EvilLithiumMan
Enlightened
(Preface - I wish to thank everyone who openly shared their knowledge and experience about the inner workings of HDS lights, in this and the HDS forum. I spent a lot of time reading all I could about modding a B42 before attempting same. If you posted anything related to modding a HDS light, I probably read it and hopefully learned from it. There is no way I could have done this on my own).
I've been thoroughly impressed with my B42XRGT, purchased about two months ago. Bright, white and with a limited, but versitile range of brightness settings, I couldn't imagine a better EDC for $100. And had the U60 and U85 never existed, I probably would have been perfectly content.
But being a Flashaholic, well you know how it is - if X lumens is good, then 2X lumens can only be better. If it runs for 10 minutes, doesn't break the bank or char your flesh, more is better.
Initially, I pondered modding my B42XRGT, but learned it wasn't likely to realize an improvement as a B42 would. So I ordered a B42 from Lighthound. And keeping my B42XRGT unscathed means I'd have a reference for the project, along with my Orb Raw.
B42XRT with 1x18650 cell, B42 with standard (and old style) tailcap:
With the light (or potential victim) on hand. I needed a suitable emitter. Prior to this project, I had a Fenix L1T with a tint just a little too green to my liking. I first tried a SWAK in the L1T. Great tint, but no real change in the brigtness, which I also was hoping for. Next I tried a TWOH. Again, good tint, but no change in illumination. Then I tried a SXOH. When I fired the L1T up on low, I could see immediately that something was "up". And low on the L1T is pretty low. The 205ma drain on the 1.3V nimh cell is only .265 watts - and giving the L1T converter a 80% efficiency rating (I'm guessing here, of course. But how good should we expect a mass produced and low cost converter to be?), we end up with .21 watts at the emitter. And high on the L1T was even better.
Next I tried a SXOH star in my Blaster 1R, driven at 600-700ma with a MadMax converter. Oh yeah, no doubt now. A SXOH is headed for the B42. So on to the mechanics of the swap, and my first disappointment - I couldn't remove the B42's bezel. Though many report the bezel to be removed easily, mine was apparently installed with a pneumatic impact wrench.
And with no spanner wrench handy, I was at a standstill. Too bad, I really wanted to get going on this. But a trip to the 99 Cent Store resulted in more than eggs, milk and butter. There on the wall was an oyster knife. Stainless steel blade, 24mm wide. I figured 15 to 20 minutes with a Dremel tool cutting wheel (and safety googles - OK, a pair of 99 Cent Store sunglasses) would get the job done.
Going slowly paid off - nearly a perfect fit spanner wrench:
Now that the bezel was removed, I fully expected the reflector to drop out. It didn't. And worse still, it took my tired eyes a good while to realize an O-ring was securing the reflector. Once the reflector was out, it was a simple matter to unscrew the B42's emitter/converter module.
Using the technique, demonstrated elswhere, of adjusting the gamma and contrast to decipher the hand written valve on the module, I still came up empty:
As best I can tell, it appears to read, "B02 1.2V3". Without Henry's secret decoder ring, I have no idea what the existing emitter is. And seeing as how it was destroyed in the removal process, it's pretty much a moot point.
Despite a too large tip in the soldering iron and my ham fisted assembly technique, the SXOH was installed and the B42 reassembled. Time to power this puppy up and hope the next few moments do not invoke images of the Hindenberg. I screwed in the standard tailcap, the B42 came on for a second, then shut off. Just like it's supposed to. Then I gave the tailcap a single press. On it came in primary mode, great. Then I turned on my B42XRGT. Low and behold, the modded unit was clearly brighter than the unmodded one. It looked twice as bright to me. Two clicks for secondary mode and again, the mod unit is clearly brighter. Then I did three clicks for the minimum setting. At this point, my roommate enters the room and says: "Are you playing with those damn flashlights again?" (I have to keep quiet now. I got nothing). Then he says, unsolicited: "Those flashlights aren't the same. The one in your left hand is brighter." I loved it. (But he still owes me rent!)
Then the big test - two clicks and a press for maxumum mode. Oh baby, it was cooking! "Holy Lumineds Batman!" "Yes Robin, the Batcave will require only one light from now on."
Beam shots: Good news, I have beam shots. Bad news, I'm not really setup to do beam shots. It's a small apartment. Poor lighting at night. Not enough physical layout, in my opinion, to properly arrange things. Anyway, here goes -
This shot was taken in the middle of the night. Very low ambient light. The modded unit is on the right. (Gosh, I guess if I have to state which light is which, it's a bust) Lights are set to minimum level. Except for resizing, the photo is as it came from the camera. No adjustments to balance, contrast, etc.:
Next shot is at the secondary level. In early morning and the wall has some daylight illuminating it. Again, straight from the camera:
The final shot is at the maximum level, with the modded unit flanked by the B42XRGT and the Orb Raw. This shot was a royal pain to set up. Lights kept rolling around, either falling onto the floor or having their beams overlap. It's not by much, but the mod unit is outgunning the Orb Raw. If it's not throwing 85 lumens, it can't be off by much:
As far as run time goes, I still need to do more tests. I did manage to get 18 minutes on maximum with a fresh Battery Station CR123. In the strictest sense, it wouldn't have made the cut for Henry. 20 minutes is his minimum run time. Although I guess there is a good chance a Duracell Ultra could have done it. And what about temperature? Yes, there was temperature. Quite a bit, actually. Not too hot to handle, but a might toasty in free air.
ELM
I've been thoroughly impressed with my B42XRGT, purchased about two months ago. Bright, white and with a limited, but versitile range of brightness settings, I couldn't imagine a better EDC for $100. And had the U60 and U85 never existed, I probably would have been perfectly content.
But being a Flashaholic, well you know how it is - if X lumens is good, then 2X lumens can only be better. If it runs for 10 minutes, doesn't break the bank or char your flesh, more is better.
Initially, I pondered modding my B42XRGT, but learned it wasn't likely to realize an improvement as a B42 would. So I ordered a B42 from Lighthound. And keeping my B42XRGT unscathed means I'd have a reference for the project, along with my Orb Raw.
B42XRT with 1x18650 cell, B42 with standard (and old style) tailcap:
With the light (or potential victim) on hand. I needed a suitable emitter. Prior to this project, I had a Fenix L1T with a tint just a little too green to my liking. I first tried a SWAK in the L1T. Great tint, but no real change in the brigtness, which I also was hoping for. Next I tried a TWOH. Again, good tint, but no change in illumination. Then I tried a SXOH. When I fired the L1T up on low, I could see immediately that something was "up". And low on the L1T is pretty low. The 205ma drain on the 1.3V nimh cell is only .265 watts - and giving the L1T converter a 80% efficiency rating (I'm guessing here, of course. But how good should we expect a mass produced and low cost converter to be?), we end up with .21 watts at the emitter. And high on the L1T was even better.
Next I tried a SXOH star in my Blaster 1R, driven at 600-700ma with a MadMax converter. Oh yeah, no doubt now. A SXOH is headed for the B42. So on to the mechanics of the swap, and my first disappointment - I couldn't remove the B42's bezel. Though many report the bezel to be removed easily, mine was apparently installed with a pneumatic impact wrench.
And with no spanner wrench handy, I was at a standstill. Too bad, I really wanted to get going on this. But a trip to the 99 Cent Store resulted in more than eggs, milk and butter. There on the wall was an oyster knife. Stainless steel blade, 24mm wide. I figured 15 to 20 minutes with a Dremel tool cutting wheel (and safety googles - OK, a pair of 99 Cent Store sunglasses) would get the job done.
Going slowly paid off - nearly a perfect fit spanner wrench:
Now that the bezel was removed, I fully expected the reflector to drop out. It didn't. And worse still, it took my tired eyes a good while to realize an O-ring was securing the reflector. Once the reflector was out, it was a simple matter to unscrew the B42's emitter/converter module.
Using the technique, demonstrated elswhere, of adjusting the gamma and contrast to decipher the hand written valve on the module, I still came up empty:
As best I can tell, it appears to read, "B02 1.2V3". Without Henry's secret decoder ring, I have no idea what the existing emitter is. And seeing as how it was destroyed in the removal process, it's pretty much a moot point.
Despite a too large tip in the soldering iron and my ham fisted assembly technique, the SXOH was installed and the B42 reassembled. Time to power this puppy up and hope the next few moments do not invoke images of the Hindenberg. I screwed in the standard tailcap, the B42 came on for a second, then shut off. Just like it's supposed to. Then I gave the tailcap a single press. On it came in primary mode, great. Then I turned on my B42XRGT. Low and behold, the modded unit was clearly brighter than the unmodded one. It looked twice as bright to me. Two clicks for secondary mode and again, the mod unit is clearly brighter. Then I did three clicks for the minimum setting. At this point, my roommate enters the room and says: "Are you playing with those damn flashlights again?" (I have to keep quiet now. I got nothing). Then he says, unsolicited: "Those flashlights aren't the same. The one in your left hand is brighter." I loved it. (But he still owes me rent!)
Then the big test - two clicks and a press for maxumum mode. Oh baby, it was cooking! "Holy Lumineds Batman!" "Yes Robin, the Batcave will require only one light from now on."
Beam shots: Good news, I have beam shots. Bad news, I'm not really setup to do beam shots. It's a small apartment. Poor lighting at night. Not enough physical layout, in my opinion, to properly arrange things. Anyway, here goes -
This shot was taken in the middle of the night. Very low ambient light. The modded unit is on the right. (Gosh, I guess if I have to state which light is which, it's a bust) Lights are set to minimum level. Except for resizing, the photo is as it came from the camera. No adjustments to balance, contrast, etc.:
Next shot is at the secondary level. In early morning and the wall has some daylight illuminating it. Again, straight from the camera:
The final shot is at the maximum level, with the modded unit flanked by the B42XRGT and the Orb Raw. This shot was a royal pain to set up. Lights kept rolling around, either falling onto the floor or having their beams overlap. It's not by much, but the mod unit is outgunning the Orb Raw. If it's not throwing 85 lumens, it can't be off by much:
As far as run time goes, I still need to do more tests. I did manage to get 18 minutes on maximum with a fresh Battery Station CR123. In the strictest sense, it wouldn't have made the cut for Henry. 20 minutes is his minimum run time. Although I guess there is a good chance a Duracell Ultra could have done it. And what about temperature? Yes, there was temperature. Quite a bit, actually. Not too hot to handle, but a might toasty in free air.
ELM
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