can you mod a wee ns ?

[Blindedbyled]

I have been comparing my 80 lm wee ns to a 75 lm fenix LOD-ce. Both of them use q4 led and about the same size/ shape reflector but the Fenix has a nice hot spot and the wee has no hot spot it is all flood. First question can i polish the wee's reflector to get a better hot spot? Second question, can you get any more lummins by changing the resistor or no resistor at all? Im not to worried about run time or heat, its mainly a wow factor light. And yes I ask these questions because my buddys fenix is brighter than my wee and i cant let that happen!

 

[orb]

Polishing the reflector to mirror finish & removing the resistor will increase the Lumens out the front.

 

[MikeSalt]

I have the Wee Ti, and my lady has the Wee NS (both 80-lumen) and so I have a comparison. The Ti has a much tighter hotspot, which I assume is down to the finer machining required for Ti. If you were to fine-polish the NS reflector, you should get the same effect of tightening the hotspot.

 

[Tim W]

can you get any more lummins by changing the resistor or no resistor at all?

Wouldn't you need to worry about battery problems at the kind of current draw you'd be looking at?

Tim

 

[Jay R]

Bear in mind that polishing a reflector is impossible without some fairly specialist equipment. If you try with brasso and a cotton bud you are just going to make it worse. Even just wiping it with a dry paper tissue will scratch it.
It also won't make a better hotspot. That's to do with the size and shape of the reflector and nothing to do with the polish.

I'd just point out to your friend that, as the Wee is roughly three times smaller in volume than his L0D and they have roughly the same output, that effectivly makes your one three times more powerfull. Just hope he never puts a 3.7v lithium cell in the L0D as the output becomes HUGE.

 

[Isak Hawk]

I have the Wee Ti, and my lady has the Wee NS (both 80-lumen) and so I have a comparison. The Ti has a much tighter hotspot, which I assume is down to the finer machining required for Ti. If you were to fine-polish the NS reflector, you should get the same effect of tightening the hotspot.

For me, it's exactly the opposite. The NS as a much tighter hotspot than the Ti, which is almost as floody as a mcgizmo mule.

 

[Tim W]

Bear in mind that polishing a reflector is impossible without some fairly specialist equipment. If you try with brasso and a cotton bud you are just going to make it worse. Even just wiping it with a dry paper tissue will scratch it.

Your comments don't apply to the WEE as the reflector is simply a machined part of the lights body. It is not a separate piece that has had a coating applied to it.

 

[orb]

Your comments don't apply to the WEE as the reflector is simply a machined part of the lights body. It is not a separate piece that has had a coating applied to it.

Agreed :thumbsup: From experience the Wee NS & Ti can be polished. Providing a slightly tighter beam.

 

[Empyfree]

There's bound to be a Dremel tool that will fit the diameter/angle of the reflector perfectly... I had considered polishing the reflector.

Slightly off topic, what does anybody clean the outside of their "NS's" with? mine's decidedly duller than when I bought it and I want to make it shiny again!

 

[olrac]

There's bound to be a Dremel tool that will fit the diameter/angle of the reflector perfectly... I had considered polishing the reflector.

Slightly off topic, what does anybody clean the outside of their "NS's" with? mine's decidedly duller than when I bought it and I want to make it shiny again!

I picked up a couple of tubes of Metal Glo Proffesional off of Ebay and this stuff works fantastic. It's great for every kind of Metal, plastics, plexi, F G, etc. My Raw NS and Wee NS get the treatment every two weeks or so.

 

[brotherbob]

Make sure the light is not loaded when you clean it, wouldn't want any unfortunate photon accidents.

 

[MikeSalt]

Actually, a very valid point has been made. If you remove the resistor, it will effectively become 160 lumens, the same as the Raw. If I remember correctly, that pulls 700 mA from the cell. This is only 2c draw from the Raw cell, but is more like 8c from the Wee cell. This will damage the cell, or worse, damage you too. Be lucky or be safe. Mike

 

[Blindedbyled]

ok guys this is the thread starter blindedbyled. I used a dremel tool to polish the wee's reflector to a perfect mirror finish today and now we have a nice large hot spot. I think Rob made it to be a flood light and the flashlight is perfect the way it comes. But we are flashaholics and it is in our nature to modify flashlights. Next I soldered a small trace from the copper slug to where the resistor ataches to bypass the resistor. the resistor measured about 1 ohm which is very low resistance. led now runs direct off the battery. This did make it brighter but not as much as I thought it would, but it is as bright or brighter than the fenix LOD now! In the first post Rob gave the OK to remove the resistor but MikeSalt makes a good point about the battery. I only run the light for about 15 to 30 seconds at a time will this still make my battery explode? How many lumins should the led be putting out now? not so good with battery mAh draw calculations and stuff like that. Thanks for all the helpful info. Kevin

 

[Blindedbyled]

update, I just tried the wee outside tonight and it is much brighter and looks to have about five times the original throw! Hope it doesn't blow up.

 

[MikeSalt]

Fair play if it works without the resistor. Being that it is the identical emitter to that in the Raw, I can only assume that internal resistance of the cell itself is preventing the full 700mAh from being pulled. It may still be causing damage to the cell, but, based on the size of the 10180, I would doubt it could cause much damage to you if it did vent. Great work on the reflector mod by the way. Being a mirror finish, do you see the infamous Cree rings around the hotspot?

 

[orb]

:thumbsup: good job Blineded.
The 10180 will deliver about 450 Ma when fully charged. Yes this is still a bit steep for the little cell. But it won't blow up. Worst you will do is shorten its life in cycles a little. Nice mod. I have a Wee Ti with polished Ref & DD. Its cool to see that much light out of the Wee Wee.

 

[Jay R]

Your comments don't apply to the WEE as the reflector is simply a machined part of the lights body. It is not a separate piece that has had a coating applied to it.

Cool, I never looked at my Wee that close. Guess I'm going to be out with the minidrill and paste tonight. Thanks.

 

[smokelaw1]

OK, so now I need to know. Who will step up to be the modder that will polish wee reflectors for those of use WAY to incapable of delicate work (and scared to try!) to do it ourselves?

 

[Blindedbyled]

no Cree rings that I can see. And the polish job on the wee was easy only took about 5 miniutes. Next step dose anyone make a stronger 10180 size battery? The wee dose have a little extra room around the battery also.

 

[olrac]

Hey Rob,
All this talk of polishing reflectors brings to mind, is this what you will be doing with the Wee Da reflector? polishing the heck out of it. A little off topic but still in the vicinity.