Somebody came from the past

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Hello everybody, it’s been a long time for me…Cheers to anyone that’s still around! Was like i made a break of 9 years. I still have 40 flashlights on my collection, used to have triple of them in numbers, all cherry picked. So, suddenly, i felt like my flashlights are outdated! Did a search, honestly, i do not like all that technology around in flashlight and useless performance and runtime. I still think that plain and simple flashlights with usable runtimes are the best.
So, i decided to mod my flashlights with everything latest is around. Bought most leds from KD, but honestly, the results weren’t what i expected, i thought i would get something more.
What leds i got in enought numbers:

SST40 N5
SFT40 N5
SST20 L5
LH351D W6 cri90
XP-L Hi V3
XP-L HD W2
XHP50.3
XM-L2 U3

What i modded until now and the otf results(Still have to mod about 30 flashlights, the big one guys !):

quark 2xAA tactical: was 190lm with xp-g r5, now 234lm with xp-l hi v3 (a bit low)
Fenix E40 4xAA, (0,96amp on the led): was 220 with xp-e2 r4 and now 340lm with sst20 L5. (Thats a low bump?)
Fenix PD32 1x 18650 (1,2amp on the led) : was 325lm with xp-g S2, 1st mod 355lm with xp-g2 R5 and now 390lm with sst20 L5. (was expecting something more)
Fenix Tk15 1x18650 1,46amp on the led): Was 380 with xp-g s2, 1st mod 417lm with xp-g2 S2 and now 470 lm with sst20 L5. (Still here expecting something more)
nitecore ife2, was 260lm with xp-g r5, now ld531d w6 and 360lm. (expecting something more too here)
Farka xenoled f8, one of the beloved, works with 6χ7135 ~2,2amp output 800lm with a sst40 N5. (thats possibly a good result)
Armytek predator V2, was with xp-g2 R5 and 2,1amp at the led, modded it with sft40 and i get 714lm. (possibly ok due to throwy i dont get an accurate reading?)
olight S35,was 380lm with xm-l, and now 400lm with xp-l hd w2. ( don’t like that)
18650 host, modded with 7x7135 2,46amp, no old results, now 870lm with sst40 N5(thats good).
olight s10, was 350lm με xm-l, now 340lm with sst20 l5. (too low i think)
Nitecore Ea4, i get about 860lm with lh531d w6, did not measure it before the mod.(was expecting something more)
Trustfire X7 thrower, was getting 1080lm with xm-l2 u2 and 4.5 amp driver, now i get 2160lm with xhp50.3 hi and 6V 4.5amp(stated) KD driver.(Thats possibly the most logical result, as i guess it gives less than 4.5amp to the led, have to measure it)

In general and this is where i need your help. I like the performance of sst40 N5 and xhp50.3 I doubt somehow the performance of xp-l hi and LH351D. I find poor the performance of sst20 L5 and xp-l hd W2. They seem low, according to the datasheets, i should had seen a higher lumen bump. Do you think this is logical?
Is there any chance KD does not put the stated bin? SST20 was like L2 and xp-l hd was like v3 or less? LH351D also, was expecting something more. At these amp, i should have been getting around like double the efficiency. The tint was ok in all conditions, as expected.

Thank you for your help nice to see you again!

2

Hmm, seems they all get fed quite low power. The bigger LEDs needs fet. I believe Xhp 50 can take over 7amps without turning blue. The 351d should be able to hit around 1500 lumen, around 5 amps or so.

Have any fet drivers able to test with?

3

Hi there, thank you for the answer, i prefer higher efficiencies and more usable runtimes, don’t want to push them that hard. But anyway, i have some flashlights that can feed up that high amp, mods are to be done, but still i want to check what i have done. Don’t you think some efficiencies look low?

4

Welcome back Ergotelis. :slight_smile:

Leds are more efficient now, but the difference is not huge. It is more about higher current capability and some have great tints and colour rendering.

Apart from the leds, drivers are different now, giving more current than before, but also I think a lot of your lights still have aluminium boards, while copper DTP boards are the standard now which help the led performance a great deal.

A great classics collection of lights though! :+1:

5

Thank you, more coming out of my drawer, will post some nice mods soon, have some beasts in there to mod. Btw, i use copper boards for the leds, at least for all those 1+amp draw, something that i might not have done in the past, but still don’t see the expected lumen bump.

I did a research, i don’t see anyone selling sst20 L5 and LH351D W6 cri90.
As for the second, i don’t see it even in samsung site. In fact, it looked too good to be true, honestly. I guess there should some wrong information on KD site.

6

Welcome back, ergotelis!

7

Thank you!

I may open a new thread to post some of my mods, here is an interesting one i made from my old stock:

TK75, was with 3x xm-l u2, 2.8amp draw per led, ~2450 lm measured output.

Now, 3x sft40 N5, resistance mod with 3,8amp (can give details), ~3900 lm measured output.

Also did a nice dual color GITD mod with clear silicone. The powder i used was a great V10 something like that, from a reputable seller in cpf. I guess it looks nice!

Of course, the throw…is throwy! Haven’t measure it yet at a good distance to get the right result, but i should be about 300k cd/m and maybe more.

Have made more than 35 mods so far, both amp increase with new drivers+resistances, of course with latest emitters and some GITD additions. Have lots of things to show.

8

Me tin kardia mou agapo aftous pou me misoune,
Fandasou posó agapo aftous pou m’agapoune.

Mandinada pou mou edose I mitera mou apo ta Chania.

Welcome back to the forum.

9

Thank you, nice to meet someone here with the same roots ! I live all time in Herakleion! See you soon back to crete sometime!

10

Haven’t been in over 5 years. Hopefully soon.