Just Seoul'ed my HDS and an L1

So my emitters came from Fred over at Photon Fanatic this afternoon. My HDS EDC's been open in pieces for weeks waiting for some (lost) emitters (not from Fred, his came in two days!). So somewhere along the way I reveresed the polarity on my HDS, but a quick resolder and I was in business. I'm very pleased with the output despite my light "only" being a 42, an XR at that. Purely guessing, I'd say it's putting out 80-90 lumens in a perfect pattern with a tight spot and quick transition to useful spill.

The L1 was an afterthought. It's a host that was all marred up on the retaining ring on the head, but I figured, "what the heck." I soldered it in and reinstalled the stock optic, and POW! There are some artifacts in the beam, but nothing major. It looks like the wires going to the die. Great output, brighter than my Milky ML1 P3 Cree rated at about 77-80 lumens. Now I can't wait to get my new Seoul Milky ML1!

Valpo Hawkeye said:

......The L1 was an afterthought. It's a host that was all marred up on the retaining ring on the head, but I figured, "what the heck." I soldered it in and reinstalled the stock optic, and POW! There are some artifacts in the beam, but nothing major. It looks like the wires going to the die. Great output, brighter than my Milky ML1 P3 Cree rated at about 77-80 lumens. Now I can't wait to get my new Seoul Milky ML1!

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So, that's all there is to it? Desolder the original and solder in the new one? Just the emitter, right? How does it look on "low?" I am still on the fence as to whether to wait for the production SF Cree or send the light and money to Milkyspit but, if I could find a used beater L1, I would still consider doing one for kicks.

Yeah, my SSCed HDS Basic 42 is pretty much my favorite smallish light ever!

I was guessing somewhere between 80 and 100 Lumens on max and maybe 20 to 25 Lumens on Primary. Another big thing for me is that after the mod, Secondary seems about 8 lumens vs 10 lumens of Primary before the mod which was the level I used most before the mod. Now, basically I have the same brightness, but 4 times the runtime. And obviously the ability to blast on max if needed.

Honestly, if the upcoming NovaTac is an appreciable improvement over my modded 42, I'll be seriously impressed.

Jeff H said:

So, that's all there is to it? Desolder the original and solder in the new one? Just the emitter, right? How does it look on "low?" I am still on the fence as to whether to wait for the production SF Cree or send the light and money to Milkyspit but, if I could find a used beater L1, I would still consider doing one for kicks.

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It's a pain to open the light, first off. I marred the head and ruined the lens doing it. However, I ordered a replacement from www.flashlightlens.com and so I was able to reassemble the light. The emitter swap was pretty easy. Bear in mind, though, a Milky version is way better than a simple emitter swap. He adds a reflector, one customized for the emitter you choose. He also does it without a single mark to the body of the light; they look like they came from the factory.

As for the low-level performance, it's roughly double what stock was, very useful, not too bright. However, high is significantly brighter, as you might expect.

I had Milky put a Seoul P4 in a new L1 for me and it rocks. You get some tapering spill (the kind I love) added, and the spot is not only brighter and bigger, but round with a central hot spot instead of square-ish and even. Low is just as useable (and just about as stealthy). Transformed a good light into a great light.

Blindasabat said:

I had Milky put a Seoul P4 in a new L1 for me and it rocks. ...................

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You both make it harder to resist the ML1. I have been eye-balling a used L1 that costs more than what I paid for mine new. Of course, I think mine was mis-marked because they were "up there" when I went back to buy a couple more.

I have to try a mod on something,..... some time....

Anyone can tell me the current consumption in surefire L1 high mode and KL1 with 2 cells? I have ML1 with Seoul P4, it's very bright and I am wondering how bright the KL1 mod with seoul P4 will be? Thanks.

I have a PM sent (sent it a couple days ago) to Milky about upgrading my HDS EDC U60 and my Surefire E1L.

Chao said:

Anyone can tell me the current consumption in surefire L1 high mode and KL1 with 2 cells? I have ML1 with Seoul P4, it's very bright and I am wondering how bright the KL1 mod with seoul P4 will be? Thanks.

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Hey Chao! :wave: Typical battery draw for a KL1 off a single cell is about the same as that of the ML1: 0.65-0.75A. Typical OUTPUT current to the LED is 350mA-450mA, depending on component tolerance, quality of emitter used, etc. The KL1 SEOULmated ends up with about the same output as the ML1 on high beam. Hope this helps.

clipse said:

I have a PM sent (sent it a couple days ago) to Milky about upgrading my HDS EDC U60 and my Surefire E1L.

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Clipse, replied.