Reflector or Lens for Triple LEDs for Throw

I'm trying to build a triple LED with reflector and not a lens like the Carclo ones. I'm looking for some throw.

Is there a reflector for triple LEDs that I can buy or do I have to get something like a Shadow SL3 and start from there?

Does anybody have any experience in how the 10507 Carclo Narrow Spot fares as a throw?

Maybe you could add a little more detail, such as the host you plan to use. And what sort of throw you are after.

A reflector on it's own won't give you throw. Larger reflectors and smaller LEDs (in relation to the reflector) will give throw.

^^ what he said.


also if you looking for single unit triple refelctors, like in SRK, or tm26 and alike, you will not get much throw out of those, for real throw you need big reflectors, at least the size of stock maglite reflector, they do not normally come in triple or quads. you need to look at 73mm reflector that is also used in trustfire x6. that and xml (especially dedomed) will throw far. on forum.fonarevka.ru there is a guy Walle, he builds crazy throwers, he experemented prbly with most reflectors you can buy, and most leds. he has his own section there, take a look at his experiments, there is a lot to learn from his experiments.

I have yet to select a host but I prefer a 1x26650 if not a 1x18650.
Minimum throw is 100m. More would be great.
LEDs will be 3xNichia 219b driven around 5A.

What diameter reflector is recommended in this case?

alpg88, I've just had the chance to look at the stuff you've posted. So basically what I need is a wide diameter and deep reflector for good throw as well as the dedomed LED.

In addition to that, I'll get better throw with a single LED as opposed to a triple LED set up? Is this true for LEDs that are run at the same current individually (ie single LED at 1.5A vs each LED in a triple LED set up running at 1.5A?). I was under the impression that if you put in more power, the collective beam is more powerful and will likely throw a little better.

Is a single reflector made up of smaller reflectors for individual LEDs (ie SRK reflector) better than a single larger reflector for multiple LED or is there hardly any difference?

Hope I can answer some of your questions.


1. Mutli reflector setups will out throw and out flood a single reflector of the same size. e.g.

For arguments sake, take a Convoy S2 with a 20mm wide reflector. If you now got 3 of the Convoys and taped them together to make a "triple". It would have 3x lumens, a bigger hot spot, brighter spill and greater beam distance.

The beam profile however would not be what most people would consider a "thrower". As in this case you have only increased beam distance with pure lumens. The larger hot spot is due to having multiple emitters.


2. If you took one of the Convoys and pulled the LED and electrics out and fitted them in a host with a 4" wide reflector (no other changes). The beam would have a much smaller tighter and more intense hot spot, duller spill, but it would throw much further. And it would have a completely different beam profile. Although the lumen level would still be that of 1xConvoy.


3. If you want to run multi emitters, each emitter needs it's own optic or reflector. You can't just have a large single reflector with a single hole in the bottom. You'd never get them to focus and likely end up with an ugly beam. It's maybe not completely impossible, but something very advanced and you almost never see anything like it.

There are some LED's that are made up of multiple dye sections, the older MC-E and the current MK-R. But focusing them can still be an issue and they seem far more suited to flooders, not throwers.


4. In terms of output. If for example you had a driver that could put out 3 amps.

3 amps in one led will normally be high output and a fair amount of heat.

If you converted to a triple, you could wire them in so that each emitter gets 1 amp each. The driver would not be working any harder and still putting out 3 amps total.

In theory, most emitters are more efficient at lower current levels. So 3 emitters @ 1 amp each is likely to produce more lumens, less heat and better runtime than 1 emitter @ 3 amp. But the reality is, this isn't going to be a huge difference.

The trade off is, if you want to keep the same physical sized flashlight, the optics/reflectors for a 3 emitter setup are likely to be smaller. Thus a more floody light, despite the fact it might have a small lumen advantage.


Now depending on your exact setup, you might be able to wire the leds in so that they each get 3 amps. This would require a driver (and battery) offering up 9 amps in total. Three times as much as with one led. This will offer much shorter runtimes, lots more heat, but also lots more lumens (up to 3 times as many). However you still have to contend with the physical size of the flashlight. Smallish reflectors/optics, even with 3 heavily driven leds is still likely to produce a floody style beam, even if it lights stuff up quite far out.



If throw is your key, then smaller LEDs in relation to the reflector will throw better. E.g. an XP-G2 will out throw an XM-L2 in the same size reflector, all else being equal.

And de-doming is a contender too. You can de-dome a Nichia I believe, but not sure how easy it is too do, or how well it will perform.

De-doming will cause a tint shift.



What you might want to do is see if you can buy something that physically is right for what you want. Then look at swapping the LEDs and maybe driver.


Nichia's are quite nice, but honestly I think the XP-G2 R5 5A2 looks just as good tint wise and will offer up more lumens and more throw.

Maybe this will help with the beam profiles.


The Skyray King is the 5th in from the left. It's a 4 x XM-L2 with 4 x 18650. I don't know it's lumen output.

The torch on the right hand side of the Skyray is an Olight SR52. It is a single XM-L2. Note the overall head diameter of the SR52 is almost identical to the Skyray king, but the Skyray having 4 emitters, means each of it's individual reflectors is much smaller. Olight claim 1200 lumens for the SR52.

I suspect the Skyray king makes slightly more lumens than the SR52.

The very large torch next to the Maglite is a Lustefire U2-X3. It has 3 x XM-L's and 3 x 26650s. I don't know lumen output for it. The head is massive compared to the others, so each of the three reflectors is bigger than the Skyray's, although smaller than the SR52's. I would guess it makes slightly more lumens than the SR52, but less than the Skyray, although maybe not by much.





The electric poles are about 237m/780'


Skyray King:
Note very very floody, just look at how wide an area is light up. But beam only just makes it to the electric poles.



Olight SR52:
Much more defined hot spot, but note a much smaller area being illuminated. But the poles are lit up perfectly, it could easily light something up much further away.



Lustefire U2-X3:
Note how this has a mix of flood and throw. It will lights up a wide area, just not as wide as the King. But it lights up the poles pretty good too, although not as intensely as the SR52 does.

The trade off is, it's a much bigger torch.

Thanks Chicken Drumstick for your very informative input. I think that pretty much sorts out whatever queries I have about the various parameters. I guess I'll start out with an existing flashlight with good throw and mod it from there then. Seems easier that way.

Wow! That Lustefire has a really large head.