Most current (2013) recommendations for modding Trustfire X6?

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
1

Hi,

I just got a Trustfire X6, and ran some throw (lux) tests last night. Results are in post #49 here:

This is a stock X6, and as you can see from the results in that post, it got beat by both my DST and my (new) HD2010, both also stock.

Also, when I did tailcap current measurements, it was only pulling about 1.7 amps :(…

So, I’m thinking that to make the light more interesting, the best thing would be to try to mod it.

I’ve been searching here, and I understand that getting to the pill is a pain, and there’re a number of threads, but given that we’re now in 2013, and this light has been out for a few years now, I was wondering what the current recommendations would be for modding this, maybe from simple to complex?

Thanks!

Jim

2

Your stock X6 is now giving around 43kcd

I have two realistic suggestions for modifying it, starting from simplest:

1) De-dome the current emitter (very easy, see here)
- that should about double the reading = around 80-90kcd

2) Swap the emitter to a de-domed XM-L2 with SinkPad (practically overdriving the XM-L2 with stock driver)
- should give you over 200kcd

3

Hi,

I just measured tailcap current again, and am seeing ~1.81 amps on high, with 3 x Efest IMR 18650s, freshly topped up to 4.20V.

To be clear, by “tailcap current”, I mean I am putting my meter leads between the negative of the battery and the unanodized threads.

With that current that I’m now reading would that, with the original driver (whatever driver is in there from the factory) overdrive an XM-L2 emitter (I don’t currently have a way to measure actual current to the emitter directly), if I just replaced the SST-90 emitter with an XM-L2 emitter?

I’ve read that some had had problems de-doming the SST-90 (pulled phosporous off), and also, if an XM-L2 would give better performance, I’d prefer to go with that anyway.

For de-doming, is the “soak in gasoline” the best/correct method for doing that? Also, if I have an XM-L2 emitter already soldered to the PCB, can I just dump the emitter attached to the PCB into the gasoline? I’ve never done a de-doming, sorry :)….

Also, if I could get an XM-L2 U2 (or U3?) rather than an XM-L2 T6, would that be better?

Finally, IOS has the emitters on Noctigon, rather than Sinkpad. Would that be worst than, better than, or equivalent to the emitter on Sinkpad? I’ve never done a reflow, and would prefer not to have to do that.

Also, to get to the emitter, I think that I have to get the pill out (drill holes, etc.). Is that correct?

What about “small” things, like soldering braid to the tailcap spring (this only has a spring on the tailcap, none on the driver/contact PCB)? Would that be helpful?

Sorry for all the questions! I bought this X6 from a BLF user, and I didn’t really have time to do much research on the X6 beforehand (but I have been doing a lot since :laughing:.

Thanks,
Jim

4

Hi.

To answer your questions:

Would it overdrive a xml2 in its current form? Yes it would. By a fair margin. But put that new XML2 on a copper pcb and you are good to go.

Dedoming. Yes you can soak the whole pcb and emitter in gasoline no ill effects should come of that. There are no parts of this that can absorb and hold any gasoline. And after the de dome you want to clean the emitter and pcb anyway. You can use rubbing alcohol, white spirit or your preferred electro cleaner.

What emitter to get? Your call really. You will get marginally more light from a higher bin i.e. U3>U2>T6 and so forth.

The reason you would select a lower bin emitter would be if you want a warmer tint. If you prefer 3C tint over 1A tint.

But remember that the dedome by itself makes the tint a few steps warmer. I'd say the a A1 tint becomes a 1C tint after dedoming.

So to make it short:

Do you like a warm tint? Get XML2 T6 1C

Do you like a cool tint? Get XML2 U2 ** (I dont know if XML2 U3 is even available yet)

Copper boards: Get Noctigon. Better price and I'd guess as good at or better performance. Personally I'm stil using the DX.COM ones that has a dielectric layer between the copper core and the solder pad and even before I started removing that layer they performed WAY better than the aluminium ones. And you can get it ready soldered with emitter. I'd hit that :-)

To get to the emitter it should be enought to remove the bezel and the lens and then the reflector. You should then be seeing the top of the heatsink/pill with the emitter on it.

Soldering braid to the springs: Do it. Probably we all ought to do it. TIP: Even a thin piece of copper wire (22 gauge) solders much easier and gives you ~90% of the effect of the soldering braind. Just saying this because I personally think the soldering braid is really hard to solder to springs!

And finally... Don't be sorry about the questions. They are fine questions. Shows thorough research and method. You are just experiencing the "I've got a helluva big expensive light and now what?" that everyone who doesn't do stuff like this as part of their job/training. You'll do just fine and I'm sure you'll feel a lot more confident about it once you have the parts on hand and you start to get the ball rolling. Have fun!

5

Ledsmoke already answered most of your questions, but here's my 2c:

Try de-doming the SST90 first. It is easy & relatively safe. And you can swap the emitter if that would fail..

Buy as cold XM-L2 as you can. De-doming will make it much warmer.

You don't need or even want to open the pill. Access the emitter from the front. See scaru's thread I linked above.

6

Ledsmoke and the,

Thanks for all of the answers (and patience :)!).

After reading through several threads, I’d been dreading trying to get the pill out of this X6, so I’m glad that I’ll be able to get to the emitter without doing that :)!

Ok, re. emitter: I’ll probably go with an XM-Lx on Noctigon, and de-doming that. My “logic”, such that it is, is to keep the SST-90 intact, as it sounds like I’d get much better results performance-wise with the de-domed XM-Lx anyway, so there doesn’t seem to be much point to trying to de-dome the SST-90. Plus, to do the XM-Lx, it’ll already be out of the light, since I’ll be getting it new anyway. “Path of least resistance”, you know :)…

Braid/wire on spring - will do, no problem :)! Actually, I’m planning to do this first, and then re-measure lux, just out of curiousity, and will update that table in the other thread.

Going backwards a bit… So if the easiest path to better performance seems to be just replace the SST-90 with a de-domed emitter, which doesn’t require removing the pill and finding a suitable driver which doesn’t drop down after a minute, why was there so much discussion about doing that way-back-when?

Was it because de-doming wasn’t being done?

Or, because there were no XM-L2s?

Wouldn’t even de-doming just a plain old XM-L, say, U2 have been good?

Thanks again!

Jim

Edit: I just removed the front part of the head and reflector, to take a look at where the emitter is. It seems like it’s somewhat deep into the front, and might be a little awkward to remove/replace (and re-solder) the emitter/PCB like that?

Also, does the white insulation disk just pop off if you pry it (via the holes)? I haven’t tried it yet…

7

No problem. We are here to help. :)


[quote=ohaya] After reading through several threads, I'd been dreading trying to get the pill out of this X6, so I'm glad that I'll be able to get to the emitter without doing that :)! [/quote]

That's one of the reasons why I suggested those two mods. There was no separate contact plate in my X6, so I managed to break the driver when drilling holes. It has now only one mode..


[quote=ohaya] Ok, re. emitter: I'll probably go with an XM-Lx on Noctigon, and de-doming that. My "logic", such that it is, is to keep the SST-90 intact, as it sounds like I'd get much better results performance-wise with the de-domed XM-Lx anyway, so there doesn't seem to be much point to trying to de-dome the SST-90. Plus, to do the XM-Lx, it'll already be out of the light, since I'll be getting it new anyway. "Path of least resistance", you know :) [/quote]

De-doming the SST-90 is very easy. Just take tweezers and twist & lift. Both Rikr and Dale did it and were happy with the results. You might still want to try it.. ;)


[quote=ohaya] Going backwards a bit... So if the easiest path to better performance seems to be just replace the SST-90 with a de-domed emitter, which doesn't require removing the pill and finding a suitable driver which doesn't drop down after a minute, why was there so much discussion about doing that way-back-when? Was it because de-doming wasn't being done? Or, because there were no XM-L2s? Wouldn't even de-doming just a plain old XM-L, say, U2 have been good? [/quote]

Many reasons.. Mainly, De-doming wasn't as popular than nowadays. Using a XM-L would have been ok, but the problem was that anything over 3A was too much for XM-L on an aluminum star. Now, as we are using copper stars without dielectric layer, 5-6A is not a problem any more.

Another reason was driver swap was to try boosting the overall output, not only throw..

[quote=ohaya] Edit: I just removed the front part of the head and reflector, to take a look at where the emitter is. It seems like it's somewhat deep into the front, and might be a little awkward to remove/replace (and re-solder) the emitter/PCB like that? Also, does the white insulation disk just pop off if you pry it (via the holes)? I haven't tried it yet... [/quote]

Are you sure you split the head from correct place? Not from bezel, but lower. See scaru's photo:

The insulation disk pops up easily, but the hole in it is too large for XM-Ls => you need to use another additional insulation disk.

8

Hi All,

I still haven’t done anything with this X6. I keep looking at it, but procrastination and concern about messing the SST-90 if I try to de-dome it keep me from doing it.

I do have a couple of other questions though (naturally :laughing:.

1) If I replaced the SST-90 with an XM-L2 T6 on Noctigon:

http://intl-outdoor.com/noctigon-xm20-mcpcb-cree-xml2-t6-3c-led-p-719.html

but don’t de-dome the XM-L2 T6, would that better better performing than the non-de-domed SST-90?

2) Same question as #1 above, but for an XM-L2 U2.

3) Anyone know if there’s a place to buy XM-L2 U2 on Noctigon or on a copper PCB?

Thanks,
Jim

9

Don’t bother to dedome SST-90 since XML2 and copper board are already here. Suggested mod by the is very creative mod with XML2 dedomed. But I am not sure about long term reliability here. I am thinking to try this mod either as my X6 has not been switched on for a few months already. It just does not perform what a big flashlight should perform nowadays.