I’ve been gifted baton 3 limited edition some time ago. I like the design, i like the size, i can live with proprietary battery and charging (at least for some use cases) but the emitter is what breaks it for me. I hate high CCT light. It is not even very green, but it is that horrible ghostly blue which i absolutely can not use.
In its current state the light is useless for me. I do not have much experience with flashlights specifically past messing with some convoys and hanklights (so i do know basic construction). I do have appropriate tools (rework station/hotplate, etc) as well as experience with SMD rework, so soldering the emitter would be non-issue. And i do not mind if i break it. I mean i’d prefer not to, but given the light is useless as is…
So before i start messing around i wanted to ask a few questions which should improve my chances.
First of all - is there any info on which emitter is used in the light? I did try searching, but found nothing conclusive. Is it SST40? Osram P9? Or at least what footprint, so that i can choose an appropriate replacement.
If used footprint is too limiting - what is the MCPCB size? Would i be able to use something like 16mm convoy MCPCB?
Assuming it is SST40 - how well will SFT40 work with stock TIR? I would love to put in one of those 3000K ones i got from convoy into this light, but how ugly the beam is going to be?
If not SFT40, will 519A (domed? dedomed?) be realistic? Judging by output with CW low CRI emitter the current should not be too high for it to handle, right? And how well will this work with stock TIR?
Or are there any other relatively easily accessible options, warm (~2700K-3500K), high CRI?
And may be any advice in general? Or any known/common mistakes i can make working on specific light for the first time?
You’re just going to have to experiment. Reflowing is easy so you can try a new led and see if it focuses right. I know the baton 4 is an sst-40 so I presumed the 3 is as well. P9 is used in more newer lights. Just know that going to an sft-40 3000k is going to drop output by like 40%. It’s a lot.
Like @Vicv said, you will probably have to try a few options to see what works/you like.
Do you have other lights you might want to mod? Do you think you’ll get bitten by the modding bug? If so, perhaps order a variety of parts. The ones you don’t use could go in other lights.
16mm boards should fit (maybe with some slight modification). Get some 3535 and 5050. 519a is, IMO, the best for 3535 tint wise and with good output. Both 3500k and 3000k are fantastic with dome on (which will give you the best chance at a good beam shape and focus with the TIR).
SFT40 5000K doesn’t suffer noticeable output loss (like 3000k) and is not greenish like the 6500k. You may not even notice the 3000k output loss if you’re not comparing it to anything.
DC fix or other diffuse material can help fix beam shape issues.
Yeah, i understand that output will be lower. But this is pretty much unavoidable though if i want lower CCT and high CRI…
I guess i’ll just experiment, i hoped may be someone did some experimentation already, can share some results and may be i’ll be able to avoid some “not good” experiments. But guess this lights are not very popular here…
I do have some parts, like some 16mm and 20mm MCPCBs from convoy, most with soldered emitters (variety of SFT40, 519A, FC40, 219B), mainly because i was using this for some other lighting-related projects unrelated to flashlights .
Not sure if i’ll get “bitten by the bug” though, finding time is always an issue. I’ve spent quite some time messing with 3d printing/3d printers and i am not sure i want to dive into another thing like that, but who knows… i was also considering acebeam E70 copper, which is still laying around in local store and would require emitter swap too…
I am not too worried about output loss. This is a small light, i am unlikely to use it for anything serious and it seems like for smaller tasks output should still be fine, even if it is 50% lower.
Would DC fix work though? It is a TIR which is not covered by glass, it is not flat, seems problematic…
Anyway thanks for replies, guess i’ll have to just take the light apart and play around with it.
If you do need to use a new mcpcb compare the thickness to the stock one. Press fit bezels have pretty tight tolerances. If you need to, you can sand down the base of a new mcpcb using a figure 8 motion on a sheet of sandpaper.
I know how it goes not having enough time. I’d actually like to get into 3D printing but I hardly have time for this hobby.
Let us know if you run into and issues and please report back when finished. Good luck!
Edit: and turbo on that light might be too much for the 219b but I imagine the 519a will be fine. SFT 40 is fine.
Getting it open is a bit of a pain, but generally doable for most people. Directly compatible LEDs include a different CCT of SST-40, SFT-40, XM-L2, or something like the new 5050 LED Fireflies is selling. High CRI is limited to 2700K or 3000K in this footprint and voltage, other than the FF LED at 3500K, but I haven’t tried that in the stock optic (it doesn’t look great in the Baton 3 Pro).
It is possible to use a 3535 LED like 519A if you’re willing to sand down and shape a larger MCPCB, but the stock optic requires very careful centering, and still doesn’t look great. It’s more typical to replace it with a 17mm beaded Yajiamei optic. In either case it will look better dedomed. Don’t be fooled by the aluminum “14mm XP” MCPCBs available from various sources; they’re non-DTP and will perform terribly in the Baton 3. If you’re using the Yajiamei optic, you can probably get away with one of thefreeman’s pad 5050/3535 adapters on the original MCPCB.
Thanks for the hints. Bought a few of those TIRs so that i have some options if i do not like the results with stock TIR. They are cheap anyway and will take a long time to arrive with the holidays and everything.
Also opened up the light (i hate press fit stuff…):
Ended up better then i expected - 3000K SFT40 with stock MCPCB and stock optics worked nearly perfectly. The beam is not 100% perfect, but it is close enough and definitely better than i expected. May be a bit throwier than i’d prefer, but that’s fine. Output is not too low and still good for such small light.
One thing i must say - i am definitely not impressed by how the light is built. Everything from press fit bezel to obviously inadequate thermal compound screams “cheap mass produced light” which does not fit the price of specific unit.
Thanks to everyone for the tips, whole process is ultimately pretty easy, it just feels intimidating for the first time…
It was probably easier with the S1R2, where I could get a nice warm HCRI XML2 to replace the CW XML2. Maybe it’s an option for the Baton 3, too, maybe it’s not.
