Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1 (Lots of pix)... more pi

vacuum3d

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This is my first time posting a mod, please be gentle.

Inspired by Newbie's post here on the Cree Xlamp UV led, I experimented with these powerful leds and was determined to make one that has throw. The hardest part is finding a suitable reflector/optics for the led because the focal point is different from Luxeon.

After having fooled around with over a dozen options, I've decided on the Inova X1 host to be the most suitable for the Cree because 1) it has a built-in aspherical lens (necessary for throw due to viewing angle of the Cree is different from Luxeon); 2) it has enough room for a BadBoy sandwich; and 3) it is built like a tank.

The mod is made possible by the following people...
Newbie for introducing the Cree Xlamp UV to CPF and for constantly providing useful information not available to the rest of us; belyo for showing us the Freeze-and-Pop method for disassemling the Inova X1; and dat2zip for the bad a$$ BadBoy. All I did was put together other people's great work.



Here are a few pix. Comments/questions welcomed.




The head assembly showing a thin BabBoy 500 sammie. The Cree is hidden inside the barrel.
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Top view of head assembly. The Cree is mounted on a turned down dime. Could you see the Green Glow powder surrounding the led? Soldering and fitting this bugger inside the barrel is extremely tricky.
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The whole thing before I put it all back.
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The finished product. It is driven by a BadBoy 500. Powered by a 14500 Li-Ion.
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Looking down the barrel. Small trace of Green Glow.
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Same view as last pix, but no flash. Green Glow Powder was charge by turning on the flashlight previously.
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Some beam shots...

This is against the wall a meter away.
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The same shot another five feet away from the wall.
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Comparison... Left to Right... Cree UV, ebay 7-led UV, Peak UV.
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This is the best beam I can get from using a reflector. It happens to be an Aleph III head. Making the hotspot tighter would probably require that I destroy the perfectly fine Aleph reflector. I've tried 7 different optics, Aleph I II III, Mag, MiniMag, and a couple of nameless reflectors, none came close to producing a tight hotspot like the Inova X1 aspherical lens could.
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As promised, more beam shots. The next pictures all taken from the same distance...


This is Peak UV.
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This is the Ebay 7-led UV. This time I used 2x Rechargeable 123 because using 2x CR123 this thing is weaker than the Peak.
01010037.JPG


This is the stock Inova UV.
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This is the Cree UV. Noticed that this is the only one bright enough to make the wall socket show up near the bottom of the picture. I can get more focus or flood from this led by adjusting the distance between the led and the lense.
01010039.JPG


This is all four together... Cree, Inova, Ebay 7-led, Peak. I must say, the stock Inova UV is not too bad. The picture doesn't show it very well, but by my estimate, it is roughly 1/4 of the intensity of the Cree.
01010033.JPG


This one has level adjusted to show the difference in intensity.
01010033b.JPG



Thanks for viewing.


ernest
 

hotbeam

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

Nice! That space in the head looks tight!! You'd better watch your eyes though. To much UV is definately not good for you.
 

PhantomZ

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

now that is awsome~ i love the colour and shape of the light. the glow powder has a nice flawless glow. would you think of making some for sale?
 

jtice

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

Excellent work!

Looks like a perfectly focused beam! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

IsaacHayes

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

wow, that's a laser beam!

Too tight for my use, but I bet that would be great for spotting scorpions from afar.
 

greenlight

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

What is the intended use? Also, do you have a stock uvx1 to compare it to? I'm sure your mod is much brighter.
--------------------
x1 poll
 

greenlight

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

Does the cree have a tighter angle than a luxeon? This would make it appealing for the mod.
 

vacuum3d

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

greenlight, the intention was to make an UV light that has throw. The viewing angle on these leds is 100-120, can't remember exactly. You can follow the link in Newbie's thread to look at the spec for this led. Because the viewing angle is so different from the Luxeon, it is difficult to find a suitable solution to project the light. I don't have X1 UV, but the 5mm led is no where near the Cree in terms of the output. The 5mm output is measured in mcd. The Cree is measured in lumens. It may be a bit difficult to tell from my Comparison shot, but the flood from the Cree is stronger than the other two lights put together.

Isaac, having made the light, it is obvious that the tight focus is not as useful and next time I'd definitely make something with more flood.

jtice, Newbie, hotbeam... Thx.

Zeiss, nah... the Inova is nicer.

Phantomz, the perfect Green Glow appears only in certain angle. If you look straight down from the barrel, you will see no glow. I don't think I can sell it high enough to justisfy the amount of time I spent on making it. If I spend the same amount of time at work, I could make enough to buy a couple of Surefire M6.


ernest
 

Kiu

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

Very nice work!!!
I love this! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

greenlight

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

Hi V3d,
I just finished my x1 mod also. I spent some time grinding down the brass bezel so the led would be closer to the lens. The spot was just too small. The sandwich was a little thick, so I needed to take a couple of mm off the front end. This made an improvement to the beam by widening it a little.

Would you say that your mod has a wider or more narrow beam than the stock led?
 

vacuum3d

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

Kiu,
Thanks.

greenlight,
My mod has a very narrow beam due to 1) the Tiros lens is basically projecting the led die; 2) the brass barrel is so deep that most of the side spills are blocked. In order to make a wider beam, you'd have to move the led closer to the lens. Better yet, use a reflector instead of the Tiros lens.


Sorry about the pix not showing up. I just realized that there's a power outage in the house, so my server is down.


ernest
 

dat2zip

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

Can't view the pictures, but, it sounds very nice.
 

greenlight

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

I don't think the x1 uses a tiros lens. (I could be wrong, I'm not an optics physicist.) The aspherical lens of the x1 uses refraction, obviously, but tir refers to the action of the photons bouncing off the inside of the medium and staying inside. This is useful for fiber optics as no light escapes. I imagine if you shine light at the x1 lens, that some light will escape from the edge.
 

vacuum3d

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

I'll restart the server once I get home tonight so the pictures would show up.

greenlight, I refer to the lens as tiros because it says it right on the X1 retail package. I'm no expert on this stuff, of course.
 

vacuum3d

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Re: Cree UV Xlamp in Inova X1

Greenlight, I apologize for the confusion. You are correct. I've calling it X1 when it's actually a T1. My bad. I'm going to correct my post.

Thanks IceBreak. That led was haunting me the moment I saw it from Newbie's post. I was looking for an UV solution for a long time and finally found what I was looking for. There were numerous obstacles along the way, I must say.

I'll correct the picture problem when I get home in a couple of hours.


ernest
 
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