Quark 123-2 R5 Shiningbeam Driver Mod

[ti-force]

Well, I've been carrying a Quark 123-2 R2 Tactical for quite a while now, and I've just fallen in love with these lights, so I decided to buy a Quark 123-2 with the newer R5 emitter. Only problem is, the one i purchased had the Regular UI which isn't really my preferred UI, so I started thinking about modifying the light somehow. You know how flashaholics start to think, it's all over then:naughty:.

Anyway, I ordered some of the Shiningbeam 1.4A drivers, and then I let the modifying commence:devil:. As usual, I thought I'd share some pictures with anyone who's interested:




First things first, I opened the head up and removed the emitter/MCPCB combo. This is what it looks like under there:

This is what the driver assembly in the Regular UI Quark looks like:

Driver removed. It looks like a little smiley face.:

I decided to use the bottom board of the Quark driver as the contact point for battery negative and battery positive, so I had to separate the two boards:

Then I soldered and glued the Shiningbeam board on top of the bottom Quark board. I also added an additional 7135 chip; The devil made me do it:devil: haha... :

Glued the driver in:

Put some Arctic Silver 5 under the MCPCB for better thermal transfer and soldered everything back together:

The head is completely re-assembled. I even straightened out the emitter before re-assembly. It was slightly off center, now it's perfectly centered:

Now I have a new EDC favorite:naughty:. This light can be ran on 2xCR123 primaries or 1x17670. I'll probably run it on an AW 17670 most of the time. I measured the vf of my emitter, and it's 3.08v, so this light should run in regulation until the battery is depleted:candle:.

I wish I had another R5 head that wasn't modified so I could take some comparison beam shots, but I don't right now. Maybe I'll buy another R5 light soon, so I can take some comparison shots. Until then, I've taken comparison shots using a Quark 123-2 R2, Quark 123-2 R2 neutral white emitter and Quark 123-2 Turbo R5:thumbsup:


All pictures were taken with the same camera settings in manual mode and the Pine tree is about 23 feet from each light. I had to take the pictures with the lights in front of the camera because the camera wouldn't zoom out enough to capture all of the spill.


Control Shot:

Side by side:

*UPDATE* I now have another Quark 123-2 Tactical with an XP-G R5 emitter, so I decided to take comparison beam shots. Something I noticed immediately, is that my Shiningbeam Quark appears to have one of the XP-G R5's that has a wider hot spot:thinking:. This has been discussed before in another thread, but now I've witnessed it first hand. Also, I made a gif so it's easier to see the difference.

 

[think2x]

Very nice! I dare not open up my quark as it's my favorite. I did however put this driver in a kobalt light and it really woke that light up and made it enjoyable. Would you care to do another?

 

[ti-force]

*edit*

 

[CampingMaster]

Thank you to share with us your experiments with Quark flashlights.

Very nice clear pictures!

I received yesterday my Q 123² R5 cool white and it will be my favorite EDC for the future instead of my Fenix PD30 R4.

This integrated clip is absolutely fantastic!

 

[ti-force]

Thank you to share with us your experiments with Quark flashlights.

Very nice clear pictures!

I received yesterday my Q 123² R5 cool white and it will be my favorite EDC for the future instead of my Fenix PD30 R4.

This integrated clip is absolutely fantastic!

Thanks for the kind words; it's nice to know that someone gets some enjoyment out of this. If not, I'd just keep this to myself. These lights are great:thumbsup:.

 

[think2x]

How do you get the head apart without destroying it?
I'm thinking XP-E with this driver in a Quark Turbo.:devil:

 

[foxtrot824]

You know how flashaholics start to think, it's all over then:naughty:.

Yes I know how that goes . Nice mod :twothumbs

 

[ti-force]

How do you get the head apart without destroying it?
I'm thinking XP-E with this driver in a Quark Turbo.:devil:

I beat you to it..

I just finished swapping an XP-E R2 into my Quark Turbo, but I didn't change the driver out, just the emitter for now, and considering the XP-E has a max recommended drive current of 1A, I would remove 1 of the 7135 chips, which would bring the current down to roughly 1050mA, which probably isn't much higher than the Quark driver.

Anyway, to get the head apart, it would probably be best to have a couple of rubber strap wrenches, but I haven't bought one yet, so the way I did it was took an old leather belt and cut two pieces about 3 inches long or so. Then, I used two sets of Channel lock type pliers with a piece of belt in the jaws of each set of pliers, then grip both sides of the head and turn counter clockwise. You need to be very careful though; one slip, and you've got some anodizing missing. It can be tough to get it to break loose at first. I don't know what they use, but it's some really good stuff. It looks like blue Locktite, but I doubt that's what they use because the fumes from Locktite can damage the dome of these emitters if I'm not mistaken.

The Turbo was much tougher to get open than the others. I'm not sure if it's because the head has rings and it's tapered or what, but it was definitely tougher than the others I've taken apart. Anyway, here's a pic of my Quark Turbo head apart.

 

[carrot]

I am curious as to what the benefits of the Shiningbeam driver is?

Nice work btw.

 

[ti-force]

Yes I know how that goes . Nice mod :twothumbs

Haha.., yeah, the life of a flashaholic Thank's for the complement, I appreciate it.

 

[ti-force]

I am curious as to what the benefits of the Shiningbeam driver is?

Nice work btw.

Well, the main reason I did this mod is because I didn't really like the Regular UI. I prefer the Tactical UI much more, so I figured why not mod it since I probably won't use it much like it was. With the SB board alone, the light picked up roughly 60 OTF lumens over when it was un-modded. Then I took the driver back out and added another 7135 chip to the mix and that bumped the OTF lumens up to roughly 100 more than un-modded. The only problem is, it does get hot quicker than when it did un-modded, and it doesn't have much mass, so I make sure I grip it so the heat transfers to my hand.

I find the SB UI pretty useful, simple and no strobe and all of the modes that I don't really have a use for. It has mode memory, so after the light has been on for 2 seconds or longer in one mode, it's memorized. If you want to change though, you have to long press once, then short press until you get to the desired mode, then long press again to turn the switch on. As long as you short press within 2 seconds, it will change to the next mode. It sounds like a lot when you read it, but it's really simple to do. Thank's for the complement:thumbsup:.

Casey

 

[Linger]

nice execution, excellent placement of the extra 7135.
When I first started reading I began replying with dibs on the surplus quark board (I don't have any regular UI but though it'd be handy for a loaner light, simple 'press button to make it brighter')...alas it donated itself to a better cause.
Thanx for the pics,

 

[toby_pra]

cool mod! :thumbsup:

 

[ti-force]

nice execution, excellent placement of the extra 7135.
When I first started reading I began replying with dibs on the surplus quark board (I don't have any regular UI but though it'd be handy for a loaner light, simple 'press button to make it brighter')...alas it donated itself to a better cause.
Thanx for the pics,

Yeah, I really didn't want to tear the driver down for that very reason; I thought someone could use it. I tried my best to find another option, but I just couldn't find anything in my spare parts bin that would work. In the future, I'll keep you in mind; I posted a WTB Quark heads in the Marketplace, so you never know, I might come across another one that the driver can be salvaged from.

If so, I'll pm you, and if you're still interested, you pay the shipping and it's yours my friend:thumbsup:. Do you know if anyone makes a board like that, that could be used as a contact board? I haven't seen anything, but you never know unless you ask right. Oh, and thanks for the complements.

@ Toby: Thanks for the kind words.

 

[Black Rose]

Nice work.

 

[carrot]

Well, the main reason I did this mod is because I didn't really like the Regular UI. I prefer the Tactical UI much more, so I figured why not mod it since I probably won't use it much like it was. With the SB board alone, the light picked up roughly 60 OTF lumens over when it was un-modded. Then I took the driver back out and added another 7135 chip to the mix and that bumped the OTF lumens up to roughly 100 more than un-modded. The only problem is, it does get hot quicker than when it did un-modded, and it doesn't have much mass, so I make sure I grip it so the heat transfers to my hand.

I find the SB UI pretty useful, simple and no strobe and all of the modes that I don't really have a use for. It has mode memory, so after the light has been on for 2 seconds or longer in one mode, it's memorized. If you want to change though, you have to long press once, then short press until you get to the desired mode, then long press again to turn the switch on. As long as you short press within 2 seconds, it will change to the next mode. It sounds like a lot when you read it, but it's really simple to do. Thank's for the complement:thumbsup:.

Casey

That makes sense. I don't know anything about the ShiningBeam lights. Looks like you gained a lot of output!

 

[Tixx]

Pretty cool. Always wanted to see the Quarks moded.

 

[think2x]

Well Ti-force, how's the beam on the turbo head with the XP-E??

 

[ti-force]

Well Ti-force, how's the beam on the turbo head with the XP-E??

It has a noticeably tighter hot spot and it appears to throw further. I'm actually considering starting another thread for that mod; I plan to take some beam shots when I have time. I do have the lux measurements from before and after.

Quark Turbo XP-G R5

One meter: 10,750 lux
Five meters: 430 lux


Quark Turbo XP-E R2

One meter: 15,000 lux
Five meters: 600 lux

 

[think2x]

Nice work, I will be watching for more on this. You may have talked me into trying this.