Xeno E03 emitter swap / disassembly picture tutorial

[papershredder]

PCB is 14mm in diameter.
E-tape is to not mar up retaining ring.
Emitter pictured in second shot is Nichia 219, I just wanted a shot with the light assembled so I grabbed a spare.

 

[papershredder]

Future work thread.


August 19, 2013:

I played with putting an XP-G instead of an XM-L emitter in.
The XP-G is a little tighter, obviously. As a casual observation, it seems to run a little warmer, too.
The spill on both is very similar. If you like a little throwier, the XP-G is the way to go, but by no means does this make the light a thrower. I'd be concerned about over driving the LED if Li-Ion is used.
Emitter centering is a little more challenging on the XP-G. Additionally, the centering ring for the XM-L gives some height too to make the stack-up fit tightly when the bezel is screwed on. So, don't forget that!


XP-G2 in cool white on the left, XM-L2 in neutral white on the right.
Sorry, photography folks, I only have a iPhone, otherwise I'd play with the exposures.

XP-G2

XM-L2

Aug 23, 2013:
Just got the last lights in the mail to complete the set.

From left to right:
6300K, 5000K (3C,) Nichia 219, 4000K (5C1,) 3000K (7D3)

 

[tobrien]

NICE work!!

So you went from XM-L2 --> Nichia or Nichia --> XM-L2?

Very good stuff man. So on a scale of 1-10 (one being easiest, ten being hardest) how difficult would you say it was to do this? This'd probably be a great first mod for most people since the Xeno E03 is easy to get and doesn't break the bank and looks retry simple but is well designed.


Edit: what is the red handled tool you used to get the ring off?

— Sent from my "not going to be released this century" iPad 62 'Quad' running iNOS (Apple's future neural interface OS) with the teleportation upgrade on Tapatalk 0.0.1.4 (beta) while Remote Desktop'd into Windows 98 SE.

 

[markr6]

Very nice! Since these already come in a Nichia 219 and neutral, I probably won't ever be taking mine apart.

 

[papershredder]

NICE work!!

So you went from XM-L2 --> Nichia or Nichia --> XM-L2?

Very good stuff man. So on a scale of 1-10 (one being easiest, ten being hardest) how difficult would you say it was to do this? This'd probably be a great first mod for most people since the Xeno E03 is easy to get and doesn't break the bank and looks retry simple but is well designed.


Edit: what is the red handled tool you used to get the ring off?

I've actually not changed the emitter in this one yet. On EDCPlus you can get Cree cool white, Cree neutral white, and Nichia 219.
The cool white I got was green, so I've got a ~3000K high CRI Cree XM-L2 emitter in the mail. It's an incandescent tint, and it's beautiful in low light conditions. Looks like **** when all the room lights are on and they're not incans. I've still got the Nichia 219 stock, but I'm not as thrilled with that LED as most people are. I can't really notice the CRI difference. I think most people are actually fond of this emitter because of its neutral-warm tint, unbeknownst to them.

As far as modifications go, you're probably only going to want to do 4000K and 3000K emitters, as you can get the ~6300K cool white and ~5000K neutral white and the Nichia 219 stock. I'll be keeping my 5000K stock and the Nichia 219 stock. I'll probably end up with one of each. 3000K (mod), 4000K (mod), 5000K (stock), 6300K (mod so it's blue, not green), and Nichia 219 (stock). I like sets, especially when they don't break the bank. I'm going to try XP-G2 as well. Little throwier.

I'd give this light a 4 for ease of modification, 1 being easiest, 10 being the hardest. It's the easiest one I've encountered so far. The most difficult part is removing the stainless steel retaining ring. That's what the red-handled tool is for, but it's not ideal. That tool is called retaining ring pliers and is sine qua non for doing any light modification. Machining a custom tool to go into all those slots would be even better. Once you get that ring off, it's a breeze. Needle nose pliers would probably be best for getting the pill out, if you don't want to grind down part of your retaining ring pliers like I have.

Yes, this light is very well built. Square threads on everything, wide voltage input range. Fundamental, basic design. Lots of metal to take up the heat. Great value. I just wish it had a factory pocket clip... maybe my next project.

 

[markr6]

The most difficult part is removing the stainless steel retaining ring. That's what the red-handled tool is for, but it's not ideal.

I wonder if you can unthread it with a rubber jar gripper, duct tape, etc. like people have been doing with the Nitecore EA4. I actually used a piece of duct tape wrapped around a piece of 2x4 lumber to get my EA4 bezel off...very easy!

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

I used the bottom of my shoe to remove the ss flush bezel of my solarforce L2, but oh, if only I had a pair of retaining ring pliers! So much stuff in this hobby is threaded together and only has two holes for to apply torque!

 

[papershredder]

I wonder if you can unthread it with a rubber jar gripper, duct tape, etc. like people have been doing with the Nitecore EA4. I actually used a piece of duct tape wrapped around a piece of 2x4 lumber to get my EA4 bezel off...very easy!

I already tried the rubber jar grip trick to no avail. Duct-tape with sticky side up could be interesting to try. I was sliding on the jar grip... maybe mine was not sticky enough?
If you've got one handy, I'd certainly try that first. If you slip with the pliers you could put some scratches into the light.

 

[papershredder]

I already tried the rubber jar grip trick to no avail. Duct-tape with sticky side up could be interesting to try. I was sliding on the jar grip... maybe mine was not sticky enough?
If you've got one handy, I'd certainly try that first. If you slip with the pliers you could put some scratches into the light.

It's in there pretty tight. Better invest in the retaining ring pliers.

 

[dc38]

It's in there pretty tight. Better invest in the retaining ring pliers.

Harbor freight has cheap ones with different angled attachments...I use them for smaller lights such as these

 

[Mr Floppy]

I've still got the Nichia 219 stock, but I'm not as thrilled with that LED as most people are. I can't really notice the CRI difference. I think most people are actually fond of this emitter because of its neutral-warm tint, unbeknownst to them.

I'm the same as you. I can't really notice the CRI difference and the tint isn't that warm. I have a cool XP-G that I was going to mod to a 219 but bought the EDC+ one instead. So the XP-G one will get a XP-G2. I was looking at the neutral in the 5A bin given how nice the it looked in the DQG AAA but 3000K is tempting me. Would love to see how your XP-G2 mod goes.

I used a rubber non-slip sheet that was designed to keep a mobile phone on a car dash to remove the SS retaining ring. Came off quite easily for me. Got the tip from EDC+ actually when I mentioned that the 219 was off-center. I did wish I used something to remove the lens (got lots of grubby fingerprints on it)

Nice work (so far)

 

[papershredder]

I'm the same as you. I can't really notice the CRI difference and the tint isn't that warm. I have a cool XP-G that I was going to mod to a 219 but bought the EDC+ one instead. So the XP-G one will get a XP-G2. I was looking at the neutral in the 5A bin given how nice the it looked in the DQG AAA but 3000K is tempting me. Would love to see how your XP-G2 mod goes.

I've got a Preon P2 that I put a 3000K in. It looks nice when it's the only light around. If I turn it on in my house that's around 4000-4500K, it looks awful.
I'm getting boards and LEDs tomorrow. I'll try and post beamshots from the stock neutral XM-L2 against a cool white XP-G2.

 

[__philippe]

...I'd give this light a 4 for ease of modification, 1 being easiest, 10 being the hardest. It's the easiest one I've encountered so far. The most difficult part is removing the stainless steel retaining ring. That's what the red-handled tool is for, but it's not ideal. That tool is called retaining ring pliers and is sine qua non for doing any light modification. Machining a custom tool to go into all those slots would be even better. Once you get that ring off, it's a breeze. Needle nose pliers would probably be best for getting the pill out, if you don't want to grind down part of your retaining ring pliers like I have.....

Xeno is (or used to be) producing nifty hand-tools specifically designed to remove their bezel retaining rings:

I believe the TW15 combo wand/wrench tool model fits their E03 light.

Available here, among other sources

http://www.ebay.com/itm/XENO-TW15-f...21-5mm-light-bezel-/160852697066#ht_524wt_932

__philippe

 

[papershredder]

Future work post edited, see above. Added beamshots of XM-L versus XP-G.

 

[papershredder]

Future work post edited. Posted beamshots of a set with 6300K, 5000K (3C,) Nichia 219, 4000K (5C1,) 3000K (7D3.) Posted a photo of the lights in a pelican case, which is quite nice.

 

[Mr Floppy]

The 3000K is very incandescent like isn't it. I like it a lot.

From left to right, XML, XML, 219, XML, XPG?

I too have that ring on the Nichia 219 too. Reflector made from an XML perhaps?

 

[papershredder]

The 3000K is very incandescent like isn't it. I like it a lot.

From left to right, XML, XML, 219, XML, XPG?

I too have that ring on the Nichia 219 too. Reflector made from an XML perhaps?

Yes, I actually got started with this whole emitter swap mess because I noticed how pleasant some dollar incans I had looked in low light.

XM-L2, XM-L2, Nichia 219, XM-L2, XM-L2.
I agree it looks like XP-G in the photo, but that's just my phone camera playing tricks.

Yes, the Nichia has rings. I put a Cree XP-G2 in one of these lights briefly and had no ring problems worse than XM-L.

 

[yazkaz]

I believe the TW15 combo wand/wrench tool model fits their E03 light.

It looks like the TW15 has no integrated wrench tool, a local dealer has confirmed that

 

[creyc]

From left to right:
6300K, 5000K (3C,) Nichia 219, 4000K (5C1,) 3000K (7D3)

Now that's dedication!

What output level was this photo taken at, if you recall? I ask because I'm surprised the Nichia 219 doesn't look a little bit dimmer, as it's usually a bit less flux than the Cree's. I suppose it could be a limitation of the camera, too..

 

[papershredder]

Now that's dedication!

What output level was this photo taken at, if you recall? I ask because I'm surprised the Nichia 219 doesn't look a little bit dimmer, as it's usually a bit less flux than the Cree's. I suppose it could be a limitation of the camera, too..

iPhone camera. It does whatever it wants and does not tell you.

Yes, the Nichia 219 is dimmer.