Reflector: SSCP4 -> XP-G?

[Fallingwater]

I have a flashlight that came with a Cree XR-E in a reflector obviously not meant for the XR-E package, as the beam was quite awful. I replaced the LED with a star-less SSC P4, and this improved things a whole lot; obviously the reflector was meant for a Luxeon-style LED.

I'm thinking of getting one of the latest XP-Gs and putting it in the same flashlight, and it'd be great if I could use the same reflector. Would I get decent results or would I need a reflector made specifically for the XP-G?

The light is a L-Mini first model, BTW.

(yes, I know there's a reflector thread, but that's for posting pics so I don't want to pollute it with questions. )

 

[asdalton]

The Cree XR-E is somewhat of an odd case because of the "can." This design was unforgiving of shallow reflectors, because most of the reflector would be left in shadow.

Most other emitters should do well in a reflector designed for Luxeons, as long as you match the position (height) of the die.

 

[Doh!Nut]

I would agree that the Luxeon / SSC P4 reflector work well with XP-G, but I have found that some reflectors are designed to sit over the body of the LED which is not possilble with the XP-G because it has very little body.
This is often made worse by the solder blobs on a 10mm board hitting the reflector that stop the LED being inserted into the reflector adequately.
I am thinking of chopping the bottom of some reflectors to experiment.

 

[fyrstormer]

Well, it's not just the can surrounding the XR-E that caused problems. There was also the integrated quartz optic on top of the emitter, which basically served to collimate the beam just enough that a normal-length reflector wouldn't be able to capture and redirect much more than the very edges of the beam.

 

[DaFABRICATA]

I personally have tried about 6-8 different reflectors made for the SSC/Lux, with the XP-G and all of them gave excellent results.
The only issue is making the solder blobs small enought for the reflector to sit down all the way without shorting. A small isolation ring can be used, or paint the top of the solder points with nail-polish to help isolate.