Need a new driver for mte p7 1- 18650 if I swap in a xml t6? Direct Driven better?

I have a mte p7 C bin single 18650 from dx. great overall light, but could be brighter. It has the standard 5 mode driver with 1.9A measured at the emitter (pretty sure at the emitter--been a while since tested). I bought a xml t6 emitter from dx (not here yet) and want to swap. I'd like to know if I need a new driver for the xml or can I use the one already in. I read on a dx post that they did it without a new driver, but not sure if I believe them...
I really wouldn't mind just going direct drive--adding a small resistor if needed--to get a working bright light.

Going to buy a tk35 anyway for business, but wanted my own day-maker. Will use AW 2600mAh in the mte.

Any thoughts?

yes you will be able to use the same driver for slightly more output from the more efficient xml. if it is a 7135 driver you could increase the current by adding an extra couple of 7135 regulators onto the pcb.

Do not DD the XM-L without some sort of current limiting in the circuit. The XM-L has a low forward voltage (Vf) and it could dammage the emitter.

You can use the existing driver, however i'd recommend you that driver on ebay (#290516945697), which i lately. used it in several xm-l lights and found to be good didn't measure current, but i guess it is over 3A.

Thanks guys. I'm not an electrician but understand the basics, so when I heard that the t6 emitter has less resistance than the p7 I assumed that the 1.9A draw would increase somewhat but I don't know exactly how LEDs work. Someone I know said that leds don't work like an incandescent bulbs. Plus the driver might limit the forward voltage so... I read on DX that DDing the t6 would need a .25 ohm resistor or so to protect the led. Oh yeah, still not here yet...

HI JMoCrane,

Welcome to CPF

You can swap the emitter and still use the same driver. You will probly get at least 200 more lumens with an XML T6 than that C bin P7.

Going direct drive if you dont know what you are doing is a risk to your LED. It can be done, but perfect heat sinking is a must. If you swap the emitter and are still not happy with the output get a Shiningbeam 2.8A driver. Unless you solder your LED directly to a copper slug your not going to gain much at all by going above 2.8 amp anyway.

Another tip for getting a bit more current to your emitter is to replace the factory leads from your driver with some 24G.

Would I have to solder the led or can I just load it with thermal paste? Also, the pill that's in the light is pretty hunky brass. I also read somewhere that you could put thermal paste between the reflector and the inside of the head's housing to increase heat dissipation. Any truth to this?
24 G is 24 gauge right?
How much for the shiningbeam driver approx.? Where to look for these kinds of parts... I'm still a newbie but having fun learning more stuff. Thanks for all the inputs.

Yes you would have to unsolder the leads from the old LED and solder them to the new one. The LED should be on a board (PCB) so its not that difficult, you do need to have some practice at soldering though? Do you have an iron, flux, solder etc?

A thin layer of thermal compound between the reflector and body could help as long as that is not how the battery negative connects to the pill.

Yes 24 gauge.

Here is the SB driver.
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-132/3-dsh-Mode-Regulated-Circuit-Board/Detail

I have a good source for the teflon wire I just cant remember the website right now, I'll get back with ya on that. You dont have to use teflon wire its just better, you could go to radio shack and get some 24G there if you need it real soon.

I have all the tools to solder, and have practice with them. In my light the pill screws into the battery tube independent of the head. All the head consists of is the shell, the reflector and the glass (o-ring too). I didn't think that the thermal paste was conductive so what would be the problem with the negative connection? How much output gain is there with the wire swap?

I dont think putting paste between the reflector and the body on that would be worth the mess, the amount of heat dispensation you would gain would not be much. The reason I asked is because in some cases the negative connection to the pill is made through the reflector (not in your case). In a situation like that it could slow or even stop the current from reaching the driver.

The amount of current you will gain depends a lot on how much current you are getting at the time and how high the VF of your LED is. Since all XMLs typicly have a low VF this is greatly to your advantage.

If you go with a shining beam driver and an XML, hot off the charger a standard 18560 @ 4.2 V is gonna drive the LED to the full 2.8A regardless of the wire thickness. However when the voltage on your cell drops to 3.7 where it will spend most of the cycle you will probly see some reduction in output and current say down to 2.5A. This is where the low resistance really starts to come into play. By replacing the wimpy 28 G leads with some more robust 24 G you will see a higher current for more of the cycle and also a gain in efficacy.

Based on my xp with this type of light I would guess that the gain you stand to get with the wire is probably about 40-50 lumens. It may not even be a gain you will notice, but it has proven to be worth while to me enough times that I never use factory leads.

If you decide you do want some good wire here is one place to get some 24G
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-FS-Teflon-wire-small-0.5W-resistors-*Part-2*

This is the other place I was telling you about. I get all my larger wire from here.
http://www.bulkwire.com/wire-cable/ptfe-high-temperature-stranded-wire.html

It came in yesterday so I'll try it out soon. if I don't get the output from the existing driver, the shiningbeam one looks great. thanks for help.

Any news on how this went? I just killed my MTE p7 emitter and want to make the same swap. Mine fell while in candle mode and dislodged the emitter lens.

I went ahead and made the swap too. Seems to be working fine with the stock driver; drawing ~2.8A on high (@ the cell). I had it running on high for ~1hr last night on a ride & heat seemed comparable to when it was running the p7. The reflector isn't a perfect fit but it was always floody and that suits me fine.