Ultrafire C3 SS now not cree XP-E Q5 but XR-C P4 (maybe)...

[Ian2381]

I purchased a month ago my second UF C3 SS but it is now dimmer and of bad quality.
Stored for a month...
... until I received a CREE XPE-Q3 5A Warm White 5-mode LED Lamp Cap from Kai for my Solarforce L2 which i think is not bright enough...

Removed the Warm LED from the drop in and replaced the LED in the C3.

Now I have a warm LED AA/14500 light which I liked better.

 

[phreeflow]

I purchased a month ago my second UF C3 SS but it is now dimmer and of bad quality.
Stored for a month...
... until I received a CREE XPE-Q3 5A Warm White 5-mode LED Lamp Cap from Kai for my Solarforce L2 which i think is not bright enough...

Removed the Warm LED from the drop in and replaced the LED in the C3.

Now I have a warm LED AA/14500 light which I liked better.

Hmmm...interesting post. I am bummed by the latest batch of SS C3's lately as well. Reminds me of the venerable and original black C3's that were great lights until they started cutting corners on the circuit boards. Both these lights were favorites of mine and I really should have bought more when I had the chance.

My SS C3 broke a couple weeks ago and I was going to get a replacement until I heard this news about the emitters being XRC. I'm interested in what you did exactly. Did you just plop off the pill from your Solarforce dropin and screw that in directly into the C3?...did it fit without modification. Or did you mean that you unsoldered the star from the Solarforce dropin and soldered it back onto to the C3 pill??

thanks

 

[Tally-ho]

Did you just plop off the pill from your Solarforce dropin and screw that in directly into the C3?...did it fit without modification. Or did you mean that you unsoldered the star from the Solarforce dropin and soldered it back onto to the C3 pill??

Diameters of P60 dropin and UF C3 SS head are very different so I guess he unsoldered emitters and it's what I understand from what he said:

Removed the Warm LED from the drop in and replaced the LED in the C3.

 

[Zatoichi]

My new C3 SS just arrived. I can't tell for sure if it's a P4, but it's certainly too small to be a Q5. The small spot and lower output on high will make it less useful to me than the Q5 version I had. The finish looks a bit duller than on my last one too, though it fits together perfectly (no gaps).

It does have a very low low now though, perhaps the only up side to it not having the advertised emitter. :shrug:

I still think they're nice for the money, especially if you're going to mod it like Ian has.

 

[Ian2381]

Diameters of P60 dropin and UF C3 SS head are very different so I guess he unsoldered emitters and it's what I understand from what he said:

Yes, that's what I did. removing the C3 pill is so easy I just swap Led emitters in a minute. For awhile been thinking of geting the Quark Warm but no AA is available, now I don't have to spend too much $$$ and I already have a bright warm light especially using 14500 on it.:thumbsup:

 

[petergunn]

Yes, that's what I did. removing the C3 pill is so easy I just swap Led emitters in a minute....:thumbsup:

Was the emitter in your C3 glued to the pill?

When I replaced my C3 emitter with a XP-G R5 (with excellent results BTW) I found only the slightest amount of thermal compound underneath (not glue) and I could move the emitter around or lift it off without effort.

I'm much happier now it is fixed securely in place with Artic Alumina.

-PG

 

[pounder]

Was the emitter in your C3 glued to the pill?

When I replaced my C3 emitter with a XP-G R5 (with excellent results BTW) I found only the slightest amount of thermal compound underneath (not glue) and I could move the emitter around or lift it off without effort.

I'm much happier now it is fixed securely in place with Artic Alumina.

-PG

are you using the driver in the C3 or are you direct drive? 14500 or AA? where did you get the emitter and what size? is it the 14mm one on kai? thanks!

 

[petergunn]

are you using the driver in the C3 or are you direct drive? 14500 or AA? where did you get the emitter and what size? is it the 14mm one on kai? thanks!

Yes, I'm using the original C3 5-mode driver - just replaced the emitter. It works with both 14500 or AA as normal and seems much brighter (although more floody) than the original.

The XP-G R5 has a much smaller die than the original and sits lower on the board. You'll need some non-conductive paper around the die if you dont want the board visible through the reflector hole, and an o-ring at the lens to keep everything snug (I used a green GITD one).

I used a 14mm round XPG-R5 from LCK Led - cost ~$7 with CPF discount.

-PG

 

[Ian2381]

Was the emitter in your C3 glued to the pill?

When I replaced my C3 emitter with a XP-G R5 (with excellent results BTW) I found only the slightest amount of thermal compound underneath (not glue) and I could move the emitter around or lift it off without effort.

I'm much happier now it is fixed securely in place with Artic Alumina.

-PG

Same with mine, not glued at all and I easily swapped emitters. I didn't really thought modding a C3 is that easy, anyways I just changed emitters.:shrug:
Now I'm losing any reason to buy a new EDC light. Just upgrade parts for them.

 

[phreeflow]

Same with mine, not glued at all and I easily swapped emitters. I didn't really thought modding a C3 is that easy, anyways I just changed emitters.:shrug:
Now I'm losing any reason to buy a new EDC light. Just upgrade parts for them.

I've never modded the emitter before but is it as simple as resoldering the two leads on the led board? If so, I may try it. thanks guys

 

[FlashPilot]

Great thread. Thanks sharing!

 

[pounder]

Yes, I'm using the original C3 5-mode driver - just replaced the emitter. It works with both 14500 or AA as normal and seems much brighter (although more floody) than the original.

The XP-G R5 has a much smaller die than the original and sits lower on the board. You'll need some non-conductive paper around the die if you dont want the board visible through the reflector hole, and an o-ring at the lens to keep everything snug (I used a green GITD one).

I used a 14mm round XPG-R5 from LCK Led - cost ~$7 with CPF discount.

-PG

awesome thanks! i'm going to try this as soon as possible..

 

[petergunn]

Well I just upgraded 2 more C3s to XP-G R5 emitters - and this time I took some pictures. Unfortunately my 20min mod turned into an hour and a half mod when I discovered my 14mm emitters were really 16mm emitters that don't fit in the pill.

All was well in the end tho ... will post pics soon.

-PG

 

[petergunn]

2x Stock C3 SS and 2 new XP-G R5 emitters



Silver foil removed from XR-C on pill



Lead wires de-soldered



Old emitters removed - yukky thermal compound underneath - you need to clean all that off with a paper towel.

Its hard to see in that picture but the soldering job on the original emitter on the right was awful (even by my standards) - they melted the circuit on the heatsink and fixed it by soldering directly to the die. Should still be reusable though.



Nooo! LCK Led shipped me 16mm emitters rather than 14mm ones - they wont fit! :scowl:



So I hacked the edge off with wire cutters and filed it down a bit :naughty: - checked there were no shorts and put a little electrical tape on the edge of the pill just in case. Emitters were centered and fixed in place with Arctic Alumina.



The XP-G R5 die is much smaller than the previous emitter so I punched a hole in a piece of banding tape and colored it silver with a marker to fill the space in the reflector hole.



Then I taped it onto the bottom of the reflector with katon tape (electrical tape would do - need to ensure the reflector doesn't short out the lead wires when its screwed together).



Another view (sorry about the blurry pics).




All done ... time to screw them back together...



Ta da! - 3x C3 SS wit XP-G R5 emitters!

-PG

 

[Ian2381]

Petergunn,

Great Mod and been thinking of doing the same.

Do you have beam shot comparison between stock and R5?

 

[petergunn]

...Do you have beam shot comparison between stock and R5?

Sorry, no - forgot to take one. Hot spot is maybe twice as big.

I replaced on of the orange peel reflectors with a 18.5mm smooth aluminum one from DX. That gives a more rounded beam pattern with less blur at the edges of the hotspot. Not sure if its better (I quite like the XP-G blurriness) but worth picking one up for $2 in case you like it.

-PG

 

[pounder]

you rock Peter! thanks man..

 

[Ian2381]

Sorry, no - forgot to take one. Hot spot is maybe twice as big.

I replaced on of the orange peel reflectors with a 18.5mm smooth aluminum one from DX. That gives a more rounded beam pattern with less blur at the edges of the hotspot. Not sure if its better (I quite like the XP-G blurriness) but worth picking one up for $2 in case you like it.

-PG

Hi PG,

Does the smooth reflector made it a thrower?

 

[Chauncey Gardner]

Yes, that's what I did. removing the C3 pill is so easy I just swap Led emitters in a minute. For awhile been thinking of geting the Quark Warm but no AA is available, now I don't have to spend too much $$$ and I already have a bright warm light especially using 14500 on it.:thumbsup:

They are easy to remove if the threads are decent.

How do you think an R4 xpg or xre r2 would work?

Too bad about the last batch, I got a perfect q5 SS C3 a couple months ago. Great beam & tint, brighter than my Fenix L1D on a 14500.

Doesn't sound like I'll be picking up any more for a while....


edit;



Peter, thanks for the tutorial. May be the first mod I try. Nice job.

 

[petergunn]

Hi PG,

Does the smooth reflector made it a thrower?

No its still floody - hotspot has a nice round edge but is still fat.

-PG