Spacer in PT Tec40 help light output with EverLED?

I've got a Tec 20 in the mail, but I was at a sporting goods store and they had Tec 40's for $12 so I had to get one, at much dismay from the wife.

To reiterate another thread, BE VERY vigilant about putting the batteries in the right way. It is marked correctly, but keep in in mind.. The - side you see the negative end of the battery, the + you see the positive side with the button, or you will smoke your light.

I checked three times, double checked, triple checked ;-) Took the bulb out, saw which contact was the middle, double-checked again to make sure that it was right /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

That said, to the post.. I notice the EverLED sits up really far in the reflector, and due to the spring design in this light it seems it would be easy to put some sort of spacer between the EverLED and the reflector to stop it from going so far up inside the reflector. Depending upon how thick, the spring may or may not need adjusting.

Now granted the beam from the Tec 40 (and I assume Tec 20 will be the same) looks great, but it seems like there is too much side spill which I think will be reduced (thus more light in the spot) if the led is not quite as far into the reflector as it is now.

Anyone tried this or thought about it? I might look around for something tonight to tinker with it to see if it's feasable or silly..

Solid little light.. I love it. Gonna have a black Tec 40 and Tec 20, probably have the EverLED in the Tec 20 most times and a Dorcy LED in the Tec 40, but who knows.. I swap bulbs around /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Spacer in PT Tec40 help light output with Ever

Ha, first post..

No, seriously.. I am about to get out the little hacksaw and cut what could work out well for it.. Little Radio Shack DC inline power jack, looks almost like a phono plug, except it's a DC type jack.. I can find it in the catalog if anyone else is curious, especially if it makes the light look even nicer /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'll post again with my results.

Re: Spacer in PT Tec40 help light output with Ever

Hey, maybe I can have (probably) the only thread that only the poster posts to..

Wow, not what I expected, but I've never experimented with reflectors and such before I guess.. The spacer was the perfect size, I sanded it down just enough so the dark flat section of the EverLED was flush with the reflector.. Results (and I bet a lot of you already know this).. WIDE FLOOD.

I wittled it down a bit more and got a pretty wide flood, but not candle-wick flood like before.

While this isn't what I was going for, maybe someone else thinking the Tec 20/40 and EverLED is too tight a beam can insert a very thin spacer and widen it out.

BTW, the spacer I ended with was 1/10th of an inch.. I'd say mm but my slide rule just has inches on it. Anywho, conversion says 2.5mm.

Re: Spacer in PT Tec40 help light output with Ever

Khaytsus,

Carley Lamps make a .005" thick stainless spacer ring for use with their Xenon Star PR-based lamps for fine-tuning focus in fixed-focus reflectors. You normally get (5) with each lamp purchased. I bet if you email Patty ([email protected]) and ask her she might sell you some without lamps. They have helped a lot with several flashlights I've had using PR-based lamps.

Unfortunately, I don't have an EverLED, so I don't know if it will fit onto the front and rest on the flange.

John

Re: Spacer in PT Tec40 help light output with Ever

Here's the results I got from using a spacer on the PT40 and an EverLED. I found the beam got wider with dark areas (not too visible in the photos). I prefer it without the spacer, it's a tighter beam.
1, Here's the spacer (stainless, .060" thick)

2, PT40 & EverLED without spacer.

3, PT40 & EverLED with washer.


(10" from target)

Hope that helps,
Rob

Re: Spacer in PT Tec40 help light output with Ever

Yes, I'm a spot-weenie, I am not currently using the spacer. As for other places making spacers for bulbs.. Durnit, I never think of anything original ;-)

Seems it's best where it is.. And in fact it's pretty close to the side emissions from the original bulb, so perhaps my ideas about the EverLED not being an 'emission' match for a typical halogen was incorrect. That is, there is a very similar light pattern in a spherical sense, so given the same reflector a halogen and the EverLED give out pretty darn close to the same beam and spill. Good thing this is /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

While the beam focus is nicer on a Mag light, the beam from the Tec 40 is quite nice, and a tad bit more compact. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif