Petzl Taktikka XM-L Mod – Almost!

I had the idea of modding my Taktikka with an XM-L....



I almost did it, but I decided against it at the end. What kept from it was that I had to permanently modify a part, something I have not have the nerve too yet...



But for the benefit of any interested user here is how it can be done







Here is my headlamp modded with a SSC P4







Here it is with the holder removed.







Here is a look at the holder's underside and the way to mount the new LED....It is Arctic Silver epoxied on a blank SSC star board....I had a look at the Luxeon I datasheet. The LED die is 3.59mm high measured from the star bottom.



Similar calculations of the XM-L setup (assuming that both boards are 1.5mm high) show a height of 3.57mm Very close.



So what one has to do is cut a disc 14mm in diameter from the original LED holder....Easy!

but i did not take the risk.....Maybe some other day when I have the nerve...



Now I am kinda perplexed by output gains.....A T6 XM-L is about 280lumens at 700mA.....



the problem is what bin LuxI I have. The LED removed from my headlamp had this code printed on the back.

RWOHW0439010

0906LXHLHW1D



This means 140deg viewing angle (close to the XM-L's), R-bin=51.7 lumens, WO color and H forward voltage=3.03-3.27V?,



But where there any R-bin LuxI????

I just modded my tactikka for the second time. I originally swapped out for another luxeon that was the same size but had a higher output.

Then recently I found a XP-G I had layingaround. I threw that in, used a spot optic (not sure which one), and took the black optic holder out. I had to grind the optic a tiny bit to make it work and remove the oring but if fits. Could probably fit it in if I wanted. May take it apart again and put one in.

Has a nice beam and the flood lenses on the tactikka works perfect also. So much more light. Its like it should have been made originally. It can light up my back shed from about 20 feet no problem and when you give it the boost it easily lights its up at 150'. Very happy with the mod.