LED upgrade

Hello everyone, brand new user here.

I'm currently the happy owner of a thorlite tt-tf03, and while its brightness is more than adequate (a lot more) for my needs, I'm still curious as to whether or not it's possible to upgrade its XM-L U2 to the XM-L2 U2, per JohnnyMac's recommendation in his review of the light.

Thanks.

As I look over the datasheet for the XML series, I'm not seeing anything being mentioned as different in the electrical specs, right down to the physical dimensions of the mounting pads. The different ending in the part number is just a different bin code, so you should be able to swap the actual chip out and that's that. I can't think of anything else that would need to be changed or modified.

Thank you for that answer, Punisher.

Do you happen to know what the mounting procedure is for such an LED? Does it require soldering? Or does it simply clip into place?

Apologies, I believe I answered my own question. After further analysis, it's clear that The LED is soldered to the light. I suppose this rules out the possibility of upgrading as I have absolutely no soldering experience and do not want to risk damaging the flashlight in an attempt change LEDs.

numanuma07 said:

Thank you for that answer, Punisher.

Do you happen to know what the mounting procedure is for such an LED? Does it require soldering? Or does it simply clip into place?

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Fear not! I have you covered!



Easy-peasy!

Excellent video, and great find! This might convince me to actually give it a shot.

I know I've got an iron and solder lying around somewhere. Is there any other equipment you would suggest I use? Also, how exactly do I safely remove the existing LED?

Thank you again!

I highly recommend you have a heat gun and a couple of sets of helper's hands. In that video, that pair of pliers is held closed with rubberbands, held upright and steady by being sandwiched between a couple of heat sinks. Not a recommended rig.

Safest way to remove the LED is to remove the board from the housing, de-solder the power wires, clamp it and hold it horizontally with a set of helper's hands, use the heat gun to slowly heat up the board until the solder melts, use a pair of needle-nose pliers to remove the old LED and quickly put the new LED on while everything is still hot and liquid. Just make sure the bottom of your LED has a light coating of flux on it when you drop it onto the hot solder pads so it can make a good joint with the solder that is already present on the pads from the old LED mount. You might need to add a tiny bit of solder to the pads. Just dabbing fine-wire solder at the contact points should do the trick, you'll only need a couple mm of the wire at the most on each pad, including the thermal pad. Just enough to ensure a close and snug LED fit to the board.

Thanks for all the info, Punisher. If I do tackle the upgrade, I'll be confident knowing that I've been well informed.

The XM-L2 vs the XM-L at the same bin provides the same light output. Th bin specifies the range of outputs you should expect your part to fall within, and the ranges are the same for a specific bin no matter which generation you are talking about. The only substantive difference is that the '2 is specified at 85C, while the Gen1 is specified at 25C. This DOES mean that the Gen2 is better, but you have to look at the lumens vs. temp curve to see how much. As it turns out, it's a small incremental improvement, measurable with proper instrumentation, but barely visible to the eye.

I wouldn't upgrade unless you are willing to spend your money staying at the bleeding edge and every bit of minutia counts.

DIWdiver said:

The XM-L2 vs the XM-L at the same bin provides the same light output.

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Looking at the datasheets, the XM-L2 at the same bin, CCT, and same amperage of the XM-L has a lower calculated minimum luminous flux, at least for reference specifications, but a higher rated calculated maximum luminous flux.

PDF WARNING

http://cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/LED Components and Modules/XLamp/Data and Binning/XLampXML.pdf

http://cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/LED Components and Modules/XLamp/Data and Binning/XLampXML2.pdf

So at lower drive currents, I'd stick with the XM-L, myself.