Thanks.
Yes, it was hard. This thing is not meant to be modded.
1 Thank
Now my mod of my Fenix PD40 (1st gen from 2014) is finished 
Emitter swap from old MT-G2 to modern XHP70.3 5000 K 80 CRI. Gasket is customized for special board and reflector size.
2130 lm on Turbo with Keeppower 5500 mAh 26650.
duv 0.003 with CRI 85, R9 20. at around 5300 K. No annoying green tint visible, which is quite interesting.
Absolutely perfect beam.
13 Thanks
I have a PD40 from back then also ā One of my last few 4000k MTG2 lights
MT-G2 lights have really good beam and in most cases very nice tint, but these LEDs are extremely inefficient nowadays. Even with 80 CRI XHP70.3 HI compared to 70 CRI LED I have more than 25 % light flux and even slightly better runtimes due to lower Vf. With XHP70.3 HD (with dome) this effect would be even much more pronounced (40-50 % higher light flux with highest flux bin).
Here are btw some beamshots of my modded PD40 1st gen. Unfortunately the humidity was really highā¦
The beam is awesome. The right balance of throw and spill without getting too much flood. Perfect for everyday use. The tint with the duv 0.003 is not bad. Interesting is that the green tint is not visible at all, maybe the color properties changed due to the special gasket.
5 Thanks
I swapped the 3 month cycled Vapcell G50 with the 3.01 month cycled Vapcell G50 in my Sofirn IF25A and plugged in the āAā to āCā charging cord. It terminated at the usual 4.17V when complete. I think Iām getting better at this all the time. I really need to explore magnetic tail cap swaps. That would be the pinnacle for me. Sorry, no beam shots.
It is pretty much a big 219b, in that sense. Except that theyāre not as readily available anymore, which is a shame.
Yes, but I am also happy that also good modern alternatives are available, the XHP70.3 HI has a very good beam with this OP reflector.
There is no tint shift or Cree rainbow visible. The beam is more or less the same as with the old MT-G2, only it is slightly more throwy (and has much better CRI).
I quite like it too, though I havenāt had as good of a tint.
Sometimes you just want the floodier beam though, which the MT-G2 does very nicely, like in my MT-G2 swapped (4000k R80) D1v2, which is much nicer than the one I have with XHP70.3 HI (4000k R90) in both tint and beam, the XHP70.3HI has a bit of eggyolk effect on the hotspotā¦
Fortunately my PD40 1st gen has no egg-yolk or rainbow effect with XHP70.3 HIā¦
But there are lights around which have these effects. Maybe this is due to reflector type or focus of the LED.
1 Thank
It might just be bad luck with the emitter, it has a slightly different color on the phosphor in the middle, visible on moonlight, similar to some FC-40.
The R70 versions I bought from Convoy donāt have this, maybe it is just on the R90
1 Thank
Maybe, I donāt test any 90 CRI XHP70.3 HI yet. Tbh I really not trust Cree in high CRI emitters since I almost was disappointed in tint and CRI values (XP-L2, XP-G3, XP-G4)ā¦
The 80 CRI variant (bought at Mouser several months ago) does not have these problems. Only the duv is slightly above 0 but this is fine with this light and LED.
1 Thank
Back 10+ years ago the 4000k MTG2 was a sweet LED ---- I still enjoy my PD40 with it ā I guess I need to get a few 70.3s and try them out in other lights
Does your PD40 still have the stock driver with the Hold for Turbo that only works with an almost full cell
I have come to the same conclusion after being disappointed by the XHP70.3HI and XP-L HI in R90, highest I will go with Cree is R80 but those are pretty rare from the usual flashlight parts stores.
Only exception might be if a quadrangle bin is available, in a āguaranteed below-BBLā flavor, like 4D or 5A1/5A4
Kind of a shame thereās no real alternative to an XHP50.3HI or an XHP70.3HI, especially in neutral CCT.
Itās unfortunate that Nichia uses a non-DTP footprint for the 144AM, otherwise it might be interesting alternative to an XHP50.3 when sliced.
That sounds nice, though 5000k is not my preferred CCT.
Iām not a scientific tester, but currently the 70.3 HI 5700K R90 and 4000K R70 specifically, from Convoyās bins are very pleasing to my eyes. Surprisingly so, if, like you say, your general experience with CREE throughout the years has been poor. However I have no testing equipment so it is just based on my eyes. I would say the 4000K R70 from Convoy is almost rosy at turbo from the 6V5A driver.
3 Thanks
I just got an M21H with the 4000K R70 and agree the tint is quite nice. However, I havenāt measured it with my LM3 yet.
Iām on the fence about the M21H though. The UI is ridiculously slow ramping, but itās tolerable in stepped mode. The beam with the 8Ā° TIR is quite nice. I think I may even prefer it over my M21B with a Ledil Olga-M TIR, and I really like my M21B.
2 Thanks
Iām looking for some advice. Iām modding a foursevens X10 - basically a 26650 C8 host with a weird twisty switch. Iāve already installed a Convoy 6V 8A driver. My original plan was to make this into a quad XHP 50 (use 20mm TIRs glued together). Using this driver, is 2A per emitter even worth it? Thatās nowhere near the limit of XHP 50, but then again, from my test with a single LED the light already heats up rather quickly on turbo. So maybe a quad XHP 50 isnāt very realistic with this host anyway.
BTW, Iām testing it with an XHP 50.3 4000K R70 from Convoy and itās very nice. On 1% the tint is decent, 20% and 100% look great.
I got the parts from Convoy. I tried installing but i think there night be some design differences between these headlamps. I tried your mod on mine and it totally wonāt work. After pulling it apart , first thing is the driver is one piece with the charger socket on the back of the board where the negative battery contact is. The switch is on the top. I noticed the ridge where the driver rests isnāt receased enough and the charger socket doesnāt line up at all and i canāt seat the driver. I think i have an older version of the D10 and it had been upgraded or maybe thereās design differences between them?
Where did you get yours from? I see ones with micro usb like mine and ones with usb c. Anyway hereās some photos.
3 Thanks
Yeah yours looks totally different to any of mine. The one in my photos comes from the BORUIT Official Store on AliExpress - but each unit Iāve bought has had differences in a few ways. My older one is micro-USB as well, and the newer ones are USB-C. But all the ones I got have at least 1/2" to 2/3" of space to fit the driver. I havenāt yet seen one like yours before where the ridges go all the way to the edge - thatās wild. Where did you get yours from?
If you had access to a dremel tool or something you might try boring out the ridges yourself.
I guess you canāt really expect much when itās a sub-$10 headlamp. I understand having QC issues (I mentioned this on the D10 thread). I suspect that even on the Boruit Store, they may have different OEMs/Factories manufacturing the same blueprint of the D10, but some are changing the design based on their own needs.
1 Thank
Thats not D10, Its H10
I have both and agree. Vers pleasing tint and no tint-shift on either. 5700K R90 in Sofirn SP33S, 4000K R70 in M21B with orange peel reflector.