inova x5 ,,,upgrades ???

ok...just ordered a inova x5,,,wanna know from all here,,what are the best or common mods here ? wanna know everything,,,,from the tail end to the led...and everything in between,,,also the best battery type ,,,looking for rechargeable and looooong run times,,,thanks,,,

Mod an X5? People really don't buy Inova's to modify them. There's really no mod you can do to 5mm Nichias (which are good already). From the runtime graphs, there doesn't seem to be any regulation, so battery mods are out of the question. Not to mention it already has about 6 hour runtime. There's really no point in going rechargeable with a light that has that much run time.

Hope you bought the current version with the brighter LEDs.

Add a section of bicycle inner tube to improve the grip.

parnass,, great tip...thanks,,,ill be doing that,,hey superman,,whats a good battery then ?

i think i got the older inova,,,used,,,

since inovas arent easily moddable...any upgrades is only exterior...other than the inner tire grip...only other upgrade I can think of would be a color filter

Not really much to improve on the newer X5, it is at least in my opinion, the best of its kind, multiple LED cluster lights. About the only decent mod is covering the metal body with innner tube or moleskin to use in winter time.

I don't know if it is possible but if you can disassemble the bezel using the freeze/pop method you may be able to add some mixture of glow powder / epoxy behind the leds so they faintly glow in the dark after the light has been used. That will help you find the light in the dark.

Luigi

luigi said:

I don't know if it is possible but if you can disassemble the bezel using the freeze/pop method you may be able to add some mixture of glow powder / epoxy behind the leds so they faintly glow in the dark after the light has been used. That will help you find the light in the dark.

Luigi

Click to expand...

AFAIK the entirety of the LED rear contacts is epoxied along with the corresponding resistors...
Inova X5 Mod more pics/info

how bout the batteries ? am thinking recharegable 123s 900 mah,,,any good ? any better ones out there ?

Yeah, I'm afraid there are not really any easy upgrades for the X5. I believed the X5 (at least the 2 I had) were being overdriven slightly, which resulted in the LED end of the light getting warm. For a super efficient "battery vampire" light I thought it wasn't that "efficient" to overdrive like that... I would have liked underdriven LED's so that 50% would have been reached in 18 hours+

It is also a shame that there were never and battery tube extenders for the X5, like there was for the Inova T series. Differing thread sizes between the T and X series meant that those excellent "AA" for T series extenders offered in this thread
would not work.

I even thought about the possibility of drilling out 4 of the 5 LED's to try and increase run times, but since the LED's were in series, and may have depended upon each other for the continuity of the circuit...? I didn't want to risk it either way! Turns out all I had to buy was the X1 to get what I wanted :laughing:

I recommend the X5 be left the way it is. It's a GREAT light. I have 2 and hope to eventually have 4 or 5. Just stick with regular CR123's. RCR's might be overdriving them a bit which may shorten the life of the led's. I don't think rechargeables are necessary for a light that has a 6 hour run time. The X5 was great for my long night hike in Yosemite. It's not regulated so it gradually dims over a long time. If there were RCR's then the light would have cut out instantly when it drops below a certain voltage.

i guess ill leave the battery as is,,use the cr123...