First real mod

chaosmagnet · May 22, 2009

My previous attempt at "modding" was to take a DX 6090 drop-in and put it in a 2x 123A Cabela's XPG Xenon flashlight. The result was and is pleasing -- it's much brighter than it was with the original Xenon head and doesn't get hot. I haven't tested it for runtime and I don't have the equipment to measure light output.

More recently I was perusing DX again and bought an UltraFire C3 along with a Q5 emitter (DX 11023). I surfed over to Battery Junction and ordered a pair of UltraFire protected 14500s and an AW139 charger. The emitter was visibly off-center, but otherwise a nice little package for less than $11, including a wrist lanyard and a holster.

I charged up the 14500s and put one of them in the unmodified C3. It's a very tight fit, and to remove the battery I have to take the tailcap off and push. It was super bright; substantially brighter than my EDC Fenix P2D on Turbo. It got noticeably warm in seconds; I didn't run it for more than a few minutes.

It only took a few minutes to dig out my soldering iron and replace the original emitter with the Q5. It works, and it's maybe a little brighter. It doesn't seem to get any hotter. For $17 (excluding the batteries and the charger), this was a great little starter project for me. If I get an O-ring for the lens and fiddle with it a bit I bet I can even get the emitter centered.

After everything was put back together and I was wrapping up the stock emitter for a rainy day, I noticed that the backside of it was covered with some white gunk, presumably thermal grease. Am I right? Is it worth unsoldering and resoldering the Q5 to put some thermal grease in there? What kind should I use? Any other project ideas in this price range for the newbie modder?

dirtech · May 22, 2009

Cool. How mechanically inclined are you or how much experience do you have doing soldering or working with electronics. I want to upgrade a light with a new emitter and maybe a new driver and have no experience, but would consider myself mechanically inclined. Just curious how hard it was if you consider yourself a newb at soldering electronics.

kramer5150 · May 22, 2009

chaosmagnet said:
My previous attempt at "modding" was to take a DX 6090 drop-in and put it in a 2x 123A Cabela's XPG Xenon flashlight. The result was and is pleasing -- it's much brighter than it was with the original Xenon head and doesn't get hot. I haven't tested it for runtime and I don't have the equipment to measure light output.

More recently I was perusing DX again and bought an UltraFire C3 along with a Q5 emitter (DX 11023). I surfed over to Battery Junction and ordered a pair of UltraFire protected 14500s and an AW139 charger. The emitter was visibly off-center, but otherwise a nice little package for less than $11, including a wrist lanyard and a holster.

I charged up the 14500s and put one of them in the unmodified C3. It's a very tight fit, and to remove the battery I have to take the tailcap off and push. It was super bright; substantially brighter than my EDC Fenix P2D on Turbo. It got noticeably warm in seconds; I didn't run it for more than a few minutes.

It only took a few minutes to dig out my soldering iron and replace the original emitter with the Q5. It works, and it's maybe a little brighter. It doesn't seem to get any hotter. For $17 (excluding the batteries and the charger), this was a great little starter project for me. If I get an O-ring for the lens and fiddle with it a bit I bet I can even get the emitter centered.

After everything was put back together and I was wrapping up the stock emitter for a rainy day, I noticed that the backside of it was covered with some white gunk, presumably thermal grease. Am I right? Is it worth unsoldering and resoldering the Q5 to put some thermal grease in there? What kind should I use? Any other project ideas in this price range for the newbie modder?

That is the thermal conductive grease/epoxy. You need that to maximize thermal conduction between the LED and its pill. Air is an excellent thermal insulator, so any air gaps between the LED disc and pill (resulting from manufacturing tolerances) will prevent heat transfer.

You can still operate the light in its current condition, but you run a higher risk of overheating the LED die if you leave it turned ON for long times.

I just bought an Ultrafice C2, HA... (SKU:6177). I am going to run it with an MCE-M bin from shiningbeam.com and a 1400mah single mode driver. Should get me a nice moderately cool running 250-300 Lumens. I am not looking for a 900 Lumen barn burner out of this build. I want something cool running, that won't dim from thermal overload. I am going to try and replace the reflector dish with a Khatod PL124406, 12 degree optic. Project goals are maximum efficiency... both thermally and optically, with regulation... so resistor'ed direct drive is out for now.

chaosmagnet · May 24, 2009

dirtech said:
Cool. How mechanically inclined are you or how much experience do you have doing soldering or working with electronics. I want to upgrade a light with a new emitter and maybe a new driver and have no experience, but would consider myself mechanically inclined. Just curious how hard it was if you consider yourself a newb at soldering electronics.

I learned to solder thirty years ago

. I'm new to modifying flashlights.

I would not consider myself an electronics technician. I'm good with a multimeter but have no experience with an oscilloscope. I can do basic soldering but I don't have the gear, training or eyesight to do surface-mount stuff. This little baby mod took me a few minutes.

If you don't know how to solder, my suggestion would be to find someone who can teach you or take a class at a local community college.

chaosmagnet · May 24, 2009

kramer5150 said:
That is the thermal conductive grease/epoxy. You need that to maximize thermal conduction between the LED and its pill.

Any suggestions as to what kind to get?

kramer5150 said:
I just bought an Ultrafice C2, HA... (SKU:6177). I am going to run it with an MCE-M bin from shiningbeam.com and a 1400mah single mode driver. Should get me a nice moderately cool running 250-300 Lumens. I am not looking for a 900 Lumen barn burner out of this build. I want something cool running, that won't dim from thermal overload. I am going to try and replace the reflector dish with a Khatod PL124406, 12 degree optic. Project goals are maximum efficiency... both thermally and optically, with regulation... so resistor'ed direct drive is out for now.

Sounds neat. It's more expensive than my current project but sounds like fun. I found a driver on DX that looks like it would work for what you describe, but I don't know where it goes.

arowana · Jun 9, 2009

kramer5150 said:
That is the thermal conductive grease/epoxy. You need that to maximize thermal conduction between the LED and its pill. Air is an excellent thermal insulator, so any air gaps between the LED disc and pill (resulting from manufacturing tolerances) will prevent heat transfer.

You can still operate the light in its current condition, but you run a higher risk of overheating the LED die if you leave it turned ON for long times.

I just bought an Ultrafice C2, HA... (SKU:6177). I am going to run it with an MCE-M bin from shiningbeam.com and a 1400mah single mode driver. Should get me a nice moderately cool running 250-300 Lumens. I am not looking for a 900 Lumen barn burner out of this build. I want something cool running, that won't dim from thermal overload. I am going to try and replace the reflector dish with a Khatod PL124406, 12 degree optic. Project goals are maximum efficiency... both thermally and optically, with regulation... so resistor'ed direct drive is out for now.

Hi Kramer, I'm a newbie and need your help, can you tell me what electronics you used to make it regulated?

Also, when you mention dim from thermal overload, do you mean a permanent dimming of the emitter or is it a temporary dimming that is reverted once the light is switched off and cooled?

First real mod

chaosmagnet

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dirtech

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kramer5150

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chaosmagnet

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chaosmagnet

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arowana

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