3P blaster with SSC or cree?

[big beam]

Has anyone done a mod with the 3W blaster.I looked at voltage and amps today and it might work.Don't know about the lens?

 

[Sub_Umbra]

I have a Blaster-1D with a SSC P4 and I think Wayne put it together with the same 6-10° optic used on the LuxIII Blasters. It sure looks like the same optic, anyway. The beam shape is very similar with the only noticable difference being that my P4 Blaster has just an ever so slightly larger corona.

Perhaps a moderator could move this thread into the EL forum where Wayne might see it and offer a more diffinitive response.

 

[big beam]

That's the thread where I got the idea from.Thanks SU.
DON

 

[Turbo DV8]

I modded my Blaster 1D with an SSC star, and it transformed it from being mediocre to quite useable. It is a simple star swap. You may use the same optics. Beam is only a tad more floody, which I like. I was so happy, that I ordered two more stars for my two 3P's, which should be even brighter. Should receive the stars any day now.

 

[WNG]

Please post beam shots of before and after.
I have a 3P that I'd like to prop up to current crop of lights, which has surpassed its perfromance in a big way.
Later run Lux-III's even are brighter/whiter than its early Lux-III.
(ie. Lowes' Taskforce 2C and Professional's Choice 2C use the same optics and emitter.)

 

[big beam]

I just took mine apart and there is a rivet connecting the - part of the LED to the heat sink and a wire to the+ side of the LED.I'd have to drill out the rivet to remove it.

DON

 

[Minjin]

We really need to figure out a reflector replacement for that optic. There's gotta be some el cheapo walmart Rayovac reflector we can use.

My CREE replacement went easy as cake though I almost wish I hadn't put the resistor back in.

 

[NutSAK]

I just took mine apart and there is a rivet connecting the - part of the LED to the heat sink and a wire to the+ side of the LED.I'd have to drill out the rivet to remove it.

DON

That's not really a problem. You could replace the rivet with a nut and bolt.

 

[big beam]

That's not really a problem. You could replace the rivet with a nut and bolt.

Well that sounds EZ.Must put this on my to-do list tomorow.
DON
:rock:

 

[Sub_Umbra]

We really need to figure out a reflector replacement for that optic...

I'd like to know what reflector would produce the absolutely, positively, tightest beam with a P4 in a Blaster head.

Wayne says that the window is 35mm x 2mm. I wrote flashlightlens.com a few weeks ago about the possibility of a Blaster UCL kit complete with the correct O-ring. I've got to get back to him and see what he came up with.

 

[Alin10123]

We really need to figure out a reflector replacement for that optic. There's gotta be some el cheapo walmart Rayovac reflector we can use.

My CREE replacement went easy as cake though I almost wish I hadn't put the resistor back in.

I'd like to know what reflector would produce the absolutely, positively, tightest beam with a P4 in a Blaster head.

Wayne says that the window is 35mm x 2mm. I wrote flashlightlens.com a few weeks ago about the possibility of a Blaster UCL kit complete with the correct O-ring. I've got to get back to him and see what he came up with.

McGizmo has a whole series of reflectors you could try out in different sizes as well. They should be available from the sandwich shoppe. Maybe a 27mm reflector?

 

[Turbo DV8]

I just took mine apart and there is a rivet connecting the - part of the LED to the heat sink and a wire to the+ side of the LED.I'd have to drill out the rivet to remove it.

At first glance, that is what it appeared to me also. But I was able to easily remove the star without removing the rivet. The rivet does not go through a complete hole in the star, just one of the notches. Use solder wick to remove all the solder placed over the rivet to the star's negative contact. I then used a dental pick to gently pry up the side of the star opposite the rivet enough for that edge to just barely clear the top edge of the light. Then I used a needle nose plier to grip between two cutouts of the star opposite the rivet, and gently rocked the star back and forth as if the rivet were the hinge, all the while still lifting up on the star gently, and pretty quickly the star slid out from under the edge of the rivet. Easy. If you don't have thermal paste, as I didn't, scrape off as much of the paste which remains on the back of the star as you can and put it on the new star. Also, you may have to slightly file or grind off the sharp points of the SSC star to get it to sit fully recessed in the light. Do not skip that step, as the star may sit slightly propped at one edge. Once you slide the new star with the notch near the negative contact underneath the rivet, just flow a tiny bit of solder between the rivet and negative pad, and that's it.

 

[NutSAK]

I agree with Turbo DV8, after doing a Blaster 1R/P4 update today. I just desoldered the negative from the rivet, pried up on the side of the star opposite the rivet, and slid the new star right in, under the rivet. I didn't grind the points off, but rather just "pressed" the new star into the heatsink and soldered the connections. Easy as pie.

 

[ROVER]

As far as the reflector question goes...some have replaced the optic with an IMS 27mm, and while the diameter is smaller than the 35mm of the optic it replaces, the length is proper to fit between the led base and the lense.

I don't remember where the comparison thread is, but I believe the stock optic threw the best, but the reflector has what most agreed was a nicer beam distribution. I'm pretty sure flashlightlens.com used to have a glass replacement listed in it's application chart though it doesn't anymore.

 

[NutSAK]

I would certainly try the mod with the stock optic first. The SSC P4 really works well with the Lux optic--my 1R is much more useful now than it's ever been, with a larger corona and a much less "ringy" beam.

I have an unmodified 1R also, so I will try to take some comparison beamshots.