Re: Cree XRE in SilvaL1 (Beamshots added)
Today I finished my mod, was a hard work:sweat:The head was epoxyd so I had to use my "Dremel"-clone to cut it in two pieces. Inside I found a very poor heatsink, very thin with fins, but not the kind I like it. So I had to improve it with a custom heatsink and sanded, filed down the stock sink and epoxied both together. It was easyier to use both heatsinks for a better fit in the plastic cooling fins housing. After installing the Cree, I tested the stock optic and different reflectors, but none was perfect.
The best compromise was the stock optic, so I modyfied the optic holder for a perfect fit.
The result is a great improvement. Much brighter with a very bright hotspot, so it's now a headlamp with very good throw and bright spillbeam. The tint with the stock LuxIII was very blueish (I don't like blueish tints), now it's white with tendency to yellowish.
The beam in the area of the sidespill is a little ringy (typical for optics) but more ringy than with the Luxeon.
At the end, the result was worth the effort
.
Here is a beamshot with the stock Silva on high, distance to the door about 18 meters.:
Now with the Cree, same distance and settings:
In natural the higher output of the Cree is much better visible than at the pics, but the bright hotspot is good perceivable.
Best regards
____
Tom:wave:
After you have found another one, take your time for this mod. Be careful with the big spring at the plastic-pin for the head. Take the batts out of the holders, because the spring will make a short by connection with the solder points at the driver.
