Classic KL1......what can I do with these?

[KevinL]

I have a couple of classic KL1s, including the rarer KL1-SG and my beaten up KL1 in HA. I put a blueish RXOH in the SG, so I have kinda a little bit of experience doing these mods. I managed to crack open the SG after heating a little with the ROP, and the KL1-HA was carried so often and warmed daily that the epoxy simply gave way in the end, opening up the light for me

I'd like to retain the original buck/boost driver for flexibility but am aware this limits me to 350mA. Guess there is not much I can do about this (correct me if I am wrong though..)

What's the best combo of LED and reflector I can get, for maximum brightness?

 

[carbine15]

I modded my KL1 with a smooth reflector from a d-mini and put a full size warm cree star in it (after you grind down the points it fits right in. Mine did not come with any guts so I chose a two stage driver to replace it. It runs on RCR123s but will run dimly with cr123 cells. With the full size star it has excellent heat sinking. For cracking them open nothing beats a hot stove top.

 

[greenLED]

P4 replacement is what I'll be doing with my KL1's.

 

[KevinL]

cool...

carbine15: the existing LED sits on a board, I assume you replace this board when doing your mod?

greenLED: Long time no hear from you dude what reflector are you using?

 

[KevinL]

Hmm I feel like ordering from DX, so.....

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11023

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5951

 

[ROK]

Just replace stock LED and optic with SSC P4 and McR18-S repectively.
You can get good result and this is the easiest way.

 

[carbine15]

Hmm I feel like ordering from DX, so.....

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11023

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5951

Say no to both of these! I tried that reflector with poor results. Shipping times and too long and that reflector is too small for the KL1 head leading to headaches for a nice centered fit.

Take out the existing heat sink (looks like a nickel with holes in it) and replace with a cree on a 20mm star (use a touch of thermal grease). You'll have to file down the points to make it more round so It'll fit in the gaping hole of the KL1 head.

Use this reflector or this one. I like throw over smoothness myself, but heck, order both and see what you like better.
I just noticed that these are "slightly imperfect" and are only 75cents! They used to be $3 each! I wonder how imperfect they could be. Order a dozen and find the one that's just that much nicer.
Anyway, these reflectors fit the KL1 width wise and are just deep enough to meet the lens at the front when used with a 20mm star offering enough torque to press the star to the body of the KL1. (does not work as a direct drop in with the newer non-ribbed KL1.)
Pick up some GITD o-rings while you're at it for an added touch.

As for an emitter to use with this reflector you I can only recommend that you get a warm or at least neutral tinted LED for better color rendering. The difference is like black and white vs color when looking at your environment in the dark.

It's probably too late to cancel your DX order but order from shiningbeam anyway. It'll get there sooner and you'll be happier with the product.

Jim

 

[KevinL]

Great, that is exactly the answer I was looking for!! Was hoping to hear from those of you with tried-and-proven combos. Don't feel like experimenting on my now-hard-to-get classic KL1s

I have not ordered from DX yet, still evaluating my options, so your message made it in time.

 

[AvroArrow]

I'm not sure which KL1 you have, but when I did mine (3rd or 4th gen KL1) it was feeding the LED 485ma when I had it apart and measured it, not 350ma. Anyway, I was cheap, so all I did was replace the stock Lux1 with a SSC P4 USW0H, Khatod 20mm smooth reflector (both from PhotonFanatic in CPFMP), and a 22.8x2.0mm UCL. These are all drop in replacements so I didn't have to drill/mod anything else and it only cost me $16 in parts ($10 LED, $4 reflector, $2 UCL).

The stock optic is actually not bad with the SSC, and it gives a decent but tight round spot instead of the stock square spot, still doesn't have any spill though. I prefer the traditional spot/spill beam so I replaced the stock TIR optic with the smooth reflector and UCL since the stock domed lens doesn't work with the smooth reflector. A McR20-S would probably give a better beam than the Khatod 20mm smooth reflector, but it's also $18 and I was being cheap.

 

[KevinL]

I'm not sure which KL1 you have, but when I did mine (3rd or 4th gen KL1) it was feeding the LED 485ma when I had it apart and measured it, not 350ma. Anyway, I was cheap, so all I did was replace the stock Lux1 with a SSC P4 USW0H, Khatod 20mm smooth reflector (both from PhotonFanatic in CPFMP), and a 22.8x2.0mm UCL. These are all drop in replacements so I didn't have to drill/mod anything else and it only cost me $16 in parts ($10 LED, $4 reflector, $2 UCL).

The stock optic is actually not bad with the SSC, and it gives a decent but tight round spot instead of the stock square spot, still doesn't have any spill though. I prefer the traditional spot/spill beam so I replaced the stock TIR optic with the smooth reflector and UCL since the stock domed lens doesn't work with the smooth reflector. A McR20-S would probably give a better beam than the Khatod 20mm smooth reflector, but it's also $18 and I was being cheap.

Did your KL1 have fins on the side or is it mostly smooth? The smooth ones are the 4th gen, and about 500mA. From your description of the square spot, sounds like yours is a 4th...

 

[AvroArrow]

I always thought that the finned/ray gun KL1s were 1st/2nd gen, didn't know 3rd gen were also finned. Mine is a 4th gen then, it looks like the KL4 head on my L4, except a bit longer. I've got another stock KL1 that I haven't had time to open up yet, but I will probably do the same to it too, but I may put a high CRI SSC in it instead of a cool white SSC. Good luck with your mod!

 

[KevinL]

Thanks

As I remember, 1st gen was Luxeon low dome with NX01 optic (or was it a Luxeon SE?). Not very impressive beam at all, but this was the technology in its infancy. 2nd gen moved to NX05, retaining the low dome. 3rd gen moved to high dome, NX05, and had a pretty decent beam with good spill but a square shaped hotspot in the center.

4th gen was when they did away with the fins, went to a custom TIR optic, with no spill at all.

I think we stopped tracking the generations after that

 

[darkzero]

The first ones had NX-01s? Wow, I never seen/modded one with a NX-01 before. NX-01s were my favorite optic to use when focused out. I still have a few.

If you were interested in keeping it stock looking, I recommend a SSC P4 with a NX-01. I did one with a SOB750 & it came out pretty nice. NX-05 doesn't work to well with the P4.

 

[Jumi]

Current to led can be boosted by changing resistor values.
Mine had 1ohm and 0.1ohm resistors, I read that both values needs to be changed, I soldered another resistors on top.

I used neutral white Osram GDP and DX flood optic meant for Crees in my Gen2 last week.

Juha