# Disassembled: Inova T3 for upgrade



## Nitroz (Jul 24, 2009)

I used the freeze and pop method to open the T3. This is is and interesting optic that is used in the T3 and I will be doing some testing with various LEDs to see what is going to work best for the upgrade.

By looking at the heatsink this could be a little challenge using the newer power LEDs. I might have to fashion a pedestal for the new LED to mount on.

I am at work now, but I will take some pictures of the guts when I am at home later. I will also update as this upgrade progresses.


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## Bimmerboy (Jul 24, 2009)

Subscribed! :thumbsup:

Looking forward to this as I have a TIROS T3, and was wondering what to do with it. Hoping a SSC drops right in, and provides a Luxeon-like beam.


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## Nitroz (Jul 25, 2009)

Here's the pictures of the light disassembled.

This is the order that the parts go in the light. The right being the first part in and the left being the last part.






The same parts lined up how they would look inside the light.





A closeup of the regulator.





Top view





Another side view of parts assembled.





One more of the cool plastic lens





More to come once I settle on an LED.


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## yellow (Jul 25, 2009)

wonder that the driver looks like new, with all my freeze-pop they got cracked, the led slammed and stuck into the optic, ...

... I'm in the same stage as You are: deciding on led.
Have a T3 bored for 18650 for almost a year now. Not sure if MC-E, or - now - waiting for the new XP-G. 

imho skip the original sink + skip the optic (but I dont like optics anyway).
ideal Heatsink = round aluminium plate as thick as possible and in a diameter to be press fit into the body.
+ without the large optic and with a shorter focusing device, 2*18500 could be used to power the mod up. That way even an MC-E is possible, because of enough input voltage for the drivers.


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## Nitroz (Jul 25, 2009)

yellow said:


> wonder that the driver looks like new, with all my freeze-pop they got cracked, the led slammed and stuck into the optic, ...
> 
> ... I'm in the same stage as You are: deciding on led.
> Have a T3 bored for 18650 for almost a year now. Not sure if MC-E, or - now - waiting for the new XP-G.
> ...



I did a bunch of quick freezes instead of really long ones. I remember hearing that someone had done the T3 and it had cracked.

I am going to play with the XP-E and the XP-G if I can get one. I don't really want to use the Seoul LED because I am tired of using those for mods, I want something new and brighter.

Good luck with your mods!


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## bogeymachine (Jul 26, 2009)




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## Ny0ng1 (Jul 27, 2009)

subscribed! Please update us on the trial and errors 
and thanks for sharing it with us


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## Nitroz (Aug 10, 2009)

I did some testing with a Q5 XP-E and the T3 optic, it looks very promising. The optic fits completely over the XP-E LED and focuses really well, I would take pictures but all I have is my camera phone and it's just not worth it with that.

The next part is operating on the heat sink and getting the height correct.

One tough decision is do I wait for the XP-G, or use either the cool white Q5 or the neutral white q3 in this one.


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## kramer5150 (Aug 10, 2009)

Is that an OEM optic or is it proprietary for Inova?
:thumbsup:


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## Nitroz (Aug 10, 2009)

kramer5150 said:


> Is that an OEM optic or is it proprietary for Inova?
> :thumbsup:



Proprietary as far as I know. It the most interesting optic I have ever seen.


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## cyberspyder (Aug 21, 2009)

Ahhh, you have a TIROS too  I was thinking of a newer LED and maybe a new driver board, who knows. Since it's a clicky, maybe a 3-5 mode board?


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

I have a T1 and T2 Tiros that will be getting the XP-E neutral tint. I have also polished the bezel on the T3. I think I will keep the stock board because of the nice flat runtime.

I was waiting on the XP-E boards to reflow the neutral XP-Es to, and when I received them from Kai they were XR-E boards.:hairpull:

Here's some bling of the polished bezel.


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## cyberspyder (Aug 22, 2009)

So the XP-E should be more efficient and brighter then. What about MC-E?


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

cyberspyder said:


> So the XP-E should be more efficient and brighter then. What about MC-E?



Most definitely! It's possible that the MC-E could work with the optic but I don't have one to test right now.


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## Illum (Aug 22, 2009)

the inova optic is designed for the luxeon die...I know because CREE + TIROs sucked:shakehead

Ones I tried that works
Luxeon K2
Luxeon I
Luxeon III
SSC P4

Ones I'd consider passing
CREE XR-C

Ones I'd not consider
CREE XR-E
CREE MCE


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

Illum said:


> the inova optic is designed for the luxeon die...I know because CREE + TIROs sucked:shakehead
> 
> Ones I tried that works
> Luxeon K2
> ...



The K2 is nice but to get alot out of it you need to push it, the stock board at 700mA just isn't going to cut it, hence the reason why I am going to use the XP-E. 

The stock board is a good match for the XP-E. I will work on some beam shots of the XP-E tonight if I can.

The stock optic would not fit over the XR-E ring I imagine, and I'm sure that would look awful. With the XP-E the optic sits over the LED and works quite well.


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## Illum (Aug 22, 2009)

Nitroz said:


> The stock board is a good match for the XP-E. I will work on some beam shots of the XP-E tonight if I can.



I don't have an XPE sample or I'll test it for you:candle:

TIROs on a CREE yields a bunch of concentric rings with a near aspheric projection of the XRE die in the middle...:green:
the XR-C works because the quare die works out as a "pinpoint" hotspot:shakehead


On second thought the Lux V works great...the MCE though has these werd artifacts


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

Illum said:


> I don't have an XPE sample or I'll test it for you:candle:
> 
> TIROs on a CREE yields a bunch of concentric rings with a near aspheric projection of the XRE die in the middle...:green:
> the XR-C works because the quare die works out as a "pinpoint" hotspot:shakehead
> ...




So what LED do you have in your Inova now?


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## Illum (Aug 22, 2009)

Nitroz said:


> So what LED do you have in your Inova now?



I freeze popped my XO3, somewhere along the line the driver died [probably during the boiling part when freezing didn't force the driver board out]

I've just tested different LEDs while holding the TIROS in my hand


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## cyberspyder (Aug 22, 2009)

Hmmm, so what to get then guys? P7?


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## Bimmerboy (Aug 22, 2009)

Nitroz said:


> I will work on some beam shots of the XP-E tonight if I can.


Very much looking forward to this!

BTW, the polished bezel looks quite nice. :thumbsup:

Illum - Thanks for the info. I figured a SSC would work well, but glad to hear from someone who tried it. Also... which K2 did you try, the old type, or the new TFFC's? How was the beam compared to a P4?


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

Bimmerboy said:


> Very much looking forward to this!
> 
> BTW, the polished bezel looks quite nice. :thumbsup:



Thanks! I plan to polish all of the T series Inovas as I mod them.



Bimmerboy said:


> Illum - Thanks for the info. I figured a SSC would work well, but glad to hear from someone who tried it. Also... which K2 did you try, the old type, or the new TFFC's? How was the brightness, and beam compared to a P4?



The K2 TFFC is an awesome LED with a beautiful tint. If you push 1.5amps to the K2 it will smoke the P4 in throw. They focus almost like the old Lux III.


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

Illum said:


> I freeze popped my XO3, somewhere along the line the driver died [probably during the boiling part when freezing didn't force the driver board out]
> 
> I've just tested different LEDs while holding the TIROS in my hand



That is how I have done the testing. 

Since your board is fried you should throw in a SOB1250 and a K2.:thumbsup:


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## cyberspyder (Aug 22, 2009)

I guess you guys are my guinea pigs  Anyone know it the TIROS optics are the same on the T3 and T1?


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

cyberspyder said:


> Hmmm, so what to get then guys? P7?



Not unless you plan to change the regulator in the T3, and you won't be able to use the optic either since the P7 has a huge gummy dome. Unless you want to do some serious modifications to your T3 you should stick with the K2, P4, or the XP-E.


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

cyberspyder said:


> I guess you guys are my guinea pigs  Anyone know it the TIROS optics are the same on the T3 and T1?




Not sure yet as I have not cracked open the T1 yet. I do know that it has a smaller diameter, the T3 has a larger head, as far as depth I'm not sure yet.


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## Illum (Aug 22, 2009)

Nitroz said:


> That is how I have done the testing.
> 
> Since your board is fried you should throw in a SOB1250 and a K2.:thumbsup:




unfortunately the board gave up but the mounting hardware sure hasn't, and I cannot get it to come out,


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## Nitroz (Aug 22, 2009)

Illum said:


> unfortunately the board gave up but the mounting hardware sure hasn't, and I cannot get it to come out,



Wow! Is this the T3 that you are having this problem with?


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## Illum (Aug 22, 2009)

Nitroz said:


> Wow! Is this the T3 that you are having this problem with?



XO3...the T3 is essentially the same until the XO3 became a reflectored light


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## Nitroz (Aug 23, 2009)

Here's some pictures. Be easy on me as these were not easy when trying to hold the optic and touch the wires to a battery.













As you can see it has a pretty good beam with the XP-E. This was about half of what it will do when it is put together, it should be twice as bright as the stocker.:twothumbs


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## Nitroz (Aug 23, 2009)

The beam shots above are at about 8 feet from the wall.


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## yellow (Aug 24, 2009)

> Anyone know it the TIROS optics are the same on the T3 and T1?


different lights, different optics.
anyway they suck (but one might know that I dont like optics)

when removing them, one can 
1st: add something that acts as a real heastsink, and
2nd: add a 2nd cell
... both of much more positive effect, than the very individual good/bad effect from the optics (which also have to harmonize with the new led)


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## cyberspyder (Aug 24, 2009)

Now the question is where I can procure a XP-E, bought the P4 and K2 to try out.


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## Illum (Aug 24, 2009)

cyberspyder said:


> Now the question is where I can procure a XP-E, bought the P4 and K2 to try out.



Cutter: http://www.cutter.com.au/products.php?cat=Cree+XP-E
Digi-key: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/D...e_link=hp_go_button&KeyWords=CREE+XPE&x=0&y=0


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## Fenris (Sep 18, 2009)

Have you finished the mod Nitroz?


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## jsholli (Sep 24, 2009)

Well...I couldn't find the positive lead, but by checking the ohms between the plunger and the LED, I think I determined the negative. Someone please let me know if this is not a conclusive way to determine the negative...

I'm hoping to be able to test the original optic on my new R2 whenever it gets here from DX; it went through Jamaica NY today :shakehead


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## jsholli (Oct 6, 2009)

I got the SSC P4 installed and liked it pretty well---I wasn't blown away though.

However, when putting the lens back in, I realized that the driver wasn't completely seated. I used the optic to push it back down leaving my P4 in pieces. So, I tapped the driver back out...cracking something in it that held a little coil of copper wire.

:candle: SO; what would be the best driver to put back in so I could still use the optic?


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## Fenris (Nov 7, 2009)

bump.


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## Nitroz (Nov 7, 2009)

Yes and no. It ended up in the scrap pile for now. 

I cracked the lens when putting it back together  and the focus was horrible due to the LED sitting to low when I pushed the pill back in, and after that it is impossible to push it back out without freeze and pop again.

O'well you win some and loose some. I will revisit this light one day when I get my lathe and do something with it. Anyone want a T3 body.  Just Kidding.


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## Demon27 (Feb 8, 2010)

I just got my T3 TIROS bezel and optics out. Only took about 5 minutes with a tubing cutter and a soft jaw vise. The only thing left to do now is carefully take out the electronics/emitter. I do not want to freeze pop it (unpredictable). Anyone have any ideas on how to do this without destroying it? Also does anyone know what emitter it uses originally?


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## Nitroz (Feb 8, 2010)

Demon27 said:


> I just got my T3 TIROS bezel and optics out. Only took about 5 minutes with a tubing cutter and a soft jaw vise. The only thing left to do now is carefully take out the electronics/emitter. I do not want to freeze pop it (unpredictable). Anyone have any ideas on how to do this without destroying it? Also does anyone know what emitter it uses originally?



Pics??

The original LED was Luxeon III from LumiLeds/Philips.

That is the reason for the freeze method. The heat sink with the electronics are pressed in and it is a very tight fit. Once I put mine back in I could not get it out with a hammer and dowel rod.

I wish I had a hydraulic press.


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## Demon27 (Feb 8, 2010)

I will post some pics when I get home. I am stuck at work right now.


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## Nitroz (Feb 8, 2010)

No hurry.


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