two minute a2 mod.

i recently bought an a2 because everyone raved about it. its a nice light but i didnt like the fuzzy potato shaped hotspot and the kind of transparent sidespill. i liked my e2e beam much better. round hotspot and usable sidespill. since the tip of the lamp is frosted maybe if i frost the rest it would improve the beam. i took a small diamond stick and rubbed it on the clear part of the lamp until i had a light frost similar to magic tape. woah. the hotspot is now round, smooth and slightly smaller than before. the sidespill is now smooth and brighter than my e2e. i think i lost about 5 percent throw but it now lights up the whole backyard and still lights up a bright hotspot on the fence 100 feet away. i almost sold this but now i can join the a2 fan club. i am turning into a beam weenie, thanks.

Welcome to the A2 fanclub Arnold.

The oval hotspot can be adjusted by rotating the LA by trial and error until you get a round hotspot.

I wonder whether the beam became round because you remove the lamp and placed it back in at a different angle, or due to the sanding of the bulb.

i tried that with the two lamps that came with it to no avail. i only sanded one lamp so further testing is in order.

nice quick mod. just out of curiousity of the actual beam shape, would you have a wall shot of it?

mark

i might try this mod on one of the A2s I already messed up.

I think some folks used etching solution to frost their lamps. But I guess it only works for those bulbs that don't come with a full assembly.

i dont know how to post pictures and my camera skills are lacking. the beam is similar to my e2e and 6p. to try this out you could probably coat the lamp with an opaque substance like vaseline or use a small piece of magic tape before sanding the lamp.

Definitely do NOT put vaseline on your MA02 LA!!!! Bad idea. Also a bad idea to put magic tape on it. No. Don't do it. You will probably explode the lamp in the A2 head and ruin the reflector and lens if you do this, and/or get gunk inside the head which will be impossible to remove completely.

That said, the diamond sanding stick mod is a really neat idea! Thanks for the suggestion. It sounds like the ideal way for beam perfectionists to bring their A2's into line with their aesthetics.

Be careful not to inhale glass dust when you do this, BTW, and be careful not to exert too much pressure on the envelope as you sand.