Help needed for parts and ideas with a TB head

Recently purchased a Tranquility Base head that either wasn't actually taken apart to see if it was original or the individual knew and represented it as such anyway. Whoever modded the head did a halfass job of it. The emitter is the same as Don's McGizmo Haiku, Sundrop or Mule in that it looks quite similar and has the same threading (Don's drop-in will fit perfectly). Unfortunately this has a cut down aluminum reflector that has been cut down a little too much on the top and bottom and had been poorly shimmed with a small teflon washer that still allowed the LED to screw in too far so that contact with the battery was intermittent. I have corrected the problem with a larger thicker teflon shim and shoved a small band of aluminum around the reflector with an O-ring on top of that to seat it against the glass evenly but have a sizable gap at bottom of at least 2 to 3 mm between emitter and reflector. I have seen, up close and personal, at least 2 other of Scott's E size Aelph heads that were almost identical and everything appeared to size up perfectly.

Question 1.) Is there anyone that can provide a custom reflector if I give them the dimensions?

Question 2.) If I can't get an XM-L drop-in from Don for whatever reason is there anyone else here that makes this type of screw in emitter?

Question 3.) Does anyone here make a slightly crenalated Ti bezel ring to fit this?

Any knowledge base, advise, etc given will be greatly appreciated. A few photos to shed some "light" on the questions.

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It is most certainly a standard Aleph LE can. You can get these...you can order an engine like this from DatiLED. You can make one yourself without a doubt, and without a doubt you can get another from Don.

The reflector is also likely something you can still get. I have the same size head, with the uncut reflector...I bet it is a standard McRxxx that someone else where will know.

obi

Interesting part is that I can't find anything on Scott and TB other than some archived posts. I'm beginning to think he was a mass murderer or worse. What I do know is that he made a great product and I need to find the fix for someone elses hatchet job on his head. What exactly are the McR reflectors? Is this a brand name? And thanks for the info. It is much appreciated.

Scott is just a guy with a lathe that use to spin more regularly mainly E-series/Aleph sized parts in Ti.

He is well known for being the guy that came up with the split body design to allow an E series head and tail to use an 18650 battery...the TBSB to be exact.

Scott is a pretty nice guy.

The McR reflectors are those designed by Don of McGizmo lights. These were available through the Sandwich shoppe I thought.

I think you will find the reflector.

obi

I emailed Don (as all my lights were purchased from Don direct other than one Torch Lab bezel with a Malkoff M61 drop-in for McGizmo 6V body that I got with a 6V Mule head) but he must not have had the time or didn't like my asking if he could help replace the parts in this head because he never answered back. Yet an email last night and he shot me back a price for both a Haiku and Sundrop head only. I don't have many posts and it is doubtful that I ever will. I am simply trying to finish putting together a kit of lights that will accompany me on medical mission trips to China and SE Asia. So far either I have asked people with no knowledge base of certain things or have asked questions that aren't meant to be answered I guess. I'm knocking on the door of 60 YOA! By now I would think people would be a bit more helpful and trusting on CPF but I am finding it to be a good bit other than for whatever reason. Again many thanks! I am probably going with one of Don's Haiku XM-L heads since I believe that this is the brightest that he carries. Feel free to jump in and correct me or make suggestions on this.

The problem that you are experiencing is because TB's lights were based on the dimensions of the original Aleph Series designed by (Don) McGizmo.

The original Aleph Series consisted of Aleph-1 housing a McR27 reflector (diameter 27mm), Aleph-2 housing a McR20 reflector (diameter 20mm) and Aleph-3 reflector housing a McR38 reflector (diameter 38mm)

Later on 19mm Aleph head and 27L (long 27mm) Aleph head were added to take advantage specifically of the Cree-XRE

However the original series was designed specifically for luxeon LEDs and the head/reflector combination was therefore the correct focal length for this particular led in these respective heads.

Since then many other leds have come and gone, SSC-P4s, SSC-P7s, Cree-XREs, Cree-XPGs, Cree-XPEs, Nichia-219s, Cree-XP-G2s, Cree-XMLs, Cree-XM-L2s, SST-50s, SST-90s

Perhaps you can see where this is leading. People are making Aleph L.Es with newer emitters - no longer the luxeons that these Aleph heads were originally built for.

This means that there is no guarantee that the reflectors are going to be exactly the correct focal length anymore and there is trial and error involved in retrofitting L.Es with newer emitters with different viewing angles and different die-heights etc. with head/reflectors that weren't really designed for them.

I don't think you can blame Don for not wanting to be involved in trying to suggest a solution. He didn't create the Aleph Ti clones and he is not supporting the Aleph system anymore. This is history as far as he is concerned.

Your best bet would be to send the TB head and L.E to a modder like Datiled to find the best compromise of reflector/L.E with emitter of your choice.

Believe me when I say that I don't blame Don for anything. If I did #1.) I wouldn't be buying from him anymore and I just received a Haiku head from him today (and again thanks Don...it works perfectly for what I needed it for as do all your lights and heads that I've purchased) and #2.) at almost 60 and having lead a very full life if I have something to say that I feel needs to be heard I will do so within the rules of this forum. You may want to check this thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...tion-to-Titanium-and-the-Medical-Professional

Most everyone that I have run into has been very helpful. But I ask a few questions about a gentleman that produced some great lights and I either get an answer that indicates that the younger individuals have never heard of him or get the cold shoulder from others. I'm begining to wonder what he did to make people angry. Let it be stated here also that I am not a collector. I use every light I own and they have the scars to prove it. So do I in some cases. I spent 5 & 1/2 months in Nam (had my 18'th birthday there), came out of the military after 4 & 1/2 years to get a Bachelors in Marketing and spent 12 years in management in the wholesale electronics industry, earned a Masters degree along the way before leaving the field and going to med school to earn my Doctorate. Don's lights are the main stay for my medical mission trips to parts of China and Vietnam now due to the ease of maintenance and their ability to be sterilized easily. BTW Derek already has the light and it should be ready by Saturday. And he was courteous enough to let me know politely that he didn't do certain modifications on lights when I asked for something specific. Hopefully the air has been cleared here of any misconception of blame.

Ghostwalker54 said:

But I ask a few questions about a gentleman that produced some great lights and I either get an answer that indicates that the younger individuals have never heard of him or get the cold shoulder from others. I'm begining to wonder what he did to make people angry.

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If you mean TB (Scott), there is nothing mysterious about him. He is just not as active on CPF as he used to be.
The parts that he made were often just bare Ti parts without components in them.
In the relevant Sales Threads at the time, he would have probably hinted at which reflectors they were intended for.
As reflectors became unavailable and emitters changed, this could have resulted in a less than ideal retrofit fix.
Have you tried to PM TB to see which reflector he intended to be used with this head?

No! I really didn't want to bother Scott since he seemed to disappear off the map from CPF. I researched all his posts from the archived material here and see that he chimes in on occasion. Derek (datiLED) is turning a reflector along with producing a new emitter for me. As stated earlier it should ship out tomorrow.

I think I owned this head, which was at one time a complete light. Someone switched the light engine, It use to have a multi mode xp-g and had a perfect beam. I wish I would have kept it. I would get a normal 18mm reflector and try it.

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Good morning chipwillis! That would be the head AND tailcap. It ended up on a Thud LT body in Germany which I purchased recently and received back here in the states. The engine that was in it was made by datiLED but I had to shim it correctly to get it to make contact with the batteries. It had a great beam on it but the reflector wasn't the correct size so Derek is turning a new one that will be a perfect fit and building a new engine for it. I see that he finished it and shipped it back to me today.