Sorry, been away a while. I've gotten several pm's asking, so I figured I'd come back thru and write a little report on the process. The tlex5 dropin is an led on a circuit board, with two pins coming out the back. It's designed to drop into a 2pin socket from a mini-maglite, I'm sure everyone's seen one of those. It runs on 3v in a minimag, so it's perfect for a single lithium 123 or even a cr2. The new led comes with a reflector and lens for a maglite also in a kit form. Great product, highly recommended for any minimag application. I have it in several variations. I buy from lighthound, they generally always have em in stock for $25.
If you unscrew the lens/reflector assembly off an x2 you notice it has steep threads, which also focus the beam from the original bulb. The led is about 1/4 the height of the bulb, so this kind of range isn't possible, but we can set it at a fixed spot, wherever you feel the focus is just right. Once you have it unscrewed you see the bulb, it sits on a funny base with two contact points, that rest on two pads which are + an -. When you twist the switch on the x2 it contacts the two pads with power and voila, you have light. So our goal is to get those two pads, connected to the two pins on the tlex5. Pretty easy if you are handy with a soldering iron. Short 3/4" pieces of wire get you there, with enough room to work.
First step is fitment of the board. We want the circuit board to fit down in the hole where the bulb went. It's a little too big. I layed a file on the bench and took the board and drug the edge across the file while twisting it, so it sands down fairly evenly all the way around. A lot of grind/test/grind to get it just right. but it will go small enough without affecting the circuitry. Once you have a snug fit, it should slide in and out with a little effort, so we can determine where it best fits for the perfect beam. Now comes the wiring stage. get it wired and leave the board hanging out of the x2 for now. Side note, the terralux only works one way, out of two pins you only have two choices, so if its wrong it won't work, just swap sides and you have it.
Next came the reflector. the hole for the led is bigger than the one for the bulb so I'm sure you could just enlarge the hole and use the stock reflector and lens. I got some plastic dust down in there trying to do this and couldnt figure out how to get them back out, so I decided to use the lens and reflector from the tlex5 kit. The knurled bezel is glued to the reflector housing, so I had to boil it in water for 5 mins or so to get it apart. The lens drops right out but the reflector had to be dremeled out. Very easy. The new reflector went in, new lens, screw bezel back in and voila, we have a perfect fit new reflector assembly.
Next comes depth. I found that when the led is bottomed out against the reflector it makes the perfect beam, so no need from now on, to adjust the bezel. So to get it just right, I put the board in the hole just slightly, then screw on the bezel, which pushes the board down in the housing as it tightens up. Once it's bottomed out, you have the perfect placement for the board. I pulled the bezel off, and dropped in two small beads of epoxy to attach the board to the housing, looking back I should have used some high heat silicone or something so I could get it out later. This secures the board in place at the right height, so when you put the bezel back on it's just right. you can still adjust the bezel out a bit which gives you more flood, but it still gives you the best beam in the center for throw at bottomed out.
That's it, should work momentarily one way and full on the other, just like the original configuration. Side by side comparison I'd say the led looks 10x brighter, but mostly because it's white light as opposed to the brown/yellow incan beam you had before. I do believe it puts out at least twice as much light, since before I couldn't hardly light up a white room, now it'll show on the side of a house 5 houses down in the dark. Plus it'll blind you, which is a good thing for a tactical light (as long as you're behind it), which it wouldnt before. I wish I had pictures, but I sold it to a police officer at a gunshow for more than double what I had in it. He was amazed comparing mine to his side by side. x2 was rated at 40 lumens, depending on who you ask the terralux dropin will do anywhere from 100-150.
I'm not sure about durability, he has it on his duty gun now more than 6 months, and I haven't heard back so I'm guessing it's doing alright. I know the terralux led's last forever, I have one from way back in a single cr123 light that has been thru probably 300 cycles and it's good as new. I'd be willing to bet when properly bedded in with silicone and with a good solder job, it'd be more durable than the incan bulb that came in it.
Fun mod, almost anyone can do in a few hours. Makes an expensive pos light into a useful tool. Good luck if you wanna try it. post up with pics if you do.
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