My Chopped KL3 now has S(e)oul.

[Cypher]

A little over a year ago I sent my 1st Generation KL3 to Chop to get his treatment for it. McR27 turned down to fit, TWOH, current upped to ~885mA. I had a hard time deciding to do it since I really liked the stock KL3. I still wish I had one in the original configuration.

I got it back and it was awesome. I really liked it. The only thing that bothered me was that it didn't really blow away my BOG 3 watt drop in I had in my G2. It had a little more throw and a little more output but not by much. It was then that I also learned that I prefer the broader hotspot of the BOG to the narrower beam of the KL3. But my KL3 was and is my prized posession. It is my only light that could be called a custom. If I needed a reliable light I would grab it every time over the BOG.

So now with all the new leds out I finally bit the bullet. I got a U bin Seoul from photonfanatic and with shaky hands and beads of sweat on my forehead I carefully pulled apart the light I love and did an led swap. I've read that .03" needs to be removed from luxeon reflectors to work with the Seoul. Well, I was scared to remove material from my shim in case I screwed something up and had to put the lux back in so I didn't do anything to the reflector hoping it would give me the broader beam that I liked and it worked great!

It has a nice broad hotspot transitioning to a much brighter spill and it KILLS my BOG in output now. I am very pleased with the results.

I wanted to give my thanks to the CPF community for all the knowledge and help that is here. It's like the cell phone commercials where the "network" follows the person everywhere. I wouldn't have attempted my first mod with my beloved KL3 at stake without knowing I had the CPF safety net to fall back on if I messed up.

Also, feeling empowered by my first successful mod I put a XR-E in my Rock River lantern. This one didn't have the obvious results of the first. It think it is a little brighter but it doesn't knock your socks off. Just FYI.

Thanks!

 

[Cypher]

Not much interest in the old KL3 but I thought I'd post the results of my first runtime test.

I finally got around to it last night. I ran it on a 6P body with a 1500 mAh 17670. I started it at 9:00 last night and finally turned it off at Midnight because I was going to bed. At 2 hours 30 minutes it was still slightly brighter than my BOG running on a hot-off-the-charger 17670. When I quit at three hours the battery measured 3.3 volts.

It was not as bright when I stopped the test as when I started so it dropped out of regulation somewhere along the line but like I said it was as bright as the drop-in even after going to DD on the declining battery. Very impressive.

I'm finally starting to come around I guess to the whole Cree/SSC thing.

Slightly off topic but am I correct in assuming that I should get a little better runtime using two 17500 li-ions in a 9P body? Even they have lower capacity per cell I'll get longer runtime because they are delivering a higher voltage?

 

[Jackyl]

Awesome, I have a like new KL3 (v3) I am thinking about canning for a 6PD bezel & W.E CREE drop-in. Wonder how the new stlye KL3 head would work with a CREE behind it...???