xp-g drop in mod with pics and beamshots

Hello all,
I just received my new xp-g r4 led's in the mail today. I decided to remove a r2 from one of my drop ins and replace it with one of these r4's. First let me say I am very new to modding flashlights so excuse me in advance for the messy work. When was very surprised by how different these leds look compared the the other crees (xpe, xre) without the ring. The dome is much smaller on the xpg and doesn't seem to work well with the existing reflectors that are out there. I had to be careful with the reflector not to have a short because the solder connections are right on top of the reflector. Focusing was impossible and the difference in brightness were uninspiring. Nonetheless, I still managed to crowbar one of these in an existing drop in. So here are the pics and beamshots. Hope you enjoy..

The r2 next to xpg r4 on 10mm board

My expert soldering job. JK

The xpg in the old xr e r2 reflector

Here's a xr -e r2 on high drawing 1.59A from the tale. Fully charged trustfire 2500 protected. I know, a bit overdriven.

Here's the xpg r4 drawing 1.72A from the tail. Same battery. Pretty high as well.

Now for the beamshots
Indoor approximately 20 feet away from the door.
The R2

The r4

Now for the outdoor. Approximately 60 feet to the fence. It was a little damp and misty outside.
The R2

The R4

As you can tell the r4 is not as cool as the r2. There is a bit more flood with the r4 and less throw. But I think that has more to do with the compatibility of the reflector with the xpg. The reflector is really designed for an r2. I am looking forward to see these hit the market in mainstream flashlights. Also, I did not do any runtimes but I ran both for 10 minutes on high and both got a bit hot. I am sure the fact they are being overdriven didn't help either. Thanks everybody.

thanks for the beamshots:thumbsup:

i hope i get my r4 drop-in tomorrow!

nice pics and info thx

Good work! Thanks for posting.

brad

Nice work... Maybe its just me but I have always found the DX type reflectors to be too spot-throwey. When I use mine within ~35 feet I feel like I have tunnel vision.

I like that XPG beam a lot.

1.72A draw at the tailcap should equal at least ~1.2A to the emitter. Do you notice it dimming or color shift with extended ON cycles?

thanks!!

Looks great to me! About the same throw and brightness but way more spill intensity. Good for general flashlight use I'd say.

the DX XPE module has a different reflector, you can try that drilling it out to fit..

old4570 did some nice work in another thread...
IMHO this... looks MUCH more useful (and a lot brighter)


than this...


IMHO of course.

That xp-g r4 looks visible brighter than xr-e r2 :thumbsup:

KD has the drop-in without driver and emitter to fit xp-e (productId9208). That should improve the focus of xp-g I suppose

kramer5150 said:

Nice work... Maybe its just me but I have always found the DX type reflectors to be too spot-throwey. When I use mine within ~35 feet I feel like I have tunnel vision.

I like that XPG beam a lot.

1.72A draw at the tailcap should equal at least ~1.2A to the emitter. Do you notice it dimming or color shift with extended ON cycles?

thanks!!

Click to expand...

I definitely noticed some dimming due to heat but did not notice a color shift. I am going to look at some of the other reflector options out there to get better focus. I did this mod temporarily to create my own opinion of the led. I have another one which I will use with more care. I will try to find the right host. I am waiting on a couple of DIY hosts and circuit boards from dx and kd. Thanks for the imput everyone.

Great job! Thanks for sharing. :twothumbs

Thank you for the pictures!