mods: Spiderfire EDC rocket twins :-)

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Hi, I wanted to know what I could get out of a small EDC, with all the copper and stuff nowadays, so I tried to find out. I'm sure some of you have made similar mods already, but I thought I'd just share mine.

I started with two small cr123 Spiderfire lights (Spiderfire C-010, from Fasttech, $8.59 each). It is very similar to the popular Ultrafire 602H host that is even much cheaper. The Spiderfire is just a bit shorter and of better quality, but the real reason to choose it is the cool name and logo .

I wanted one with as much output as I could make in this size, and one with the best throw.

The build:

For the output mod I chose a XM-L2 3C led (sorry, even here no cool-white for me) on a copper Sinkpad and connected it direct drive to the battery. Since the stock light (with a XR-E led) to my surprise did not have a driver either I could directly use the already empty driver board, I just reinforced the connections to the battery contact plates a bit and used thicker wires. Oh, and I put a nicer and smooth reflector in, and a cheap AR-coated lens (from Fasttech). Had to make the solder blobs on the led board as flat as possible to get them out of the way of the reflector, but also put some Kapton tape in between. Some pictures:

The stock light: with the empty board and XR-E led.

new wires with better connections for max current, solder blobs flatter than the insulation gasket.

For the thrower mod I had to do a bit more work: the led is a dedomed XP-E2 R3 led, 1D tint (but not anymore after dedoming), mounted on a copper Sinkpad, the driver is a BLF-mini driver that supplies the led with 1.85A on high with a Efest 16340 IMR battery (because of the limited length of the flashlight I could only use a driver with components on one side, so a 6x7135 linear driver that delivers a bit more current was not an option, and I never tried piggybacking chips thusfar), a nice deep smooth XP-type reflector was used, and a AR coated lens (from dx I believe this one). Pictures:

The dedoming was done hot, just off the hotplate from reflowing on the Sinkpad.

The parts used. The reflector was sanded down some on the exit side just so much that the front o-ring still covers the sanded edge. This was done because with the longer reflector and thicker led-board I ran out of flashlight length (and the o-ring blocked the light from the extra reflector length anyway). I finally did not use the insulation gasket because the focus of the hotspot was better without it (led deeper into reflector), I used some Kapton tape instead.

The pill assembly. Note that my humble 15W solder iron barely manages to melt the solder with these Sinkpads.

I decided on a light cosmetic touch with orange o-rings in the middle and blue switch caps (both heads do not screw on the body fully because of extra length of the pill and reflector, but still screw against the o-ring). So here they are:

Performance.

Both lights were measured with freshly charged Efest IMR 16340 batteries.

The XM-L direct drive light: output on start 840 lumen, dropping within 10 seconds to 670 lumen (I did not measure current but I guess it to be about 2.8A at start, dropping quickly to 2.2A), then slowly decreasing probably following the draining of the battery. I don't expect the quick output drop at start to be a heating-up effect, but rather that it comes from the battery. The throw at 30 seconds was 4.2 klux@1 meter. (On a Nitecore NL 166 Li-ion battery the output was lower: 660 lumen at start, rapidly going to 540 lumen, then slowly decreasing). I had this light switched on until the battery was drained, cooling the light in my hand (it gets very hot but still bearable) with no problems. Wisely I did not measure the runtime . (15 minutes?)

The dedomed XP-E light: output was much more steady, and 284 lumen at start. And it has indeed a respectable throw : 16 klux@1 meter. I really love that throw for such a small light!

White wal hunt (under-exposed to show the hotspot):

(The XP-E beam is around the corner, but the same distance from the wall)

Tree hunt (the tree is at 25 meter), the XM-L light mouse-out, mouse-over the dedomed XP-E light:

Some comparisons, mouse out: no light, mouse over (just because I love it) my ShadowTC300 MT-G2 direct drive mod :evil: :

That all for now, I think these lights perform quite different from the usual stock light out there, I like them and I hope you like them too :-)

Thanks for reading.

2

Very nice. I always love the tiny throwers.

3

That XP-E is quite a thrower for its size. The other is a tiny wall of light. Nice work!

4

Thanks for sharing djozz. A couple of little pocket rockets you have there. The light seems to have a good little pill.

5

Which is a fully legitimate reason! Same goes for shark and black cat brand I think. :wink:

Your de-domed XP-E got almost as yellow as mine. :smiley:
I like your two lights!
The goot thing is that you never have to think about which one of the both you take to EDC, they are small enough to take both. :wink:

6

And the Black Cat brand has the extra bonus that it is made in Gemany .

7

These are nice hosts, the only shortcoming (literally) is the limited length, a thicker led board or lens and the head already does not screw fully onto the body.

8

Nice Job. I like the tint of the XM-L2.

9

Nice!

10

i would have added thermal compound under the star.any improvement in the heatsink improves brightness.

11

You are right, and I now realise that I did not mention it at all for these mods: under both stars I applied a thin layer of arctic silver.

12

djozz,

I think that this light is similar to the UF 602C hosts that FT carries. I was wondering if the lens and lens O-ring on the Spiderfire ones are the correct size (large enough)?

The lens on the 602C hosts I got from FT was too small, and the lens O-ring was too large, so I’ve hesitated buying any more of the 602Cs.

Thanks,
Jim

13

Hi Jim, the spiderfire is a bit narrower than the 602C, with the same size lens, so there's no fit issues with that.

But if you do not care about the cool spider logo, my newest favourite small-black-cheap-16340-host is this one:

It is the left one, with quite some wear because it is in my pocket with the keys all the time. It is unbranded and I bought it from Fasttech for 9 dollars:

http://www.fasttech.com/products/1601/10007115/1580800-1-cree-xp-g-r5-3-mode-370-lumen-neutral-white-edc

Here's a mod thread:

my new favourite small 16340 host, modded

14

I have a Spiderfire C-010 sitting in a drawer from a few years ago. I should go mod it with something! :bigsmile:

15

I got two of the Ultrafire 602C’s, put XP-G on sinkpads, and put in the 101-AK-A1 4*7135 (flashed with custom STAR V1.1 firmware), these little guys get hot FAST on high…1400mA is right there at it’s 300% rated output 1500mA so they are running pretty darn hard. I took out the regular reflectors and put in some 10% TIR’s and the light these guys throw is rather amazing.

With the 10degree hotspot it throws very well but has enough spill that it also works well for in close work. VERY good little pocket rocket and the SK68 can’t hold a candle to it’s performance
(until I get my 5*7135 15mm SK68 boards tested that is :wink: )

16

Sorry to bring back the thread, but as stated in somewhere else, I am thinking about getting one of these and mod it!

So…my question is: is the driver 15mm? Would it be to harsh to pick a 17mm driver and file it a bit all around to make it fit & work?
Thanks in advance :+1:

17

I tried to order one of these at Fasttech twice, a year ago and recently, and both times I got a message that it was under restock and if I would like to wait for it. Both times I chose wait for it and then nothing happened.

In other words, the light is still listed, but they don’t have it, and it will never come back.

18

You don’t say that :open_mouth: I’ve just placed and paid my order :person_facepalming:
And I didn’t get any message from them saying that… Is it automatic message or sent by support team?

I guess I will apply for refund immediately… :zipper_mouth_face:

19

You could wait for their message to be sure about it, and ask for refund then.

The message was from the support team, but it is a standard text.

20

Thanks for the advice! It is my first time ordering from them so I’ll wait a bit more. All expectations going down the hole :frowning:
Thank again! :+1: