Mr. Bulk Vip led swap

[toastystuff]

Well I've looked it over. The world are not touching the side of the mcpcb. I'm trying to look for shorts ATM. I tried the mcpcb and led on a p60 drop in I had laying around and it worked just fine. Is it possible I got the polarity wrong? I'm pretty sure red wire is+. I'm gonna continue to trouble shoot

 

[pc_light]

You say it lit for a few second, if the polarity was reversed if wouldn't have lit at all.

If you can confirm that there is no continuity between the pos and neg pads then it's ok to test the LED itself (direct with 3.0v battery) to confirm that it's still good. That should help focus your troubleshooting.

The soldering on the pos pad looks iffy.

 

[wimmer21]

Interesting^^^. Someday I need to find someone reputable for LED upgrades on my Ti Cub and Ti Chameleon.

 

[pc_light]

Wimmer, I think custom lights such as the Cub and Chameleon are ideal for emitter swaps. Unlike commercial lights that threadlock the bageebees out of their lights, modders make their lights readily accessible for tweaking.

I have upgraded many of my old light, from the tiny Arc-AAA to larger SF's (w/red Loctite!) to the crazy to open Inova's. There's a certain thrill to getting one open, and then to see the quantum leap in brightness with the newer more efficient Crees.

Newer lights get less of a lumens bump but then you get to pick that ideal tint. I put neutral Nichia 219's in a couple of XP-G cool white lights and fell in love with them all over again. My preon was in the draw until I popped a 219b in and now the light's in active pocket rotation again.

Once you've collected a lot of lights and the thrill of accumulating wanes, one route to renew that flasholic spark is to mod! I say give the DIY option a try and what better way to start than with a light(s) made to be customized!

 

[toastystuff]

Yea I redid the soldering on both terminals. No joy, I'm giving up for today, I'll mess with it some more tomorrow. What's interesting is when I soldered in that junk mcpcb and with the xpe it did the same thing, lit for a few seconds and then stopped working. I wonder if the driver is bad at this point. I have another VIP but it's minty and I'd hate to have 2 fried vip's .

 

[pc_light]

...I wonder if the driver is bad at this point...

Beginning to look that way. Look at it this was, a new driver will let you lift the 1-Amp cap for serious brightness!

 

[toastystuff]

Wimmer, I think custom lights such as the Cub and Chameleon are ideal for emitter swaps. Unlike commercial lights that threadlock the bageebees out of their lights, modders make their lights readily accessible for tweaking.

I have upgraded many of my old light, from the tiny Arc-AAA to larger SF's (w/red Loctite!) to the crazy to open Inova's. There's a certain thrill to getting one open, and then to see the quantum leap in brightness with the newer more efficient Crees.

Newer lights get less of a lumens bump but then you get to pick that ideal tint. I put neutral Nichia 219's in a couple of XP-G cool white lights and fell in love with them all over again. My preon was in the draw until I popped a 219b in and now the light's in active pocket rotation again.

Once you've collected a lot of lights and the thrill of accumulating wanes, one route to renew that flasholic spark is to mod! I say give the DIY option a try and what better way to start than with a light(s) made to be customized!

I totally agree. There's something cool about modding these older lights. I really wanna make this work. For the few seconds it was on the increase in brightness was incredible.

 

[pc_light]

Not to get too far off thread but here are a couple of my lastest tweaks one a commercial light, and the other a custom. All photos taken at same exposure and white balance so direct comparisons to tint and output bumps are evident.

Commerical light - Surefire L6 w/stock Lux V to new Cree XHP-50, with NO driver change.

Custom - HDS EDC B60 w/Stock Lux III to new Nichia 219c (@4000K), with NO driver change.

BTW, Toastystuff. I estimate that you will see something like the above change when you finally do finish your swap. The EDC B60 went from 60 Lumens of white to over 200 lumens of warmth.

 

[wimmer21]

Wimmer, I think custom lights such as the Cub and Chameleon are ideal for emitter swaps. Unlike commercial lights that threadlock the bageebees out of their lights, modders make their lights readily accessible for tweaking.

I have upgraded many of my old light, from the tiny Arc-AAA to larger SF's (w/red Loctite!) to the crazy to open Inova's. There's a certain thrill to getting one open, and then to see the quantum leap in brightness with the newer more efficient Crees.

Newer lights get less of a lumens bump but then you get to pick that ideal tint. I put neutral Nichia 219's in a couple of XP-G cool white lights and fell in love with them all over again. My preon was in the draw until I popped a 219b in and now the light's in active pocket rotation again.

Once you've collected a lot of lights and the thrill of accumulating wanes, one route to renew that flasholic spark is to mod! I say give the DIY option a try and what better way to start than with a light(s) made to be customized!

Great posting here pc_light. But me?..... DIY? Oh boy, I don't know if I could take a light apart then successfully swap an LED... then put it all back together again and have it work. I'm pretty sure I would ruin something, or everything, and probably electrocute myself and possibly innocent bystanders. But, I have to admit, if I were to take on such a monumental project and by some miracle succeed... it would be a dream come true.

Tell you what, a man don't learn if he don't try, and you're confidence in me is inspiring... I'm gonna give this a go. I'll use my Ti Cub as my experiment subject and I'll report back in a few weeks with a detailed update on my progress! Ok first thing's first.... who has a Phillips head screwdriver I can borrow?

 

[pc_light]

"the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" or one borrowed Philips screwdriver. But then again, I realize it's not for everyone.

If you do decide, start slow and reach out to those on the forum along the way for help if needed. Besides, if you get overwhelmed at any point, you can always send the light out to the modders on forum for rescue.

I see from your lights that you've got a P60/D26 host (Solarforce L2C). Perhaps you can consider throwing a "drop-in" together. You can pick the features you want in a driver, the tints you want in an emitter and the throw/flood you want in a reflector. It can be quite rewarding. It will also give you a better appreciation for well built ones.

For those that are really challenged or prefer to just be benefactors for other modders, that's an equally important role in keeping this passion alive. From what I've seen, you've single handledly supported many modders here at CPF, on their behalf... thank you.

 

[pc_light]

Ok Toastystuff, you inspired me too. Since it was raining all day today I decided to get some time in with my VIP.

I see your point about the screw and where it is, it really "screwed" up board placement. I had to file and fit numerous times to get the cut-out size correct. Then I faced the same challenges you did with the wires, man they were really short. Finally the craziest part was getting the reflector to sit centered. The original SMO is loose and just sat around the emitter dome, but since I choose a XP-L Hi emitter, there was no dome to guide placement. Took a while to get it right. And now it's done!

VIP Exposed Head With Original Lux III (?SWOK?)-

VIP with Original and Replacement Emitter parts -

VIP With New XP-L HI LED (~4200K)-

Strange, the new Low actually seems lower than the original Low. The Mid and High seem more pronouced too. I estimate the old High brightness was somewhere between the new Low & Mid.

High-Beam Shots from about 3-ft taken as same exposure for comparison. Original Lux (left) and new XP-L (right) -

'... another one lights the dusk...':buddies:

 

[staticx57]

Looks excellent!

 

[staticx57]

Wimmer, my usual recommendation for those wanting to get into modding is to start with a convoy S2+. It takes very standardized parts that are so easy to source and so easy to assemble it isn't funny. It will also teach you all of the basics as how things fit together and run.

Any of the modern here can give you a complete parts list which consists of three things: host, LED and driver and the three things you need to assemble it: soldering iron+solder, tweezers to fit the retaining rings, and thermal paste.

Really that simple and you get a complete light out of it.

 

[wimmer21]

Thanks guys.... both of you. I was half joking/half serious last night, but I really do want to jump in and learn. As interested as I am, I might as well acquire this knowledge and skill to fully enjoy this growing hobby.