Modding Aleph LE's

[MarNav1]

Hello all. How hard is it to mod the original Aleph LE's? I have several that are all Luxeons and I would like to upgrade them to Seouls or Cree. Is it hard to remove the old emitter? Thanks. :tinfoil:

 

[ROK]

It depend on your skill and who built the LE.
I have seen following 3 types of LE.
1. Glued emitter PCB and thermal greased LED : Very easy, just desolder/solde leads.
2. Glued LED and free emitter PCB : Desolder leads and take off PCB. Hit slug area using fine screw driver and hammer.
3. Glued both emitter PCB and LED : Desolder leads and hit slug area using fine screw driver and hammer.

SSC P4 is better for replacing Lux LED.

Cheers & :goodjob:
ROK

 

[MarNav1]

I cut the leads, couldn't get anything under the emitter. Used small dykes to chip away at the emitter. Will use Dremel to remove the rest of it. Looks like it fits down into the board area.

 

[Stillphoto]

Just remember that you may need to shim the Seoul to get the best possible beam in your aleph reflector. I suppose using the shims that SS has would work, did that on my pd when I modded it and the beam was great. Forgot it when I seoul'd an aleph engine and now I have a bit of a donut hole in the beam. Your mileage may vary!

 

[MarNav1]

Yeah this will be my first modding try, it will go into an A1 probably. Its a NexGen 750 LE, I haven't decided which emitter to use yet.

 

[datiLED]

I cut the leads, couldn't get anything under the emitter. Used small dykes to chip away at the emitter. Will use Dremel to remove the rest of it. Looks like it fits down into the board area.

If you have destroyed the LED, remove the plastic to expose the copper slug. You should be able to grab the slug and pop it off cleanly. When an LED is properly attached with AA, it is basically impossible to remove. My success rate for removing LED's is only about 50%.

I will second what Stillphoto said about using the copper shims. To achieve proper focus in a Luxeon light, you do need to raise the Seoul LED 0.030" for proper focus. Remember to remove the same 0.030" from the back of the reflector.

 

[MarNav1]

Its being a tough little bugger, I'll have to Dremel out the rest of it. What do you use on the leads, a desoldering wick first? Oh and thanks for the help!

 

[datiLED]

Its being a tough little bugger, I'll have to Dremel out the rest of it. What do you use on the leads, a desoldering wick first? Oh and thanks for the help!

Yes, use solder wick to clean up the leads for easier removal. Solder wick is one of the items that I can't believe that I did without for so long. There is no other good way to clean up PCB, or desolder components as quickly. I add a small amount of paste flux to the braid, and the solder flows into it as soon as it is heated.

 

[MarNav1]

I Dremeled out the area around the copper center slug and you were right, it popped right out. The rest should be relatively easy. My soon to be first mod!

 

[mahoney]

I have had success removing Luxeons from LEs by unsoldering the leads, prying off the dome and the black plastic base, heating the post/slug that remains briefly with a soldering iron and then popping it free with pliers or an awl. The heat softens the epoxy. It's worth a try before resorting to the Dremel

 

[Nake]

If I consider the emitter to be junk, I put the star/MCPCB in a vise and with a small thin screwdriver at the base of the emitter tap it with a hammer and it goes flying across the room. :)