KD's big reflector in a tk61

http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S022485

I’ve had in my possession for maybe a couple of months this big KD reflector and I’ve been on the lookout for a suitable yet not to pricey host. I just couldn’t seem to find a budget enough host so I ended up trying to ‘fit’ this reflector with a tk61. I like the tk61 not just for it’s performance but also for the general feel of it. It’s not weighty, the 2s2p battery set up means you can run high capacity cells and not worry about high drain, and it has a side switch. On larger lights like this I really prefer the side switch option. That’s part of the reason I don’t have a K40, (sold my…) K50, TN31 etc…

Anyhoo as you can see the reflector is not an easy fit and I had to ask for help to make it fit. A friend helped me out there. The host I used is a TK61vn PDT, so it’s had a current bump and dedomed led. Unfortunately I damaged the led whilst screwing around with this reflector so the new led is a dedomed xml2 u2 2c.


While me mate had the light to make the extension ring I ordered 2 more reflectors. KD’s site said they were out of stock of the 85mm x 86mm reflector but had stock of 86mm x 90mm reflector. So I ordered the larger reflector and hoped I’d be able to squeeze the extra 5mm if I ever needed to replace the one with the light. As it turns out what they delivered me was exactly the same reflector (85mm x 86mm) so I had 2 direct replacements for the light :party:

The initial reflector I had was not overly shiny and me mate told me there was a 6% drop in OTF lumens once he had fitted it all together. The second lot reflectors I got seemed to have a better finish, not as good as the fenix reflector but better than the initial reflector. Below is the initial reflector, second reflector and original fenix reflector.



So me mate did a great job on the extension ring. One of the reflectors fit snugly into the ext. ring. Later I found out this helped greatly to find the best focus, as I could unscrew the ring to move the reflector away from the led yet still keep it centred.





When the light came back to me it still had a domed led. I didn’t particularly like the beam so I got out the thinners. I cheated a little, I unscrewed the head and rested the light upside down on a cap/lid filled with thinners. Saved me from removing and reflowing the led :davie:

So here’s a wall shot (no it’s not a white wall is it) of a stock tk61 vs KD reflector tk61vn. I can’t remember the distance exactly, I think it was about 5.? metres


Not really indicative is it. Here are some better shots.

Stock

Modded

As mentioned earlier I played with the focus a bit. The following shots are of moving the reflector away from the led. The tight spot with large ring is reflector hard up to the star, mid is about 1/2mm away from star and the last more than 1mm is a large hotspot with no ring but less lux . I think the mid point is my preference at this stage.

That’s about it until I get out for the all important outdoor shots. I want to make comparisons to 1 or 2 of my other lights as well. Oh, and dedome the stock tk61. I’ll try to get time within the next week…maybe…

Looks nice!!! can’t wait for the outdoor beamshots! congrats on the mod! :beer:

Thanks Alex. Looking forward to doing the outdoor shots :smiley:

I just added a link to KD at the top.

Would I be right in assuming youve labelled the first two beam pics reversed? Stock would have the smaller hotspot no?

Good job I congratulate you!

I try various settings and I could not get great results with this reflector, I hope you be successful :slight_smile:
You could measure kcd?

Ejected Filament - no, I definitely have it the right way. The stock tk61 has a well defined hotspot. See in the second shots the modded one has a ring or corona around the hotspot that I don’t consider spill as it can be focused to form part of the hotspot. I don’t know the technical term for this. Your question kinda highlights why I included the picture - wall pics, to me, seem less indicative of the beam than outdoor shots to other viewers.

Gaston01- thanks. I can measure kcd in a few weeks. Just yesterday I ordered a lux metre, so a few weeks for delivery.

That second reflector certainly looks a heck of a lot shinier than the first one. I'm real interested in what you find with the light meter with the different light measurements out the front by unscrewing the bezel. If I was a betting man i'd put my money on, nah I'm not so I'll just wait with interest. What light meter did you end up getting? Do we have a picture of this light using you patented mounting method on your pushy?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-Light-Meter-200-000-Luxmeter-Lux-FC-Meters-Luminometer-Photometer-/271549336279?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item3f399a0ad7

Haha, that would show just how adjustable that mount is. Maybe I could take the pushy out on the open road to blind a few roo’s with ma-big-spottie :bigsmile:

Hi pinkpanda3310, did you get that lux meter yet, i am very curious about what level of performance you get out of this big 86mm kaidomain reflector.

+1

The best numbers I got was 584kcd which is a little disappointing as I haven’t improved on the tk61vn at all. Pretty much all my lights rated a bit under what I was hoping for. My courui with (older) xml, dedomed, dtp, topped out at 200kcd. If I didn’t have this tk61 I would definitely do the Linus mod on the courui, that’s a fantastic idea.

Could you list the exact readings you got (and distance at which you measured) of the stock reflectored TK61vn vs stock vs KDvn?

Super interested in these numbers! :slight_smile:

+1

The tk61vn numbers I was just referencing from vin’s sale thread. Of course, each light is different and this one might not have had the same numbers to start with. I didn’t get the lux meter till after I started modding both lights.

I can change the big reflector back to original easy enough. I’ve just been reluctant to do it for fear of damaging the dedomed led again. My other tk61 is no longer stock. I’m in the midst of modding that one (and having some issues at the moment) see pic.

If I get time this weekend I’ll re-do some readings on the kd vs vn.

Nice :slight_smile: i think 584kcd is a very respectable number for the KD reflector.
But I understand you are a bit disappointed you didn’t got higher numbers than the stock TK61vn though.

Do you know at what amp you got that? Maybe you could try the coming XM-L2 U4 for a bit higher numbers.

I am of course looking to use Linus great idea for the KD reflector, & on that upwards of 600kcd is a really great improvement, if I understand things right, it is almost a doubling of what the Courui D01 can do when heavily modded + i really like how the Courui D01 looks in Linus mod with the lens hoods :slight_smile:

What is the “best” emitter for this reflector? Would the throw be better with a dedomed xp-g2 or not?

I haven’t actually tried an xpg2 in this reflector but all things being equal (current heatsink reflector dedome) the xpg will always out throw an xml.

That is a very good point, for some reason i didn’t keep in mind that you used a XM-L2 in this, with a XP-G2 it could maybe go up to about >750kcd :slight_smile: Based on similar reflector sizes, counted low & could possible go higher if run fully DD.

Do you know the amp your XM-L2 is running at?

I had a quick look at the first 2 pages of V54’s sale thread and it’s not clear what current he sets the driver to. I guess it’s around 5a?? I’ll have to take the front off the light and test it myself to know but not tonight, sorry, about to hit the sack.

I had time this arvo to measure current. With stock cell carrier and Panasonic 3400’s I got 5.5 amps. With a modded cell carrier and sony high drain cells I got 5.7 amps.