Sunwayman V10R TI Neutral XP-G Mod

Sunwayman V10R Ti. Mods?

Going to order one of these badboys and have some questions even though I realize it's probably a little early to have these in modder's hands.



I will eventually want to upgrade the XP-G R5 to something brighter / more efficient, more neutral, possibly better throw. I am usually a DIY sort, and have basic electrical and soldering skills, but have no idea what I'm getting into with LED light mods. Would be open to letting a resident modder get a hold of it.



I would also like to upgrade the o-rings and switch boot if anyone has a source and knows the sizes I'll need.



Any way to make this anti-roll? Possibly an anti-roll crenelated bezel held on with set screws or other?



Unrelated question: Is anyone here making custom multi-mode LED drop-ins for the new style anti-roll E2D incan heads for 1xCR123 hosts? Veleno Designs is working on one, but figured Id see if there was anyone in the underground.



Thanks!!!

The mod itself is a straight forward XP-G R5 to XP-G R4 Nuetral emitter swap, but thought posting a how-to for opening up the light would be useful for some.




Bezel ring screws off without effort. The reflector needs some shaking and nudging to get out because the base (around the emitter) is lightly stuck with some adhesive. Careful not to touch the inside of the reflector.




Unscrewing the circuit board retainer.




This is a jig I made to secure the light in a vise. The ID of the jig is 25mm, and a 1mm thick sheet of stiff vinyl is inserted to prevent slip and scratching.




I used 2 piece blocks like these before, but after seeing Mettee's tool in this thread (link lost in crash), made the new one.




The parts are small and hard to grip AND have very strong threadlocker on them. Use some rubbing alchohol to wipe off any grease from the surface to prevent slip.




Heating the threadlocker from outside with a small butane torch.




Gripping the top half with a vise wrench.

Bike tubes and a thick piece of leather are used to prevent scratches.
(I have since made another jig as seen in the 4th pic, and can now secure both ends very tightly without any danger of squashing).




Control ring opened up. Threadlocker residue has been removed.




O-ring and washer. The washer keeps the control ring from seizing up when the parts are tightened. Using a thinner washer will eliminate any play in the control ring.

When reassembling, note that the washer fits under the o-ring.




Stripping down further.










Circuit and LED desoldered.

*Following posts #2 and #3 have been reconstructed after CPF crash Feb 2011. (Couldn't get the following posts from any cache)*

From here, swapping the emitter.

I could only find a Neutral XPG on a 2mm thick, 10mm diameter board, so had to trim it down to 1.1mm thickness and add a donut shaped washer to center it. A lathe was used for both these steps.




Adding some Arctic Alumina.


Fitting the heatsink and soldered LED.


The solder added some thickness to the board, and the bezel would not screw down completely. So, I left out the black plastic ring, and put in a thinner sheet of GID tape to prevent the reflector from shorting out the LED.


White balance daylight shot. Nice and warm tint.


And with a nice clip.

I also tried some new grease to relube the control ring, but it wasn't as sticky as the product name suggested.




See post #20 for better grease.

Great work! I found it VERY difficult to get the light apart. When I finally did, I threw in an XM-L and never looked back.

So it's not possible to pull out that plastic disc from above with full disassembly?

gunga,
I'm assuming you are asking "without full disassembly".

Answer is yes, you must take the control ring off to pull out the ring without destroying it.
You can try cutting up and scraping the ring out. After that, you will need to remove the LED from the heatsink and relpace it. This must be done all through the tiny opening.
You will also need to find somthing to replace the ring which prevents the reflector from rattling, and isolates the LED from shorting out.

Hi gunga,
I'm trying to reply to your PM regarding this mod, but your PMs are disabled.

Hope you see this.

I modded mine today with an XP-G R4 5C1 and it is now just right. The 5C1 tint is ideal IMHO, and the light was already my favorite EDC, but just got even better.

I used rubber strap wrenches to get mine open, with a hairdryer to heat it. I used what amounts to a large oven mit to help funnel the heat over the head for about 5 minutes to make sure it was good and hot. One strap was pinched very tightly in a vise, so as the vise tightened it pulled the strap tighter and tighter to hold the end of the head nearest the body. The strap formed a teardrop shape and applied pressure pretty evenly on the head so it didn't deform, and mine is even the aluminum version. The other strap was used to prevent marring the light and was between the head and a pair of slip joint pliers.

Unfortunately, the second strap was narrow, and my pliers found their way around the edge of the strap in my hurry to get some good turns in before it cooled, and scratched the adjustment ring a little. Oh well, you can hardly notice the scratches just at the edge of the ring and the result was well worth it. I just need to invest in another wide strap wrench for my next mod.

While I had it apart, I lapped the MCPCB flat so it would make better thermal contact with the heat sink. They tend to be concave, and this one was no exception. After lapping it using 25, 15, and finally 5 micron lapping film, it was much better. The new LED was reflow soldered onto the lapped stock MCPCB after removing the original. A little Arctic Silver thermal paste completed the thermal path.

Thanks to those like nekomane who braved the path and took pictures and provided tips. I will add that you need to make sure the wires don't get pinched between the circuit board and the outer rim that supports it when you are reassembling the head. It helps to use very flexible wire that is not too long.

I can share another tip. Watch out if carrying the piece that contains the magnets. There is nothing holding them in and they can fall out!

Re: Sunwayman V10R Ti. Mods?

I'd be curious to know as well. It's a pretty pricey light so it would be nice if it was upgradeable.

Re: Sunwayman V10R Ti. Mods?

I'd imagine any mods for the Ti would also work on the basic black model... I know I love mine, but I'll be watching this thread for any performance improvement ideas..

Re: Sunwayman V10R Ti. Mods?

I really like my V10R Ti and am hoping to get it modded to either a high CRI warm tint XP-G or XM-L.

nekomane,

Nice tutorial! I know this is a bit of a blast from the past, but can you explain where you got that pocket clip from and how you attached it? I have a V10R Ti on the way that I'd like to put a similar clip on.

ronac said:

Great work! I found it VERY difficult to get the light apart. When I finally did, I threw in an XM-L and never looked back.

Click to expand...

Did you have to enlarge the hole in the reflector to accomodate the XM-L?

Yup you have to.

Care to share how you enlarged the hole? Any idea how much current you're getting to the LED on high?

If normal body. How to heating the threadlocker?

Studey said:

*snip* where you got that pocket clip from and how you attached it?

Click to expand...

More info here:
SWM V10R Ti Clip Options

dongkoo said:

If normal body. How to heating the threadlocker?

Click to expand...

Same as Ti. I have opened several of both. Some need more heat, one needed no heat. Just depends on the ammount of threadlocker on a particular light, and how tightly you can secure the parts.

Thanks. I shall try.

The grease I posted about in post #3 was too light and didn't work as expected, so I did some more searching.

There was a lineup of 'damping grease' from Nyogel which sounded interesting but I could'nt find a good source for small ammounts.

After more online searching, I found 'helicoid grease'. This is the stuff used in lenses to keep the focusing ring from turning too easily.

There are several grades to the grease according to stiffness, but I chose the heaviest thinking that the small circumfrence of the V10R would need more resistance.

I dabbed a generous amount of it inside the control ring.
The result was great, actually too good that it made the ring too stiff to turn one-handed. But the stiffness can be adjusted by adding/removing grease.

There are no details about what this stuff is made of, but if it's used for intricate and expensive camera equipment, don't think it could do harm to Ti or HA.
Not sure about o-rings or gaskets.