# Quark Mods: Red and Blue times two



## ti-force (Aug 2, 2010)

**UPDATE* 08/07/2010*
This is an update for the red XP-E, low voltage mod - I always use Li-ion batteries, so I hardly ever use primary batteries, but I thought I'd check the 123 Red XP-E head to make sure it functions properly with the lower voltage primaries for anyone who might be interested in trying this mod. The results are not too good. This mod doesn't function properly with a single Alkaline or Lithium AA primary, so the only battery options for this mod are 1- Li-ion, 2- AA primaries or 1- CR123. I'm not sure about NiZn batteries, but I suspect the results would be the same. Like previously mentioned, this doesn't affect me because I'll be using a single Li-ion battery when I use this light, and I have no desire to use a primary battery that can only be used once and then it's thrown away, so I only mention this for anyone who would use a voltage below 1.5v with this mod.**UPDATE END**


This is my latest project, and as usual I thought I'd share some pictures with anyone who's interested. What I've done is pretty straightforward. I've taken a high voltage Quark 123-2 head and swapped in an XP-E Royal Blue emitter. I've also taken a low voltage Quark 123 head and swapped in an XP-E Red emitter. My main reason for this is to use the red emitter for walking in and out of the woods in the dark during hunting season. The red light should help preserve my night vision in case I need to defend myself against any type of wild animal (not likely, but it's always best to be prepared right). I share the woods with your typical predators; bears, panthers, coyotes, bobcats and even wild boar, which can be quite aggressive in certain situations, so I'm always packing a 357 mag on my side .

Anyway, the blue emitter can be driven up to 1A according to the datasheet, and the red emitter can be driven up to 700mA. This is the reason why the blue emitter is fine in the 123-2 head, but the red emitter had to be used in the 123 head. I doubt I'll have a need for either light at max drive current, but why not have the option available right. The blue emitter swap was mostly for fun. I originally thought I might be able to use these two lights in combination with each other to track a blood trail, but I'm not so sure that actually works; I've heard mixed results.

Enough talking and on to the pictures:



*Quark 123 head with an XP-E R2 emitter. Nothing new there:
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*Cree XP-E Red emitter:
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*Bare board prepped for the Red emitter:
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*Red XP-E reflow soldered onto the bare board:
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*Low voltage testing to make sure everything is working fine:
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*Placed into head with Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste :thumbsup: and wires soldered:
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*Red XP-E emitter installed:*







*Royal Blue emitter installed:*







*The steps were basically the same for the Royal Blue emitter, so I didn't see any point in taking pictures of the Royal Blue emitter swapping process. Now it's time for some colorful shots:*

























*And a couple of indoor beamshots:


For all you Moonlight mode lovers out there :*











*And on Max. The hotspot isn't actually orange in person, the camera just won't capture the image as my eyes see it.:*











*Outdoor Beamshots:*

*Each light was on the Max setting. All camera settings remained the same throughout the shoot, and the distance from each light to the pine tree is 25ft.*





















and some gif's:


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## TwitchALot (Aug 2, 2010)

Okay. How much would cost *me* to get you to put a red emitter in my Quark/Fenix?


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## carrot (Aug 2, 2010)

Niiiiiice. Sweet work, looks like a nice addition to the collection.


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## ti-force (Aug 2, 2010)

TwitchALot said:


> Okay. How much would cost *me* to get you to put a red emitter in my Quark/Fenix?



For you; you purchase the red emitter, pay shipping both ways and let me keep your factory equipped emitter for my time and you got a deal .


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## ti-force (Aug 2, 2010)

carrot said:


> Niiiiiice. Sweet work, looks like a nice addition to the collection.



Thanks for the kind words . The red one will probably see plenty of use, but the blue is just..... well pretty I guess LOL....


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## showlyshah (Aug 3, 2010)

hey dude i have a suggestion. If u agree, u can just check it out.

As far as i know, green light is more preferable for night vision. Dont u see night vision cameras and binoculars have green screen? The green light will not strain ur eyes as red or blue. Also keep the pupil of ur eyes wide so that more light will be falling on ur retina. So that u can see even in very dim. 
Also most of the animals are blind to green light. But they can see near red-ir region.
I personaly own a 1w ultra-green (ultra green types are different from normal green leds. They are dark green. Where normal green type have an yellow tint. So go for the darkest green diode) led light which i use at night. I noticed that cats and night birds take no notice over the light. While respond to my white led ones.
So if u r interested try it on another quark and test all the three.


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## carrot (Aug 3, 2010)

ti-force said:


> Thanks for the kind words . The red one will probably see plenty of use, but the blue is just..... well pretty I guess LOL....


The blue is the most used mode on my Quark RGB because it is so damn cool.......


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## TwitchALot (Aug 3, 2010)

ti-force said:


> For you; you purchase the red emitter, pay shipping both ways and let me keep your factory equipped emitter for my time and you got a deal .



Thanks Ti! Now let's say I could figure out a way to make this work with my collection of lights (long story). How would I obtain a red emitter that doesn't involve getting a reel of a thousand? :thinking:


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## kaichu dento (Aug 3, 2010)

I thought all the Quarks were supposed to be virtually impossible to get apart... or is that just the MiNi's?

Really cool project and I love all the sharply focused pics you took throughout!


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## RepProdigious (Aug 3, 2010)

kaichu dento said:


> I thought all the Quarks were supposed to be virtually impossible to get apart... or is that just the MiNi's?
> 
> Really cool project and I love all the sharply focused pics you took throughout!



Mine actually came unscrewed from 47..... there was some locktite but it was already broken up and the head showed about a 1mm gap...... So in my case i could just unscrew it with my hands without effort.


BTW that blue led is REALLY cool (nu pun intended)! How much lumenz is that putting out?


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## ti-force (Aug 3, 2010)

showlyshah said:


> hey dude i have a suggestion. If u agree, u can just check it out.
> 
> As far as i know, green light is more preferable for night vision. Dont u see night vision cameras and binoculars have green screen? The green light will not strain ur eyes as red or blue. Also keep the pupil of ur eyes wide so that more light will be falling on ur retina. So that u can see even in very dim.
> Also most of the animals are blind to green light. But they can see near red-ir region.
> ...



I might mod one with a green emitter, but if I do, it will mostly be to complement my R and B with a G . Here's some reading for you:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/272759


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## ti-force (Aug 3, 2010)

carrot said:


> The blue is the most used mode on my Quark RGB because it is so damn cool.......



Indeed it is pretty cool. Shining at fluorescent colors like sticky note pads and such is really neat. It's almost as cool as a true black light, but it would be even cooler if it were in the 365 nm range


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## ti-force (Aug 3, 2010)

TwitchALot said:


> Thanks Ti! Now let's say I could figure out a way to make this work with my collection of lights (long story). How would I obtain a red emitter that doesn't involve getting a reel of a thousand? :thinking:



No way around it. You must buy 1000 and then donate 999 of them to me for research :nana:. J/K. Try this link and see if it works:

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=XPERED-L1-R250-00401CT-ND


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## ti-force (Aug 3, 2010)

kaichu dento said:


> I thought all the Quarks were supposed to be virtually impossible to get apart... or is that just the MiNi's?
> 
> Really cool project and I love all the sharply focused pics you took throughout!



I've yet to take a Mini head apart, but as previously mentioned, the standard Quark head comes apart fairly easily. Thanks for the kind words


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## ti-force (Aug 3, 2010)

RepProdigious said:


> BTW that blue led is REALLY cool (nu pun intended)! How much lumenz is that putting out?



I tried to measure the lumen output because my meter has a photoptic response filter, which should allow for tint color variations, but it only measured like 30 OTF lumens, and I know it's WAY more than that. It's considerably brighter than the red, but maybe it's just because of the color.


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## RepProdigious (Aug 3, 2010)

ti-force said:


> I tried to measure the lumen output because my meter has a photoptic response filter, which should allow for tint color variations, but it only measured like 30 OTF lumens, and I know it's WAY more than that. It's considerably brighter than the red, but maybe it's just because of the color.



You dont really think thats a acceptable answer now do you.... This requires some beamshots!!! 

How bout a comparison shot between normal/red/blue at a nice white wall at some distance?


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## ti-force (Aug 3, 2010)

RepProdigious said:


> You dont really think thats a acceptable answer now do you.... This requires some beamshots!!!
> 
> How bout a comparison shot between normal/red/blue at a nice white wall at some distance?



How about a quick outside beamshot? I can compare the red Quark to my Fenix TK11 XR-E Q5 with Fenix red filter. It pretty much blows the Fenix away, but that's expected considering white led's don't really produce much red light to pass through a red filter. When I compare the two, the TK11 actually looks more orange to the Quarks deep red.

What are you planning to use the blue light for? If you're interested in using it for going on walks or something like that, I'd suggest sticking with a white light or using a red light; the blue seems rather harsh to my eyes. Comparing a white beam to the red or blue will look extremely different because of color rendition of the white light.


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## CaptJon (Aug 3, 2010)

That is some very sweet work and a great write up. I have worked offshore for 22 years and spend atleast half my time working in complete darkness and only used red light at night. No boat I have ever seen uses green.


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## ti-force (Aug 3, 2010)

Updated the first post with outdoor beamshots. Each light was on the Max setting. All camera settings remained the same throughout the shoot, and the distance from each light to the pine tree is 25ft.


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## Linger (Aug 3, 2010)

Wow C., you keep pulling these out. Nicely done.
I'd just ordered a red (well, last week), I guess I"ll follow you on this one too.

*FYI - Quark w/o battery, inverted in coffee mug. Add boiling water to just over the split, cover to keep in the heat.
I used a leather glove on my right hand holding the top of the bezel and turned. I used the other glove on the jaws of a pipe wrench and held steady with left hand. My Q Ti 2x123 was a rock the first round, repeated the process and it slowly gave. My original Q T AA W suprisingly turned on the first go round.


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## RepProdigious (Aug 4, 2010)

ti-force said:


> Outdoor beamshots:
> 
> Each light was on the Max setting. All camera settings remained the same throughout the shoot, and the distance from each light to the pine tree is 25ft.[...]



Darn you! Now i need one of those blue lights!!!!!




:thumbsup:




lovecpf


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## ti-force (Aug 4, 2010)

CaptJon said:


> That is some very sweet work and a great write up. I have worked offshore for 22 years and spend atleast half my time working in complete darkness and only used red light at night. No boat I have ever seen uses green.



Thanks for the complement, and thanks for sharing your experience with red lighting in low light conditions. Also, 
:welcome:




Linger said:


> Wow C., you keep pulling these out. Nicely done.
> I'd just ordered a red (well, last week), I guess I"ll follow you on this one too.
> 
> *FYI - Quark w/o battery, inverted in coffee mug. Add boiling water to just over the split, cover to keep in the heat.
> I used a leather glove on my right hand holding the top of the bezel and turned. I used the other glove on the jaws of a pipe wrench and held steady with left hand. My Q Ti 2x123 was a rock the first round, repeated the process and it slowly gave. My original Q T AA W suprisingly turned on the first go round.




Sweet! Hey I also ordered some glass and Acrylic lenses to try out in the red Quark. I've ordered the lenses with a light diffusion material on them. I'm thinking this will make the red Quark nice and floody :thumbsup:

Good idea using the coffee mug and not filling much past the split; that makes the odds lower that you'll have a driver come out on you. It's much more time consuming when the darn driver accidentally breaks loose.




RepProdigious said:


> Darn you! Now i need one of those blue lights!!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...




...............:devil:


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## TwitchALot (Aug 5, 2010)

ti-force said:


> No way around it. You must buy 1000 and then donate 999 of them to me for research :nana:. J/K. Try this link and see if it works:
> 
> http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=XPERED-L1-R250-00401CT-ND



Thanks for the offer Ti! It's rather unfortunate that the red can't be driven at 1 A though. >< I'm rather hesitant to part with my Quark AA as my EDC light. =/


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## ti-force (Aug 6, 2010)

TwitchALot said:


> Thanks for the offer Ti! It's rather unfortunate that the red can't be driven at 1 A though. >< I'm rather hesitant to part with my Quark AA as my EDC light. =/



I can't blame you. I have quite a few Quark heads, so I can play around with mods like this without affecting my edc Quark.


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## alphazeta (Aug 7, 2010)

Good to see these come to fruition for you :thumbsup:
AZ


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## ti-force (Aug 7, 2010)

alphazeta said:


> Good to see these come to fruition for you :thumbsup:
> AZ



Thanks! I really wish I could've used the red XP-E in a 123-2 head, but the drive current for a red XP-E is different than the drive current for white emitters.



**UPDATE** I always use Li-ion batteries, so I hardly ever use primary batteries, but I thought I'd check the 123 Red XP-E head to make sure it functions properly with the lower voltage primaries, considering everything functions properly with 1x Li-ion. The results are not too good. This mod doesn't function properly with a single Alkaline or Lithium AA primary, so the only battery options for this mod are 1- Li-ion, 2- AA primaries or 1- CR123. I'm not sure about NiZn batteries, but I feel like the results would be the same.


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## TwitchALot (Aug 8, 2010)

ti-force said:


> Thanks! I really wish I could've used the red XP-E in a 123-2 head, but the drive current for a red XP-E is different than the drive current for white emitters.
> 
> 
> 
> **UPDATE** I always use Li-ion batteries, so I hardly ever use primary batteries, but I thought I'd check the 123 Red XP-E head to make sure it functions properly with the lower voltage primaries, considering everything functions properly with 1x Li-ion. The results are not too good. This mod doesn't function properly with a single Alkaline or Lithium AA primary, so the only battery options for this mod are 1- Li-ion, 2- AA primaries or 1- CR123. I'm not sure about NiZn batteries, but I feel like the results would be the same.



Yeah I only have one non-neutral 4.2 V Quark head. -_- 

This is interesting though. The red LED has a lower Vf, so I'd expect it to function just fine. Any guesses on why it's not working? :thinking:


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## ti-force (Aug 8, 2010)

TwitchALot said:


> Yeah I only have one non-neutral 4.2 V Quark head. -_-
> 
> This is interesting though. The red LED has a lower Vf, so I'd expect it to function just fine. Any guesses on why it's not working? :thinking:



To be honest with you, I really don't know. It's really strange. Just for giggles, I tried an Alkaline AA in the light again today and it worked initially. The light turned on in Max mode, I loosened the bezel, which dropped it down to High mode. I got all excited until I entered programming mode, and then it was back to the same old same. It flashes three times like normal, and then it just stays in what looks like Moonlight mode from then on. I don't know :shrug:


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## alphazeta (Aug 8, 2010)

ti-force said:


> To be honest with you, I really don't know. It's really strange. Just for giggles, I tried an Alkaline AA in the light again today and it worked initially. The light turned on in Max mode, I loosened the bezel, which dropped it down to High mode. I got all excited until I entered programming mode, and then it was back to the same old same. It flashes three times like normal, and then it just stays in what looks like Moonlight mode from then on. I don't know :shrug:



That's very strange. As far as I recall, the drivers are current regulated (I could be mistaken though as my memory is pretty shoddy nowadays.)

So as I understand from what you're describing-> On a 1.5v or below source, the quark works on at max but has trouble with the lower modes? :thinking:


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## ti-force (Aug 8, 2010)

alphazeta said:


> That's very strange. As far as I recall, the drivers are current regulated (I could be mistaken though as my memory is pretty shoddy nowadays.)
> 
> So as I understand from what you're describing-> On a 1.5v or below source, the quark works on at max but has trouble with the lower modes? :thinking:



Well, it has the Tactical UI, and I have it programmed for Max mode (bezel tight), High mode (bezel loose). When I initially turn the light on with a 1.5v or lower power source, the light seems to work fine. I can switch back and forth from Max and High, but when I enter programming mode, the light seems to go into Moonlight mode and remain there. It is really strange.


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## alphazeta (Aug 8, 2010)

ti-force said:


> Well, it has the Tactical UI, and I have it programmed for Max mode (bezel tight), High mode (bezel loose). When I initially turn the light on with a 1.5v or lower power source, the light seems to work fine. I can switch back and forth from Max and High, but when I enter programming mode, the light seems to go into Moonlight mode and remain there. It is really strange.



But the programming works with a 2.4v source or higher?
I do find that interesting. I'm of no help then b/c I didn't recognize any of the internal components on the driver of the _regular _quark. 
If that's a byproduct of the tactical driver's MCU then that's a _curious_ _design_.


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## ti-force (Aug 9, 2010)

alphazeta said:


> But the programming works with a 2.4v source or higher?
> I do find that interesting. I'm of no help then b/c I didn't recognize any of the internal components on the driver of the _regular _quark.
> If that's a byproduct of the tactical driver's MCU then that's a _curious_ _design_.



Yeah it functions normally with 2- Energizer E2 AA's. If I have time this evening, I'll check it again with 2- AA's to make sure I didn't miss something. I appreciate you trying to help with this rather unexpected problem :thumbsup:. It's also funny that the blue light (the one that will see the least amount of use) functions flawlessly LOL..., that's the way it goes I guess


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