I am looking for a host which I can mod till it surrenders. I’ve looked at mutiple choices (Trustfire x6, Small Sun ZY-T13, Fandyfire STL-V2), but I’ve narrowed down the choice to these two:
- Fandyfire STL-V6
Small Sun ZY-T08
Why choose these two? Because they have a big reflector are mutiple 18650’s, single emittor and are most of all cheap(ish).
What mods do I have planned? Or put otherwise, do I think I’m capable of :
- Emitor change
- Braided sping (REALLY!? yeah, I think I’ll manage ;))
What am I looking for? Many yards, meters, kilometers, miles, hectometers of throw! Things to keep in consideration: Heat management, ease of modding and total prize of the mod and light.
I had my SKYRAY STL-V2 (basically same light as Fandyfire) de-domed and it really thows much further
I can imagine if you boosted the amps etc. it would no doubt be even better. Perhaps the shape/size of the reflector
has something to do with it (?).
Of course it can’t compare with my Vinh-modified K40 but that’s in another league altogether.
Well… I have no way of measuring the throw, but I would subjectively say that throw has doubled, at least.
In stock form the STL-V2 was already a decent (?) thrower, but the de-dome puts it at another level.
I can imagine that together with an appropriate current boost etc. it would be even better.
If you could do the mods yourself, I reckon you’d have probably one of the most cost-effective throwers around
We’ve modded quite a number of the earlier Maxtoch SN6X-2 torches - which is the same as the excellent STL-V2. Stock the first STLs ran at round 50-52k lux, and after dedoming and a wee bit of tinkering we have them at 150- 177k. This gives superb throw with ANSI max of about 850m. They remain my favourite hunter lights with their long throw plus beam width.
The SS ZY-T08 is not quite as grunty as the STL stock - but an excellent budget light nonetheless.
Bit late to the party but here is what was done:
change the XM-L T6 to a XM-L2 U2, de-dome (using heat method), modify original 32mm board by removing the dielectric layer (drilling through the center contact and filing hole with brass rod).
Here is the approximate improvement given (in lux) by each step:
STOCK: 55K lux
XML T6 to XML2 U2: +25%
Removal of thermal bottleneck / dielectric: +12%
De-dome: +110%
FINAL: >170K lux
The torch possibly could have done 200K lux (by modifiying sensor resistors) but the lose in run-time would have been far greater then the small gain in lux.
So you did nothing to the driver? That’s a lot of gain you got from those mods.
I don’t have the light yet, but I’m thinking of changing the driver to a 5a driver. In your opinion this would not have much affect on the output/throw? Or will this just fry the led? As you can see in the openingpost I’m not that intrested in runtime (just the wow factor of throw J) ).
Depending on how the pill is stock, I was thinking of inserting a copper rod to add mass for better heat dissipation.
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