# Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod



## ti-force (Mar 7, 2010)

I recently finished my Tiablo A9 SSR-50 mod, and I thought I'd share some pictures of my build with anyone who's interested.


















I had to do some trimming on the star for it to fit:















I couldn't get the darn brass pill out of the light without damaging it, so I just left it in the light. I've seen pictures of older A9's and A8's where the pill was removed, but I think Tiablo tightened up there tolerances or something; It's really pressed in there tight.














I had to open up the reflector for the emitter to fit:










I'm using the Shiningbeam driver because I had it on hand. I've added an additional 7135 to the board to raise the current an additional 350ma. I'm hoping to get between 3.1A and 3.2A at the tailcap. I would've already measured it, but I'm waiting on my new (more accurate) DMM to get here. If I can't get the current with these drivers, I'll just find another driver solution or possibly run it direct drive.














A shot of the business end with some of that beautiful UCL glass:thumbsup::














And a shot of the light. I think this is my new favorite light; I love the size and weight of this light:













I also modded the switch to handle the additional current. It's just a bare switch with 2 legs that have to be soldered. Click here for the KD link.

I used one of my Tiablo A9 two-mode switches, removed the switch from the board and replaced the switch with one of the KD switches. There was a little more to it than that, but it's pretty straightforward.

KD Switches:










Modded Tiablo Switch:


















Tiablo Modded Switch on Left, Quark Tactical/Turbo Switch on Right: (notice the resemblance )










*Okay guys, this is my first time for beamshots, so maybe you can give me some tips. I don't think these are really up to par.*

* First I'll include pics of the lights and then the beamshots. Both lights are Tiablo A9's. One of them is unmodded and the other, well, it has an SSR-50 in it. Here goes:*


































*Now for the indoor beamshots.** I think I should've backed away from the wall a little further; that's why the picture of the aspheric A9 Q5 emitter is actually out of focus. Is there a general rule of thumb for the distance from the wall?*


*First up, standard head with UCL glass for both lights:*






























*And now the aspheric shots:*




















I know this thread is getting old, but I took some outdoor beam shots last night and I included this light, so I thought I'd share it in this thread. It should be noted that I used the stock, non-modified SMO reflector for this picture. The opening of the other reflector has been bored out, and it produces a wider beam. It's not a long distance shot or anything, but it's all I've got at the moment. Also, I didn't have time to compare it to the stock A9. I wanted to, but I ran out of time, so I'll include some other reference shots. From each light to the pine tree is roughly 23 feet. I had to take the pictures behind the lights because the camera wouldn't zoom out far enough to capture the spill. All camera settings remained the same for each light.







*Control:*








*Fenix TK11 R2*








*Tiablo A9 SSR-50*








*Quark 123-2 Turbo*


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## pyro (Mar 7, 2010)

Great mod,
but where are the before/after beamshots? 

Does it also work with the aspheric head?


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## ti-force (Mar 7, 2010)

pyro said:


> Great mod,
> but where are the before/after beamshots?
> 
> Does it also work with the aspheric head?




Well, the good thing is, I have another A9 that could be used for comparison. I might need some advice on the beamshots though; I've really never tried to take any beamshots.

The aspheric head should work fine, I just haven't had time to try it out. I plan to though:twothumbs.


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## Mettee (Mar 7, 2010)

another nice one Ti...I wish I had the time and money 

My A8 P7 already has a hard time with the heat...the Tiablo heatsink pill section does not do a very good job of drawing away heat...so watch that. If your running the light and you dont feel it getting warm then you know its just cooking in there. At least that is what happened to me. There is not much you can do, led longevity may suffer, my P7 is still rockin after over a year so....


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## ti-force (Mar 7, 2010)

Mettee said:


> another nice one Ti...I wish I had the time and money
> 
> My A8 P7 already has a hard time with the heat...the Tiablo heatsink pill section does not do a very good job of drawing away heat...so watch that. If your running the light and you dont feel it getting warm then you know its just cooking in there. At least that is what happened to me. There is not much you can do, led longevity may suffer, my P7 is still rockin after over a year so....


 

I was wondering about that when I started building the light, but so far it's been transferring the heat out pretty good. I'll definitely keep an eye on it though.


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## Mettee (Mar 8, 2010)

I was honestly going to sell my A8. This mod is what I really wanted to do with it once the SST's came out. Guess I will save up some pennies and do it


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## ti-force (Mar 8, 2010)

Mettee said:


> I was honestly going to sell my A8. This mod is what I really wanted to do with it once the SST's came out. Guess I will save up some pennies and do it


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## ti-force (Mar 8, 2010)

I took some indoor beamshots today. I compared my A9 Q5 with the A9 SSR-50. I took shots with the aspheric head and without the aspheric head. I should have these up in a little bit. You guys will have to bear with me though; beamshots of any sort are new territory for me.


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## houtex (Mar 8, 2010)

I'll be watching this thread close. I just asked about this very mod just the other day. Excited.


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## ti-force (Mar 8, 2010)

*Okay guys, this is my first time for beamshots, so maybe you can give me some tips. I don't think these are really up to par.*

* First I'll include pics of the lights and then the beamshots. Both lights are Tiablo A9's. One of them is unmodded and the other, well, it has an SSR-50 in it. Here goes:*


































*Now for the indoor beamshots.** I think I should've backed away from the wall a little further; that's why the picture of the aspheric A9 Q5 emitter is actually out of focus. Is there a general rule of thumb for the distance from the wall?*


*First up, standard head with UCL glass for both lights:*






























*And now the aspheric shots:*


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## ti-force (Mar 8, 2010)

houtex said:


> I'll be watching this thread close. I just asked about this very mod just the other day. Excited.


 

So far, I LOVE this light. I guess it's the size and weight. I don't think you will be dissapointed if you build one.


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## Mettee (Mar 9, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**

no, those are good beam shots. You get the idea. They show the more intense spill very well, and most importantly they show how strong the spot is. It looks like a pretty nice beam actually. 

In my A8 you can actually see the wires inside the silicon dome reflected out on the wall, not great but oh well. I wll put an sst-50 in it


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## 420light (Mar 9, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**

Very, very nice.  :thumbsup:

And good pictures too, as always.


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## Moddoo (Mar 9, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**

ok, I guess my XPG is coming out of mine soon.:devil:
Thanks for sharing.


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## ti-force (Mar 9, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**



Mettee said:


> no, those are good beam shots. You get the idea. They show the more intense spill very well, and most importantly they show how strong the spot is. It looks like a pretty nice beam actually.
> 
> In my A8 you can actually see the wires inside the silicon dome reflected out on the wall, not great but oh well. I wll put an sst-50 in it


 

I'm glad to hear my first time beamshots turned out okay. Maybe I'll try some outdoor beamshots next.


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## ti-force (Mar 9, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**



420light said:


> Very, very nice.  :thumbsup:
> 
> And good pictures too, as always.


 

Thanks


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## ti-force (Mar 9, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**



Moddoo said:


> ok, I guess my XPG is coming out of mine soon.:devil:
> Thanks for sharing.


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## houtex (Mar 9, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**

What would you say the throw is like in the A9 now with the new emmitter?


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## ti-force (Mar 10, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**



houtex said:


> What would you say the throw is like in the A9 now with the new emmitter?



I'll have to take both of them outside and do a side by side comparison. It's hard to judge based on memory, and I haven't found the time to take them both out for comparison. I'll try to make time tonight, but if not, I should be able to make time tomorrow night for sure. I did have time to compare it with my Darktort DT-E 1.0, that's been modded with an MC-E M bin, driven at 3A (tailcap). Separately, I shined them both at the tops of a hedge full of pine trees about 250 to 300 yards away. Not surprisingly, the SST-50 A9 is a much better thrower.


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## andromeda.73 (Mar 10, 2010)

*Re: Tiablo A9 SSR-50 Mod *updated with indoor wall shots**

Very nice! :twothumbs good test! :twothumbs


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## ti-force (May 7, 2010)

I know this thread is getting old, but I took some outdoor beam shots last night and I included this light, so I thought I'd share it in this thread. It should be noted that I used the stock, non-modified SMO reflector for this picture. The opening of the other reflector has been bored out, and it produces a wider beam. It's not a long distance shot or anything, but it's all I've got at the moment. Also, I didn't have time to compare it to the stock A9. I wanted to, but I ran out of time, so I'll include some other reference shots. From each light to the pine tree is roughly 23 feet. I had to take the pictures behind the lights because the camera wouldn't zoom out far enough to capture the spill. All camera settings remained the same for each light.








*Control:*








*Fenix TK11 R2*








*Tiablo A9 SSR-50*








*Quark 123-2 Turbo*


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## supasizefries (May 7, 2010)

Really neat build you have there. Did you ever get a chance to measure tail cap amps?


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## ti-force (May 7, 2010)

supasizefries said:


> Really neat build you have there. Did you ever get a chance to measure tail cap amps?



Thanks for the kind words.

I just measured amps at the tail cap with a freshly charged AW IMR 18650. The charged voltage of the battery was 4.213v and the light measured 3.107A at the tail cap on high :thumbsup:. That's pretty much what I was shooting for, so I'm happy.

If the light had more mass to transfer heat to, I would probably turn it up some more, but there's no sense in pushing the emitter harder when all it will do is create more heat, which would in turn cause a loss in lumens, which makes the light less useable IMO.


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