Fourth Rebuild of BORUIT Z001...now we're cooking...fourth times a charm!

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

This is the fourth and final rebuild of my Boruit Z001 7 x XML. Here is a link to the original build thread.

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/25916

The first three builds were done with variations of the KD beast driver. The first 9xKD died ofter 20 minutes. The second was a 7xKD, and just couldn't hold the current levels. The third was another 9xKD. It still works, but that's because I never use it.
In my heart, I know it's just going to die, and the mode changes are so slow and sluggish, I just can't bear it.
There is just no other good solution to driving seven emitters with series cells. Seven is mathematically the absolute worst number of emitters to deal with.
Well, if I can't beat it, I'll just change the Boruit's blueprint.
I scrapped the seven emitter reflector and replaced it with a six emitter reflector that I pulled out of another perfectly good light.
I stated in my previous thread that I loved this light and would spare no expense to get it running properly. Well, it's costing me alright...but I'm driven!
I yanked out all the U2 1A emitters except the center one. I wasn't in the mood to sand all the goop off the rest, so I replaced them with five U2 2C on Noctigons. (I will refurbish the 1As at a later time)
With three cells and six emitters I plan to wire it up in a 3S2P configuration with a BLF17DD FET driver.
Here's a pic of the KD9X beast driver along with the BLF17DD FET driver that will be replacing it.
Now to figure out how I'm going to mount the FET driver. This one of those things that I make up at the last minute.
I cut a strip of copper and bent and tinned the ends. I also drilled a small hole in the center so I could attach the 2P LED+ wires so they're being fed directly from the battery.
I soldered an18AWG ground wire directly to the FET.

I wanted to get a reading at the emitter, but I didn't leave much much leeway when I measured the wires, so I scrapped that idea. The best I could do was get a tail reading by holding the DMM leads against either side of the switch On the battery holder. I know it's not the most accurate way to do it, but that's how it goes. If anything, the true reading is probably a little higher.
With three 18650s I'm getting a reading of 7.6A. That's about 3.8A per emitter.
Since the leads I use for testing current are quite short, I had to hold the light between my legs to take the readings. It got uncomfortably hot down there in short order.
It took me four tries to get this Boruit just how I like it, and I'm now a happy camper. It has awesome output with five modes (no disco) and I'm not worrying about the driver packing it in after fifteen minutes. Just think of it as an SRK that grew out of short pants.
Modding lights like this sure is easy when you have reflector that's divisible by the cells.
Now what am I going to do about this poor 3 x 26650 light that's missing its six XML reflector?
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Good to here some winner stories every now and them. The 5 amp driver on my AA powered HD2010 lasted 5 minutes in a run time test. Where did you get your 2C leds from?

Your light missing a reflector should have the leds dedomed and 10 degrees TIR nestled up to them.

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Thanks MRsD.
I got the XM-L2 U2 2C from both IOS and RMMs store. I also used them in both my MTG/XML mods.
I also thought about TIRs. What do you think, a cluster of triples or a gaggle of singles?
I just don’t know how I could make an opaque lens shroud like your contest light. I don’t have the tools to accomplish it.

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You probably dont have enough room for singles as the TIR's that I know are about 22mm in diameter.

5

Nice..

I dont dare to think about all the lights that ive been done with. Finished, perfectly happy with the mod. And then, mod it again within 3-6 months just to improve it, or make it suit my collection/ be different from other lights Ive got.

Not sure why you took out all the 7 emitters though. If you wanted something "2C" tint, you could have just used 5 of the U2 1A and a WW emitter in the middle ("7" or "8" tint) In lights with one or several emitters in the middle tint mixing is a must do.

Oh well, next time.. Btw. Do you have off time memory?? Are you running that whiny phase correct firmware?? Have you optimized the modes for that particular light? :D Im just looking for excuses for you to not have it in its final stage. ;)

Im impressed if you are not doing a little tweak to it again within 12 months... There is always something.

Im really liking that mod and the size of that light. Great work and thanks for sharing.

Edit: Btw, you know there are 9V MT-G2s? If you can get a hold of one. Putting one 9V MT-G2 in the middle of a 7 XM-L reflector would solve your problem.

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I had to pull off all the 1A emitters except the center one because the footprint of the six LED reflector is different than that of the seven LED reflector. I damaged some of the Noctigons trying to get them off (heat and pliers), and they all need to have the adhesive scraped and sanded from them. I didn’t have the time or energy to do that today, so I used the 2C that I had handy. Plus I needed a bit of a change.
I was thinking of using 3 x 1A and 3 x 2C, but with six emitters the placement wouldn’t have been uniform and I didn’t want a cockeyed tint in the beam profile.

I got these from RMM. I’ve got five modes 100-50-20-5-2% with off time memory. I’ve not had whining in any of my FET drivers.

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Really nice job on the light! What light donated it's reflector?

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That is just a sweet light you have made there. Such a shame about those beast drivers. Does everybody agree that they croak sooner than later by now?? You sure are a persistant man. My hat off to you :-)

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RUSTU reflector donor

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I dug around in my boxes and found some Carlco single optics for XM-L2. I can easily fit five 20mm optics around the edge and a 26.5mm optic in the center. I’m just thinking…it would certainly be a fussy job.
The emitters should fit fine without de-dome. Besides to make it fit, does a de-domed emitter in an optic really make any difference as in a regular reflector?

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I cant speak for XML's dedomed in tir's but have put dedomed XPG-2 leds behind XML tir's and apart from the beam looking a little odd white walling increases throw dramatically. This is what I did with manxbuggy's light and he was stoked with it. He has some beamshots here somewhere.

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I had my Boruit out for a test spin last night and it's everything I want. There was no point in taking beam shots because there is so much light all beamshots of my large multi emitter mods look the same with my ipad camera. Basically, everything in the frame is fully illuminated, and that's what it's like in real life.

Dropping down one mode, from 100% to 50%, the output drop is barely discernible to my eyes, but there is better economy in power consumption.

So basically, high mode is great for showing off, but 50% is still in show off mode with better heat and power management.

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I decided to see what the the light that donated the reflector for my mod looked like when run as a mule.

A close to the wall beamshot looks very interesting.

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Congrats on the long mod. Good thing it's a hobby, it'd be a $800 flashlight otherwise.

Do you have an Ultrafire 602c? Try the reflector on the Rustu. 6 @$4 ea. gets expensive but in for a penny...

They're only 17.9mm and the beam is floody but surprisingly nice for it's size. Probably need to mill wire clearance for 16mm stars.

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I don't know if it will ever happen, but I'm thinking about it.

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Very nice build! I'd give you a thumbs up smiley if there was one!

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Just tried some Samsung INR18650-20R and I’m getting 4A per emitter.

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Must get hot fast then :-) Nice!

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I'm not sure if this will fit.

http://www.gearbest.com/diy-parts-and-tools/pp_26946.html

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I have some of those. Unfortunately they’re way too small (51mm) I think the one I’m using is at least 67mm.