So I’ve had a UniqueFire HS-802 with the XR-E R2 LED for some time now, and I always liked it. The XR-E puts out a nice thin beam, but compared to the lights I have now, the tint isn’t quite right, and the beam was a little too ringy for my tastes.
So, time for an upgrade! The HS-802 to start with:
I went to Mountain Electronics website, and got a QLite 3.04A driver with 2 of the 7135 chips removed, and an XP-G2 S2 2B LED on a 20mm Noctigon.
First, I prepped the brass pill for the LED:
Next, I spent 20 minutes with the dremel, letting the star cool in between passes. I got the 20mm star just to the point where it started to stick when putting it in the pill. I then covered the surface in thermal epoxy, and press fit the star into the pill. Now, when I say press fit, I mean I fiercely hammered the star into the pill (since I don’t own a vice).
Like a glove!
I had to use a diamond bit and expand the wire holes against the side due to the large size of the star, but it all worked out.
Looking down that deep smooth reflector:
And of course, what would a build thread be without beamshots? I don’t have a DSLR camera or anything, but I make do with what I have. Hehe….‘make do’.
Shining at my closet (my camera sucks, the light is pure white to my eyes, no blueish as the picture looks like):
My multimeter measures 2.28A off a fresh 18650 at the tailcap, which is basically right where I wanted the current.
Outside. Control shot first, obviously.
It’s been a bit since I did anything like this, but man it feels good when it all works how you want it to. Thanks for looking!