How to open up Nuwai 301x

Just broke the threadlocking and opened the head, but how do I unscrew the reflector? What tools should I need?

I'm also thinking of getting a custom light engine for this unit, any recommendations please? And since I don't know anything on electronics, I'll need to have a completed assembly available. Who should I go to? Kindly advise.

Use a pair of needle nose pliers. Put the tips of the pliers in the 2 small holes located on the back of the reflector and spin the reflector counter clockwise.

Is this a 301X-3 or a 301X-5?

You might want to check the bin code that's printed on the back of the luxeon star first before thinking about a custom light engine.

If the current star is an underperformer then you may only need to install a brighter and more efficient luxeon star to give you the brightness boost your after.
You don't need to know much about electronics to change stars. If you can solder a wire onto a copper pad and turn a screwdriver then you already have the skills needed to upgrade that luxeon star.

I'll see what I can do. BTW, it's the 301x-3 and the star is an SX0J, will look forward to replacing it with a TW0J (couldn't find any U bins regrettably).

However, given the flimsiness of the light engine, I hope to have it replaced with a much better one, like this one:
http://homepage3.nifty.com/katokichi/page041.html

Can someone help me?

U bin stars are available.

UXOJ, UX1J, UXOK stars for sale

UWAJ & UWOK stars for sale

This Do It Yourself copper heatsink idea might help your 301X-3.

There's also the 2 penny copper heatsink as a Do It Yourself project.

Well I just tried removing the reflector as instructed. No dice, it's still stuck, so I applied a bit more pressure on the pliers but in the end I've scratched the bottom part pretty badly and the reflector wouldn't move a bit. Now what should I do, should I heat up the bezel assy and try again?

yazkaz said:

Well I just tried removing the reflector as instructed. No dice, it's still stuck, so I applied a bit more pressure on the pliers but in the end I've scratched the bottom part pretty badly and the reflector wouldn't move a bit. Now what should I do, should I heat up the bezel assy and try again?

Click to expand...

I had to heat up my reflector to remove it, it was threadlocked in. I boiled it in a bag for 5 minutes, then it unscrewed pretty easily.


Chris

I have a 22.5mm diameter mineral glass lens (1mm thick) and would like to use it on the 301x. Problem is, I don't have the necessary tools to reduce the diameter to around 22.1mm. Can I use sand paper (or precisely, silicon carbide abrasive paper) to sand off the edges instead? Kindly advise.

Silicon carbide sheets will work well for regular glass but Emery cloth sheets would work better for sanding a harder material like mineral crystal. Emery cloth sheets use corundum with iron impurities as the abrasive.

OK, so I used a hairdryer to heat up the bezel, and submerged it (inside a plastic bag) in boiling water for more than five minutes, still I couldn't unscrew the reflector. Now what should I do?

Don't give up just yet. Try it one more time with the hair dryer but heat it a bit longer. Third time's the charm.

Rather than using the two tiny indentations on the back of the reflector, grip the protruding rear of the reflector with some regular sized bent needlenose pliers and see if you can twist it out that way.

Work quickly, the thread lock glue will harden back up pretty fast.

I've again submerged the bezel assy (inside another ziplock bag) into boiling water for about ten minutes. This time, I was able to spin out the reflector (although with a lot of force still), but too bad I've already done certain cosmetic damage (a few deep scratches by the needlenose pliers) to the bottom of the reflector. Now I need to find a way to clean out the threadlocking glue in the grooves effectively, any suggestions?

I've used both a sharply pointed small blade (takes a while) and a tiny round wire brush mounted in a rotary tool. It's not so difficult once the glue is hard. If you are going to replace the reflector then there's really no need to clean the threads but if you are going to re-use the original reflector then you will likely only need to scrape out about half of the old thread lock glue.

If the inside area of the reflector or the area on the back near the led hole is badly damaged then you might need a new reflector.

I replaced my original one last year with a IMS 20mm model so if you need another original style reflector I can send my old one for free.

PM me your address if you need the unblemished reflector.

Lumenhound, I'd definitely want the stock reflector from you. As a matter of fact I DID have smeared the inside parabolic surface of the reflector when I submerged the bezel assy into hot water the second time -- the plastic bag melted, leaked water into the bezel/reflector right to the inside surface of the plastic lens. dulling most of the reflector's shiny surface. Gentle cleaning with microfiber cloth with lens cleaning fluid only made things worse. (About the only consolation is that I will be getting a few fitted mineral glass lenses to replace that little plastic chip...)

Anyway, will PM you later. Now, about third-party reflectors: I thought only the stock threaded one would fit the setup well, so how do you have the IMS-20 installed? You can't just screw it into the thread. I also heard that an McR20 would also fit the system well; is that true, and does the reflector need any additional machining? Kindly advise.

Consider the spare reflector I have yours.

The plastic IMS 20mm just drops right in and rests against the back of the lens. It's outside diameter is just a bit smaller than the original threaded reflector so you need to place a small o-ring on the outside of the IMS 20mm and drop the reflector in. Once the reflector is pushed up against the lens you use a small thin object (I used the dull end of a wooden toothpick) to snug the o-ring up again the front of the flashlight between the sidewall of the bezel and the reflector. The o-ring keeps the reflector perfectly centered and will hold the reflector tightly in place. The point of best focus is exactly the same between the stock reflector and the IMS 20 so when you screw the bezel back onto the flashlight you get a good tight hotspot. The only thing one needs to do to the IMS 20 before installing it is to snip off a bit of each of the 3 plastic legs on the rear of the reflector so that they don't protrude past the back of the reflector itself.

Here's a beamshot link showing the original reflector and the IMS 20 side by side.

I've never tried the finely machined metal McR20 myself but I would imagine that it installs the same way with the o-ring and it's been reported to give an even tighter and slightly brighter hotspot than the IMS 20mm. What's nice about the McR20 is that it's metal construction means it can also be used with small hot burning xenon bulbs. It's got much more modding potential than the plastic IMS 20mm.

Reflector sent.

Can the polycarbonate lens on the 301x be easily replaced with a FlashlightLens 22.0mm UCL Glass lens?

Will I need to break open the glued up bezel just to get to the lens?

Thanks.

Fusion_m8 said:

Can the polycarbonate lens on the 301x be easily replaced with a FlashlightLens 22.0mm UCL Glass lens?

Will I need to break open the glued up bezel just to get to the lens?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

It can be replaced but it varies how easy it is to do. Some people have found it quite easy ( like me ) some have found it difficult. It depends on how much thread lock was used on your light when they put it together.

Yes, You will have to break the thread lock on the bezel, unscrew and then again with the reflector. Same as above.

I didn't need to heat mine. I wrapped some big elastic bands around the head and the body to give me grip, put leather gloves on for more grip and gave it a damn good wrench with my hands. It was tight but I had jam jars that were worse.

The 22mm UCL lens fits perfectly but be carefull putting it in because if you catch it on the threads it may 'chip'. It's a bit brittle on the sides but no problem when it's in. I'm well happy with mine.