I’m glad to say that both of my mod candidates are the XPG version, so I can just use the stock MCPCBs. My LEDs have just arrived, too, although it’ll be a long while before I have time to do the actual mod.
Thank you for the MCPCB offer, though - I do appreciate that 
yay!
a friend just ordered me another V10a
from a source we have not worked with before
fingers crossed
WoW!
Sent you an email!
After finding a V10a control ring difficult to open with the Oveready Bezel Tools, I tried a different strategy:
I put the light in the sun to warm up:
went out to eat Carne Adovada:
and when I got home, the light opened easily:
wooohoo! One step closer to a High CRI Rotary.
Now you done it, you have opened Pandora’s Box. 
Glad you got it open jon_slider.
How are you liking the V10a jon_slider? 
And…to me it seems that it wasn’t the heat but the meat that made the flashlight open Popeye style :sunglasses:
Hope you are well :+1:
> it wasn’t the heat but the meat
lol, yes 
spinach is overrated
I prefer Pork! lol
> How are you liking the V10a
I really like the control ring design and feel, very smooth. Also a very nice tight beam from the xpg, should be a great reflector for a 219b or e21a mod.
And I ordered some sapphire lenses, more info here:
I opened a Sunwayman V10a
and installed a E21a 4500k.
I then did some comparisons to a 219b 4500k sw45k
first impressions
the E21a 4500k is greener than the sw45k
no surprise there, the difference in duv predicted that (thanks to maukka for the charts)
The e21a seems to make colors pop more than the sw45k
even though the sw45k makes reds redder, and on the e21a reds are more orange
the e21a makes whites whiter, the sw45k makes them pinker
I need to spend some quality time with the light during the day tomorrow, to get a better idea of the tint of the E21a compared and contrasted to the sw45k, during daylight brain balance.
work in progress on the beam from the E21a, there is a ring in the outer spill, and a donut hole within 3” of target… need to lift the mcpcb by 0.5mm
and the centering ring needs to be clearanced over the solder joints on the mcpcb
The E21a board is smaller, which creates the contact of the solder joints to the centering ring.
An easier mod would be an sw45k reflow to the stock board, but I am curious to experience the E21a 4500k.
centering the LED is also a work in progress, again because the e21a mcpcb is smaller and not auto centering…
Im expecting some thermal epoxy, to experiment with, for centering and height control of the e21a mcpcb
Its been a long evening peering through a jewelers visor… time for some quality time online… LOL
I want to thank my mentors, coaches, and other supportive members of this community. I could not have gotten this far without you.
===
a few comparisons
fwiw, though the tint of the E21a 4500k seems a bit yellow/green, in actual use the color rendering is excellent. imo, People who find the sw45k too pink, will like the E21a 4500k.
That Maratac with sw45k is gorgeaus 
The V10a, despite the “greenish”/”yellowish” look, seems to be nice, when not aiming at a white wall !
Hope you enjoy it
> That Maratac with sw45k is gorgeous
thanks!
that sw45k CuTool is my most used aaa light
tint is always relative
the sw45k will make anything look “greener”
but that is because the sw45k is “too” pink (farther below bbl)
in actual use during daylight brain white:
shining the sw45k at the palm of my hand, it is obviously oversaturated in red/pink
the e21a 4500k makes my hand look more “natural” color (closer to daylight tint)
the E21 4500k is very good at separating colors, and whites are “whiter” (closer to the bbl)…
here is a daylight comparison
duv reference points
Optisolis 6500k +0.0032
Daylight 5600k +0.0033
Incandescent 3000k duv 0.00
e21a 4500k –0.0038
sw45k –0.0055
daylight Tint is considerably greener than the two nichias, which makes the nichias “look” pink, during daylight brain balance.
In actual use, Im enjoying the e21a 4500k very much. It is definitely “whiter” (duv closer to 0.00) than the sw45k
{pangs of guilt for being disloyal to sw45k… lol}
Im just nit picking here but to me the two pics above, looks like the reds are darker with the E21a if focus on the right side of each pic. Maybe the sw45k is brighter in the pic and being white washed. Im no expert here, just from what it looks like to me. The yellows seem darker with the E21a and the blues also. Kind of depends on where you compare points in the pics.
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If you look at the left side of both the pics, It looks like the darker colors shift to sw45k. Is this effect just a spill hotspot centering thing.
Curious as why they both look the same if you pic the right side of the pic for E21a and the left side of the pic for the sw45k.
Either one looks so close to me, It be hard for me to pic which one is what unless I did a side by side comparison like in your pic.
I do see that the E21a makes whites whiter but it appears mostly just in the center, wondering if that has to do with the smaller die of the E21a giving a more intense Hotspot.
Your pics are very helpful for comparisons, just trying to figure out what I see exactly.
They both look like excellent Led choices.
yes, the pics are a very inexact science
the sw45k has a larger hotspot, and it got that nice yellow part
the e21a has a smaller hotspot, and yes it does seem to wash out or overexpose, and missed the yellow sample
very hard to see much difference between the two red/white areas
bottom line, so far to me
the E21a is less extreme pink than the sw45k
and the E21a makes reds a bit less dark, and whites “noticeably” whiter (to a tint snob)
I had a similar feel that the E21a in 3500k has better color separation, than the 219b 3500k
I definitely like the E21a “better” than the N219b, but were making some very fine distinctions (that I happen to enjoy)
in actual use, I notice things that are hard to capture exactly, with my iPhone
Im glad to hear you find the pics somewhat informative… I have a lot of fun comparing LEDs
and Im growing to respect the ones that are not necessarily as over pink as the very unique sw45k
very grateful to you for holding my hand through the learning process to mod my own LEDs… I get a big thrill out of it… thanks for your help and encouragement
That makes sense then. I guess you would have to have two identical setups to be able to see the exact difference.
The pics do help to see what one would expect to see if they used the led before even buying it. That’s a big help when led tint shopping.
These two appear to be so close each other, either one would be a excellent choice. Thanks for the comparison’s.
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I do appreciate your gratitude. I feel that I only pushed you into trying. You already had a good knowledge of what you needed and how to do it.
It was just a matter of you jumping in with both feet and doing it. A few failures along the way is normal and you learned from it becoming a even better modder.
It’s a great feeling owning a light you have modded yourself making it the way you want it. I see the joy it has brought you and I’m just happy to have helped.
I feel that sharing and a eagerness to help among members is what seperates this forum from all the others. I’m grateful to be a small part of BLF.
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Keep the pics coming jon_slider, they are a big help in visualizing what one would expect to see with a particular led.
I think you need to diffuse each if you want to do a fair comparison otherwise like you say one part of the beam is a different color . Diffuse both and see what the differences are . that takes out the coronas , hotspots /tint shifting, artifacts etc . Even beamshots at a different distance will change what you see .
it is very difficult to explain tint, even in pictures
it helps if the picture includes a light you have, so you can see what a light you may not have, looks like compared to the one you know…
Ive come to a new realization… that the tint I see, changes based on what Im comparing it to…
I can see that some of the pics have a different shade than others. Looking at the paper at the back of the flashlights and the wood.
Some seem white comparred to the others. So whats happening that causes this. Is the camera adjusting for what it thinks it needs to be for a good pic?
How do have a actual what you see pic or is it impossible. Maybe lining 10 flashlights up to compare would be more acurate but I do see how a pic can be persuaded towards a certain tint.
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That’s the main reason I don’t post up many beam shot pics. Because I can never seem to nail exactly what I see.
I have learned from you, that what you see does depend on what light your eyes have adjusted to at that time.
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However your pics do relate to what I do see sometimes and that really helps with led choices.
auto white balance
in the thread I created to discuss this, I have invited people with more sophisticated cameras to come up with their own example photos
I have set mine to off before and still get different shades. Maybe its just my phone camera doing its own thing.
I’ll take the discussion to the other linked thread.
Very good work and result, thanks for sharing!
btw, here is a post about Sapphire Lenses for V10a (and RRT-01)
I recommend the video at the end of that post, it taught me that Sapphire is very strong, not just bling.
V10r mod to sw45k
pic is a link to teardown
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