Luxogen LR12W modded with xr-e////PICS////

So here are the results. In order to get this to work you are going to have to enlarge the hole in the reflector. Once it is large enough the Led will fit right in and actually is pretty well focused with it's placement inside the reflector.


As you can see it is pretty effective. Next comes placement in the Puck. For the Led to fit in the reflector properly the LED is going to have to be connected Via the bottom connections because the top must be clear so that the Led will fit inside the reflector. I then placed a thin layer of thermal epoxy inside the reflector so that the top connections would not make contact with the reflector. I placed a small bit of metal between the led and the puck to elevate it. This is not permanent though this is just for momentary on off testing. When this is completed I will be placing a better heat sink down with some thermal epoxy.


This is the completed comparison results:



I'd probably be correct by saying that it is twice as bright as before. The beam is not perfect though. The beam is quite ringy. First I though this was because of the reflector but from further analysis I've realized that the dome on the led is the problem. The dome it self is ringy and if looked at it up close you can see that the shape is a dome with a noticeable ring around the dome. I currently own only one cree xr-e so I can't really compare them at the moment. From the next picture you can see the swirls with the noticeable inside ring.



If you to ignore the ring though I'd say that the beam has a pretty comparable hot spot to the original Lux III with much more spill.
As for brightness here is some comparisons:
( ALL comparisons are at the same exposure 500th / 8.0 / iso200 )



Even though the brightness of the next two look similar I'd say by eye the cree looks brighter and as you can partially see the cree has more spill



This is a lower exposure.



In the end I'd say that this is a pretty easy mod and worth the effort. The entire Luxogen line up are very modder friendly lights and make great hosts. I Don't own equipment to test brightness or power.

Nice job, Rob. You've inspired me. I don't think I have quite the skills to do this as well as you have, but once my Cree XR-E arrives I'm willing to try =) Did you do this w/ a P2?

The led is a CREE P3 WC

Wow, thats cool. I now know what my next mod will be, thanks.

After further comparisons I think this light is comparible to the kl4 with a hot spot that gives you some throw. I'm actually glad I sold my kl1 recently because I'd probably be trying to pry that thing open rite now. Does anyone know what this light is putting out in terms of power.

Nice work

Will

Would you say that with the Cree and a primary it's as bright or brighter than stock using a rechargeable?

I'd like to try this with the LR5 and LR10. Any idea how much current is going to the Cree?

Good job photorob. Modded my HA cr123 Luxogen lr5 with a p2 cree from nitroz. Didnt get it as perfect as photorob, could probably be moved forward a little more. Very bright, but gets hot fast on a 3.6v so i will probably only use primary cells. here is a comparison with a hds b42 on high(both on primary). the spill on the cree is impressive, and outdoors the artifacts arent noticeable. worth the effort.

Wow, that's nice. How easy was it to align? I know Luxeons are a snap in the LR5; is it the same story with the Cree? I think I'm gonna have to do this.

It is definitely brighter with a cree and a primary vs. lux III and rechargeable. All the shoots were taken with a rechargeable. Even though this mod works I would love to get my hands on a longer tighter reflector. The pictures do not show it but this set-up does create some rings in the beam pattern. If the reflector was about 4 or 5mm deeper it would probably help clean up the beam a little bit.

Pumaman from looking at your picture I've noticed a similarity with your mushy center spot. From what I've noticed the center spot from no matter what reflector I use has a messy center spot, except for and elph 3 reflector which has a stipple to it. I think this is due to the quality of the dome on the LED. If you look at the cree next to a lux the lux has a much cleaner clearer dome. I'm guessing that is due to the dome on the cree being a glass lens vs. the lux being a form of plastic. A little stipple in the reflector would probably clean that up though.

havand said:

Voltage across the LED is something like 3.4V for the one I tested. J bin probably. I'm wondering if its worth throwing a UWAJ i have in there or just leave it alone. I'm guessing its probably a T-bin LuxIII.

Remeasured current on using RCR2 @4.18 volts is ~1A I think the crappiness of my DMM is adding some (a lot) of resistance, so lower current than is probably being drawn.

Click to expand...

This is all I could find about the lights current.

Wow. Awesome. So the hard part now is to find a good reflector/body combo?

I just got my Smartfire CR2 today (without batteries ). I hooked up a RCR123 to it and it humbles my HDS EDC U60. As bright if not more so, and better tint. I can't imagine how much brighter it'd be with the XR-E upgrade.

Wow...impressive. Nice work there photorob :goodjob:

As quickly as this mod lived it also died. The led is now in my mclux pd. Pics to follow.

What happened? :huh2:

Pumaman, please tell me yours is still working.

The light didn't die. I just meant that I took the cree out and put it in my PD.

Rob: how did you enlarge the reflector?

The reflector Is basically soft aluminum so I just took a razor blade to it. Well maybe more like a exacto knife. I did the same for the mclux reflectors to. the mclux's took a little grinding though.