Another glow tape addition, not sure if it counts as a “mod” as it’s so straightforward…
Green S2+ 30° (I think) TIR and B35AM 4000K
Added a narrow strip of AliExpress blue glow tape behind the TIR:
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Such an easy mod that has a big impact. I love doing this to my TIR lights. Even managed to make it work in a triple with Carclo.
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I really need to get my S2+s put back together. I have a few but they’ve been torn apart for years, except one triple. Seeing your post kinda makes me miss a simple single TIR setup. I’ve really mostly been carrying Reylight minis for the past year.
I have some wide blue glow tape from ali that looks nice, but isn’t very bright. I have some orange tape that glows yellowish in my D4K. I bought some “Maratac Maraspec” I think green glow tape from CountyComm that is much brighter. I have it behind the TIR on my P16 defender.
I don’t have that color green S2. mine is less blue-green, more yellow-green. it has the old thread style, but the body looks like the S2+. maybe it came from KaiDomain?
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I swapped a 4000k rosy FFL351A into my Eagtac D3A. Before, it had a 4000k XPL-HI gen1. it was a good bin, but I found I barely carried it cause I didn’t like the tint and low R9 value. it’s much better now.
Eventually I will swap the driver with a Bistro 15mm from MTN, but I haven’t ordered one yet. Mostly so that I can actually tighten the head down all the way. On the stock driver, it has to be loose or it’ll go into “turbo.” also Bistro is a very nice firmware.
I always read that these pills were press fit with red loctite, but it turns out mine was threaded, still with red loctite though. put the heat gun on it for a minute and had the head in pliers, hitting the pliers with a mini dead blow hammer. it started to come out, and then I realized it had threads.
this looks to be a two-part/board driver or something? I have no idea what’s happening inside the pill. it’ll all come out eventually, hopefully in one piece. the wires are very stiff, definitely not silicone jacketed.
pictured at 3700k W/B, ISO400, F1.8, 1/500. that’s how it looked to my eyes
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I also swapped my single emitter Maeerxu XT3 to SFT40 3000K, and used a 20mm Convoy 3V8A buck driver. I didn’t have a spare 3V5A driver. The stock driver did not allow me to disable the mode memory, at least not that I could find, and had blinkies, which is unacceptable.
I will select a lower powered mode group, mostly because the pill in this light is designed for the triple version, and as such it has a 5-7mm hole directly under the emitter. I put a 0.5mm square of copper sheet between the pill and the mcpcb to try to help it out a bit.
It’s morning so I haven’t tested it outside yet, but it seems like it’ll throw decently enough for a small 18350 “EDC” size light. Smooth reflector that is give or take the same size as the Jetbeam RRT01.
swapped an 1800K 219F into my spare KC1. both shots locked at 3500K W/B
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Great mode.
Will 22mm driver fit in XT3?
Hate that Purchase history doesn’t show which exact part/degree i ordered
Probably 36°
Found the packaging its the 24°
the stock driver measured about 19.8mm, the convoy one was 19.96. it sits on a recessed ring inside the pill, kinda like an S2+ but without threads. the stock driver was somehow tighter and sorta press fit. anything over 20mm wouldn’t fit unless you filed down the ring around where the driver sits.
however, this is the single emitter XT3. the triple version appears to be different, I haven’t taken it apart yet. I can see that the triple one has what looks to be a threaded driver retaining ring, so maybe it’s set up a bit differently.
I just supposed the convoy driver to the pill.
I also needed to replace the convoy spring, it was too long and much too stiff, and would have been harder on the battery. However, I slipped with the iron while pressing down on the spring, and messed it up, and ripped part of the driver spring pad off the board, and got solder on the battery end of the spring. still works, but not pretty and has a chance of coming loose
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2 more modded FW’s with NTG’s
FW1A (non-pro) got an NTG35 5000k
Brass 3A got NTG35 2700k (don’t worry, that mcpcb got cleaned up before putting it back together)
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How does the NTG handle turbo in the FW1A?
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Seems to be good. No tint shift or funky blue
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Agreed, one of my favorites!!!
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When you say behind the head. Do you mean around the inside of the head kinda thing?
Yup, trim the tape to just over the circumference of the inside of the head, and make sure it’s narrow enough to not interfere with the pill being threaded in, you’ll see on the inside of the S2 type lights a “gap” which is where you want the tape to sit:
This is a S2 so has a longer “gap” than the S2+ to account for the deeper reflector, but you get the idea:
If you gently roll the tape up with the glowy side facing in, the natural elasticity of the material will hold it in place while you fit the pill.
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has anyone done anything with any of the Cree XFL emitters ? i put an XFL12K HI into a Convoy M21J – direct drive – and it’s hilariously bright.
i also put an XFL03K HI into an L21B with a smooth reflector and 20a driver, and was really surprised at how nice the beam is (perhaps the offset chips have something to do with it?)
be interested in hearing the thoughts of someone more knowledgeable.
Very nice. I have some 2700K NTG35 coming in from Jackson that will be going into a triple. Maybe my Reylight Gemini? I imagine they’re pretty nice. somehow I only have a single 2700K light currently working, a ts10 with sst20. they’re pretty green/yellow though.
My FW3B is my candle mode light, with 1800K 219F. I may be swapping them for FFL351A, or using some other Anduril light as a candle instead, I kinda miss carrying the brass FW. It was my first one.
Also grabbed some other emitters, like the 6500j FFL505 round die, and the weird looking 707MD I think it’s called.
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what mcpcb is that in the brass FW? is that a secondaries channel, or just aux? almost looks like the pads are the same as E17A? or is that what the XQ-E looks like?
It’s a 2ch mcpcb with 6 secondaries that I designed. The pads are for E17A. But with some slight modification it can fit XQ-E’s.
MTN sells something similar. But it’s only 3 secondaries that aren’t evenly spaced. So the beam is weird looking.
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Nice upgrade!
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