Wow! Uh... here are some answers guys! BTW, this was a really fun mod... especially in seeing how big the improvement was from stock to Q3 reflector!
oo:
Blindasabat said:
Oh, jeeze, I was waiting for someone to post who is XR-E modding HDS for clients... Now I have to send Milky more of my money... <sigh> but I know it will be well worth it. B120 here I come!
Casual Flashlight User said:
Oh Lordy!
What about run times...improved or the same?
Thermal protection...does it run cooler/longer?
Are the lowest settings still low enough to preserve night vision?
What model did you have modded?
CFU
Runtime should be at least as good as with the stock emitter as the Vf seems to be the same or lower.
The Cree should run cooler as it's a more efficient emitter... more of the energy gets converted into photons, and less into heat. Thermal protection should still work fine though as there's still a direct thermal path from emitter to the stock heatsink.
Yes, the lowest settings should be fine with night vision, although I guess to some degree it depends on the individual.
Russtang's HDS was a B42.
Danbo said:
Eventually, he's gonna get some of my money too.
Oh no... the local grocery store will get your money when I go to buy the next batch of groceries! Amazing how much three little kids manage to eat.
Casual Flashlight User said:
I have mental picture of poor old Milky being squashed under an avalanch of HDS lights...
CFU
Walt175 said:
Did anyone else hear that? I think his PM box just exploded! :laughing:
Bring it on!
Blindasabat said:
Agreed. According to
this thread, the Basic low is not the lowest level, so we can set low to a lower level. In a Basic, it just requires 250 clicks to access programming instead of 10 for the Ultimate. Lower than that I don't think is possible without major modification.
At some point the PWM would end up making the low beam start to look like a really fast strobe light... that's probably the practical limit on how low the light can go.
:shrug:
dixemon said:
Sounds like a great improvement I wonder how easy the mod is, I have a few Q3 reflectors ands some HDS hosts to play with. Hmmmmm:thinking:
Well, it's not particularly easy but if you've got a steady hand, not horrible either. I did the entire mod from the front end of the light... removed retaining ring, lens, O-ring, reflector... desoldered the old emitter from the leads (which snake back into the housing... easy to lose 'em!)... pry old emitter off heatsink (it seems to be epoxied? or maybe just a tight fit) without damaging heatsink surface or anything else... build a pedestal from brass rod cut to precisely the right height... mount Cree on the pedestal, taking care not to short it from the underside... solder leads to the underside so they won't get in the way of reflector... turn down the outer diameter of the Q3 reflector... enlarge the narrow opening a bit... position reflector with electrical insulating material underneath to keep from shorting the emitter... stabilize Q3 reflector so it won't shift... remount O-ring and lens... close the light!
tebore said:
I wonder if this mod would get easier as soon as the Cree XR-E die SSC LEDs come out. They are supposidely the same footprint as LuxI/IIIs. Once those are readly available he'll be getting my light for some surgical enhancements and my $$.
I'm really looking forward to playing with those SSC LEDs. Anyone know where they are/will be available?