[/quote]
I see. Truth is I didn’t even think of treating the reflector. There’s this one at KD that I’m going to order. It’s already orange peeled and for $3 it won’t hurt trying. The hole where the LED sits is a bit larger than the original reflector. Will that impact the beam pattern in some way? I’ll order some centering gaskets just in case
[/quote]
You see , most of the time we try to focus for maximum throw .
On a bike light , you actually want the beam to be slightly de-focused so you don't have a glaring hotspot . An OP reflector will help .
Anything to make the beam profile nice and smooth .
Well, it’s done here. I must say it hasn’t made that much difference to the beam’s diameter. Oh well, it was worth trying
The picture is terrible, sorry about that but my $50 phone can’t do any better, LOL
I don’t even think I’m gonna paint it. It looks OK as it is
Agreed. The floody beam pattern of the Convoy S2+ is great for biking. Here’s the link to the OP reflector I’m getting, I somehow forgot to paste the link in my previous post
I like the effect quite a lot, so another option to consider… especially now that my reflector seems to be on it’s way out, LOL. I was cleaning it with a dry cloth and I noticed this:
What the hell? did I scratch it or something? I don’t see any visible effect on the beam pattern tho
LMFAO looks like I’m not alone in learning about his the hard way. Just hope the orange peel reflector works well.
Wish I had a pristine reflector to compare the output with this scratched one
OK guys, so while I’m waiting for the new parts to arrive, I tried the driver current boost that pushes the amps to some 3A on a fresh battery by soldering the + wire to another terminal in this stock driver (stock current was maybe 1.7A ?).
I then applied some of the Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste that I use for my CPU overclocks to the integrated pill and run a few tests…
It seemed to work well: the flashlight casing got really hot pretty fast, and I recorded a 10% lux drop in 15 minutes, which I think is reasonable considering this is a direct drive driver and some of that drop is going to be due to the battery running down. So didn’t look like heat dissipation was an issue. But then I noticed this: there’s this big burn mark in the LED’s dome:
I’m sort of disappointed, I thought this host could take 3 amps safely… or maybe I’ve screwed up somewhere? I really don’t care about this emitter. I’m replacing it anyway, but learning about potential mistakes or overlooks. Any input appreciated
I got a $13 F13 with XML2, did the DD mod, braided the springs, dedomed it. It was bright! and the color shift was great…then I bought a quality battery from MTN, a keepower 5200 I think, then the supposed XML2 burnt out within the 1st minute…
I have since fitted it with a MTN 22mm FET driver, 3C XML2 on a Noctagon also from MTN, used some Arctic 5 thermal paste, sanded down the spacer. Works good…
Didn't see anyone comment - you cleaned the inside of the reflector? You can't really touch a reflector with anything - wayyy too sensitive. Read some guys have tried something crazy, like alcohol soaked cotton balls, but basically anything in contact to it will scratch and remove the surface, like what happened to yours - no sure if anything is soft and gentle enough. You can try air blowing, rinsing carefully with something really, really clean - distilled water, etc. Also believe it or not, heard you could use your tongue , seriously though.
For the XM-L2, might have been a fake, or if not on a DTP copper or DTP aluminum MCPCB, high amps is not a good thing for the LED. If the stock MCPCB - that's a cheap, bad one...
Thanks guys, I’m more than happy to burn some LEDs and ruin some reflectors in the learning process. This emitter is now going to be de-domed for obvious reasons. We’ll see how it goes
OK, so the parts finally arrived, so here’s the result for the driver adapter using one of the rings you guys recommended, soldered to a 22mm /16mm copper washer.
My soldering skill are lacking, so will see how that holds up
And here’s the pic of the emitter that got dedomed that antiparanoico requested. Sorry for the poor quality, it’s probably useless but my phone camera sucks. BTW, I replaced it with a brand new U3 and that one took the 3 amps like a boss.
I’ve already “fixed” the tailcap spring. I bought some that were smaller than I thought, so I intertwined and soldered one of those smaller springs with the old one. I guess it should help reduce resistance too right?
Also the orange peel reflector has made a world of a difference and the beam is pretty nice with a smooth spill
Hahahaha. yeah, I know. This is the second LED I dedome. This time I tried with the soldering iron and it went worse than the first one, which I eventually damaged too. LOL.
Well, The flashlight is assembled and working OK. Very happy with the tint of this U3-3D, but the LD-25 came with 3A, 0.8A and 0.1A and I can’t seem to manage to adjust the currents. Not terrible as it is, but if I can get it to 2A, 1A, 0.1A that would be perfect.
OK guys, so my F13 mod is pretty much finished. I’ve enjoyed it and like the results quite a lot.
I want to try again with a different but similar light, I essentially want one that is not so throwy. This F13 is nice, but if I could get a bigger hotspot with more flood that would be great.
So quick question (don’t think this deserves a new thread)
Trustfire A8 and Ultrafire F15 are pretty much the same light apparently, but the A8 comes with a smaller 25mm reflector, while the F15’s reflector is 30mm. Are those 5mm going to make a big difference in the size/spill of the hotspot? Would it work if I put a narrower than 30mm (orange peel) reflector on the F15 to increase flood, having the reflector push directly on the lens maybe?
Ahhh - not a "big" difference in the hot spot, but the bigger reflector, the more intense the hot spot. The depth and possible front blockage effects the flood width, not the reflector width per say. For example, a HD2010 is a great classic throw - wide and shallow reflector - so wide flood, great tight hot spot. My BLF A8's lens is set way back - the SS bezel blocks out the flood zone pretty good.
Thanks Tom. I think I’ll just buy a couple reflectors and see which one works better. I don’t understand how can they fit different sized reflectors if the host is the same. In the A8 thread there’s this guy who got one with a 30mm reflector, so maybe I can use both?
I assume the 25 and 30 #'s are width not depth, and outer width at that. The most critical dimension for throw is I.D - Inner Diameter of width. I've seen 5 mm variations in I.D. for reflectors that can fit the same size light.
If it's for 2 different light designs - yes, bezel thickness's can vary quite a bit. Zoomies have more extreme variations in lens width than reflector lights, but reflector lights can vary quite a bit based on the bezel and housing design.
Yes, it’s outer diameter. I believe depth is 21mm for all the models. I think I’m going with the Ultrafire LZZ-F15 clone and once it’s here I’ll see if I can figure out what reflector size(s) I can fit. Already found a couple candidates, one 30mm/24mm OP that I’l need to file to 21mm depth, and another 25mm/20mm that I might be able to use with an extra o-ring or thicker gasket.
, seriously though.
