ok, thanks for exploring possible explanations for your observation of the Tint of the XP-L Hi 3A, outside the hotspot
thanks for the maukka chart… it shows duv 0.0050 in the corona… which is still in keeping with my comment that the XP-L Hi 3A has yellowish tint
maybe try a 519a 5700K next… leave the dome on… They dont tend to be yellowish (just a touch of greenish)… 
here is one of mine:
I didn’t want to compromise on brightness and I’m not a big sucker for high CRI. I chose domeless emitter to keep some throw from a small reflector that’s why I went for XP-L HI.
Got my Mini Mag project finished. It’s running a Dragon driver mini. Ch1 = an underpowered SFT-25. But it’s the perfect power perfect for this host. Ch 2 = a pair of FFL351A 5000k. I’m extremely happy with the way it turned out! The hardest part was getting the length on the battery spacer correct.
I wish more brands had this glossy anodization. The glossy red looks especially nice.
Yeah. I’ve actually thought about getting this and it’s big brother (2D cell Maglite) refinished. And if I did, I want it the same exact color
Is it more expensive/harder to do? Why we don’t see this anymore?
It’s easier to just bead blast the machined piece then just anodize than polish the machined piece to remove the machining lines and then anodize the piece. Bead blasting is an easier and quicker way to get rid of the machining lines. Polishing a Maglite is easy, it has a smooth body, no major surface features apart from the diamond knurling, and the machining lines are all in the same direction because the whole body can be turned on an lathe, but polishing a DM1.12 would be way harder and time consuming, because of all the surface features (the deep head grooves and the cheese grater tube would be a nightmare to polish).
Another detail is that the bead blasted finish gives the light a more tacticool look, which most people enjoy.
But my caveman brain likes shiny things, so i prefer smooth anodization.
I would guess that Emisar “chalkboard” finish with the early D1S / D1bthat some liked and others hated was likely related to surface preparation also…
Surprised Simon doesn’t offer a colour of shiney anodising for his S2+.
Purple or red shiny ano really has nostalgic vibes for me.
I just finished another single LED TS10, this time using a reflector instead of TIR optics. I used the Sofirn SP40 orange peel reflector with thinner Convoy T3 glass lens. The bezel oring needed some adjustments in order for the bezel to sit as flush as possible.
Head anodization was made using a random stone cleaner I found, plus some lipo batteries, worked out great 
. RGB aux is present, but it’s very dim, it needs to illuminate the LED gasket to be seen from the front, not ideal, but it is what it is. Aux was set to low on the TIR single and triple, and high on the reflector TS10. The SFT25R didn’t arrive on time so I used a 5700K 219C I had lying around, pretty decent output with perfect tint. Good CRI too.
Throw was about what I expected, old high CRI LED on a small OP reflector. Still throws a little farther than the stock TS10. With the SFT25R it will shine really nicely.
Very nice collection of ts10’s 
In a true BLF spirit i got myself a cheap flashlight and then 10 minutes later i did a led swap, because why not. Used my last 25R on it.
The flashlight in question is a Trustfire MT20 that i got it on aliexpress for 13$ shipped. It even came with 900mAh (advertised, not measured) 18350 battery.
The stock LED is unknown to me, i haven’t been up to date with latest leds, genuine or fake. As expected it came soldered on a cheap 15mm aluminum mcpcb, that i also swapped for 16mm convoy copper one that i had to grind it to about ~15mm so it can fit.
Luminus SFT-25R inside, measured 27500cd, stupid me forgot to measure stock performance so i don’t really have a comparison from my light meter, the stock throw is advertised as 20500cd. The hotspot is definitely smaller and the beam itself looks a bit cleaner but its far from perfect, it might need gasket height tuning.
Unfortunately it has the worst UI that is known to man, hold for on/off and press for mode cycle, i hate this kind of a UI with a passion but at least the strobe is on a double click so you wont ever need to see it while cycling through the 4 normal modes.
That’s a cool mod, I saw one of those on Aliexpress but never bought it, always wondered what it was like.
What are the dimensions for the driver? Might be possible to swap it out with something Anduril instead.
Me too, what made me buy it is the price, the normal price ive seen is about $20 so when i saw it on sale for $13 i had to get it.
That’s a great idea, but i don’t know the driver size. I tried to disassemble it further but to be honest i did not spend nearly enough time to actually figure it out how it was built, the light separates at the head and tailcap, so the body is one unit and i did not wanted to kill it without having a chance to use it so i just did the led swap.
I need to figure out if its a press fit or threaded pill design, its a 18350 size light with usb c charging so the driver size should be at least some normal size that is not too hard to source.
I don’t have one but I would say that it is a pressed pill and that the driver is like a T shape with switch on the upper side and the charging port on the other side.
There were some cheap Olight/On The Road versions some time ago and that’s how they worked (pressed pill and that shape of the driver).
I’ve been curious about that light for a while. I think it’s an interesting host. Do you happen to have dimensions for the reflector? I’m wondering if it could take a 20mm TIR, for example.
This might be a true but i tried to push it out with a bit more than a reasonable force and it did not budge so i left it alone, it might be glued so i was not ready to use destructive force but i might try sometime again, i just need the motivation 
Reflector size is 25x20mm so 20mm TIR lens would be too small but if there is something with similar size to the reflector i don’t see why it would not work. The glass is also 25mm, its not AR coated so there is some room for improvement there too.
One of my favourite mods so far is my brass FW3A with a lume1 driver and single-colour orange aux LEDs with warm 2700K SST-20 emitters.
In the meantime, I’d got hold of another brass FW3A and planned to make an even warmer version. I also wanted to improve the single-colour orange aux LEDs with an idea I’d seen on reddit. Last weekend I found the time to get this one done.
The easiest part was adding a brass button to go with the brass host.
I reflowed 1800K FFL351A emitters for a very warm CCT.
I needed three separate aux channels to realise the idea for the orange aux. A lume1 driver would have provided the three channels, but I don’t have any more of those left, so the FET+7+1 driver was upgraded with an ATTiny1616 MCU. For the aux effect I wanted, I added 18 orange aux LEDs on a Lume Tri-LED AUX board, each channel using a different resistor value to get slightly different brightness per channel. The difference is very subtle, and doesn’t really show up on a photo.
The desired effect comes by setting aux to disco mode. Behind a frosted optic, the effect is a bit like the glowing embers of a fire. This is a nice complement to the very warm main emitters.
I think this one will be a new favourite.
Not sure yet if I’ll keep it polished, or let it develop a patina like my older one.
Gorgeous build. Where you get those lume1 drivers?
Looks good in the pics. I’m sure it looks even better in person 
I got some FW3X lights as donors, but they’re impossible to find these days. That’s why this latest mod has a T1616 upgrade of the FET+7+1 driver. Details on that are here: click
