OK to carve edge of a SSC P4?

[Hondo]

I modded my River Rock headlamp with an SSC, and it is truly awesome. However, I am currently forcing the reflector over the dome at about the maximum off center it can handle due to a component on the board holding the LED high against the bottom of the switch. Would it be OK to remove about 1 - 1 1/2 mm from the side of the emitter, biased toward the back, to allow it to be lowered? I figured I should ask before filing, since it works fine now with only a little asymetry in the beam and I don't want to trash a good emitter. It would be worth reworking it, though, if I know the emitter can handle it.

Before anyone asks, no, I am not up to relocating the little six legged creature currently crowding my SSC. I would have to leave it leaning against the reflector first.

Thanks in advance,

Hondo

 

[Hondo]

OK, folks are reading this, so they must be looking for the answer too. I decided to take the bullet if this got into the works of the emitter, and I can say that on the SIDE (not under a contact) you can take 1mm of the emitter base away near the back of the emitter.

Carefully resoldering so that the little pocket I Dremelled into the emitter wrapped around the little (five legged, by the way) component in my way, I succeeded in getting a nicely centered SSC in my RR .5 watt headlamp, and the corresponding even beam.

I had seen a somewhat more involved mod for a Cree in one of these, but if anyone wants more detail on how I did this, I can start another thread. Only other unique trick I used was to use an old pair of trimmed 5mm LED legs flattened on my anvil to run under the emitter out to the side tabs for soldering, with lots of AA to keep the base from grounding to the negative leg, plus a little piece of fancy electrical tape. At 150 mA from the 2 AAA's, so less at the emitter, I just let it cook as far as heat sinking goes, not that there is an alternative in this thing. But I don't think it will ever get hot enough to affect it's life at these currents. Even with the stock reflector, the beam is nicer with the SSC, and the color and brightness improvement is to die for, I think better that the new 1xAA Rayovac, which inspired me to do this so this light did not get ignored after I got the ROV. The circuit is not sensitive to the low Vf SSC, so it still pulls about the same current as the old blue LED, which means it will kill my ROV for runtime, and it's low is WHITE, not red or blue. If I add a flip up scope cover with a diffuser on it, I might find my ROV sitting on the shelf!

Anyway, many folks have saved me from learning something the hard way before, I got impatient on this one, or I may be the first (I bet NOT) to try this trick on the SSC, so there you go. After 1mm, you are on your own!

Hondo