30mm optic hole?

I just finished up my 5W Brinkmann LX mod, only to find my beam seems to have a hole right in the center with Wayne's 30mm optic? Is this normal? The optic is pressed right up against the LED. Any ideas, I'm sorta' disappointed right now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Have you tried moving the optics away slighty from the LS?l

Yeah, but moving the optic out makes the light a whole lot dimmer.

Isn't it supposed to sit right on top of the emitter?

This is a high dome right?

Is it an actual HOLE?
Like as in, water can go through it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

yup, that's a common characteristic of a 5watter and 30mm i believe /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

It is a high dome.

I should have been clearer, the beam has a hole right in the center.

Oh well, at least it's plenty bright and white.

McGizmo has a solution for that. He uses a material that is similar to WriteRite. Instead of putting it on the lens or the flat part of the optic he uses a paper hole punch to make a very small disk. He then puts that inside the shaft of the optic, up against the little half-ball in the bottom of the shaft.

This reminds me that I need to start a file on the different specialized products he and other modders use. I can't remember the name of this material but it is described as having similar characteristics to WriteRite so I believe that would work too.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Icebreak. I guess I was so jazzed about the 30mm optic because of some posts by MR Bulk a while back. He seemed to really like the 30mm optic with the high dome.

It's strange, if I hold my hand about 1" from the light, I see the "cross". However, at longer distances the hole closes if I move the optic far enough away from the LED.

If I move the optic right up against the LED and hold my hand close, the beam is perfect, but has the hole at longer distances.

I see what you mean (looking at a Blaster beam) I've never noticed that effect before, probably because I've never shined it at my hand. I see the dark cross. It must be the gap between the four grids. Then around 4' to 10' I get the hot spot you were talking about.

Sounds like you've built yourself a real nice light. I think if you take it outside and shine it at a tree you may grow a grin on your face. I'll bet you've done well with this light so...way to go, Chief Wiggum.

I now have a big greenish spot floating on top of my computer screen. Thanks, thanks allot. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

- Jeff

I'm beginning to like it more and more. Definately super bright. I'll post some pics tomorrow. Anyway, this has been my most complex mod to date, and I'm just glad it works. Plus I only killed one V3U 5W in the process. Doh!

NICE mod that you got there, Chief. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Yea, I also noticed the hole that is produced by the 30 mm. An option that you could use is to change the 30 mm with a Fraen. This way, you will eliminate the hole that is got produced by the 30mm. Buy hot spot uniformity from Fraen does not come free. you will lost the uniformity of the sidespill in 30 mm option. But don't despair, the hotspot is a uniform flood all by itself.

In my Legend LX mod, the "hole" disappears if you defocus just slightly. I have not noticed much loss in brightness, but then again it is direct-driven at 9V and produces nearly 3,000 lux so slight defocusing does not decrease beam output by much.