Princeton Tec EOS upgrade possibilities

[ocsi26]

Hey,

I'm fairly new here. I've read some discussions about adding a better led to the PT eos headlamp.
But then I was confused as I didn't know which information is the latest.

So I've got a 70 lumen PT Eos and I want to boost it. What should I do? Which is the best led currently?
Please send me the proper forum links where I can ask these questions.

Sorry if I posted this thread in the wrong place.

Thank you!🙂

 

[robostudent5000]

if you're happy with the tint and just want to boost the output, leave it alone. swapping the stock emitter for the brightest available emitter will only take you from 70 lumens to maybe about 105. that sounds like a lot, but the perceptible difference will be minimal. small enough that you would probably have to compare them side by side to see a difference. the Philips Rebel that comes stock with the Eos 70 is a good, underrated emitter. it has good color consistency and good efficacy at low currents. the latter translates to the Rebel being just as bright or even a little brighter than a latest XPG or XML on the medium and low modes.

on top of it all, swapping the led voids the Princeton Tec lifetime warranty. that warranty is like the best thing about owning an Eos to begin with. don't give it up for a barely perceptible boost in output.

here's another thread where this was discussed. link.

if you want to try a swap anyway just as a project, i recommend using an XPG. it's not as efficient above 350mA as a comparable XML, but the max drive current on the Eos is 300mA so it won't matter. below 350mA, they are about the same. plus the XPG will work better with the existing optic than the XML as it is closer in size to the stock emitter and is also less prone to tint shift across the beam. this thread has some info on doing an XPG swap.

before you do any kind of swap, make sure you know what tint you want. the tint on the stock Eos is probably somewhere between 5000K and 6000K, a good tint range for outdoor use. IMO something between 4000K and 6000K is good, 5000K being ideal. a lot of the easy to obtain emitters have tints that are 7000K and higher and those can look a little bit too cold and harsh for prolonged outdoor use.

 

[gcbryan]

Robostudent5000 is the EOS expert 🙂 He has done some mods. I agree with him that the stock 70 lumen emitter is more than bright enough for outside and the tint is already very nice. The only thing I did to you EOS was just to diffuse the lens but putting Scotch "Magic" Tape over the lens.

 

[robostudent5000]

yeah, where HAVE all the real Eos experts gone? i guess Eos mods haven't been as popular since PT went to the Rebel. still, none of those guys from the Eos mod thread seem to post anymore. have the superiority of Zebralights taken all the excitement out of headlamps, or has activity on this forum just declined that much over the last four years?

 

[gcbryan]

yeah, where HAVE all the real Eos experts gone? i guess Eos mods haven't been as popular since PT went to the Rebel. still, none of those guys from the Eos mod thread seem to post anymore. have the superiority of Zebralights taken all the excitement out of headlamps, or has activity on this forum just declined that much over the last four years?

I wasn't being sarcastic by the way. You are the most knowledgeable regarding the EOS mods. 🙂

Zebralights have taken a lot of the fun out of looking forward to the next product upgrade from Petzel, PT, and BD. Now no one cares 🙂

I'd still like to see some inexpensive innovations in headlamps however. Something like being able to have spot/flood/both options. I don't care so much about the expensive gimmicks of programmable batteries, proximity sensors, etc for $200. A cheap plastic headlamp with spot and flood without it being a flood to throw light would be interesting. Not that I need one but that wouldn't necessarily prevent me from buying one 🙂

 

[xcandrew]

yeah, where HAVE all the real Eos experts gone? i guess Eos mods haven't been as popular since PT went to the Rebel. still, none of those guys from the Eos mod thread seem to post anymore. have the superiority of Zebralights taken all the excitement out of headlamps, or has activity on this forum just declined that much over the last four years?

I posted a lot in that mod thread. I think I also posted the first mention and first review of the (unmodified) Eos on candlepower forums a bit after the original Eos was first introduced. As a running/skiing (basically, fast transportation) headlamp user, the Eos, even modified is not bright enough for most of my uses now that much brighter lights are available. I'm done with modding now that I have a Gemini Xera. With 800 lumens in a good smooth beam pattern on tap with a good run-time in a smallish package, there's probably no need for me to ever get a brighter light for running and skiing. I'll probably only replace it when it fails. No Zebralights interest me. (The Petzl NAO, though somewhat interesting, also doesn't compare when considering the balance of output to runtime to size to price.)