LS20 - Nichia replacement?

[mcmc]

Hello,

Was wondering if anyone knew whether the LS20 could have its Nichia DS leds swapped for CS's, as on the LS27? The LS27 Nichias seem much warmer and pleasing (for my eyes).

Also, was wondering if a Rebel could be swapped in for the GD, assuming one could be found?

 

[Kiessling]

IIRC Don said those lights are a PITA to mod and you might not wanna try :D

The CS has less efficacy than the DS of the LS20 and the light will be dimmer ... AND .. you get a color shift from low to high, as long as high is the GD LED.

No idea about the rebel.

In my personal opinion I would not change a thing to the LS20. The color is cold, ok, but it is not blue and the color rendition is fine.
It is not a light like the SunDrop of course, but you won't get that with the CS and a rebel either. IMHO the littel change in tint is not worth all the trouble.

But that is IMHO of course :)

bernie

 

[mcmc]

Thanks for the helpful points Kiessling.

I did read about the decline in efficiency of the CS leds, but an even lower low would be ok with me =) I like low lows.

The color shift of going from CS to GD v/s DS to GD, good point - but if the GD were upgraded to a GD+ or a Rebel then no more color shift there either! =D

I definitely wouldn't be doing this mod myself, was thinking perhaps there would be a modder out there skilled enough and perhaps even with experience enough to do this. But true, it may not be needed. However, I guess I am a bit of a perfectionist, and figure it would be worth it to have my most pricey light be also the most perfect.

 

[Kiessling]

I guess I am a bit of a perfectionist, and figure it would be worth it to have my most pricey light be also the most perfect.

I was exactly like that not too long ago. And spent a fortune of money and especially time in perfecting and upgrading my lights.

I never succeeded. Technology was faster than my upgrading, and it was never worth it. I was always behind, and what a stress it was.

Nowadays, I just use the lights I got. And I don't care that much if they could me made a tad brighter or a tad different. It doesn't matter any more, as the effort is never worth the price in money and time. I just use them.

When I think about all the fuzz about the U-bin vs the T-bin LuxIII ... pfff ... with the advent of the Cree ... all irrelevant.

Just my personal experience, of course. I feel better now.

bernie

 

[mcmc]

Kiessling, your words are probably wise and worth taking to heart. And I just may! It's always the elusive 'next step' that gets you. And you're right - compared to the 30, 40, 50 lumen race we had even just a couple of years ago - now we have 78 lumens coming out of this LS20, with other multi-hundred/thousand lumen lights at our disposal. Whatever 90% of CPF'ers have now, is probably sufficient for their needs anyway =)

But it definitely would be much nearer perfect if the beams could be made warm =)

What a piece of nostalgia, though, thinking back to the U-bin craze! I still have a UX1J I modded into a cheap DX 1AA light, running DD off a 14500. Still very bright, and the led holds up well.