Custom 27L Head - Seoul P4 / XR-E beamshots

[Ganp]

I recently got to play with someone else's McLux 27LT ... I loved it :rock:

I missed some nice ones offered in BST so I decided to build my own 27LT head to fit E series tubes.
A 27L reflector that I had modified for an XR-E has been sitting in a box while I worked at other things.
The back of the reflector had been shortened by 0.8 mm and opened out to fit over the ring of the Cree XR-E so I built a Seoul P4 light engine to try with it too.

Now I have just confused myself because I can't decide which I like the best. I prefer the colour of the Cree,
but I like the softer fade from spot to fill of the Seoul.
There seems very little to choose between them for brightness.
The Cree is an early one from Cutter, and the Seoul is from the Shoppe.


All these 1 metre beamshots were taken with the camera white balance set to daylight, and three different exposures of each LED.
To the eye both beams appear whiter than in the photos'.

It's not exactly a fair comparison because the Seoul is driven by a Downboy 1000, and the Cree is direct drive,
but I thought the differences in beam patterns is interesting.



This is the 27L head on an 18500body.

Seoul P4, XR-E, and head with reflector removed.

Original and modified 27L reflectors, and rear view of head and LE.

Just after this head was finished I found a lovely McLux 27LT in BST
I can't wait to get the Real Thing.


Colin.

 

[Icarus]

:wow:... very nice! :goodjob: :thumbsup:

 

[MorpheusT1]

That is one sweet looking light you got there

Love the design of the head :rock:


I have the same problem with deciding which to use,As you know i do have a 27LT with the XR-E and one with the Soul.

Both have very nice beams,but it seems like the Cree is winning the throw competition.But its very close between the two.

The Soul i have wins hands down in a Tint competition,its more Vanilla than Bluish.
And the Cree gives more Spill i think...


:thinking:


Im confused...



Benny

 

[tino_ale]

What is that 18650 body??? I like the coating, what is it?

:goodjob: for the beamshots. I personnally prefer the stronger spill of the XR-E

 

[Long John]

:wow: Very very nice Ganp :goodjob:

The head looks fantastic:thumbsup:

Also nice beams, I like both. When you'll get your "Real thing" and you'll have no use for one of your nice heads.........please think to me

Very best regards

_____
Tom

 

[Ganp]

Icarus ... thanks


Benny :wave: ... I've just received some P4 USV0I emitters from PhotonFanatic so I'm hoping for a much better tint. I will build the LE with a Wizard converter though - more beamshots will follow.


tinto_ale ... the body is one I made to go with my 'long throw' head. It is E=series fit but has its own tailcap. The finish is sandblasted alloy with grey anodising. It has quite a texture to it and could do with frequent cleaning - which it doesn't get.


Tom ... When I get my 'Real Thing' I shall have too much fun and get even more confused to want to part with this head yet. I am thinking of doing a HA head and matching 1 x 123 body though


Colin.

 

[Long John]

Tom ... When I get my 'Real Thing' I shall have too much fun and get even more confused to want to part with this head yet. I am thinking of doing a HA head and matching 1 x 123 body though


Colin.

Colin, same thoughts......:lolsign:

Very best regards

_____
Tom

 

[Icarus]

How did you electrically isolate the reflector from the Cree to avoid shorting issues?

 

[Ganp]

How did you electrically isolate the reflector from the Cree to avoid shorting issues?

I used two layers of kapton tape cut into a small washer shape.
This LE gets moved from light to light quite a lot and the tape seems OK so far. For something more permanent though I should think a very thin delrin washer, and the reflector shortened accordingly would be best.

This is the LE - minus the tape - unfortunately





Colin.

 

[cmacclel]

You said the Cree was direct drive from a single 18650? What was it pulling for current? I wouild think it would be pretty High.

Freddy the last Cree with MCR20's I built I made some 0.010 delrin washers to prevent the reflector from grounding out on the emmiter. There fun to machine I used and Exacto Knife in the tool holder to part them off.

Mac

 

[Ganp]

You said the Cree was direct drive from a single 18650? What was it pulling for current? I wouild think it would be pretty High.

Freddy the last Cree with MCR20's I built I made some 0.010 delrin washers to prevent the reflector from grounding out on the emmiter. There fun to machine I used and Exacto Knife in the tool holder to part them off.

Mac

Mac ... I like the knife idea .
When it comes to the electronic aspect I'm worse than a complete novice. This particular XR-E is driven straight off the battery - no resistor! Usually it is in my EDC fed with one rechargeable 123 cell ... sort of a sacrificial experiment :devil:


Can I hear gasps of horror wafting over the Internet??


Colin.

 

[wquiles]

How did you electrically isolate the reflector from the Cree to avoid shorting issues?

I had the same challenge when I designed and built the McG45 custom light using the 45mm reflectors from McGizmo. I used a custom fit delrin/PVC washer that mechanically stops the reflector from crushing the LED. When the reflector stops moving, you achieve perfect focus

Will

 

[cryhavok]

I have the same problem with deciding which to use,As you know i do have a 27LT with the XR-E and one with the Soul.

Both have very nice beams,but it seems like the Cree is winning the throw competition.But its very close between the two.

The Soul i have wins hands down in a Tint competition,its more Vanilla than Bluish.
And the Cree gives more Spill i think...


:thinking:


Im confused...



Benny

I have the same thing with my 2 Aleph 3's and their McR38's. One has a Seoul P4 and the other has a XR-E P4. The XR-E in the A3 both has a brighter spill(About 2x!) and brighter hotspot (~10%).

There are differences in the beams, though. The XR-E's beam has very little corona, whereas the Seoul P4's beam has a medium sized corona. As for the hotspots, the XR-E's hotspot is a bit larger than the Seoul P4's.

In terms of throw, I think the advantage goes to the Seoul having the light that should go to the corona go to the hotspot. I've tried moving the Seoul P4's LE further into a ground-down reflector, and was not able to transfer some of the corona to the hotspot without making the hotspot larger, and ultimately canceling out any gains.

 

[McGizmo]

Nice work! :thumbsup:

 

[skalomax]

Super nice.

 

[bombelman]

Just found this thread.... What a stiff build man !! :rock:
I found what I was looking for in this half-year old thread.
I have just found a very-hard-to-get 27LT reflector and
would not know if sanding the bottom of the reflector and
use a Cree would be something worth doing, or if I would
need to use the SSC. This mod would be running at 1amp
and the Cree handles heat better in every aspect, compared
to the SSC. Guess I found my answer. I like the tight and
high-contrast hotspot too...

Cheers !!

 

[depusm12]

Wow nice work Colin.