I have the Fandyfire UV-S5, but the light is a little too floody.
Sorry for the noob questions, I am new to the flashlight world.
1. Any way to mod it such that it is possible to zoom? Like placing a convex lens?
2. Possible to mod anything to increase its lumens output?
It would take quite a bit of work to make it zoomable. Check out this thread on emitter and driver swapping with the king: jmpaul320's skyray king upgrade thread UPDATED 1/12/13
Well any way to focus the light from the 3 LEDs? Wish to have a brighter hotspot.
Hm… you want a tighter spot on your skyray king. Some ideas:
1. De-dome the XM-L emitters. There’s a thread in the modding forum here describing how to do it. If you are successful, you should get a significantly tigher and brighter hotspot, but your spillbeam will be much dimmer. Overall lumens will decrease dramatically but lux will increase.
2. Replace the XM-L emitters with XP-G2 emitters. Results will probably be similar to de-doming. I’d expect lumens to drop to maybe 1200 out-the-front, but the center of the hotspot will probably be twice as bright as stock.
3. Do 1 or 2 above, but only mod 1 or 2 of the emitters rather than all 3. This would allow you to keep some of hte superior flood and wide hotspot of the XM-L for close-in work, while getting additional throw from the modded emitter(s).
4. Find or make a lens cover that slips on over the front of the light. Purchase 3 convex lenses each as wide as the reflectors in the King. Cut 3 holes in the cover and glue the convex lenses. Or you could try one big huge aspheric lens. You may need to be creative in adjusting the distance of the lenses so the focal points roughly match the base of the emitters. A flip-up rifle scope cover might work. Or possible a holder for a camera lens filter. Assuming the mod is performed properly, you’d get a very intense spot surrounded by a small amount of ugly spill. Lumens would drop drastically in spot mode. When you remove or flip-up the cover, output would return to default.
5. If you’re really ambitious you could try to turn the king into a true flood-to-throw light. A typical flood-to-throw light works by having an aspheric lens attached to a sliding bezel. When the bezel is extended, the emitter is at the focal point of the light and you get a tight hotspot with almost no spill. When the bezel is retracted, the hotspot unfocuses producing a floody beam with no hotspot. The closer the lens can retract to the top of the emitter the wider the flood beam will be. to get this kind of mod to work, you’d probably need to cut the front of the light off with a hacksaw and remove the 3 reflectors. Then you’d need to rig up a sliding sleeve with the lens or lenses attached. You’d also need to rig something up to keep the lens from falling off the light if pulled too far out. Most cheap aspheric lights solve this problem by having the sides of the pill act as a stop prevently the bezel from falling off. But that method wouldn’t work with this kind of mod.
More lumens?
So basically it sounds like a NO.
I am kind of surprised that more companies havent tried making multi emitter flood to throws, using several of the better throwing emitters.
Like a triple barreled XR-E or even XP-G (like the Fenix TK45), with each one having its seperate zooming mechanism, with them all tied together.
Only light Ive seen like this is the LED Lenser X21 and X21R.
Hey mate, don't be discouraged!
If you're feeling adventurous enough, what you could do is replace the reflectors with flat-backed ones and then proceed to get some sort of tubing that would slide OVER the SR King's head that hosts a large secondary optic. Not sure where to get such a large optic, but you seem determined and I'm sure you'll find a way. :)
EDIT: You could also replace the head with a thinner, smaller diameter tubing that supports the sliding action and threads on to where the head screws on. and then put a thicker, slightly larger diameter one on top for the zooming action. Add O-rings for increased friction.
This kind of design basically mimics the cheapie zoomies on eBay that I buy regularly for friends and family.
Don't know how to stop it from falling off the end though. Guess that's up to your own ingenuity.
I tried holding the aspheric lens from one of my cheap zoomies (Ultrafire 838) in front of the SRK, and it worked fine. You could probably get three cheap zoomies (or even just the lenses, if you can find the parts), cut and glue them into the right configuration, and then find a way to hold them in front of the SRK at the right place… For bonus points, find a rubber or plastic pipe cap of the right size to fit the SRK and put the lenses into it, and you can turn it into a zoomie simply by putting the cap on. No direct SRK modifications necessary, just a custom-made accessory.
However, it’ll look like most zoomies do, with a projection of the LED itself into the distance… but at least it’d be three differently-angled projections on the same spot.
This “mod” is easy enough I’m almost tempted to try it. Kinda requires that I find a suitable non-standard-size pipe cap though, and spend some frustrating times getting the lenses into just the right arrangement. And it’ll drastically reduce the output in terms of lumens, since the spill part of the beam will be almost entirely lost.
The problem with one big aspheric is that none of the emitters will focus, if you use three smaller lenses, you’d end up with three die images light the predators targeting laser, not really usefull…
The fact is the king, like most multi emitter lights is a flood light, the best chance of increasing throw is to fit xp-g2’s and hope the reflectors work in this configuration ( I’m considering something similar in a different host, not taken with the king).
If you want a thrower, or a flood to throw light, buy an example.
If you want to mod something to do this, look up jayrobs single xm-l Maglite builds, as these retain the flood to throw capability to an extent.
It shouldn’t produce three separate hotspots unless it’s really close to its target. By the time it goes across a room, the three hotspots should merge into one, though that one will have a strange shape where the three boxes overlap…