remoteneeded
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- May 16, 2011
- Messages
- 96
I got an original TK35 with the intention of using it as a lighting source for underground photography. It was the perfect combination of physical size, light output and it's shape meant that mud and dirt would easily clean off it. However like so many others I quickly discovered that the output was very green:
The other problem was that there was a dark spot right in the centre of the beam which was annoying. Consequently the TK35 spent most of its life unloved and unused. Then a month ago a friend told me he'd bought a TK35 so I thought I'd compare his to mine. What a difference. His was neutral in colour and didn't have the annoying spot. His was the latest version with the XM-L U2. So I wondered how hard it would be to swap out the LED in mine for a newer XM-L U2.
The first job was getting at the LED. This was achieved by clamping two allen keys in a workmate, inserting them into the holes in the aluminium disc and twisting the head:
The LED die sits on a custom lump of copper, but surprisingly there was no thermal paste between it and the aluminium:
My initial plan was to just replace the LED die but I could only find the XM-L U2 already soldered to a board so I bought one on a star board from DX and waited the couple of weeks for it to arrive.
The existing screw holes were very close to the spacing of the indentations on the star board, but it took a little bit of filing to get it to fit. I also had to drill two new holes in the aluminium disc to pass the wires through. A bit of heat transfer compound later and it was all done:
Adding the insulating disc from the unmodified TK35:
All in all it was about an hours work. So how is it now? Not green and without the annoying spot
This was the first test shot in a stone mine. The colours are wonderfully neutral:
For comparison this is the same spot lit with a Skyray King with the warm XM-L T5:
So a worthwhile, cheap and easy mod to make the original TK35 significantly better.
The other problem was that there was a dark spot right in the centre of the beam which was annoying. Consequently the TK35 spent most of its life unloved and unused. Then a month ago a friend told me he'd bought a TK35 so I thought I'd compare his to mine. What a difference. His was neutral in colour and didn't have the annoying spot. His was the latest version with the XM-L U2. So I wondered how hard it would be to swap out the LED in mine for a newer XM-L U2.
The first job was getting at the LED. This was achieved by clamping two allen keys in a workmate, inserting them into the holes in the aluminium disc and twisting the head:
The LED die sits on a custom lump of copper, but surprisingly there was no thermal paste between it and the aluminium:
My initial plan was to just replace the LED die but I could only find the XM-L U2 already soldered to a board so I bought one on a star board from DX and waited the couple of weeks for it to arrive.
The existing screw holes were very close to the spacing of the indentations on the star board, but it took a little bit of filing to get it to fit. I also had to drill two new holes in the aluminium disc to pass the wires through. A bit of heat transfer compound later and it was all done:
Adding the insulating disc from the unmodified TK35:
All in all it was about an hours work. So how is it now? Not green and without the annoying spot
This was the first test shot in a stone mine. The colours are wonderfully neutral:
For comparison this is the same spot lit with a Skyray King with the warm XM-L T5:
So a worthwhile, cheap and easy mod to make the original TK35 significantly better.
