I'm no Modder, but I can Solder. NovaTac 120 Upgrade!

[kz1000s1]

Originally Posted by Z06Pilot

Would the 120 be less suseptable to faliure than the 85 would?

No, there shouldn't be any failures to either light or with either LED.
And I've never of a Novatac having a failure from an LED swap.
I just thought you were starting with an 85T because you weren't sure about your ability to do the mod and the
85T is less expensive if you damaged it.

[Z06Pilot]

Originally Posted by kz1000s1

No, there shouldn't be any failures to either light or with either LED.
And I've never of a Novatac having a failure from an LED swap.
I just thought you were starting with an 85T because you weren't sure about your ability to do the mod and the
85T is less expensive if you damaged it.

You are 100% right, I am less squemish about ruining a $75 light vs a $140 light, but felt that if the 85t would be prone to faliure vs the 120p because of diferences in the circitry; I would just assume use a 120P as a donner. Why would the output be less on the 85t vs the 120?

[heckboy]

I have noticed one thing about my K2 conversion...

I notice that when I run the light on MAX after about 20 seconds, if I'm holding it, the light kicks down one level. If I'm not holding it the thermal protect will kick in after around 6 seconds. The light I converted is a later model 120P with a 33xxx serial number.

Later,
HB

[bansuri]

Originally Posted by heckboy

I have noticed one thing about my K2 conversion...

I notice that when I run the light on MAX after about 20 seconds, if I'm holding it, the light kicks down one level. If I'm not holding it the thermal protect will kick in after around 6 seconds. The light I converted is a later model 120P with a 33xxx serial number.

Later,
HB

Mines a 32xxx and it holds out for more than 2 minutes before blinking once.
It used to do it much sooner, not sure what has changed... I've done a full factory reset + 250 click procedure in the hope that would do something but that may be wishful thinking. The average temperature has gone down since I started using the modded light so that may be a variable.
If you look in the front with the reflector removed there is a flange that extends around the inside of the head that the front of the light engine(LE) pushes against, make sure you some thermal paste around that where the two surfaces touch to ensure heat transfer from the LE to the head. I'm even considering getting paste around the outside of the LE so it transfers heat from the front edge and all around the body of the LE to the head. If the head isn't getting warm then the heat's staying in.
I will do a test and after with similar ambient temperatures and the light at room temp.
Will post results.

[bansuri]

There are so many variables for this test!
My initial run as posted was a little over 2 minutes.
For the next test I had a good grip on it and held it horizontal. It went for 5 minutes and I finally gave up. With a good grip on it the light is essentially liquid cooled by my circulatory system. After 5 minutes it had peaked in temperature and was holding steady.
Soooo, I think I'm getting pretty good transfer with this light and will forgo taking it apart for now.

I wouldn't consider the high mode on this modded light as a level that would be appropriate for long-term use, just a "blast" mode. However, it really stays cool at levels just under 100% which are brighter than the original emitter's full output.

I'm going to reiterate that I believe paste around the flange is crucial and if you slop some along the sides between the LE and the head it couldn't hurt. I guess I'm gonna need to get a larger quantity of some real thermal paste as I've just been using those little packs that come with computer processors or heat-sinks.

In other news: I put one of these emitters in my Liteflux LF2, looks like I won't be getting a Maratac AAA after all!

[gunga]

Well Bansuri, thanks to your enthusiatic post, and many other comments I finally did the swap on my 120P.

I already had a high CRI seoul in there (S2 bin) that gave excellent colour rendition, but I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed in how weak the throw was (the cost of such a smooth beam).

Well, the K2 gave back some great throw! I'm still not fully decided on the mod because I've gone to neutral cree bins on most of my mods (5A-5C).

This is not too bad though. It seems to approximate a WG or WH cree. It also makes the beam just so much more useful outside. I'll have to try this out for a while. I do like the tint consistency of the beam though (something lacking in the latest seouls).

Thanks for the great posts!

[heckboy]

When I re-assembled the light I put thermal epoxy behind the LE which squeezed out at assembly to surround the LED in the driver. I also added thermal epoxy between the driver and the reflector to get that into the cooling system as much as possible. I also put some between the driver and the flange on the body. I think that I've got pretty good thermal contact now with the driver, reflector and body for heat sinking. Don't ask me to disassemble this light now though!

I suppose there is some variability between emitters that would effect how quickly things heat up as well. In any case I'm unhappy at all. I only use MAX on a burst and if the light steps down during that time I don't mind that either as the difference, to my eye, is not discernible.

Regards,
HB

[gunga]

Did you use thermal compound or Epoxy?

If you used epoxy, um, that thing is going nowhere ever again...

No more mods.

[heckboy]

No, no opps. I knew what I was doing. As all good plumbers say: "it's what I had on the truck."

Later,
HB

Originally Posted by gunga

Did you use thermal compound or Epoxy?

If you used epoxy, um, that thing is going nowhere ever again...

No more mods.

[gunga]

Wow, so you glued the whole thing together?!

I've done a couple mods on mine, but I'd say yours is well potted.

[aceo07]

I'm getting used to the more focused hotspot now after a few days.

However now I have no clue how many lumens it's putting out.. I upgraded from 60lumens, HDS U60, to a SSC P4 U-bin, to the K2.

It does 30 minutes before dropping from max.

[heckboy]

Not glue: EPOXY

Originally Posted by gunga

Wow, so you glued the whole thing together?!

I've done a couple mods on mine, but I'd say yours is well potted.

[bansuri]

Originally Posted by heckboy

Not glue: EPOXY

If you DO need to get it out: I just recently loosened up an epoxied base from a drop-in with heat. I guess you'd need to take everything off of the head except for the LE(duh!), carefully clamp it up, apply the heat to the outside of the head and push on the emitter from the business end. Once that's out keep it hot and scrape out the remaining epoxy, or let it cool and see if it's bond has been broken to the point that you could get it out cold.

[heckboy]

Tonight on my daily dog walk and rabbit count I took the K2-120P and my Ra Clicky tactical 140. Under the scientifically rigorous conditions of rabbit spotting while walking the dog, the K2-120P was discernibly brighter than the Ra. In addition the warmer tint of the K2 makes it easier to spot the rabbits as well. FYI, the rabbits are 40 to 60 yards out.

I continue to be impressed with this simple modification to the 120P. It is becoming my favorite light, displacing the standard 120P in that role.

Later,
HB

[RocketTomato]

Bansuri, your pictures from the original post are gone.

[sawlight]

Rocket: it seems there has been a misunderstanding between he and the powers that be at CPF. Unfortunatly I think the pics are gone forever. I wish I had pics of my mod to post, but I don't and really, it's an easy mod.