Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/20mm

Here are a few mods I've done and am just now getting pics of to put on the forum. Enjoy!

First is a picture of a Maglight with three TWOK emitters with 20mm reflectors on top. It is next to a Green Elektrolumens Blaster III with the 27mm reflector and an aluminum spacer [since the 27mm optic is too shallow and narrow]. It has the resistor removed and a 3 watt LED, though I'm not sure of the bin. Perhaps a SYAK.

Triple TWOK on Mag, then EL Blaster III



Beam shot. EL Blaster III [the Blaster has side spill, it's just being washed out by the three TWOKs], then the Triple TWOK.



Next is a Q-III that had a TWOJ put in. The next photos are all next to the test subject, a Goldengadgets.com light that is running a Q2H [will be the one on the left in all pictures].

These are the flashlights.



The Goldengadgets.com light looks a little 'sissy-fied' next to the 'man-ly' Q-III. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Beam shots. First with the original reflector:



Now with the 20mm reflector:



That outer ring isn't noticable to my eye. I was even surprised to see it in the picture. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif Anyway, it looks like the original reflector produces a smoother beam, but the 20mm optic give extra throw.

That's all my mods. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Both look very nice!

Is that a 3D Mag? DD? Alky's or NiMH? (Sorry for so many questions...)

Kinda wish I'd jumped on the QIII bandwagon...

John

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

Orion, beautiful pictures, very nice mods. You are a talent! I noticed your guitars, and am familiar with the work. My dad, at the time a concert violinist (1939-1948), aged his own wood, carved and tuned the bodies, and made all the other components for his "high-end" violins. He spent weeks with tuning bells and forks, scraping and tuning the violin. These (a total of four) were then given to friends. He also presented his only banjo creation to Eddie Peabody.

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

Your tri-mod looks great! What HS did you use, where did you get it? I'm guessing it's epoxied to the ledge of the mag head. Did you wire it to the switch or make a bulb post connection for it?

Also, The 20mm reflectors, do they sit on top of the luxeons, or do they have legs that go around them? Does the lens hold the reflectors down? Or can you glue them to the luxeons with a space to protect them from impact from the lens?? Oh!! and how did you line up the luxeons before AA epoxing them??

Could you please do a real life beamshot outside onto a side of a house and list the distance please!!?! And a comparision shot side by side to a luxIII Mag reflector mod would be super if you have one!! Thanks!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Illuminated said:
Both look very nice!

Is that a 3D Mag? DD? Alky's or NiMH? (Sorry for so many questions...)

Kinda wish I'd jumped on the QIII bandwagon...

John

[/ QUOTE ]

The 3D Mag has been stuffed with 4 C batteries [alkies]. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

[ QUOTE ]
Unregulated said:
Orion, beautiful pictures, very nice mods. You are a talent! I noticed your guitars, and am familiar with the work. My dad, at the time a concert violinist (1939-1948), aged his own wood, carved and tuned the bodies, and made all the other components for his "high-end" violins. He spent weeks with tuning bells and forks, scraping and tuning the violin. These (a total of four) were then given to friends. He also presented his only banjo creation to Eddie Peabody.

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Thank you! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

About the mods and bass guitars, my statement has always been, "Sometimes I get lucky." But I really appreciate your words. A violin takes a lot more skill than the basses I did. Active electronics does a lot for an instrument. Anyone who can hand make a violin now, is worthy of praise.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

That Q3 beam looks great, I've wanted a tigheter beam for more throw on my Q3s looks like you found the answer

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

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IsaacHayes said:
Your tri-mod looks great! What HS did you use, where did you get it? I'm guessing it's epoxied to the ledge of the mag head. Did you wire it to the switch or make a bulb post connection for it?

Also, The 20mm reflectors, do they sit on top of the luxeons, or do they have legs that go around them? Does the lens hold the reflectors down? Or can you glue them to the luxeons with a space to protect them from impact from the lens?? Oh!! and how did you line up the luxeons before AA epoxing them??

Could you please do a real life beamshot outside onto a side of a house and list the distance please!!?! And a comparision shot side by side to a luxIII Mag reflector mod would be super if you have one!! Thanks!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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The HS is 4 of those flat elektrolumens HS he sold, stuck together [one of them is into the body of the Mag with the other 3 on top of the other, which gave the needed height needed because of the reflector's height.]. The original bulb post is still there and is where the + and - connections are made. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The 20mm reflectors are sitting on top of the emitters and held in place by the UCL. This light originally had a Fraen Tri-lens, so the emitters were spaced using the Fraen as a guide. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I will try to do a real world shot of it, but I will tell you this. Even with three TWOKS and reflectors, the throw of my Maglight using the Maglight reflector and one Lux III still out throws the 3 TWOKS. It's just really hard to beat that Maglight reflector on throw. Now, the side spill is another matter. Without question, this 3 TWOK setup has the most side spill than any other light of mine. The next closest would by my W2W Mock Space Needle. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Oh, in case you all didn't get this point, on the Q-III, I only have one of them, so the original reflector was used, taken off, and the 20mm put in. The time between change out was less than a minute.

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

Ah, I see. I was wondering if the head was removable and you could put on different bodies, etc. So if you twist the head you will crush the emitters? So I guess you have set screws in the mag head to keep it from turning?

As far as the single LuxIII + Mag reflector, I'm more concerned with the size of hotspots, not throw... The single lux is all I have currently as a reference.

Let me ask you this:
Tri-Lens: Does it have much useable sidespill??
Tri-20mm: Is the hotspot big enough to be a useable mid-range flood, or do you have to pan, or just look into the sidespill??

I'm torn between the fraen and the 3x20mm. I want a bright decent distance reaching light, but I don't want a pinpoint of light that I have to sweep with. What I can tell is that:
Tri-Lens: Weak/no sidespill, big hotspot.
Tri-20mm: Lots of sidespill, small hotspot.
Is this correct, and if so, which do you prefer? I'd like the room flooding side-spill, but I don't want too small of a hotspot, that's why a side by side luxIII mag reflector comparison would help me decide!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

BTW, I have a true(505nm) cyan LuxIII light now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif yea!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

I'm thinking if you screwed the head all the way down, you woulnd't need to raise the reflectors. A HS flush with the lip of the body should do it. Even if there is a small space, that would be ok, as you could glue the reflectors, and they would be a little better protected (not pressed by the lens).

Do the reflector legs overlap the heatsinks side edges any?
Oh, do you have an idea of how tall the 20mm is?

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

Orion - any photos of the inside of the light?

I have a similar configuration on the way..... can't wait!!

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

Is that right? You're feeding those luxes with 6v? Did you run them in parallel or in series? What kind of current are you getting to each luxeon?

I built a similar mod using three J bin Lux IIIs running in parallel in a 3D Mag. It's seriously bright and puts up a real wall of light.

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

[ QUOTE ]
IsaacHayes said:
Ah, I see. I was wondering if the head was removable and you could put on different bodies, etc. So if you twist the head you will crush the emitters? So I guess you have set screws in the mag head to keep it from turning?

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I acually have the legs still on the reflectors, so they perhaps provide crush protection. But for the most part, I just screwed the head down enough that it held the reflectors in place.

[ QUOTE ]
IsaacHayes said:
As far as the single LuxIII + Mag reflector, I'm more concerned with the size of hotspots, not throw... The single lux is all I have currently as a reference.

Let me ask you this:
Tri-Lens: Does it have much useable sidespill??
Tri-20mm: Is the hotspot big enough to be a useable mid-range flood, or do you have to pan, or just look into the sidespill??

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I'm kinda torn on the reflectors vs. Tri-lens. The Tri-lens, while not having the amount of sidespill of the reflectors, DID have a very useable amount of spill with a bigger, but not quite as bright hotspot. Now, the side spill from the Tri-lens very well could be the light reflecting off the surface of the wall. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

[ QUOTE ]
IsaacHayes said:
I'm torn between the fraen and the 3x20mm. I want a bright decent distance reaching light, but I don't want a pinpoint of light that I have to sweep with. What I can tell is that:
Tri-Lens: Weak/no sidespill, big hotspot.
Tri-20mm: Lots of sidespill, small hotspot.
Is this correct, and if so, which do you prefer? I'd like the room flooding side-spill, but I don't want too small of a hotspot, that's why a side by side luxIII mag reflector comparison would help me decide!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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I prefer the light from the reflectors. The side spill from it really does light up the area very well. The hotspot [say from 8 feet or so] is probably around 4 times the size of a Mag reflectored luxeon.

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IsaacHayes said:
BTW, I have a true(505nm) cyan LuxIII light now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif yea!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'm thinking if you screwed the head all the way down, you woulnd't need to raise the reflectors. A HS flush with the lip of the body should do it. Even if there is a small space, that would be ok, as you could glue the reflectors, and they would be a little better protected (not pressed by the lens).

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I tried to use the reflectors [being up against the lens] with the one flat Elektrolumens HS just inside the lip of the body, but the reflectors are not long enough, even when the head is screwed all the way down. Now, if you glue the reflectors on, then you don't have to worry about that. May even be the best way to do it, too. Shorter flashlight and no worry of crushing anything.

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Kevin, I will try to take some pictures of the inside, but really hate to take it apart. It's basically 4 Elektrolumens flat heatsinks stacked on top of each other, one being inside the body, and the three emitters. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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[ QUOTE ]
Chop said:
Is that right? You're feeding those luxes with 6v? Did you run them in parallel or in series? What kind of current are you getting to each luxeon?

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Yeah, 4 C cells. Though I think they're not new batteries, even when I put them in they had seen some prior use. I may go back to 3 D cells when I buy new batteries for it. I'd hate to burn up the emitters. As far as current, I don't have equipment to test that out. Perhaps there's a person on this board who DOES have the necessary equipement that could give a "ballpark" figure for K forward voltage bin luxeons . . .for those interested in this 6 volt setup.

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Oh, Beam Me Up, I just now saw your post. Yes, the 20mm reflector definitely improves the throw of the Q-III. I believe I'll be keeping it in there and putting the original reflector in the parts box. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks for the interest. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Oh, and Happy New Year!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

So it seems even with the 3x20mm the hotspot is large enough for mid-range illumination.

If you didn't cut the legs off, are the luxeons raised high enough into the reflectors? The legs IIRC are for stars...

I'd definatly do something to keep the head from rotating. You don't want some Joe Schmoe twisting the head and destroying it!!!

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

IsaacHayes, yes I think the refectors would do well with mid-range tasks. Especially indoors, but outdoors it shines well too.

Hmmmmm. . . .I didn't cut the legs off, but the reflector seems to be sitting on the black part of the emitter. I'll have to look at that again tonight. I'm at work now.

Yeah, I will let whoever sees it know that they can't twist the head, but for the most part, I'm the only one that uses it. And my wife knows not to twist it either.

At any rate, it's a fun and not overly difficult mod that produces a LOT of light. You know, you may get buy with only two of Elektrolumens` current HS's. They're thicker than his older design [which mine are], though you'd have to drill the holes. May be a good idea. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

ah, your'e using the older ones. Yeah I'd use the 1/4" thick ones. Flash.... used 4 of the old style for his 3xLuxV mod. So one 1/4" new one should be ok for 3xLuxIII. I just used a new style one for my cyanluxIII. I first polished it smooth (the new ones are turned on a lathe and not polished) and then drilled the holes using the old 1/8" thick HS as a template.

Re: Blaster w/27mm, 3 TWOK in Mag w/20mm, Q-III w/

I wish I'd had the new ones, but mine is together and working, so I'm not changing anything. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif