks.