Yeah, I got kinda bored with the 14500 driven little XR-C and its small hotspot, so I decided to upgrade. The led comes from the salvaged Coleman CR2 lights, I got a couple from that last sale and decided to give it some new life.
1.First getting the little ******* open. It had some sort of potting compund on the head, a little heat from my 3 dollar blue flame lighter and presto!
2. Next unscrew the LE ( take note of the brass spacer and don't loose it), pop the black cover and expose the LED. Then desolder the leads and remove the LED and base from the heatsink. Take note of the leads polarities! White is + and Black is -.
Heres a pic of the back of the LED:
4. Remove the 1 watt LED from the base. Apply heat with the blue flamer to the underside of the base until you see the flux and solder get loose, then quickly pick the led up by the emmiter base and remove ( it helps if you can clamp down the base). Take note of the led polarities!
5. Next place the new emmiter on the base. Try and get it has centered has possible, then flame the underside of the base so the remainder solder melts and the leds sits ( you will notice the led kinda sits down and centers itself).
6. Prepare the heatsink for the new led. Clean the old thermal paste and apply some Artic Silver or Artic Alumina ( I used Artic Silver, but you can use Alumina and when the epoxy dries the leads will be easier to resolder)
7. Set the LED in the heatsink and resolder the leads. Replace the black cover, and screw the LE back in. ( Try to clean has much of the locking compound from the threads has possible) . Be carefull when screwing the LE back in, it will want to crossthread. Try and get it and flat has possible and screw it in slowly. Same goes for the head and the body.
NOTES: I added a solder blob to the positive terminal thus defeating the polarity protection. The 14500 that I have are flat. Dont screw the LE down too tight, or you will have a more pronounced ring, screw it down until you feel force and then back it out just a bit.
I didn't take any beamshots but the brightness is just about the same on the hotspot is bigger and obviously the led will last longer. Mine is now pulling 750ma with the stock driver on an Energizer alkaline and 1200 ma on the 14500, not bad...
1.First getting the little ******* open. It had some sort of potting compund on the head, a little heat from my 3 dollar blue flame lighter and presto!
2. Next unscrew the LE ( take note of the brass spacer and don't loose it), pop the black cover and expose the LED. Then desolder the leads and remove the LED and base from the heatsink. Take note of the leads polarities! White is + and Black is -.
Heres a pic of the back of the LED:
4. Remove the 1 watt LED from the base. Apply heat with the blue flamer to the underside of the base until you see the flux and solder get loose, then quickly pick the led up by the emmiter base and remove ( it helps if you can clamp down the base). Take note of the led polarities!
5. Next place the new emmiter on the base. Try and get it has centered has possible, then flame the underside of the base so the remainder solder melts and the leds sits ( you will notice the led kinda sits down and centers itself).
6. Prepare the heatsink for the new led. Clean the old thermal paste and apply some Artic Silver or Artic Alumina ( I used Artic Silver, but you can use Alumina and when the epoxy dries the leads will be easier to resolder)
7. Set the LED in the heatsink and resolder the leads. Replace the black cover, and screw the LE back in. ( Try to clean has much of the locking compound from the threads has possible) . Be carefull when screwing the LE back in, it will want to crossthread. Try and get it and flat has possible and screw it in slowly. Same goes for the head and the body.
NOTES: I added a solder blob to the positive terminal thus defeating the polarity protection. The 14500 that I have are flat. Dont screw the LE down too tight, or you will have a more pronounced ring, screw it down until you feel force and then back it out just a bit.
I didn't take any beamshots but the brightness is just about the same on the hotspot is bigger and obviously the led will last longer. Mine is now pulling 750ma with the stock driver on an Energizer alkaline and 1200 ma on the 14500, not bad...
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