Lionheart - Better Focus

[this_is_nascar]

Other than purchasing dozens of replacement reflectors and hoping to find the best one, has anyone come up with anything to better the beam/focus of the Lionheart. I did a seach, but couldn't come up with anything.

 

[prescottrecorder]

Some have had luck shimming the reflector up a little with tape or in one case, I think, by installing a set screw adjustable height mechanism.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Thanks. I'll try the tape mod.

 

[andrewwynn]

i cut three tiny pieces of rubber band and put them under the feet of the lionheart (on the star board).. then when i put the bezel on.. i have total control of putting the focus of the reflector onto the optical center of the emitter.. i can even de-focus for a softer flood. I also sputtered my reflector because i don't like the harsh spot edge of the beam on the 27s.

-awr

 

[this_is_nascar]

[ QUOTE ]
andrewwynn said:
i cut three tiny pieces of rubber band and put them under the feet of the lionheart (on the star board).. then when i put the bezel on.. i have total control of putting the focus of the reflector onto the optical center of the emitter.. i can even de-focus for a softer flood. I also sputtered my reflector because i don't like the harsh spot edge of the beam on the 27s.

-awr

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm confused. Did you put the rubber band pieces under the star somehow or under each leg of the reflector? I'm thinking you put them under the reflector legs to cover those holes.

 

[raggie33]

id guess under legs.

 

[andrewwynn]

under each leg of the reflector but on top of the star.. not between the star in the holes where the longer part of the feet go. i think after i did the sputtering i didn't need the trick anymore but it was really nice and worked exactly as planned.. you can really see the beam come into focus as you tighten the bezel.

-awr

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Ray,

I am using 3 squares of electrical tape about 3/8 inch square. I ended up with two layers of tape.

I space the reflector out until the null in the beam starts to show up at about 3 inches from the wall. This gives me good close to medium range.

I tried spacing it out until the null was starting to show at 12 inches. I got better throw (higher lux readings), but I do a lot of close up work with the light and the null got in the way. I ended up going back to the 3 inch spacing on my work light.

Tom

 

[NewBie]

[ QUOTE ]
andrewwynn said:
i cut three tiny pieces of rubber band and put them under the feet of the lionheart
-awr

[/ QUOTE ]

How did the rubberband fix hold out for you on the LionHeart?

 

[andrewwynn]

lasted great... i had that solution for at least a month with no change in performance... when i sputtered the reflector I had left it in there, so maybe 2-3 mo. i had the rubber-band-patch with no ill effects... when i recently swapped stars.. i tried it once w/o the bands and it worked great w/o the bands so i didn't put them back in.

-awr

 

[MSaxatilus]

andrewwynn,

How did you sputter the reflector? That seems like a great solution.

MSax

 

[NewBie]

[ QUOTE ]
andrewwynn said:
lasted great... i had that solution for at least a month with no change in performance... when i sputtered the reflector I had left it in there, so maybe 2-3 mo. i had the rubber-band-patch with no ill effects... when i recently swapped stars.. i tried it once w/o the bands and it worked great w/o the bands so i didn't put them back in.

-awr

[/ QUOTE ]


So if I understand you correctly, once you sputtered the reflector, the rubber band LionHeart fix wasn't necessary?

 

[andrewwynn]

actually.. after sputtering.. still used the rubber bands... after i replaced the star with a different one.. that's when i tried w/o the rubber bands.. output went up from like 2500 to 3300 so i didn't want to tempt fate since i'm very happy with the beam now. the sputtering took out some max brightness but really helped smooth out the beam.. coincidentally it made a cute green tint appear when you look at the reflector when the light is on.

-awr

 

[yaesumofo]

In my opinion the reflector used in the lion heart here should have been the same one used in the BH of the VIP. Now I have said that. Again. I cannot believe we were stuck with such a lousy reflector on a $175 I Think it was light. I have 3 of hem and the amount of work I had to do to get an acceptable free of artifacts in focus beam is ridiculous. It goes beyond fun when I am doing the work that should have been done before I received the dog gone thing. Sorry to vent. If somebody could figure out a way of mounting the BH reflector to the lion heart I would be a very happy person.
Yaesumofo

 

[this_is_nascar]

[ QUOTE ]
yaesumofo said:
In my opinion the reflector used in the lion heart here should have been the same one used in the BH of the VIP. Now I have said that. Again. I cannot believe we were stuck with such a lousy reflector on a $175 I Think it was light. I have 3 of hem and the amount of work I had to do to get an acceptable free of artifacts in focus beam is ridiculous. It goes beyond fun when I am doing the work that should have been done before I received the dog gone thing. Sorry to vent. If somebody could figure out a way of mounting the BH reflector to the lion heart I would be a very happy person.
Yaesumofo

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep. Although I love the LH light, looks, feel and electronics, the beam quality is pretty bad. That's why I started this thread.

 

[acusifu]

I used tape on the bottom of the reflector and cut off the legs on both my LH's to balance the hotspot. Small strips of tape and about a hour of tape here-remove-adjust etc. Now no artifacts perfect round hot spots, that throw.

 

[andrewwynn]

rather than hooking up a BBH to LH.. how about converting VIP to R123.. that's what i'm planning to do with mine.. you'll definitely out through the LC.. since i think the VIP with 700mA can already do that.. the BBH far as i know is much more efficient at photon folding.

I was bummed that the McR27 doesn't fit in the LH.. now that would have been cool... that said.. 5 minutes frosting my reflector with just common krylon clear did the trick. still has plleeenty of through, not like putting diffusion film on.. that sucked... it makes the lens light up like a frosted bulb and is way too disttracting from a sharp angle that normally wouldn't put light in your eyes.



-awr

 

[raggie33]

hi andrew would a rcgable 123 work in vip?will it bee as bright?if so that would be so cool id love to be able to use my bbh in that maner

 

[this_is_nascar]

[ QUOTE ]
andrewwynn said:
rather than hooking up a BBH to LH.. how about converting VIP to R123.. that's what i'm planning to do with mine.. you'll definitely out through the LC.. since i think the VIP with 700mA can already do that.. the BBH far as i know is much more efficient at photon folding.

I was bummed that the McR27 doesn't fit in the LH.. now that would have been cool... that said.. 5 minutes frosting my reflector with just common krylon clear did the trick. still has plleeenty of through, not like putting diffusion film on.. that sucked... it makes the lens light up like a frosted bulb and is way too disttracting from a sharp angle that normally wouldn't put light in your eyes.

-awr

[/ QUOTE ]

Does anything need to be done to the VIP to safely run on R123 or will it do that out of the box?

 

[andrewwynn]

Much needs to be done.. the converter has to be replaced with something else. the vip driver is only good for 3V input.. 4.2 will melt it i'm sure... it's a boost only converter as well... so i think it'll go into DD mode and just send full LiON to the emitter.

I'm planning on making an LDO 8-level driver for my VIP.. if it's easy enough to produce and there is an interest i might make a swap-out driver that is 3-level (so works with current switch)... how many VIP users are out there that might like to upgrade their VIP to R123? I'll have to start an interest thread, but not' til i have the Nanos shipped.

-awr