Some of you may have seen my L2m mod awhile ago. Shortly after that, I acquired an L2n, which immediately impressed me with it’s look and feel. After seeing how versatile plumbing parts can be, I decided to trick out the L2n.
I used wight’s FET+7135 driver (as usual) and four XP-G2 S3’s, two 3D tint and two 3C tint. It draws 6.2amps from a slightly used Samsung 25R, which should be good for 2300+ lumens of gorgeous mixed tint. All the copper inside keeps the heat down for awhile, but once it’s hot it takes some time to cool down. On the outside it got a SS bezel, SS Clip, SS tail, and of course a lighted tailcap.
3/4” pipe is a near perfect fit in the solarforce drop-in cavity. It’s a microscopic bit too big, but just a few seconds of sanding and it slides right in. I used type L pipe because it has thicker walls than the more-common type M. Thicker walls means better heatsinking and the correct inside diameter for the 1/2” adapter.
The adapter isn’t absolutely necessary (the pipe could work without it), but it adds a bunch of copper mass. I just used my dremel to sand down the adapter threads a bit till it was a tight press-fit into the copper pipe. The adapter “nubs” also need to be sanded to meet the outside diameter of the pipe.
I then measured and cut the pipe to length, soldered the copper rounds on the top to be the emitter shelf, and drilled a hole in the middle for emitter wires.
The hardest part was figuring out how to mount the driver. There are probably many solutions, but I chose to solder the driver adapter to the narrow end of the male pipe adapter. I then sanded the ring down so it fits down into the battery tube like a normal P60 drop-in.
The result is a very tight fitting, heavy copper pill that has to be pushed out through the battery tube with a screwdriver if you want to remove it.
I am keen to discuss a few ideas before I run to a Home Depot
- how difficult was it to measure out the spacer and head on the L2n before you started the work? I am working a similar concept (testing it on a Saik SA305) and measuring things right took a few attempts.
would it be easier (but probably not cheaper) to utilize solid copper rods and then drill a channel for the wires?
It wasn’t too hard to measure using digital calipers, but I purposefully measured/cut a little big then slowly sanded it down to get the perfect fit.
If you have solid bar and a drill press, it would be super easy and you’d get even more mass. Just cut the bar to length, drill a hole for wires, and then drill a cavity/shelf for the driver
The pipe is the least cost effective part, especially since you only need less than 2 inches of it.
Really nice work. I’m a big fan of the P60 format and have been keeping it simple by sticking to the commonly available dropins. I dont have the tools nor the skills to produce anything close to your build. The one you made here is very impressive. The lighted tailcap is a nice touch. The end result would be an amazing L2 torch that would have lots of “wow” factor.
Well thanks for the compliments, but you could probably do it too. I’m just a kid with no special skills or fancy tools. I used a cordless drill, hammer, $25 rotary tool, butane pencil torch, and my oven.
Given enough practice I would probably be able to learn and produce something similar but I have limited tools and my garage workshop is too small. I will try and spend more time this summer experimenting with modding as I’ve building up lots of spare bits and a few underused hosts so lots of options. keep posting your builds as they are very interesting and inspire more ideas on what can be possible.
