There isn’t enough heatsinking or enough battery power to make things substantially brighter. Also XP-G is a 3535 LED so SFT/SST40 won’t work on the same board.
I’d suggest going another route, Nichia 519A for better color rendering.
I don’t think that’s an XP-G. It looks like maybe a Samsung LH351B.
It doesn’t matter very much. At the levels of electrical power that would produce 325lm from an LH351B, XP-G, or similar, a different LED will not produce enough of an output increase to care about; you might not even be able to tell a difference without instruments. You can change the beam profile, color temperature, tint, or color rendering index with a different LED, but it will not significantly effect output.
You could change the driver and get more electrical power, in theory at least. If you run it on alkaline batteries, they won’t be able to handle much more load for very long. NiMH rechargeables could do it, but a driver replacement on a light like this is a pretty involved project for what ultimately won’t be a very competitive headlamp by enthusiast standards. If that sounds like a fun and exciting project then by all means go for it, but if you just want a brighter headlamp then you’re better off buying one that runs on an 18650.
Usually these types of flashlights and headlamps utilize an LED to maximize lumens at the cost of CCT, CRI, and tint. In other words, they will usually be slightly blue, have low CRI, and a greenish tint.
Whenever I have swapped out the LEDs there is noticeable drop in brightness. BUT, everything else is much better and worth it to me.
So unfortunately, I doubt you would be able to find an LED that would be brighter than the original.
A 35$ headlight that roasts the LED… gotta love those companies. And then call it “professional”…
Anyway, I would go the same route as others and plop a 519A in there.
It’s cheap and very, very good: 519A LED , high CRI R9080 - Convoy flashlight
Measure your board, but it looks like the 16mm version could fit with no big modifications.
On the other hand, a headlamp that doesn’t roast the LEDs isn’t too expensive…
And it comes with a 3Ah battery and USB-C charging
I have plan DIY replace (swap) the original Energizer AAx3 Battery housing with 18650x2 Battery housing (from my no name headlight) later too but quality look not good & it may not weather proof as this.
Another way I may DIY change inside connector from AAx3 series to 14500x3 Parallel.
Thank L4M4 for your advise.
Sofirn H25L look good spec & price but it can’t swap battery, some time I must use headlight overnight then I still need headlight that can replace battery, it faster than wait charging USB-C
Some people like modding to customise their lights, and that’s great if you’re well-versed in doing that, but in a… questionable… light, it’s like putting perfume on a pig.
Like a light that just has the star/round not even on a paper-thin shelf but perched on a ledge with nothing underneath it, it’s just not worth the effort.
If you’re under house arrest and going stir-crazy and just need something to do, then yeah, it might be worth it. But otherwise…
Anyhoo, not to be Negative Nelly, but just ask why. Fun project? Then sure. Trying to actually get better performance? Mmm, probably not.
So many lights out there for cheap, that even that H11L (ain’t got, so can’t say anything good or bad about it) for 14bux might be a good substitute.
but quality look not good & it may not weather proof as this.
