Turbo_E
Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2005
- Messages
- 322
my MXDL eBay \"luxeon\" mini upgrade
so i took the plunge and snagged one of these cheapie "3w luxeon" flashlights recently.
after doing some reading, i found that these MXDL's were not true Luxeon Star emitters/bulbs. Also that luxeon type bulbs make heat, lots of it. Too much heat will kill the light prematurely
regardless the price to value ratio is pretty good IMO.
after disassembling the light I noted a few problems.
1. the heatsink inside is woefully undersized.
2. the emitter has an air bubble in it
3. the small positive connection wire is frayed and very thin.
4. ugly soldering. dull
5. the emitter isnt centerd causing an unfocused beam.
now, what to do?
1. disassemble the head assembly. simply unscrew the "head" from the body. but the body aside. place the head lens down on something soft like a rag.
2. removing the emitter assembly. take a tiny jewelers screwdriver and insert it into the outer aluminum ring. there are 2 small hole to insert the screwdriver into. spin the assembly counter clockwise until it comes out of the head.
3. now taking the emitter assembly (coin sized aluminum disc) and place it on a equal sized small length of pipe or a large ratchet socket will do. take a blunt screw driver and place it near the centre of the disc, nesxt to the emitter. a few gentle taps, working your way around the emitter will pop the centre section out.
4. resoldering. At this point I unsoldered all the crap and centered the emitter taking careful note of which side was + and -. I replaced and resoldered the + wire with a slightly better copper wire. after i get nice shiny solder joints, I apply a little thermal paste/compound to the outer edge of the emitter (the one that i punched out)and re inserted it into the aluminum ring/heatsink. I also added a tiny dab of thermal paste to the rear of the emitter itself to make better contact before soldering.
5. re assembly. after inserting the emitter assembly back into the heatsink ring, I put more thermal paste on the threads of the head, then scred the complete emitter assembly back in to the head, spreading paste all the way down. the paste will add the body to the heat sinking assembly. cooler = longer emitter life!
6. put it all back together. making sure all things are screwed in securely.
note the entire light may become noticeably warmer after this mod, but not dangerously so. I don't recommend runing your MDXL light for more than 30 min intervals.
makes a nifty hand warmer on cold camping trips. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
so i took the plunge and snagged one of these cheapie "3w luxeon" flashlights recently.
after doing some reading, i found that these MXDL's were not true Luxeon Star emitters/bulbs. Also that luxeon type bulbs make heat, lots of it. Too much heat will kill the light prematurely
regardless the price to value ratio is pretty good IMO.
after disassembling the light I noted a few problems.
1. the heatsink inside is woefully undersized.
2. the emitter has an air bubble in it
3. the small positive connection wire is frayed and very thin.
4. ugly soldering. dull
5. the emitter isnt centerd causing an unfocused beam.
now, what to do?
1. disassemble the head assembly. simply unscrew the "head" from the body. but the body aside. place the head lens down on something soft like a rag.
2. removing the emitter assembly. take a tiny jewelers screwdriver and insert it into the outer aluminum ring. there are 2 small hole to insert the screwdriver into. spin the assembly counter clockwise until it comes out of the head.
3. now taking the emitter assembly (coin sized aluminum disc) and place it on a equal sized small length of pipe or a large ratchet socket will do. take a blunt screw driver and place it near the centre of the disc, nesxt to the emitter. a few gentle taps, working your way around the emitter will pop the centre section out.
4. resoldering. At this point I unsoldered all the crap and centered the emitter taking careful note of which side was + and -. I replaced and resoldered the + wire with a slightly better copper wire. after i get nice shiny solder joints, I apply a little thermal paste/compound to the outer edge of the emitter (the one that i punched out)and re inserted it into the aluminum ring/heatsink. I also added a tiny dab of thermal paste to the rear of the emitter itself to make better contact before soldering.
5. re assembly. after inserting the emitter assembly back into the heatsink ring, I put more thermal paste on the threads of the head, then scred the complete emitter assembly back in to the head, spreading paste all the way down. the paste will add the body to the heat sinking assembly. cooler = longer emitter life!
6. put it all back together. making sure all things are screwed in securely.
note the entire light may become noticeably warmer after this mod, but not dangerously so. I don't recommend runing your MDXL light for more than 30 min intervals.
makes a nifty hand warmer on cold camping trips. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
