Reflector for XM-L D-Mag

[The_Driver]

Hi, a while ago I bought a custom 1D Mag with a T6 XM-L and a copper heat-sink here. I have since modded the 2.8A driver to 4.2A and bought some imr 26500s for it. It's pretty bright now. My problem is that it has a Solarforce Masterpiece (Pro-1?) smo reflector. The problem is that this reflector is made for the XR-E led which only a 90° radiance angle (i don't know what else to call it) and the XM-L (I think) has 120°. The reflector is extremely deep. The problem is that if I screw the head all the way down, to get the led into the right place, the beam really sucks. It has normal spill light, a huge corona and a tiny hotspot which does not seem to have a very high intensity. To get the beam to look how it should (big far throwing hotspot) I have to screw the head out quite a bit so that the XM-L is about 5mm behind the reflector. This means I lose a lot of light making my driver mod almost useless.

So my question is what is the best smo reflector for an xm-l that fits in a D-size mag head to get the most throw?

The mag led reflector?
Or should I contact phoenix reflectors?
A reflector from DX (although I couldn't find anything good there)?
Or a different one?

[cmacclel]

Probably the new stock deep Mag LED reflector.


Mac

[moderator007]

To me the stock led mag refletor has the best beam pattern i have tested for thrower hot spot yet some usable spill with the xml. I second Mac's recommendation. You can purchase them from zbattery.com (Maglite D Cell LED Reflector, 108-846). I have purchased several from them without any problems and the price is great. I usually purchase three or more to save on shipping. I build alot of mags with the xml.

[The_Driver]

The problem is that I live in Germany and ZBattery has this special shipping policy for international customers where you have to order at least 150$ wirth of stuff. I don't quite want to buy that many reflectors. What can I do now?

[moderator007]

Sorry The driver I did not know that. You could use this one. I have used it before. It has a very similar beam pattern but its not quite as good as the 108-846. The hot spot is very similar but a little larger but not much. If I were to show you both you probably could not tell them apart untill they were shown side by side.

[The_Driver]

Well, I don't know yet. I think it's too expensive for a KD-reflector. Especially since the better mag reflector is much cheaper.
I also think that even the Mag led reflector looks rather small for the big mag head (although pics can be deceiving). The masterpiece smo reflector looks much deeper. I wonder if the mag led reflector is the best that is possible in this case inside a mag head or if for example I could get phoenix reflectors to make a much better one?
On the other hand I did read in some other thread that someone managed to get 97000lux with the mag led reflector and a dedomed xml so that seems like a nice goal.

[Techjunkie]

If shipping is killing the Mag Rebel reflector, or if you want one that's 99% as good, but made of Aluminum instead of plastic, then use the reflector from a SmartFire/SacredFire V-65C, like this one from KD. If spending $33 USD on a host just to get the reflector turns you off, then a less deep but still impressive metal SMO reflector from the same source is their 51mm SST-50 reflector. Either of them might require some filing around the top to fit a Mag head, I don't recall. I've used both with XMLs and the first produces a beam nearly identical to the Mag Rebel, the second produces a slightly larger hotspot and corona around the spill. Both produce hotspots that are consistent, as opposed to that of the Mag Rebel, which tends to appear dimmer in the middle than at the edge. I have beamshots of each in the XML Xperiments thread linked in my signature.

Here's some indoor whitewall beamshots of XMLs in the various reflectors. Unfortunately, drive currents differ, so direct comparisons of intensity are not possible.

First up. An XML in the V-65C reflector a 3.4A on the left, followed by XMLs in two Mag Rebels at 4.2A and 5.0A in the middle and on the right. You can see how the beam profiles are nearly identical:



Next, the SST-50 reflector, on the right. JPG compression made the hotspots blotchy, but this photo demonstrates the corona of this reflector very well:



And some more shots against a brick wall:

Mag Rebel, 4.2A drive current:



SacredFire V-65C, 3.4A:



Finally, this is a neutral white XML driven at 3.5A in a reflector identical to the SST-50 reflector, only with the LED opening bored smaller for the XML...

From 12ft:


Up close, on very low current (the one on the RIGHT):

[The_Driver]

Wow, thanks for all that great info Techjunkie. When I look at the 3rd and 4th beamshots it actually looks like the sacredfire's hotspot is brighter than the maglite's on my moniter. Does it look different on yours?
By the way have you ever done lux readings with any of these lights? If the sacredfire's reflector is really that good I might buy it. One other I noticed though is that the sacredfire is an XR-E based light. How come the reflector works so well with the XM-L?

Maybe someones else can also chime in on this topic?

[The_Driver]

I have now put a Mag rebel reflector into my light after Techjunkie sent me some (he's a real nice guy) and doing a little modding to one of them. I used a small saw to cut off the cam on the bottom of the reflector so that I could get the xm-l in the correct position. It changed the beam completely. It now has a very wide and very even spill, a dim blotchy corona and a very sharply focused, medium-to-small-sized, very intense hotspot. Exactly how it should be . The throw has definitely increased, but I will test this tonight when it's dark here.
You might think that I am done with this light, but I'm not . I want to switch the T6 xm-l for a U2-bin and maybe de-dome it and it would be really cool to reflow solder the U2 on the the heatsink for better heat-transfer, but someone would need to explain to me how I would do this and where I can get the reflow-soldering-paste.

[carl]

I have now put a Mag rebel reflector into my light after Techjunkie sent me some (he's a real nice guy) and doing a little modding to one of them. I used a small saw to cut off the cam on the bottom of the reflector so that I could get the xm-l in the correct position. It changed the beam completely. It now has a very wide and very even spill, a dim blotchy corona and a very sharply focused, medium-to-small-sized, very intense hotspot. Exactly how it should be . The throw has definitely increased, but I will test this tonight when it's dark here.
You might think that I am done with this light, but I'm not . I want to switch the T6 xm-l for a U2-bin and maybe de-dome it and it would be really cool to reflow solder the U2 on the the heatsink for better heat-transfer, but someone would need to explain to me how I would do this and where I can get the reflow-soldering-paste.

How much longer is the mag led reflector than the standard maglie reflector?

You need to screw out the head a bit more to accomodate the longer mag led reflector so do the head threads show when you screw the head out forward further?

thanks

[think2x]

How much longer is the mag led reflector than the standard maglie reflector?

You need to screw out the head a bit more to accomodate the longer mag led reflector so do the head threads show when you screw the head out forward further?

thanks

I have set the heatsink down into the body further to eliminate this problem. On the H22A heatsink you just need to grind/file off the lip, go slow and test alot to get a nice tight fit and all is good from there.

[carl]

Thanks for your reply. How much distance is there between the bottom of the heat sink and the steel retaining ring for the switch? In other words, how much room do you have to play with? thanks.

[think2x]

It's been forever since I've done it (when the rebel LED Mags came out) but if I remember right I only lowered it 1/4" to 3/8" and still had room for the driver. I got the fit so snug that I used a 1" PVC conduit and a hammer to gently drive it into the body, don't forget the thermal paste.

[lucca brassi]

I'm working on new Cu heatsink for my scuba light and I like to try new ''Maglite deep led reflector'' with SST90 or SST 50 . ( I won't use maglite head , just reflector )

Can anyone tell me where is focus point in that reflector ? I could made fine adjustment for 5mm later but I need data how high must be placed led (from top of reflector to led sphere) .

Original hole in reflector must be of course increased I assume

Thanks!

NIce beams Techjunkie!

[moderator007]

The rebel reflector was made to work with a led to begin with. The focal point is very close to the direct bottom of the reflector. If the led was on a 20mm pcb, then the reflector would focus when the bottom of the reflector hits the pcb with the led inside the reflector. The origanal hole is close to 12.9mm.

[lucca brassi]

thanks!

[drmalenko]

I'm working on new Cu heatsink for my scuba light and I like to try new ''Maglite deep led reflector'' with SST90 or SST 50 . ( I won't use maglite head , just reflector )

Can anyone tell me where is focus point in that reflector ? I could made fine adjustment for 5mm later but I need data how high must be placed led (from top of reflector to led sphere) .

Original hole in reflector must be of course increased I assume

Thanks!

NIce beams Techjunkie!

Check out the thread I posted about my SST-90 with a mag led reflector. I would link to it but I'm on my phone and don't know how to.. :/