excellent… right as i finish up this round of modding (m10) youll have something else for me to follow in your footsteps lol.
Tom, you did some great work there. Amazing all the talent floating around this forum 
Bitchin’ work on this light Tom E: I agree with the post:
A terrific segue from the DD post/offer and, as I wrote there, my understanding was that the C8T6 and X5T6 were internally identical and merely differentiated by the external host — well, ok… I didn’t say it quite the same way but it’s the meaning that counts
I’ve got a post querying the driver in the forum, and wondering if you still have it: it’s labeled HX-1170A and the post is here with a query on identification Can anyone identify the (kind of) driver board labeled HX-1101A?
Sounds like you’re getting the same heatsinking in your mod that I get from the non-modded C8T6: right down to the tailcap. The first time I felt this I immediately turned off the light and took out the cell… it was cool which meant this host was heatsinking very well (but you’re doing >3A: amazing) Looking forward to seeing some temp measurements if possible.
Also, wondering how you dealt with your mod and the reflector’s white centering ring that FlashPilot criticized for lumen reduction?
The only thing that I’ll question is your conclusion that “it’s not the thrower it was touted to be”.
With my understanding from the rep that the emitter/reflector setup was identical between the C8 and the X5, I tried to dispel this myth in that DD thread that the X5 was a “thrower”
I think it first came up with some observations by another forum member suggesting that the deeper reflector would be more of a thrower, but I supplied some Supfire pictures from their site and taobao - as well as my understanding from the rep - that it would have more flood.
Specifically, I think the following pic from the thread was misinterpreted: their “normal” C8 is on the left, the X5 is on the right: I understood that they meant it to exhibit less throw on purpose.
Here’s the Supfire shot I uploaded to that thread
_
Your whitewall shots are terrific, and your mod efforts and results even more so!
I look forward to more results from this mod - as well as your others!!!
Thank You!
Thanks m! Ok - I think it was Summer herself (DinoDirect) that was touting it's "better" when asked about the throw, and the evidence she provided was the size comparison of the reflectors. Maybe I didn't pickup on what you were stating there - I think I was confused with those photos as well. So I think the #'s now confirm what you found. About the throw, in post #6 I reported the numbers for the final X5:
1156 lumens start, 1111 lumens @30 secs, throw: 37 kcd (Pana 3400 4.19v, 3.63A measured)
So far 1100 lumens range light, 37 kcd is a bit dissapointing in my opinion, but for comparison, it's best to compare with something close, like the XinTD with my crazy mod, here's the result for the XinTD:
XinTD C8, before w/U3 1C at 3.5A Nanjg, stock emitter, stock driver but added 2 350 7135's:
- 986 lumens start, 948 lumens @30 secs, throw: 36 kcd
XinTD C8 after, add 1 7135: 3.85A now, XM-L2 U2 1C on a SinkPAD:
- 1101 lumens start, 1060 lumens @30 secs, throw: 44 kcd (pana 3400 4.16v, 3.4A measured)
So the XinTD modded to 3.5A is close to the X5's throw @950 lumens, while mod'ed to about 1100 lumens, it out-throws the X5 by about 21%. Also from the wall bean shot, the XinTD's beam does look more concentrated, smaller. It's not a fair comparison to the heavily mod'ed HD2010 - that beam is very well concentrated and I measured the throw at 91 kcd.
Also here, rdrfronty measured a stock LightMalls UF C8 U2 at 33.6 kcd, his at 823 lumens. I got the same light (modded of course) doing like 980 lumens, so didn't measure it, but it should be doing in the high 30's maybe 40 kcd now. Of course I believe the LightMalls UF C8 U2 is a special C8 with a superior reflector for a C8, but still...
I'm pretty sure others said this, the deeper the reflector is doesn't necessarily mean it's a better thrower, but it will reduce the spill area, and that's what I'm seeing with the X5. I got another light, the TrustFire-168a, also mod'ed of course, incredibly deep reflector, but just can't get good throw #'s from it, it's frustrating, but it has the least amount of spill I've seen, even an A60 has more spill, though much duller than the 168a.
It's all good though, still like the beam pattern, not much flood, but a lot of light, not a terrible thrower, but decent. Actually I like the look/handling better than the XinTD and think the quality of the shell appears to be as good.
If youve gotten around to the mod, I was wondering if the driver retaining ring could be screwed down on a 2.8A 7135 driver without further mods. If not, I’ll buy some copper rings that Tom E used.
Tome E,
Which rings did you use? I just want to make sure I buy the right ones.
16mm to 17mm
17mm to 17mm
17mm to 18mm
Thanks
Hi FlashPilot - I checked my order history and the brass ring I definitely used was the 17 to 16, as linked to in the OP.
Thanks Tom E!
Hi Tom E,
My package from intl-outdoor.com arrived today so I modded my X5 with XML2 T6 1A and Qlite 7135 3.04A driver. I get a bit more than 25% increase in lux for 300 mAh more with emitter swap. While the spot is brighter, so is the spill. At the farthest ranges, it definitely beats a stock X5 (I now have 3 to compare). The differences are definitely noticeable but not dramatic.
I was able to press the 16mm to 17mm ring into the pill without any modifications, but it did take a lot of force to do it. While the mods definitely made my lux meter happy, (as we know) the increases to the eyes are less than amazing. I was surprised to see a much better tint with 1A. Im guessing the stock emitter was probably 0A and had a very cold white hue. For the much better tint, noticeably brighter flood at close range and slightly better throw, along with a H/M/L driver without disco modes, it was definitely worth the $10 and time to mod it… the emitters were on sale for $4.77 each.
Thanks for the great mod thread. This was probably the easiest mod Ive done yet. Solder was used only on the driver star for mode selection and soldering the leads to the MCPCB. Everything else is press fit with lots of force. I can finally say that I enjoy my X5.
That's a nice mod, glad it worked out for you!
i replaced the emitter in mine finally with a xml2 t4 80 cri from intl outdoor today… i decided not to try and swap a 3 amp driver after seeing what a pita it was… mine pulls 2.4-2.8amps on a tff 18650 - which is more than enough for me for a single cell everyday use “around the house” light for me
wow those isolation discs are a pain in the @$$ to remove and then replace… i had to mess with my soldering of the new star a few times to get my solder joints to be “shallow” enough to fit under the second outer disc
all in all took about 40 min and i have a very nice single cell 80 cri light 
a bit less orange and more towards neutral than my xml t5 5c1… i like it!
thanks for all the info tom e
For another 10 hours, the Supfire X5 is available for $21.17 shipped. I just bought 2 more. The emitter color selector shows only available in warm white… perfect!