Possible to upgrade a McLuxIII-PD?

I have one of the older LuxeonIII PD's, which I believe runs at 500ml. I have a couple of questions.

1. Can it be upgraded to one of the newer, brighter led's?
2. If so, will there be a noticeable increase in brightness?, or is it probably not worth the money?

I recently had my UX1K luxeon upgraded to a Seoul and it was definitely worth it for me especially since I did not like the green tint of the UX1K.
It is definitely brighter and makes for a beautiful beam.
I would not have had my TWOJ PD upgraded (if it had not been stolen) because I LOVED the tint of that light and it was plenty bright for what I used it for.
There are plenty of other little pocket rockets around these days (for the cost of the upgrade) if all you want is brightness.

It's a great light. I just keep hearing about how much brighter these new led's are and was thinking it might be worthwhile to do an upgrade. I'm finding my needs are moving more in a tactical direction and more light can't hurt. I use this light on the job quite a bit.

I was actually even thinking about trying to trade it for a larger light like a Gladius or the Typhoon II.

Just swap your emitter for a seoul. I have done it about three times now... for mine and my friends. Careful though because if you don't take your time, it would decrease the reliability of the light... Overall i would say that mine is about twice as bright with about the same runtime. it is definitely worth it

I have absolutely no skill or equipment to do that mod. Any reccomendation on who could do it?

Brasso said:

I have absolutely no skill or equipment to do that mod. Any reccomendation on who could do it?

Click to expand...

PM sent.

If you are satisfied with the brightness you can still have the emitter changed out to Seoul P4 and the converter current changed to 300ma as a "mizer" modification.

datiLED highly recommended, quick turnaround time as well

+1 on DatiLED!

I'm looking at doing the same thing. When you swap in the SSCs are you putting in a 0.30" spacer? If not how much will the beam profile change?

-LT

Lunal_Tic said:

I'm looking at doing the same thing. When you swap in the SSCs are you putting in a 0.30" spacer? If not how much will the beam profile change?

-LT

Click to expand...

When adding the SSC, you do need to raise the emitter 0.030", unless you would like a little extra floodiness. I have tried it both ways, and did not see much of a difference. But, I was not able to compare two different lights at the same time. YMMV.

You can either modify the stock reflector, or get the MCR20-S. The MCR20-S is 0.030" shorter than the MCR20, so the copper shim is still required.

Now the down side: You need to widen the seat for the LED, as the diameter of the Seoul is a bit larger than the Luxeon. If you have a lathe, this is easy. Otherwise, a small carbide tipped grinding/engraving bit does a pretty good job. Make small passes, removing material evenly from both sides. You want to maintain the symmetry of the opening. Test fit the LED occasionally, until you get it right.

Clean the seat area with alcohol on a swab. Use some Arctic Alumina to adhere the copper shim, and check against continuity with the head. You have removed some anodizing, so it is very possible to have that contact with ground. When the shim is set, prepare the LED, and adhere it in place with more AA. Install the reflector, and seat it, and check for proper centering of the LED. Make any adjustments as needed.

Resolder the leads, and check for any shorts. Connect the ground screw, and test your work. Reassemble the light, and enjoy.

It is not too hard if you remember Murphy's law, and don't take anything for granted/leave anything to chance.

I've gotten away without having to grind the seat by lightly sanding the plastic surround on the LED. There are variances and on some you may not have to do anything at all:shrug:

IMHO, found that the amount of metal removed from the reflector is more critical to get a good focus with Seoul P4.

datiLED said:

When adding the SSC, you do need to raise the emitter 0.030", unless you would like a little extra floodiness. I have tried it both ways, and did not see much of a difference. But, I was not able to compare two different lights at the same time. YMMV.

You can either modify the stock reflector, or get the MCR20-S. The MCR20-S is 0.030" shorter than the MCR20, so the copper shim is still required.

Now the down side: You need to widen the seat for the LED, as the diameter of the Seoul is a bit larger than the Luxeon. If you have a lathe, this is easy. Otherwise, a small carbide tipped grinding/engraving bit does a pretty good job. Make small passes, removing material evenly from both sides. You want to maintain the symmetry of the opening. Test fit the LED occasionally, until you get it right.

Clean the seat area with alcohol on a swab. Use some Arctic Alumina to adhere the copper shim, and check against continuity with the head. You have removed some anodizing, so it is very possible to have that contact with ground. When the shim is set, prepare the LED, and adhere it in place with more AA. Install the reflector, and seat it, and check for proper centering of the LED. Make any adjustments as needed.

Resolder the leads, and check for any shorts. Connect the ground screw, and test your work. Reassemble the light, and enjoy.

It is not too hard if you remember Murphy's law, and don't take anything for granted/leave anything to chance.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Murphy is a not so distant cousin. :green:

-LT