MF Warrior III 4100K Mod. UPDATE

[Morepower!]

The finished job is not pretty, but seems to work well so far. I havn't had time to test it right out yet but I like the colour better.

The bulb used was a philips 35W 4100K D2S from HERE, that required extensive modification, to make it fit in where it had to go. It was a big job, and i'm not in a rush to do it again, though knowing what I know now it would be easier next time around. See pics below:

Carefully break(mine broke easy) the spot welds that fix the supports to the bulb clamp

The centre wire is secured well to the centre contact, I just ground the contact down untill the wire was no longer attached.

My new bulb

.

 

[300winmag]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

Good to know, Thank you.

 

[Patriot]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

It looks tedious.. but congratulations on being the first to do it.

I'm very curious about the output and hopefully it was worth the trouble. Obviously the bulb is of much higher quality but that still leaves the ballast which many of us feel is well below the stated 35W ouput. I'm guessing it's now under-driving the D2S bulb....

Does it still flicker during operation?

 

[Morepower!]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

It looks tedious..

Does it still flicker during operation?

Yep it was tedious . Though the more I think about it, knowing what I know now, it wouldn't be so bad the next time round. A couple of "plan B's" were necessary due to some mistakes being made.

It flickers every now and then, no more than it did with the old bulb. I'm thinking/hoping I just need to put some hours on it. The output is not noticabley less, but that's not to say it isn't down. Though at this stage it dosn't appear to be.

 

[Flashanator]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

thats impressive,

so how many lumens now? would it be over 3000?

Must be so much better then the horrible orig colour temp?

good stuff

edit: any beamshots?

 

[Patriot]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

It flickers every now and then, no more than it did with the old bulb. I'm thinking/hoping I just need to put some hours on it. The output is not noticabley less, but that's not to say it isn't down. Though at this stage it dosn't appear to be.

Well, I certainly hope there isn't even a hint of it being "down" in output. Since the color temperature of the DS2 is warmer, I'd think that the only way that it could have less output is if the stock bulb were less than 35W and therefore being driven more in spec. The reason that I believe this could be a possibility is because the flickering in stock configuration is likely due to the bulb being under driven in the first place. "Running in" the bulb did seem to help with the flicker so it will be interesting to see the results after you have a few hours on the DS2. I'm hoping that it was worth your effort.

My thought about the K3500 is that is has to main deficiencies, the 6500+K lamp and the ballast that isn't providing a true 35W. Although you've overcome the lamp issue there is still the ballast....
:sigh:

I commend you for taking the initiative to improve the light though. It's a nice form factor and actually has some redeeming qualities. For the price it's not a bad package from someone who's looking for a little more output than what the 24/25W compacts provide. I actually use mine fairly often despite its shortfalls.

 

[HIDSGT]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

Can you compare the two now? Before and after?

 

[Patriot]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

Can you compare the two now? Before and after?

Ditto.

Even if you only have a current shot, that would be interesting to see.

 

[Morepower!]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

Ditto.

Even if you only have a current shot, that would be interesting to see.

I'm waiting for a replacement bulb from Fenix-Store so when I get it I will do a few comparison shots. Unfortunately I don't have any shots of it from before the mod. There is still some flickering, I think it is getting better. I've only gone through about two full charges, time will tell I guess. I hope it works out because I do like this colour much better.

 

[Morepower!]

Re: MF Warrior III 4100K Mod.

I finally received the new bulb today. The new bulb flickers exactly the same as the 4100K bulb. It's not noticable when using the torch so I'm not really concerned about it. I took some pics that didn't turn out all that well but do show the differences in colour between the two.


6000+K

4100K

.

 

[Morepower!]

I'm not yet convinced that this Mod is going to last. It has begun to start up slowly when cold(1-3 seconds before ignition), but starts up fine when warm, and it is still flickering. The flickering does pretty much stop though if the torch is pointed either up or down, it's at it's worst when held horizontally. I'm suspecting the new bulb is being underdriven as Patriot36 suggested it might be. Also there are large colour changes, for a few seconds, when say pointing it straight up after it has been pointed down for a couple of minutes. I don't totally understand this, unless it has something to do with maybe the arc isn't hot enough to vapourise all the salts(?)/metals(?) properly. If someone could possibly explain what might be going on there I'd very much appreciate it.

 

[AncientSword]

Any updates on your bulb conversion? Has the bulb lasted or have you switched it for another?

 

[Morepower!]

Any updates on your bulb conversion? Has the bulb lasted or have you switched it for another?

I hadn't used it for a while, just tried it then but it wouldn't lite. I'm not sure why as it worked last time I used it, it's a failure.

 

[dudemar]

As your sigline says, never fear failure. Perhaps another ballast might work?

 

[Patriot]

I hadn't used it for a while, just tried it then but it wouldn't lite. I'm not sure why as it worked last time I used it, it's a failure.

Sorry to hear that Morepower. You put a lot of work into that.

 

[Morepower!]

As your sigline says, never fear failure. Perhaps another ballast might work?

Lol, yeah failure dosn't bother me as long as I did the job to the best of my ability and I learn't something from it. It could be part of the ballast that comes with the bulb that is the problem because when I put the 6000K+ bulb in it works fine.

Sorry to hear that Morepower. You put a lot of work into that.

Thanks Patriot, you get that sometimes on big jobs. Though it had some issues it was pretty much still usable, I thought I would have had it for a very long time.