if wish to buy D40, better get hurry before the item is retracted 
Also interested in hearing about experiments with the different C8 reflectors and how they work (or don't) with specific LEDs. I just recently got a My First C8™ (UltraFire C8) (yes I know, I never got around to picking one up until now) and the reflector does not work AT ALL with a XPG2... ringy and icky just like it was with the XR-E. Pretty OK with an XML2 though. The reflector has a huge flat area around the emitter hole, pretty sure that's just not what the XPG2 needs to work right. In the roughly 42mm x 31mm size, which ones work best with which LEDs?
And to take this off in a completely different direction, I just built a Convoy S4 with a de-domed XPG2 & 3A Qlite, and man... I think it throws better than the C8 with a dome-intact XML2 U2 and the exact same driver. Not joking! It's got an amazing little reflector in it, deeper than it is wide, and even though it's OP it flat out works great (internal dimensions of 17.4mm wide at the front, 18.3mm deep). And unlike a C8 you can hang it on your keychain or stick it in a pocket and forget it's there. Convoy S2, S4 & S5 all have similarly deeper-than-wide reflectors (the S3 has a dumb stumpy little 11mm tall reflector-like thing in it, so skip that one).
Hi Slewflash, I believe the rating on the Fenix TK41 is 59kcd…
Hi Gords1001, When talking about modding with xp-g2, what kind of light would you end up with? A c8 host that can outthrow the Jacob A60, with much more flood?
How would this light compare to the Small Sun zyt-08 you have mentioned?
Could you end up with a light that throws like the TK41, rated at 486m, for a $20-30 price tag?
If so, I would be quite interested in you building such a light for me….
Thanks
hi flitsmal, to directly answer your question
I honestly don’t know :bigsmile: that’s kind of the point of trying it out.
I have the two xp-g c8 reflectors from cnqg, brass pills with emitter pcb hold down screws from fasttech, I now need noctigon 20mm xp-g2 stars from intloutdoor and qlite drivers and some more 7135’s, then I need a source of c8 hosts that fit the pills, cnqg has an ultrafire c8 host, I have high hopes of that doing the trick, I’ll also want some ar coated lenses, then I can try various combinations to see what works best, as I’ve done a couple of xp-g2 builds that “look” like they throw well, I now need a light meter to quantify these results.
What will the light be like? it’ll be a c8, just hopefully a c8 with decent throw and some spill, the xp-g2 has a noticably narrower beam angle compared to an xm-l, in my other builds, you get some spill, just noticably narrower than an xm-l with everything else the same, its not as bright as the latest xm-l2’s but certainly comparable to a modestly driven xm-l t6 you’d get out of an ebay light, the two builds I’ve done have been a 1c in a uf-v3 at 2a, its a very very crisp white light that I find nice to use, the second is a convoy l2 (huge reflector) with an xp-g2 3d driven at 3a, that is at least as bright as the last couple of ebay xm-l lights I received, but with a really nice nw tint.
What I intend to do is build two pills, both about 3.8a (two extra chips added to the qlite drivers) one with a nw xp-g2 on noctigon, one a dedomed 1c ish emitter (dedoming tends to warm up the tint a little) I’ll then be able to compare the reflectors I have to see which give a nice beam and (assuming I get a light meter at the same time) which gives the best recordable throw, then, I can actually make informed suggestions as to what someone else might like.
To give you an idea of output, tom e mentioned he’d built up an xp-g2 xintd c8, dedomed at 3.8a, he’s getting 125kcd, that’s where I’m hoping to get, and the reason I want a light meter, I wish to quantify what I’ve already built, then I have a base line to see how things improve and see how builds work out compared to other lunatics like myself :bigsmile:
My replacement C8 should be here tomorrow…you guys just about have me talked into a Convoy or Xintd C8, if the 2nd cheapy doesn’t work. Still open to other suggestions though. I like the 4AA concept too, they just end up being a little fatter. I’m not a modder (yet) so any lights that are stunners bone stock would be appreciated.
The new C8 - T6 came in, but BLF wasn’t up….ARRRRGH! It’s amazing to me how well a stock budget thrower works in the real world. I’d say it reaches about as far as the Defiant Super Thrower I had for a bit, but with a wider beam.
Question for you modders, is ‘de-doming’ just a matter of cutting the top of the LED dome off with a razor blade? How much thinner would the beam be afterward? I know it would warm up the tint, which would be ok with me. Thanks!
Do not cut. Do this instead--> https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/17374
Too late….well, maybe not, I shaved the top off but it’s only maybe the top half, I don’t know how to remove it from the pill. It made the hotspot smaller, that’s for sure. Any way I could finish this job without removing the emitter?
It is indeed brighter than the XinTD V3 , might want to check into it…
How about the C8 XM-L2 U3’s at Aliexpress?!
I was told to go to Lightmalls…. So thats where I went… LOL :bigsmile:
Need help completing the dedome…it was disappointing last night!
Gas, petrol, whatever you call the stuff they sell at gas stations is the only way to de-dome for me. 100% reliable so far, about 15 successes. Soakd the LED/star in gas in a jar for 2-12 hours, dome just falls off - done.
No one has the XM-L2 U2 for sale, but they have the XM-L2 U3, it's just wishful thinking.
Tom, I was just trying to post on your dedoming thread…the post got lost somehow.
I pulled the wires out and separated the LED/star from the pill (I hate soldering), turned it upside down in a tiny container of gasoline with the pill sitting on top. (Tiny gas container consists of a little clear plastic cap from a bottle of throat spray!)
We’ll see how it goes from here! (do you think the gas vapors will harm any of the contents of the pill?)
Thank you!
Don't think the fumes, but I'd worry about the wires, the part of wires in the gas.
Hi,
Are you sure that it out-throws a DST? I have a couple of DSTs and measured it using a light meter, and, although I don’t have many of the really expensive throwers yet, the DST out-luxes every light that I have, including an X6, and HD2010 (with the EAST-092 driver), and a somewhat dubious STL-V6, by far. I do have a BTU Shocker on its way though :)…
Edit: And several of the C8s, including a Convoy C8, but not the IOS one, and also C12s from both Lightmalls and KD.
Not sure about that one, on second thought, after last night I don’t think so. My C8 seems kinda weak.
I may get a C8 XM-L2 U3 from Aliexpress, or go all in and get a SWM D40A!
Hi,
Can you clarify about what you meant by “that one”, and what you were “Not sure” about?
Ah, is that the rating on the box? I’m not sure if you’re talking about an updated model, but the XML T6 version was measured much lower at 45kcd.
Nevertheless, 55kcd equals 469 meters (ANSI to 0.25lux) which is pretty fraking far. If needed to spot things from a long distance, it is advised you get something with minimal spill to enhance contrast on the target.