Cree-d KL4/L4 re-animated!

Beamhead

Flashlight Enthusiast
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Jul 6, 2004
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gone "Squatchin" :p
I posted a little blip about this mod the day I first did it in a long lost thread. Well after living with and using it I must report my pleasure.:)

Anyone who has opened a KL4 will follow, I don't dare reopen the head for pics as I got perfect focus the first time out, best to leave it be. IMHO the KL4 is one of the easiest heads to open and work with.

Once you unscrew the base, there are 2 screws that hold the heat sink in place. I trimmed the stand offs for the screws to fit the Cree mitter (sorry Cheb :laughing: ) , some have trimmed the Cree mitters but YMMV.

I used a spacer to raise the Cree to put it at IMHO the same position in the reflector as the original Lux V, then built a solder bridge to complete the circuit. Reassembled it and bingo. No ring that I can see, the only drawback is you shouldn't run it at 6v, no biggie it runs great on a single primary CR123, RCR123 but my cell of choice is a Pila, it runs for 80+ minutes and much cooler than the Lux V on the same cell. (in fact the beamshots are with a CR123, it is even brighter on a 3.7v cell)

It is a tad less floody than stock but IMHO not by much, it has a bit more throw than stock.

The business end.
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Beamshots, these are my very first so be kind.:p

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And this shot, the holster was a gift from a dark hearted yet very generous CPFer.:grin2:

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If I can do this one can only hope that the maker of this light could implement it with minimal production machine retooling but a new circuit would probably be needed.:popcorn:
 
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Re: Cree-d KL4/L4 revisited

So the reflector was untouched and the cree fits in the hole just fine?

Nice work.
 
Re: Cree-d KL4/L4 revisited

Probably Very over driven...

Can the L4 accept 18650's?
 
Re: Cree-d KL4/L4 revisited

I did not know John was dark hearted, but he makes one hell of a nice holster.:naughty:

Nice mod too, by the way.:)
 
Re: Cree-d KL4/L4 revisited

Very nice !
How is the beam width and distribution compared to the LuxV?
All you'd need would be a new driver in the head like in the old days of the McL4 with the R2H ... :poke: ...
bernie

P.S.: :wave:
 
Re: Cree-d KL4/L4 revisited

Funny this should get bumped today........

VWTim my first post states that it should not be driven at 6v.
On a single CR123 it drew <300mA
On a Pila 168s it drew 800mA.

Dizzy, John is not the dark hearted giver, that Bernie guy was.:devil:

Bernie, the beam was very nice, read my first post:p

Why did he emphasize was???????????

A lesson in leaving well enough alone :ohgeez:

I got bored yesterday and decided to put the circuit from a KL1 in thinking it would benefit from a buck boost.........not quite.
So I proceeded to change it back and decided to use solid core wire on the KL4 board .......big no no.:rant:

When reassembling it the solid core wire put pressure on the LED solder pad, lifting it at the heat sink causing the positive side of the cree to short in the head.:poof: :awman: :stupid:

The heat sink of the KL4 has a self adhesive solder pad that got smoked so as of now I am trying to come up with a replacement heat sink:candle: or trying different "fixes". The first was to separate the green PCB from a used star and cut 2 solder pads from it and glue the to the heat sink where needed, well that was marginally successful:scowl: .

At any rate thanks for your interest and if anyone has a wonky KL4 they don't want let me know.:banghead:
 
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Re: Cree-d KL4/L4 revisited

Beamhead said:
....Dizzy, John is not the dark hearted giver, that Bernie guy was.:devil:....
My bad, Beam, now it all makes sense.:)

John did make it though, right?
 
Update: It lives again!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know if it is the different emitter or the height of my spacer/AA combo or both that has tightened the spot, it still has no ring, more throw and incredible spill.:)
 
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