Cree or Seoul to mod Elektrolumens XM-3 or Blaster 1 Watt?

I want to turn my ho-hum, but rugged XM-3 and Blaster 2-D, 1 Watt into something more impressive. Any thoughts on what would be needed to mod one of these lights, either Cree or Seoul? Would stock optics work or do I need some other? I know where to get the LED's, but where can I find different optics for the Seoul and Cree, along with dimensions? Thanks.

I've been thinking about the same thing with these two lights. I bought them both for 50 buck each a while back, and they are the dimmest 3watt lights I have. :thumbsdow Here are my ideas for an upgrade...

Do you want a simple emitter swap, or are you doing drivers too. The reason I ask is the XM3 driver pulls almost an amp, and gives the led about half that. The blaster 2D has had a few different versions using a few different drivers. Since they both use two cells, you could get a pair of badboy 750s

The XM3 has a good tailswitch and a good reflector, which would probably work with the seoul. The problem with it, besides the inefficient driver, is the lack of good heatsinking. The good thing is there is room to add your own driver and piece of metal for heatsinking. (As I picked mine up to explain this to you, I realize I've had a battery leak and the yucky stuff dripped onto my driver circuit. The batteries are going to require some "coaxing" out of the tube.

For the blaster... very nice thing about the blaster is, you can remove that optic (wich won't work with the cree) and drop in an IMS 27mm reflector (5 bucks) and it fits very well. This gives you some sidespill, something the optic didn't. You can replace that luxeon star with a cree star (7.3 bucks) and you've got a cheap upgrade.

I'm also toying with the idea of just direct driving some red/orange lux IIIs from them--letting these lights become my fire spewing dragons.

ROVER said:

For the blaster... very nice thing about the blaster is, you can remove that optic (wich won't work with the cree) and drop in an IMS 27mm reflector (5 bucks) and it fits very well.

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Thanks for the thoughts. I don't really want to get into a big project on either, and it sounds like the XM-3 may be. Wayne's thoughts agree with yours, in that the Seoul would likely work with the stock reflector. But, I have had the head of the XM-3 off today, and cannot figure how to remove the guts. Ideas? Wayne says several different assembly techniques were used: "Some have lenses pressed in from the front, some have them put in from the inside with the reflector that will also come out. Some have a threaded retainer ring on the inside of the head bezel." It looks like maybe my lens is pressed in from the front, although I am not certain without removing the reflector.

The extent of effort I want to put into the XM-3 mod is basically an LED plus maybe some heatsink material if necessary, if I can figure how to get the guts out of the head. With the stock driver and a Seoul, what kind of increase in output do you think can be expected? Is it even worth the effort?

On the Blaster 1 Watt, where can I get that IMS 27mm reflector you mentioned? I could knock that little project off pretty quick, it sounds like.

Installed a SSC P4 TSWOH in the XM-3 tonight. It makes a usable light but not a white wall hunter light. Replacing the stock reflector with a non-smooth reflector would be the best mod. A non-smooth reflector with a CREE XR-E P4 WC would make an awesome light, but I don't want to put that much effort into it (find different reflector and file to size, etc.). I use my XM-3 as a work light so I'm satisfied with the increased light output and won't go hunting any white walls with it.

Monolith said:

Installed a SSC P4 TSWOH in the XM-3 tonight. It makes a usable light but not a white wall hunter light.

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Does the increase in output justify the time/expense of installing the Seoul? Did you have to file the reflector down? What's the rough percentage light increase, to your eye? Did you install improved heatsinking? Or is it not even necessary with the Seoul? Thanks!

Turbo DV8 said:

Does the increase in output justify the time/expense of installing the Seoul? Did you have to file the reflector down? What's the rough percentage light increase, to your eye? Did you install improved heatsinking? Or is it not even necessary with the Seoul? Thanks!

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The SSC P4 was about $10 and took about 5 minutes including taking the light apart and removing the original LED. Much brighter. Since I don't have the original for side by side comparison, I can't really give a percentage. I modded some five lights tonight (different brands/models) so everything kind of runs together. I will upgrade it to a U bin when I get those. Very easy mod. No improved heatsinking and no reflector changes. Remember - I was looking for a quick improvement and don't want to expend the energy and time to make it a perfect mod. Theoretically the Seoul should generate less heat than the Luxeon it replaced.

Side note - the Seoul LEDs do not have perfect binning yet. My Cree XR-E WC's are white and consistently white. The Seouls can have quite a bit of variation within a binning.

EDIT - I should note that I did not check the batteries before or after the mod. The XM-3 was in my garage (10 deg. F) and the bats have been in the light for probably 6-12 months. A new set of bats would probably make a world of difference too. I would definitely do the mod. One of the easiest lights to mod.

Any beamshots???? Nice job! Ive comsidered upgrading my XM3.

Thanks! two things: how do you get the guts out of the head? Also, should I order a star or bare emitter? Thanks.

No beam shots yet. I also put a Seoul TSWOH in my 2D blaster tonight (it was already modified with a reflector). Haven't got it back together yet but I think it will be significantly brighter.

The head screws apart if you want to play with the reflector. The guts come out by gently unscrewing them with a pair of needle nose. Post pics of your guts and head to make sure they are the same. Bare emitter for both.

OK, got the XM-3 head apart. So, I can use the stock reflector with the Seoul, or is it the Cree? I have a Cree star I could pop in, but the stock LED looks like it sits a lot higher on the star than my Cree.

Where can I get the 27 mm reflector for the 2D Blaster/Seoul mod? Thanks.

Sometime ago I changed my blaster to a Lux UXOK and used two 3 AA series battery carriers wired in parallel (removed the top contact from one and the bottom contact from the other, glued them together, ran copper foil adhesive tape up opposite sides of the carrier solder + to + - to -) bypassed the driver board with a .5 ohm resistor. Now the LED is seeing nearly an 1 amp. I have a Seol ordered to replace the Lux.
Norm
P.S. using this set up it will run on either 3 or 6 AA's.

I forgot to add I have a Goldston reflector that fits perfectly in place of the optic.

You can get the reflectors from the Sandwich Shoppe I believe. I haven't checked lately. As norm stated, there's other reflectors that will work also.

One thing I noted when comparing the Luxeon (3D) w/reflector to the Seoul (2D) w/reflector is that the Seoul LED provides a more pinpoint hotspot. The hotspot of the Luxeon is much bigger. Didn't have time to take them both outside and test throw.

ROVER said:

For the blaster... very nice thing about the blaster is, you can remove that optic (wich won't work with the cree) and drop in an IMS 27mm reflector (5 bucks) and it fits very well. This gives you some sidespill, something the optic didn't. You can replace that luxeon star with a cree star (7.3 bucks) and you've got a cheap upgrade.

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27mm? The OD of the collomator optic in my Blaster 2D is 37-38mm. Are we talking about the same light?

Also, my optic appears to be behind a white plastic retainer with two holes at 180 degrees, which would normally be used to unscrew to release the optic. However, there are not threads, and it appears to be glued in place. How did you get your Blaster optic out?

You replaced the whole star in the Blaster? The stars in mine are riveted on the negative side to the heatsink. How did you refasten this to establish your ground? Thanks.

It sounds like a Seoul emitter into my XM-3 is the esiest mod to take on first.

There are several different versions of the blaster, and I don't have the one you do. My star doesn't have a rivet but rather was held on with a screw making the negative connection to ground. You can drill out the rivet and replace it with a screw. The only purpose of this is 1) securing the star to the light (between thermal epoxy, the ground screw, and the reflector or optic, it isn't going anywhere) and 2) connecting the negative terminal to the body of the flashlight (a spare wire and a quick solder job do the same thing). Mine has an oring behind the optic holding it in--not a plastic piece, but the length of the reflector should hold it in place. For the IMS 27mm, you can purchase one from the sandwhich shoppe or from photonfanatic in the dealers section (although he asks a 10 dollar minimum purchase). Yes, the OD is slightly smaller for the reflector, but the length is a perfect size to hold the reflector in place --sandwiched between the lense and the star. These are only 5 dollars, and will give you some sidespill. I'm tempted to buy a seoul star to do this, but I told myself I would wait until Philips-Lumileds led actually comes out and is tested.

To get the "guts" out of the XM3, just unscrew the octagon part from the body. Remove the black plastic insulating washer. Then you'll set the positive contact, which is the back surface of the pill. Use some needlenose pliers and pull it out. If it's stubborn, unscrew the front, which holds the lense and reflector--then you're looking at the front of the pill---just push it out.



I've never had a battery leak so bad. My XM3 has a AA cell stuck solid in the battery tube. I've used a steel rod and mallet and beat on the battery,and can't dislodge it. I miss my old job at the metal shop where I could mill, lathe and press anything I wanted. I'm thinking if I can't salvage the battery tube, I'll solder wire leads to the driver, and make an XM3 headlight-with a seuol and use nimhs. For everyday use, the XM3 reflector represents my favorite balance of spill and throw, so I really want to save it.

Just received a Cree star from DealExtreme. I got it to mod one of my XM-3's. The Cree was mounted on a "Star" which was a solid Aluminum plate, insulated by a thin circuit board material. It looked like it would provide good heat transfer. The swap of the led was very simple. Unsoldered the 2 wires, removed the old Luxeon assy, and replaced it with the new Cree. the star fit perfectly in the old spot. The reflector needed to be modified so I removed it from the head. I used some 320 grit sand paper and sanded it until it fit the Cree.

It's much brighter now, I'd say 2x brighter. It's also much whiter and has a tighter spot. I say it puts out more light then my 3 AA Maglight, but they are close.

It's a very worthy, low cost, and easy mod to do. I'll try and post some beam shots.

Bill

BillSJCA said:

The reflector needed to be modified so I removed it from the head. I used some 320 grit sand paper and sanded it until it fit the Cree.Bill

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It looks like my cree LED is much wider than the little hole at the bottom of my reflector. Did you sand the bottom of the reflector down to widen it up? After you sanded it enough to acomodate the LED, was the beam as smooth as it was with the original Lexeon? The smoothness of the beam is what I really like about the XM-3 reflector, and I don;t want to lose it's wonderful combination of throw and spill.

The Seoul would be better suited to the XM-3 as it would be a straight emitter swap,

Turbo DV8 said:

It looks like my cree LED is much wider than the little hole at the bottom of my reflector. Did you sand the bottom of the reflector down to widen it up? After you sanded it enough to acomodate the LED, was the beam as smooth as it was with the original Lexeon? The smoothness of the beam is what I really like about the XM-3 reflector, and I don;t want to lose it's wonderful combination of throw and spill.

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The beam is still fairly smooth, but not as smooth as stock. The Seoul emitter is a straight swap but I didn't know it when I ordered the cree. My next mod will be a souel emitter in a XM-3 or nextgen 750ma sandwich.

here are some beam shots and more...

first, cree vs stock emitter


Here's the reflector mod you need to do with the cree. I sanded mine down, but drilling it out bigger should also work.


here are beam shots for the 3AA minimag, cree XM-3, and stock XM-3 all with fresh off the charger nimh batteries.




Again, a nice upgrade.
Bill

Thanks for the beamshots. I have a Cree itching to go into something, but I think I will wait until I get some Seoul's instead, since you say it is a straight swap. Whenever DX gets more in and finishes up the New Year partying, I'll be in luck!

So..which is the easier to use for this mod....the Cree P4?