First P7 Mod...

[krazy89]

Hey guys...

just wanted to share my first P7 mod... it's probably only driven at around 750ma... on high....

as it stands right now... it's pretty much a flooder.... but i'm still in the process of getting the right depth in the reflector to get a better beam pattern...

now... here's some pics.... guess what host this is???

emitter is centered... not too bad...

had to bore out the reflector as it was originally a Cree P4 or Q2.... notice how far down the emitter is in respect to the bottom of the reflector edge... i will have to bore out the bottom of the reflector so i can raise the emitter position higher... to get a more defined hotspot... and hopefully a lil bit better of a beam profile...

BEAMSHOT... this is on high.... -2EV... (first time taking beamshots with a point a shoot camera.... so please forgive me... )

this was taken of a cream colored wall (sorry.. .my apartment walls are that color...)... about 1 ft away from the wall....

....... now... there's what the host is....

let me know what you guys think... too bad it's only driven with the stock P3D driver... otherwise... it should be a lot brighter.... the P7 emitter used is a CSXOI....

i'm still gonna be tinkering with this build... to get the beam focus better... but for now.. this is a pure flood...

KraZy

 

[f22shift]

still has to be creating more light than stock

how do you drill the reflector?

 

[gunga]

:twothumbs

Coool!

 

[krazy89]

hmmm... that's a good question.... unfortunately, i don't have a light meter to make a quantitative measurement...

however... the hotspot is now more than twice as big as the stock emitter... but.. if u take close look at the beamshot.... that close to the wall... there's a dark + in the hotspot...

judging from my eyes... the hotspot is definitely not as bright as stock... but it's pretty close... i would say maybe about 75%... and since the hotspot is bigger... it could be more overall light..

ops... about boring the reflector... i wrapped the reflector in the rubber from a strap wrench... then used a small vise... and used a cordless drill.... going up 1 drill size for each drill.... i think i had to drill it about 5 times to get to the right diameter...

KraZy

 

[yellow]

as soon as the reflector is cut/sanded from behind and the led positioned "higher" inside,
the output will more than doube, or triple, or ...
:thumbs up:

 

[krazy89]

hehe... with the same driver... i doubt it will double ... let alone triple...

and yeah.... unfortunately the emitter is way back there... and is probably not in the optimum position...

i'm going to use a bigger drill bit and drill more of the back off the reflector... so i can sit the emitter higher up when i get a bigger drill bit... by moving the emitter higher... i'm hoping to get more of a tighter hotspot... the beam is not bad right now... and is really floody... but i'm not a big fan of a huge hotspot...

KraZy

 

[f22shift]

why dont you like the flood? it's really hard to get a tight focus on a multi emiiter(p7, mce)

flood is very practical.

anywho, i was able to play around with a mcr20 with a p7 in my tri build and i found that actually it focussed better with the emitter more recessed like yours. hence why i ask how you did yours.
i have my p7 now flush like you would see in a "wall of fire" or mac's tri p7 and there is definitely a cross image.

i doooo notice that in a mag reflector that it focus better with the p7 in the reflector.
for such a small reflecter as in the p3d you would have to drill it out to where it would have to at least go past the black plastic base. then you would have less reflector left and would get even MORE flood.

you just might have the optimum placement.

if you do choose to bring up the p7 , let us know how it affect the beam

p3d has a turbo mode too? what's it pulling at the battery?

 

[krazy89]

hey f22...

well... that beam shot was on turbo mode... but it's taken at -2ev... i just wanted to show the beam pattern... and it actually doesn't look too bad... ideally... i would want the hotspot to be a lil bit more concentrated... but yeah... as far as practicality goes... as is.. it should be very good for most things...

the only grip i have is that the multiple modes (mid, low, high, strobe)... there doesn't seem to be much of a diff in the mid and the low.... i can definitely tell on high that it's brighter...

between mid and low... very hard to tell....

hmm.... so u think that the emitter is in the best position possible (or pretty close.???)... if you're right... then i wouldn't want to bore out the reflector anymore... as i do n't want the pattern to be worse.....

but yeah.... this is my first P7 build... so i didn't really have any experience with the P7 beam... and i know with a small reflector like the P3D... it's hard to get a good hotspot... the mag reflector i heard is pretty good at focusing the P7... but that's cuz that thing is massive...

i think i'm gonna leave this build as is... you might just see this one up in the B/S/T soon... wonder if there's any interest in it???

KraZy

 

[Al Combs]

Here's something that might interest you. It's an excellent mod by darkzero he called, "Bi-Flupic". He paralleled the two LDO regulators providing output for the Flupic by soldering two identical chips on top of the existing ones, great mod. He says he got 2.7 amps in burst mode from this setup using a 17670. You'd have to switch to 17670's since it won't run on two batteries in a P3D without blowing the regulator. It has many useful lower modes and burst when you want to impress somebody with wow mode.

You can buy a 0.6" Flupic for a Fenix from TnC. In post number 11 of darkzero's thread he gives the chip numbers as TPS73201 (250ma) and TPS73601 (400ma). I did a search on Mouser and they have them both in stock for a couple of bucks. I didn't look on DigiKey but they probably do as well.

BTW, assuming you're right and your P3D's regulator putting out ≈ 750ma, that translates to about 240 lumens. SSC's W724C0.pdf lists the 1,400 ma output as 400 lumens. There is a graph on page 6 called, "Forward Current vs. Normalized Relative Luminous Flux". From this graph, 750 ma is about 60% of the 1,400 ma output or ≈ 240 lumens. You can estimate from the same graph you only need about 2,300 ma to hit 600 lumens. This Bi-Flupic would give you at least 2½ times as much light.

 

[yellow]

hehe... with the same driver... i doubt it will double ... let alone triple...

has nothing to do with the driver, its just about the light produced now, but not focused by the reflector.
Most of the light emitted does not hit the reflecting surface and is "wasted" at the widened "hole" part, simply lost there and goes into spill
as soon as emitter and reflector harmonize, that will change
... I would not wonder the main beam getting three times brighter

(if You have a fenix L"D" model, try it: defocus the head so the XR-E is the same few mm "behind" --> main spot is pretty nothing as compared to better focus)

 

[krazy89]

hey Al.... that's a wonderful idea... although... i don't know all the details of that mod... i might have to ask DZ for some tips...

but... as yellow suggests... i will definitely tinker around with where the emitter sits in reflector... if i can get that to show some decent improvements... i might not go any further...

if that doesn't end up as good as i want it... i might get a P7 driver board from KD and throw it in there.... i think the driver board is around 16-17mm... so that might be an option... but then again.... 2.8A is probably not a good idea for such a small light....

i'll have to see tho... as my drill chuck is only 3/8" and the biggest drill bit i got just fits the P7.... i need to borrow a drill and drill bit in order to drill it out some more...

hopefully i'll have time during the holidays to do this... now's just a crazy time of year...

KraZy