McFlood - modifying surface?

Greetings to all,

Doing a search and perusing through older threads, I see that the McFlood's efficiencies and polishing has been discussed before.

However, my question remains on how to improve the reflectivity (is that the right word?) of the McFlood. For example, is there a definite improvement in polishing the nickel plating off and leaving smooth mirrored aluminium finish?

How about those chrome paint sprays (not real chrome of course) found in automotive stores? Would this type of paint improve the McFlood's efficiency and would it stand up to the heat of overdriven luxeons?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts,
Moses

Stay away from those chrome spray paints. They suck at simulating chrome. They're more like a very metallic silver and they're real delicate. The finish is damaged easily.

The closest thing that you can get to chrome in a paint is Alcad II chrome paint. It's a lacquer paint that must be airbrushed on straight from the bottle, no thinning necessary. And you must spray a base coat of gloss black before applying the Alcad II. Of course it's not a mirror like chrome finish but it's the closest you can get in painting. The 1oz. bottle is pricey at $8-$9. I have one but haven't tried it yet (bought it for models).

moses,
I've found that the McFlood in stock form produces rings of different colored light. What I did was use a very fine grit sandpaper to get through the EN and then hit it with steel wool to give a diffusing effect. It resulted in a very smooth wide beam of light. There is, however, no throw to speak of.

and I've found that (when I use the kroll on the tail) of my sandwiches, I can just leave it out all together. It's like using the light in candlemode, except that the head acts as a sort of shield to keep the light out of the eyes. It's almost as good without having to actually have a McFlood (of course, I do have a bunch).

[ QUOTE ]
moses said:
Greetings to all,

However, my question remains on how to improve the reflectivity (is that the right word?) of the McFlood. For example, is there a definite improvement in polishing the nickel plating off and leaving smooth mirrored aluminium finish?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts,
Moses

[/ QUOTE ]
I've measured 10-15% output improvement by polishing off the Nickel. Smoother is better for max output.

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Chop said:
I've found that the McFlood in stock form produces rings of different colored light.

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Agreed. The McFlood reflector in my TK 2003 leaves something to be desired. I managed to get my hands on a bead blasted McFlood which gives a nice smooth flood beam. However, there really is no throw to speak of.

Sanding the EN coating off is your best bang-for-the-buck reflectivity improvement. I assume that nobody EXPECTS any throw from a "flood" reflector right? Leaving the McFlood rough from the sandpaper is a pretty good simulation of the bead-blasting, and the output is smoothed considerably.

I painted my McFood with white paint! Beam still has rings but it is very white!

Why not remove the EN electrolytically? The solution costs about $8 a pint or quart (I don't remember) and it can be done with an ordinary battery charger (6v is enough). If there is any interest, I'll round up some more details. I've got some nickle plating solution, but so far I've just been using this technique to remove rust......

HUGE THANKS!

Wow, you guys are just amazing. Post a question, come back a day later and get a whole bunch of informed answers. Really, thanks to ALL of you who responded. I don't get to visit and post a lot because of my other commitments but really do appreciate this group. Certainly of all the groups I've visited, this is the most congenial in sharing information to enhance the 'state of the art'

Again,thanks.

Moses

Re: HUGE THANKS!

Will lye remove the EN plating?

Re: HUGE THANKS!

lol,,,, Lye will remove pretty much ANY coating.
EN, HA, Paint, clear coats.

its meeeean stuff /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Re: HUGE THANKS!

Lye will also remove aluminum. In fact, if you leave it sitting long enough, you can make aluminum tea. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: HUGE THANKS!

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Chop said:
Lye will also remove aluminum. In fact, if you leave it sitting long enough, you can make aluminum tea. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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mmm, mmm good /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif