E2e head OK with an Led? - Some results

Does the standard E2e reflector work OK with a Luxeon Led if the head is machined to fit? I'm sure someone must have tried this mod' and I have an otherwise redundant head.
Any info' or links would be appreciated.

Colin.


EDIT
Well I have done the conversion and here are the results.

I milled off the stub in the back of the head ... flush to the surrounding area. The hole at the back of the reflector was not enlarged at all. Then the thread was extended as far into the head as possible. (Cut in the lathe)

Now it is possible to use a light engine, or with an aluminium spacer, refit the MN03 if desired.

Here is the converted head and the components which worked best ... to date anyway!




These are purely subjective views of the results. Luxeon K2's and 5W I was not impressed with due to doughnut type artefacts. The most usefull beams - to me anyway - were obtained with a Cree XR-E, and a Lux lll. Had the reflector been modded differently other Led's may have fared better.

The Lux lll worked best with an optic just placed into the reflector. The locating stub of the optic was ground off so that it would stay on-axis. This extended the bezel by 2.2 mm and I put an o-ring in the gap to provide a new seal.


E2e with the optic and Lux lll installed.




What really surprised me was the beam from the XR-E ... what I would call 'spotless'. :huh:

Yes, it is relatively dim - and I never thought I would like a beam with ABSOLUTELY NO THROW. But I really like this beam. From 6ft you get an even disc of light (to the eye anyway) of 10ft diameter.

Used indoors the eye does not have to keep adjusting as you look into different parts of the beam, and for searching around in cupboards or computer cases etc, it is really easy to work with. On a one cell body this is now a usefull EDC.

On to the beamshots.
These taken at the same camera settings but exposed to show the spill more effectively.



These 6 metre shots taken at the same settings. (Same as each other, not the same as above).



This shot is underexposed in an attempt to give an impression of how the beam compares to the XR-E - allowing for the eyes adjustment when looking into the hotspot area.



It would be nice if the beam from the Cree were brighter and I'll certainly try some brighter bin XR-E's when they are available. I am pretty happy with the results so far and at last I have learned that throw is not everything. :laughing:

Re: E2e head OK with an Led?

same question here, with an addition:

I have an extra E2e head. I would like to mod it. how do they open?

Re: E2e head OK with an Led?

Mine opened up real easy.
A wrench around the hex end with a household rubber glove underneath for protection, and a small strap wrench around the bezel.

Colin.

Re: E2e head OK with an Led?

righty tighty, lefty loosey?

Re: E2e head OK with an Led?

Exactly
There is some residue on the threads - probably a sealing compound, and the bezel and head are a very snug fit.

I can't believe no one has tried this, but as no one else has responded I guess we're on our own with this. I'm going to machine the back anyway and try it. I will make an aluminium spacer to fit the MN03 back if it is no good with the Led.

Re: E2e head OK with an Led?

Ganp,
I didn't find this thread til now. The Luxeon will focus if you widen the opening and move the led up into the reflector. The Shoppe sells an E-Sink, which is designed for the E-series head. I built one before. I wasn't very satisfied with it. The problem with that E head is that in order to get the led to focus, you need to widen the opening on the already very small reflector. There's not enough surface to reflect the light off to the front. It was way too dim.

ernest

Re: E2e head OK with an Led?

The KL1 head is an easy swap at sub $60.

Do this to it and you may be very happy:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=121944&highlight=kl1-r

Re: E2e head OK with an Led?

Thanks for your input guys.

I started modding my E2e head straight after my last post so - beyond the point of no return!!

I'm getting results I'm quite pleased with, and a most unexpected beam with the XR-E :huh2: . Pics will follow shortly.

Colin.

Re: E2e head OK with an Led?

Just edited the post.

If anyone this side of the pond would like this mod I would be happy to do it for a minimal fee
----Apologies if it's not OK to offer in this forum----

Colin.

Great work :goodjob:




Benny

WHoa, whoa, whoa. Where do I get that optic and Light engine? I just picked up a rare black HAIII E2e that I would LOVE to do this mod on... info, more info!

Cool mod and nice photos :goodjob:

Will

Good job and very nice pictures! :thumbsup:
BTW what kind of optics did you use?

It looks like all that was used to focus the beam was the remains of the reflector, and with the dispersion pattern of the cree (70 degree) it is probably shooting right past the reflector, resulting in the same pattern that no reflector would create.

Pretty useful beam though.

schiesz

Aaagh. I didn't see/read about the bezel not closing all the way. Darn. But where can I get just the light engine then? Would I still have to machine off that stub inside the head? I also wonder what the beam would look like with just the reflector....

schiesz ...
You are quite right about the reflector not contributing to the beam with the Cree. :sigh: All the head is doing is acting as a host for the light engine, and creating a little cut-off around the edge ... does make it look a bit tidier though.

KDOG3 ...
The light engines are some of the ones I made for the 2 degree optic head, but I would think the Aleph LE's, or any others with a 15/16 x 20 thread should work if the head were machined to suit. The stub in the back of the head has to be removed to allow the LE to reach the back of the reflector, and to seat in enough to fit onto the battery tube.

Icarus
The optic used with the Lux lll is a Carclo - No 10003. (You can get information here ). I don't have any XR-E specific optics yet.

Next for me to try ... I know others have done it ... is to remove enough of the front of the reflector to allow the optic to sit right into the head, or possibly bore the head out completely. Also see if there is enough room to fit a Led specific reflector. There is no going back after this of course, and I didn't want to risk my only E2e head. So far I have just made some tentative steps which allowed me to revert back if things did not work out well.

Now though I have another head (thanks Benny) so I'll give it a go!!!

Colin.

Could one of You please give me a measurement of the flashlight body outer diamter please?

Maybe also the diameter at the place where the rubber ring sits, at the end of the body, sealing it against the end cap.

(to mod the light to work on 18650s makes much sense, but is it possible?)

Yellow ... The diameter of the groove for the o-ring at the head end is 19.14 mm (on my E2e anyway). While it is technically possible to bore out the body to take an 18650, it would make the wall very thin and weak. Unless the body were very accurately set up in a lathe or mill it is quite probable that a cutter would break through at this o-ring point.

E2e body outer diameter at head is 25.4mm, and at tailcap end is 20.23 mm. O-ring groove diameter at tailcap is 15.00 mm.

Much better to get a custom 18650 body. There are some very nice ones around which take a C series tailcap and load the batteries from the tailcap end. I believe there are also some split body types to take the E series tailcap too.


Colin.

thnkx for the answer,
project wont work then.

I didnt realize the old P models are this bigger than the E-series (they use CR123s, dont they?)
(unfortunatley most shops selling SFs here, have closed, so I could not handle one by myself)