Ok Tom, ok..
You had me after
"not glued"
"simple resistor mod"
"king of LED reflector throw lights"
:D
TK61 outthrows the TN32 stock?
Not stock. The TN32 stock is pushed a lot harder, so it wins out by force of sheer lumens.
Me and Tom were talking about the potential of the light, not stock..
Tom E, about the high lux readings of the LX-1330B that you and several others owners of that meter seems to get. I cant say anything for sure.
But Fenix says 170.000 stock
Selfbuilt measured 171.000 on his calibrated meter.
You with a LX-1330B measured 195.000 stock. 14% higher than selfbuilt with his calibrated meter.
You and JMpaul, both with LX-1330B also got the highest readings (so far) in the L4 lux thread.
I don't know, but I get the impression that the readings from the LX-1330B are a bit too high.
RaceR86 Please, I beg your pardon oh sire of photons, for I, a lowly peasant dared to interfere in a communique of such grave importance, and respond to a query not borne of your orifice, but rather of the one above you, the one you, in your bountiful wisdom did not deem worthy a reply... pardon me ever so much.
The 2nd TK61 measured lower 177 kcd, but also the lumens measured lower, just this weekend. Weird - my lumens and throw measurements have matched up well with rdrfronty's ExTech high end meter measurements in the past.
IE: Yes - should have made it clear - the TN32 stock vs. TK61 stock -- TN32 wins, but only because it runs at crazy high amps, while the TK61 is 1.6A measured at the batteries, 3.2A effective to the LED. For the "vn" followers around (yes - it reads like a cult), and as you know, there is no "mod thread" published by vinh, but we do get occasional hints of what he does. He's great for mod buyers, not mod makers... For buyers, again, who cares how he does the magic? For modders, would be nice to throw us a bone on occasion, specially when the initial buying frenzy is over.
Ok - read up last night in the CPF vinh TK61 thread. So, he is saying he replaced "transistors" and added heat sinking to the transistors to get it working at 5.75A (maybe higher?). So, the TK61 clearly has two R050's - easier acces then a TK75. I got an R030, which would result in 5.87A -- not sure if I should take the chance.
Any guess, do you think he means MOSFET(s) when he says transistors?
Maybe I should aim for 5.5A and leave it at that. Maybe that's roughly what you can do max with the stock driver. I trust vinh's research. I believe he said there are heat problems at high amps.
Ideally, the TK61 is ripe for a 6.5A buck driver (8.4v in) that can support 1-2 e-switch inputs. The knucklehead driver maybe, well if/when it's stable? Looking at the TK61, I'd love to replace the driver. Either this, or look into converting the battery carrier to 4P, then a BLF17DD w/e-switch firmware would do the trick. I'd prefer a regulated buck driver though, of course, for better amp regulation.
I can't agree yet if my meter is higher than "true" yet. Need more info. Forget if selfbuilt is more conservative or not. Can't recall - read up on this a while back. Really need to review rdrfronty's #'s on those same lights selfbuilt has. If we take Fenix #'s as gospel, then this one case, one unit seems to indicate his readings are the best. Just dunno yet --- needs a lot more research.
I read the same yesterday I also wondered about what he said about transistors. I wonder if its just a basic resistor mod though.
The added heat sinking is just done with thermal pad/pads.
He added copper braid or something inside the carrier but not on the springs that goes towards the driver circuit. Its not a big deal on a regulated light, but he skipped that step.
Does anyone know if its easy to buy stock replacement driver from Fenix? If vinh decided to stop at 5,75A, and not around 6,5A, its probably a reason for it. Still, I would like to know the true limit of the driver. >)
Talked to EE's at work, and did confirm a MOSFET is a transistor, but everyone calls them FET's, not transistors -- thought "transistors" sounded dated, weird.
Actually vinh does wires in the springs, not copper braids, maybe re-solders them as well. Probably like me, he uses some electrically conductive treatments as well. Also read he'll touch up solder connections, etc. I believe he has real skills on LED/beam focusing, opening up glued connections, plus I believe he has resources for custom parts and electrical work. He's been learning, like all of us. I know early on he struggled with Shockers, and also believed copper wiring/braiding springs is wrong - he felt a high qual spring that's tight is better. Since then, think he learned and adapted.
I know for the TN31's for example, he got great results, better than what I could do, compared head to head, both measured by rdrfronty. I believe the main difference was focusing - I go lax at times with the effort involved.
In the CPF threads, there were discussions about name brand support - not sure bout Fenix -- believe it was JetBeam and ThruNite they really tore in to. Some insist the light must be shipped back at your expense to China, and they do the repair, rather then getting a replacement driver. I've found Crelant great with support - they sent me a replacement switch assembly that I broke - think they only charged for shipping.
The battery carrier mod that Vinh does is called a “Wick Mod”. It is a little copper wire inside and soldered from the bottom to the top of each spring. Supposedly helps with lights that demand a lot of current.
My TK61vn, TK75vn KT and K40vn all have the “Wick Mods”.
Can you share a pic of your tk61vn driver?
+1
I asked Fenix if its possible to buy a replacement driver for the TK61..
"
Dear Customer
Sorry to tell you that we can't sell the driver circuit to you.
If there is problem with TK61, you can contact with our distributor or us.
Fenix provides 2 years free repairs for our products."
:Sp
I'm gonna try 5.3A with two R075 resistors (5.3A to LED according to the math). Pulled the MCPCB, nice heavy copper (not al), and will replace the emitter with a XM-L2 U2 1A, and de-dome it.
K- thanx! We've done plenty of those - I go back and forth between copper braid and wires. On these regulated drivers, not sure exactly how it benefits - may a little, maybe get longer life from the cells?
It’s possible Tom’s LX1330B is reading a little high, who knows for sure. I do know in the past his meter read very close to my LX-1330B meter.
Also whats interesting to note though is that my much more expensive Extech EA31 luxmeter tends to read slightly HIGHER than my LX1330B. Just about 1% though, so they read very close and consistent. And also note that Self Built also uses an Extech like mine. So who knows.
Irregardless, my way of thinking is that the most important thing with any of us guys taking measurements, regardless of me, Tom, Self-Built, etc. - is to be consistent. And to MAINLY use these measurements for comparisons for one light we have tested vs another.
I feel VERY confident saying that if we get a reading of 200k on one light and 240k on the next light - that second light is truly 20% stronger in throw than the first. So if a reader already has the first light and is considering buying the 2nd light, they can be assured if they do, it will give them appx 20% more throw than the light they already own. Obviously you have LED and general manufacturing variances, but I think the point is valid.
Basically nobody on any of these forums own a true integrated sphere or professional lux meters (as far as I know), so all of our testing numbers are going to be slightly off here or there. Regardless of it being Selfbuilt, Tom E, and myself included. We all do the best we can with the best equipment we can make or afford to buy.
With all this said, I am definitely having some doubts. Since I only have one meter, I'm thinking I may have intermittent issues with this one now -- just not sure. Ideally, I should have a light put aside that outputs consistent and re-test it with every measurement, and also have a backup meter. I measured a TM26 rated at 3800 lumens to be 3,100 lumens in my lightbox the other day as another example.
Also, the 2nd TK61 I measured (another unit) tested to be only 177 kcd - much closer to selfbuilt's #.
I'll continue to measure and post, and hopefully I'll find time to check calibration #'s, batteries in the meter, etc. - get a bit more confidence in it. I'd still rather publish #'s than not - pics just can't do justice if there's no long distance measurements included, and/or enough lights to compare with.
Anyone got dimensions of the enormous reflector…?
Thought I had pics of the TN31 and TK61 reflectors side by side - TK61 is 96mm head diam, and with their lightweight, plastic reflector design, the reflector is a high percentage of that diameter. Biggest reflector out there I believe.
Tom E, so vinhn said that 4A is the limit? thats very low! do you notice any problems or heat with your mod? you said it went up to 4.7A after you modded it, right? i’m afraid to let my friend mod it now when i read that 4A is the limit without modding the driver for heat?
I was hoping someone knows the depth of the reflector, so I can get an idea of the width / depth ratio.
Don't think I ever said that bout 4A ?? Someone else did maybe?? Sorry, losing track here... Again, we get tidbits, breadcrumbs... Didn't get to do runtime testing on the TK61 I have -- I have it 2.75A tailcap using two R075's, 5.5A effective, but did not actually measure amps to the LED.
If that's true about what he said about the 4A, it may mean he or someone looked up the specs on the parts and saw a rating of 4A max, in which case it could be true, and anything higher is at risk. But of course we all know CREE's specs call for 3A max 
, but with FET's, it may really be a risk. The knucklhead project may have the same issue - using a FET rated at 4A max. FET's are blowing but may be related to amps, may not, don't think they know yet.
Bascially any resistor mod is risky -- if I knew enough to reverse engineer a driver/circuit and compute the max amps it's capable of, I'd know enough to design my own 
.