Pilot Whale with aspheric lens

[Dalmore]

Hi, this is my first post here so hello to all! I think this is the right place to post. I'm only just getting into the wonderful world of flashlights so I still don't fully understand all the technical side of things (so go easy), I realise there some very smart people on here and a mass of really great and usefull information, so thought I would ask your opinions. I stared my flashlight addiction with a led lenser p14 and have recently bought a WE Pilot Whale, after reading some posts on here I stared to think it may be possible to fit my WE with a aspheric lens to give it more throw. Am I right in thinking this? Will it work with the 6 in 1 LED chip and do you think the results would be worth it?

 

[Al Combs]

I stared my flashlight addiction with a led lenser p14 and have recently bought a WE Pilot Whale, after reading some posts on here I stared to think it may be possible to fit my WE with a aspheric lens to give it more throw. Am I right in thinking this? Will it work with the 6 in 1 LED chip and do you think the results would be worth it?

Have you seen the ARC mania X6? This is an Ostar using a focusable aspheric. So it's definitely possible. The challenge is to find an aspheric with the right diameter and focal length to fit your existing reflector housing. Of course if you are handy with tools or know a machinist is always a big help. PTS listed the bezel diameter of the Pilot-whale as 63.5mm, so it's larger than a MagLite. CPF member ma_sha1 has a recent thread with one of his ingenious aspheric mods. He used a DX lens that only cost $4.88. The diameter of this lens is 66mm so it's larger than your Pilot-whale. But at that price it might be a good place to start the experiment.

Good luck and :welcome:

 

[ma_sha1]

CPF member ma_sha1 has a recent thread with one of his ingenious aspheric mods. He used a DX lens that only cost $4.88. The diameter of this lens is 66mm so it's larger than your Pilot-whale. But at that price it might be a good place to start the experiment.

Good luck and :welcome:

Wow, that's some kind words there, thanks Buddy!

The Pilot whale via Aspheric will give you six dies in the spot, same as using P7 with Aspherica will give 4 dies. Few people could live with multi die window looking hot spot You can de-focus to blend the spots, but at great loss of beam intensity.

Arcmania didn't disclose how he blended the 6 die to one, but judging by the fact he also makes mini Digital projectors for sale. I'd say he used multiple lens to achieve the blending of the spot & making the spot round at the same time. I wish someone own a X6 would take it apart & show us the lens system inside, I am quite curious.
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[Dalmore]

Thank's for the replies and links guys, I've measured the lens on the pilot whale and it's 52.5mm dia just clear of the 53mm inside dia of the head. The nearest aspheric lens i can find is 55mm form surplus shed and it's glass so would require some work getting it to fit. I gather i would have 6 blocks from the LED's in the centre spot which i would want to get rid of. The lens is held in place by a threaded ring 4mm thick which screws into the inside of the head. Would it be possible to use a shorter length o/p reflector (if i could find 1 that fits) Leaving enough room to put another lens (i have no idea what lens)

in front of the aspheric lens to maybe smooth out the beam and get rid if the blocks in the centre spot? I realise this is alot of messing around and I am asking alot, but I want the best of both worlds good flood and throw with interchangable lenses for 1 torch to suit my application for that evening. I would pay up to £350 - $500ish for the ideal light but i haven't stumbled across it yet any suggestions are welcome. But I would also like to know if the lens idea may work.

 

[Al Combs]

Arcmania didn't disclose how he blended the 6 die to one, but judging by the fact he also makes mini Digital projectors for sale. I'd say he used multiple lens to achieve the blending of the spot & making the spot round at the same time. I wish someone own a X6 would take it apart & show us the lens system inside, I am quite curious.
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Yes, curious at the very least. The shot of the X6 looking down the street in the ARC mania thread shows an almost razor sharp edge. The only way I could think to do that is with a secondary lens or lens group to do the focusing while the large aspheric in the front remains permanently focused on a diaphragm between the two. But it can't be that simple or all the light hitting the diaphragm would be lost to the downrange image. Someone with an X6 should focus it while pointing it into an integrating sphere.:naughty:

But getting back to Dalmore's question for a moment, ma_sha1 is right about the way a multi-die emitter will behave with an aspheric. If you get the dies sharply in focus you will have 6 separate hot spots. Just like the first picture in ARC mania's thread. Now that I look at that thread again to see which picture it was, you can see the vignetting of the dies at the edge. So there must be a diaphragm in his system. Anyway, barring some sort of exotic lens system, you have to defocus the aspheric a little to make the projected die a more homogeneous image. But as ma_sha1 pointed out, this defocused oval will be both larger and much dimmer.

 

[Al Combs]

Post 22 & 24 in this old rizky_p thread show a P7 aspheric both in and out of focus. It should help give you an idea of the dimmer vs smoother concept. I read my last post again and thought it might discourage you from trying something different. The stippling on the the Pilot-whale's reflector is probably fairly heavy to make the beam smooth. Very likely it's mostly a flood light. A defocused aspheric I'm sure would throw much better than your reflector does.

I have a P7-P60 dropin for a Surefire 6P that's like that. The beam is perfectly smooth, but the light has no throw. It's great for cooking steaks on the grill in the winter time, like daylight. But when I shine it down the road, you can't see anything beyond 100 feet away. Almost like it had no reflector.