cryhavok
Enlightened
After modding my KL1 I figured I'd give my KL3 a shot (Idle hands and a KL3 that has been sitting in a drawer for about 6 months are to blame 
). It is one of the Gen 2's, but does not have the "fresnel" rings on the optic.
With only swapping the luxIII for a Seoul P4 USVOI and spacer, I was pleasantly surprised with a reading of ~5,000 lux@1 meter! Keep in mind, this is with a drive current of ~400mA.
I find that driving lights in DD from a single Li-ion produces very respectable results, as long as there is adequate heatsinking. This is where surefire really excels...in the KL1, the LED is attached to a pretty good chunk of aluminum, which is attached to the 2 outer shells via threads. With the KL3, the LED is basically attached to the entire front head assembly (similar to the McGizmo PR/T and oldschool McLuxPD's bulkhead design). An AW 17670 fits nicely in my M2 body.
Getting the front off to the optic was easy. My mini strap-wrenches made short work of the thread-lock surefire used. However, I could not and cannot for the life of me get the bottom half off. I've tried using a hairdryer, boiling water, freezing...the bottom part simply wouldn't budge. Somewhere during these trials, the stock converter died :mecry: but it gave me more motivation to just run the light DD.
Now I had to figure out a way to get wires from the springs that make contact with the body directly to the LED. I found that the threaded holes for the screws that hold down the LED retaining piece go completely through the head into the back. I ended up drilling 2 small holes in the plastic tower that holds the springs and then I was able to have a direct passage. Long story short, the light is now DD
I prepared myself and fired her up...WOW. Very similar profile to stock, but MUCH MUCH MUCH brighter. Tint is a bit on the cool side even though a USVOI was used. I pulled out my multimeter and saw that on a full charge, the LED was seeing ~1.2A. Not too bad. My Lux meter read 14,770 lux@ 1 meter
ceiling beamshot (~9 feet away):
-2 eV
Here is a shot compared to the KL1 referenced above:
And here is a shot compared to my Aleph 3/Cree P4 XR-E/1A drive current
The Aleph makes a tad over 13,000 lux@ 1 meter
group shot:
And of course, the head got the glow treatment (smaller head is KL1)
Overall, a worthwhile mod, especially if you have a KL3 just sitting around. Keep in mind, this light does mostly produce all spot and a very faint spill i.e. it is very similar to stock. However, if you are looking for a real "spot light" that is pretty compact, this is a nice option.
If there is any interest, I may put up some outdoor beamshots showing the throw. :wave:
). It is one of the Gen 2's, but does not have the "fresnel" rings on the optic.
With only swapping the luxIII for a Seoul P4 USVOI and spacer, I was pleasantly surprised with a reading of ~5,000 lux@1 meter! Keep in mind, this is with a drive current of ~400mA.
I find that driving lights in DD from a single Li-ion produces very respectable results, as long as there is adequate heatsinking. This is where surefire really excels...in the KL1, the LED is attached to a pretty good chunk of aluminum, which is attached to the 2 outer shells via threads. With the KL3, the LED is basically attached to the entire front head assembly (similar to the McGizmo PR/T and oldschool McLuxPD's bulkhead design). An AW 17670 fits nicely in my M2 body.
Getting the front off to the optic was easy. My mini strap-wrenches made short work of the thread-lock surefire used. However, I could not and cannot for the life of me get the bottom half off. I've tried using a hairdryer, boiling water, freezing...the bottom part simply wouldn't budge. Somewhere during these trials, the stock converter died :mecry: but it gave me more motivation to just run the light DD.
Now I had to figure out a way to get wires from the springs that make contact with the body directly to the LED. I found that the threaded holes for the screws that hold down the LED retaining piece go completely through the head into the back. I ended up drilling 2 small holes in the plastic tower that holds the springs and then I was able to have a direct passage. Long story short, the light is now DD
I prepared myself and fired her up...WOW. Very similar profile to stock, but MUCH MUCH MUCH brighter. Tint is a bit on the cool side even though a USVOI was used. I pulled out my multimeter and saw that on a full charge, the LED was seeing ~1.2A. Not too bad. My Lux meter read 14,770 lux@ 1 meter
ceiling beamshot (~9 feet away):
-2 eV
Here is a shot compared to the KL1 referenced above:
And here is a shot compared to my Aleph 3/Cree P4 XR-E/1A drive current
The Aleph makes a tad over 13,000 lux@ 1 meter
group shot:
And of course, the head got the glow treatment (smaller head is KL1)
Overall, a worthwhile mod, especially if you have a KL3 just sitting around. Keep in mind, this light does mostly produce all spot and a very faint spill i.e. it is very similar to stock. However, if you are looking for a real "spot light" that is pretty compact, this is a nice option.
If there is any interest, I may put up some outdoor beamshots showing the throw. :wave:
