Dioni
Flashlight Enthusiast
Firstly, let me say I am no an expert in the area of modding. Far away from it... Hahaha 
. What I did was enjoy my vacation to give an upgrade to my Insight H2X Typhoon 2, which was in the drawer.
The Insight H2X Typhoon 2 does use the old Luxeon III which puts out around 100 lumens (at max), so I have not used it; because with the more powerful flashlights, it was retired. (as many already know, I'm a LEO in Brazil and use a G2Z with a Malkoff M61 at work).
I made some observations and thought: "Would not a P60 drop-in fit in it? " The answer is "NOT". At least not whole.
Then, below is my steps and pics to illustrate the modding:
1 ) I disassemble and took the set of reflector out, removing the original LED .
2 ) I took a drop-in with Cree XR-E R2, removed the drive and soldered it in the Typhoon (still in the drop-in copper base).
Note: "Why the Cree XR-E R2 LED?" Because I have did same tests to get an initial idea of power and how the flashlight would behave. I tested it with the Cree XM-L and the Cree XP-G R5. Both tuned the flashlight off after a few minutes running. I think it was due to the heat control. With R2 it does not occur. She gets hot, flashes the low battery warning, but not off. Do not ask me why, I leave that to the experts.
3) With the copper base, the drop-in "P60" was huge, the flashlight did not close even. So I removed the copper base and soldered the LED directly in1to the flashlight (like the original).
4 ) The original reflector obviously was not designed to be used with a R2, so I took the reflector drop-in and placed inside. The light almost closed, lacked a few inches, because of the different size between them. See the pics below:
5 ) See the beamshots in this part of the test :
With original reflector (the LED out center ).
With the drop-in reflector, the LED was located a little low (not fully in the hole because installation below the reflector).
6 ) After a few minutes spent on grinding, the results were those below: Minimum size difference.
A little gap, however the o-ring is fully covered.
7 ) Finally, let's go to the beamshots :
Beamshot the final result
BlackHawk NightOps Gladius vs. Insight H2X Typhoon 2
Note: I bought Galdius already modded with XPG-R5 and its in the support that I use on my paintball marker .
Insight H2X Typhoon 2 modded XR-E R2
Gladius modded XP-G R5
Insight vs Gladius
EXTRA PIC:
Of course the modding was made with good "friends" beside: Tennesee Wisky ( Jack and Coke… yeah! Its hot here in Brazil :sweat, my gun and my Aviator.
Final conclusions:
Pros :
- More lumens !
- I will use it more now
- Excellent throw. Awesome Hotspot. :twothumbs
Cons:
- low battery indicator blinks… blinks... blinks... s**t
- Not original anymore.
Finally, I wonder if anyone knows how to disable the low battery warning and the temperature controller let me know (mods can be even better!) :devil:
Thanks for reading and sorry the bad english!
My album in Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dionata/
Cheers from Brazil,
Dionata
. What I did was enjoy my vacation to give an upgrade to my Insight H2X Typhoon 2, which was in the drawer.The Insight H2X Typhoon 2 does use the old Luxeon III which puts out around 100 lumens (at max), so I have not used it; because with the more powerful flashlights, it was retired. (as many already know, I'm a LEO in Brazil and use a G2Z with a Malkoff M61 at work).
I made some observations and thought: "Would not a P60 drop-in fit in it? " The answer is "NOT". At least not whole.
Then, below is my steps and pics to illustrate the modding:
1 ) I disassemble and took the set of reflector out, removing the original LED .
2 ) I took a drop-in with Cree XR-E R2, removed the drive and soldered it in the Typhoon (still in the drop-in copper base).
Note: "Why the Cree XR-E R2 LED?" Because I have did same tests to get an initial idea of power and how the flashlight would behave. I tested it with the Cree XM-L and the Cree XP-G R5. Both tuned the flashlight off after a few minutes running. I think it was due to the heat control. With R2 it does not occur. She gets hot, flashes the low battery warning, but not off. Do not ask me why, I leave that to the experts.
3) With the copper base, the drop-in "P60" was huge, the flashlight did not close even. So I removed the copper base and soldered the LED directly in1to the flashlight (like the original).
4 ) The original reflector obviously was not designed to be used with a R2, so I took the reflector drop-in and placed inside. The light almost closed, lacked a few inches, because of the different size between them. See the pics below:
5 ) See the beamshots in this part of the test :
With original reflector (the LED out center ).
With the drop-in reflector, the LED was located a little low (not fully in the hole because installation below the reflector).
6 ) After a few minutes spent on grinding, the results were those below: Minimum size difference.
A little gap, however the o-ring is fully covered.
7 ) Finally, let's go to the beamshots :
Beamshot the final result
BlackHawk NightOps Gladius vs. Insight H2X Typhoon 2
Note: I bought Galdius already modded with XPG-R5 and its in the support that I use on my paintball marker .
Insight H2X Typhoon 2 modded XR-E R2
Gladius modded XP-G R5
Insight vs Gladius
EXTRA PIC:
Of course the modding was made with good "friends" beside: Tennesee Wisky ( Jack and Coke… yeah! Its hot here in Brazil :sweat
, my gun and my Aviator.
Final conclusions:
Pros :
- More lumens !
- I will use it more now
- Excellent throw. Awesome Hotspot. :twothumbs
Cons:
- low battery indicator blinks… blinks... blinks... s**t
- Not original anymore.
Finally, I wonder if anyone knows how to disable the low battery warning and the temperature controller let me know (mods can be even better!) :devil:
Thanks for reading and sorry the bad english!
My album in Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dionata/
Cheers from Brazil,
Dionata
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