The X0. Disassembled.......

Ouch. It wasn't pretty, but my curiosity got the best of me. I'll need to replace the emitter, as it was a casualty of pounding the press-fit innards out the top. In fact, I'm not exactly sure that you can take this thing apart without doing some sort of damage. Maybe it was my impatience that made me hurry and not take my time.

Anyway, here's the first picture - The Optic


I'll have more pictures as I get to it, or as requested.

I just held the optic on a LuxIII that's in a 3C Mag drawing about 940mA. It looks pretty good. I thing the LuxIII upgrade might be nice.

Wow, that optic looks very interesting!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

Keep the pics coming! Is there a lens on the X0? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

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IlluminatingBikr said:
Keep the pics coming! Is there a lens on the X0? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

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There is a glass lens that sits in front of the optic. It measures 19.98mm x 1.52mm on mine. It appears it may have some sort of coating - not sure what kind. If it's AR, it's VERY low grade. Reflections have a very faint yellow tint.

That optic above kind of gives you a better idea of why this is so much longer than the X5. There's really no wasted space in this light.

Here's the circuit - sans Lux.
Click it to view the very large 108KB version.


The Lux was "thermally attached" with paste.

Indeed... with that much optic, I wonder why they bothered with the fresnel treatment on the exterior - seems that a fresnel design is used mostly for flat lenses...

That is one wicked looking optic! The circuit board looks like it's nicely designed too. How many ma at the LED when you throw a lux III on it?

Daniel

Thanks! I was wondering how many pieces the optic was. The instruction sheet states there is an A.R. coating on the lens. Looks like a single layer to me. I think both sides. Can you read any part numbers on the board. Especially the IC.

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gwbaltzell said:
Can you read any part numbers on the board. Especially the IC.

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I modified the above picture with a higher resolution scan. You should be able to read all of the markings, except for the rear component, which is marked "GS 100." The rear shot also shows how coaxing the internals out of the barrel affects the circuit ribbon.

The regulator is baysemi b34063 I see also a capacitor, few resistors and a transistor. The inductor seems to be on the flipside.

cheers

Thanks! I see PEU and I came to the same conclusion on the IC U1. U2 must be the transistor and parts with that number include N-channel MOSFETs and N-channel JFETs (well, some PNPs as well). The backside does look like an inductor the 100 may be microhenries which one typical value for switchers.

Did J1 and J3 attach to the LUX? And the center thing on the backside the battery - post?

Cool optic! Maybe I missed it, but did anyone post beamshot of this light yet? I'm rather curious now that I've seen that custom optic. (It is custom, right? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif)

There are a few threads with beam shots.

Here

and

Here

That optic reminded me of an article I saw last year on Scientific America (sorry, forgot which issue /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif ). The shape is very similar to the optic found in the composit eye of a fisselized prehistorical creature. The article says it was a very efficient design to collect light.

Thanks for the links! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I have from day one thought that the X0 is one tidy piece of engineering. These pictures prove it. That circuit is very NICE. The heat sink is good. That OPTIC WOW! Great. The way they are put together is very nice work.

I am quite sure that INOVA would be some what unhappy with the reverse engineering tools(pictures)in this thread. This light represents a large amount of design and engineering work. It shows.
Yaesumofo

Risks of developing a product in the first place - reverse-engineering and knockoffs - are costs of doing business. I'm sure that trademark and patent law (as well as market inertia) will protect Inova long enough for them to recoup their investment and turn a tidy profit.

If the flashlight industry is like most sectors of manufacturing, Inova's competitors knew what Inova was developing long before the product announcement.

In my niche sector, every manufacturer services everyone else's equipment, so no secret is kept after the product has been on the market for more than a few months. We have several examples of just about every competitor's model in our factory, and I expect all the other companies in the industry do the same.

Can you post the dimensions of the optic?