Techjunkie
Enlightened
After selling off my favorite pocket-sized XML-modded flood to throw light (showcased here), I was sorely disappointed with the stock aspheric lens in the TrustFire Z5 and the Romisen RC-C8. Unlike the stock lens in the light I sold, which focused the XML perfectly (no spill at its tightest position), the near-identical 28mm lenses in these two other lights had a very odd way of focusing. At their tightest focus, with the LED die at its smallest and clearly defined, the die was less intense and there was lots of spill. At what I'd call their optimal focus, with the die at its most intense and no spill, the beam angle was rather wide and the die was not well defined. I tried replacing the lenses with 28mm and 30mm aspherics from DX and the exact same effect was observed. Tonight I received the 30mm aspheric from KD and it is PERFECT. Fitting it into the Z5 host was quite a chore, but well worth the effort considering the improvement. I hear the Ahorton 27.3 and 30mm lenses are fantastic too, but at 10x the cost of the KD lens, I'm glad I tried this one first.
In the beamshots below, the Romisen RC-C8 has the Z5's original lens installed, and has been upgraded to an XM-L, LiMN 22650 battery and 3-mode H-M-L regulator. (Basically, the same light upgrades as the light I sold that had the better lens, but without the glow or forward clickie switch.) In all shots, high mode 2.8A was used, which is actually a higher drive current than the Z5 on high, which is about 2.0A. More importantly, the camera is on full-auto, so only shots with both beams side-by-side provide a totally fair representation of the differences between the two.
Pics and captions tell the rest.
Here's the reworked bezel from the back, and the stock plastic 28mm lens and the new glass 30mm lens. I used a dremel with a square edged engraving bit to widen and deepen the depression for the lens lip and open the diameter of the bezel.
Here's the new lens seated in the bezel, viewed from behind.
Here, the lens is sitting in the modified bezel with their bottoms flush. (turned upside down atop the flashlight head to balance them for the picture). Prior to modding the bezel, the lens would stick out the bottom so far, the bezel couldn't catch any threads on the head, even without the focusing shim in place.
.
While working on it, I slipped once with the dremel and scarred the ano on the bezel face, so I just sanded it off and polished it.
Inside the head, I had to shim the lens platform up a bit to get the lens further away from the LED for the tightest focus to work. I cut and filed a bit of solid 12 AWG copper.
New lens installed and bezel fastened:
Fully assembled, the lens now crests the bezel a bit, so no more head standing, unfortunately.
Fully assembled angle view (shows off the two-tone bezel mod better than above):
And now... beamshots. (Camera on full-auto. Only side-by-side in the same shot are relevant for comparing intensity.)
Here's the old lens with XML @ 2.8A at its tightest focus and the room lights off. Notice all the flood.
And here's the new lens with XML @ 2.0A at its tightest focus and the room lights off. Notice the increase in intensity despite the lower current. Also notice there's no spill now.
At their tightest focus (with the room lights on), here's the new lens (2.0A) and the old lens (2.8A) side by side.
Here they are side-by-side again, this time the old lens is at "optimal focus", which yields the most intense die and no spill, but a wider angle.
Old, up close, tightest focus. Notice the spill.
Old, up close, optimal focus. Wider angle, no spill.
New lens up close, lights off, 2.0A
Up close, in the dark, old and new at optimal focus:
Whew! This post took about as long to make as the mod. Sorry for all the big photos, I should probably replace a lot of them with a single collage.
In the beamshots below, the Romisen RC-C8 has the Z5's original lens installed, and has been upgraded to an XM-L, LiMN 22650 battery and 3-mode H-M-L regulator. (Basically, the same light upgrades as the light I sold that had the better lens, but without the glow or forward clickie switch.) In all shots, high mode 2.8A was used, which is actually a higher drive current than the Z5 on high, which is about 2.0A. More importantly, the camera is on full-auto, so only shots with both beams side-by-side provide a totally fair representation of the differences between the two.
Pics and captions tell the rest.
Here's the reworked bezel from the back, and the stock plastic 28mm lens and the new glass 30mm lens. I used a dremel with a square edged engraving bit to widen and deepen the depression for the lens lip and open the diameter of the bezel.
Here's the new lens seated in the bezel, viewed from behind.
Here, the lens is sitting in the modified bezel with their bottoms flush. (turned upside down atop the flashlight head to balance them for the picture). Prior to modding the bezel, the lens would stick out the bottom so far, the bezel couldn't catch any threads on the head, even without the focusing shim in place.
While working on it, I slipped once with the dremel and scarred the ano on the bezel face, so I just sanded it off and polished it.
Inside the head, I had to shim the lens platform up a bit to get the lens further away from the LED for the tightest focus to work. I cut and filed a bit of solid 12 AWG copper.
New lens installed and bezel fastened:
Fully assembled, the lens now crests the bezel a bit, so no more head standing, unfortunately.
Fully assembled angle view (shows off the two-tone bezel mod better than above):
And now... beamshots. (Camera on full-auto. Only side-by-side in the same shot are relevant for comparing intensity.)
Here's the old lens with XML @ 2.8A at its tightest focus and the room lights off. Notice all the flood.
And here's the new lens with XML @ 2.0A at its tightest focus and the room lights off. Notice the increase in intensity despite the lower current. Also notice there's no spill now.
At their tightest focus (with the room lights on), here's the new lens (2.0A) and the old lens (2.8A) side by side.
Here they are side-by-side again, this time the old lens is at "optimal focus", which yields the most intense die and no spill, but a wider angle.
Old, up close, tightest focus. Notice the spill.
Old, up close, optimal focus. Wider angle, no spill.
New lens up close, lights off, 2.0A
Up close, in the dark, old and new at optimal focus:
Whew! This post took about as long to make as the mod. Sorry for all the big photos, I should probably replace a lot of them with a single collage.
