CatEye Double Shot XM-L (U2-1C) Upgrade

[marpilli]

CatEye Double Shot disassembly photos...

[marpilli]

After some measuring, I calculated the XM-L star assembly was about 1mm shorter than the stack height of the previous LED. I had some .75mm sheet aluminum from another project on-hand. I traced the existing aluminum mounting plate onto the stock and trimmed it up with a dremel to fit.





I tried to get fancy by cutting out some extra room at the bottom of the mounting plates to allow for the larger gauge of wiring I was using.



Everything looked good until I put in the star for a test fit.



It became obvious the wiring wouldn't fit appropriately and I'd have to take another route because I didn't want to grind down the star any further than I already had.

[marpilli]

What to do? Drill holes!







XM-L's wired in parallel. I also put a dab of heat sink paste between each layer.

[marpilli]

Test it out and reassemble...

[marpilli]

I'll take some beam shots tonight (if my neighbors don't have their driveway light on).

I plan to use one of my previously built battery packs to power it. And, I'm tinkering around with a couple of solutions for an in-line switch that will hopefully hold the driver in the same housing as the switch.

More updates later...

[odtexas]

Very cool so far. Keep at it.
What driver are you thinking about using?

[marpilli]

odtexas, thank you. I've already purchased a few different KaiDomain 7135 drivers and I'll be using an 8x7135 (3040mA) on this dual light. The LEDs are in parallel so the max output on them is about 1500mA. Hope one of them doesn't go *poof*. If it does, the twin will follow shortly.

[marpilli]

Driver: KD 8x7135 V2 LED Driver 3040mA 17mm
I'm using the 1S4P pack I previously built.

Camera details:
Canon XTi
4 second shutter speed
F-Number F/4
ISO 100
Daylight white balance
Manual focus
18mm focal length


Before Control:



Before On (only one mode):




After Control:



After Medium:



After High:




After High & XM-L miNewt (wide angle lens) High:




Fancy schmancy test rig:

[adrenalnjunky]

Nice work!

Am I correct that the doubleshot housing doesn't have a spot for the driver? Other than that, It looks like a really nice candidate for an upgrade - built just right inside.

[mattthemuppet]

nice job, but I'd ditch those optics if I were you as that beam pattern is very ringy. Reginas fit fine (what I used for my mate's) or there's a whole host of TIR optics out there that will way outperform the stock ones.

great to see you on such a roll, what's next?!

[marpilli]

Nice work!

Am I correct that the doubleshot housing doesn't have a spot for the driver? Other than that, It looks like a really nice candidate for an upgrade - built just right inside.

Thanks!

I could have used one XML and put the driver in the other spot. But, I was itchin' to squeeze two XMLs in there. With two XMLs, I couldn't figure out a suitable way to put the driver in the housing, also.

There's a good amount of mass to the cateye housing and it appears to dissipate heat fairly well. I had both lights on high when testing and when I put everything away the miNewt was noticeably hotter than the cateye.

There's also a Cateye Triple Shot light that houses three LEDs. If I ever stumble across one of those I'll upgrade the outside two LEDs and put the driver in the middle position.

[marpilli]

nice job, but I'd ditch those optics if I were you as that beam pattern is very ringy. Reginas fit fine (what I used for my mate's) or there's a whole host of TIR optics out there that will way outperform the stock ones.

great to see you on such a roll, what's next?!

Thank you. I noticed the rings on the before and after photos. It's not too bad when mixed with the bar light. Alone, it's not the greatest.

Is there a particular model of Regina you'd recommend for this housing? With the recent trouble I've gone through to upgrade it, I'd really like to find an exact replacement.

What's next? Finish this thing up (in-line switch) and go ride at night.

[wquiles]

Thank you. I noticed the rings on the before and after photos. It's not too bad when mixed with the bar light. Alone, it's not the greatest.

Is there a particular model of Regina you'd recommend for this housing? With the recent trouble I've gone through to upgrade it, I'd really like to find an exact replacement.

What's next? Finish this thing up (in-line switch) and go ride at night.

Nicely done - good job

Will

[marpilli]

wquiles, thank you!


mattthemuppet, were you referring to the Regina C11347 reflector?

[mattthemuppet]

yep, that's the one. You'll need to drill out the hole to 7mm (I think) to fit it over the LED and then just use a few dabs of 5min epoxy or hot glue to hold it in place. It gives a very "torchy/ flashlight" pattern with a well defined spot and sharp spill cut off, so if you like a smoother beam the 10deg XM-L optics from LED-DNA are very good. It's just a matter of preference.

[marpilli]

DigiKey is worse than Amazon. They have most everything I want and the USPS 1st class postage is cheap.

I ordered two Dialight OP-015 optics and two Ledil C11347 REGINA reflectors.

I'll give each a try in pairs and then I'll mix the two and see how it looks. Should be here in a few days.

[TJWilly]

I have a triple shot pro I'd like to modify at some point. I need to do some more research.

[marpilli]

I have a triple shot pro I'd like to modify at some point. I need to do some more research.

I don't know how the tripleshot pro differs from the basic tripleshot. I did find a couple of good conversion threads on the regular tripleshot when I was searching around for doubleshot conversion ideas.

Maybe they'd be helpful.

1800 lumen Cateye tripleshot

CatEye HL-EL700RC Triple Shot - review & mod.

[TJWilly]

I don't know how the tripleshot pro differs from the basic tripleshot. I did find a couple of good conversion threads on the regular tripleshot when I was searching around for doubleshot conversion ideas.

Maybe they'd be helpful.

1800 lumen Cateye tripleshot

CatEye HL-EL700RC Triple Shot - review & mod.

I don't know all of the differences really. I know the pro went lithium, changed the switch and optics... some aesthetics... they updated the connector system using only one plug for both lamp and charger... Honestly, I would not have bought it had I run into this forum three days sooner. But at the time, I needed a decent light and I got it new for $100 at a going out of business sale. Retail was like $499 and no where near worth that with today's LED tech IMHO.

For my upgrade, I'd like to be able to use existing battery as long as I can and retain switch and three LEDs. I really like the switch it has - easy to use with full finger gloves, and the LED changes color as battery life starts to go.

The battery pack is really nicely done. The entire setup has a nice sturdy but light feel to it.

And I'd like a decent mix of throw/flood optics in there.

Where do you suggest I go with it based on that?

Thanks.

[marpilli]

TJ, I do appreciate you asking for my advice. However, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing in most cases. As I've never laid eyes on that model I really hesitate to suggest anything.

Maybe start a new thread titled "Cateye TripleShot Pro - Upgrade Suggestions?" and post up some photos of the light as it's currently built. If you're brave enough, take that thing apart and post some photos of the innards, also. There might be some good suggestions from the smarter folks around here if they can see how it's put together.

[TJWilly]

TJ, I do appreciate you asking for my advice. However, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing in most cases. As I've never laid eyes on that model I really hesitate to suggest anything.

Maybe start a new thread titled "Cateye TripleShot Pro - Upgrade Suggestions?" and post up some photos of the light as it's currently built. If you're brave enough, take that thing apart and post some photos of the innards, also. There might be some good suggestions from the smarter folks around here if they can see how it's put together.

lol.... thanks! I will do just that. It is time for my first major service on the Felt and the indie throws services in for free so it will probably be a good time to take the light apart.

By the way, this kinda turned into a hijack I did not intend on. Sorry about that!

[bobale]

Excellent work. Duble Shot is such a cool light, I wanted to own one since it came to maket, but it was always so out of my reach (cost wise). It's nice to see one of these updated with modern and powerful LEDs .

[marpilli]

By the way, this kinda turned into a hijack I did not intend on. Sorry about that!

No worries. The best threads wander around a bit.

Excellent work. Duble Shot is such a cool light, I wanted to own one since it came to maket, but it was always so out of my reach (cost wise). It's nice to see one of these updated with modern and powerful LEDs .

Thank you. I'm liking how this upgrade is going so far. The best thing is I'm using fairly "standard" stuff. So, when the next latest-and-greatest LED is produced I should be able to just buy a couple, make small modifications to them, and put them in place.

[marpilli]

I assembled my in-line switch tonight.

New bits are a Judco switch (557PB-ND), Judco rubber switch boot (513PB-ND), and a Hammond flanged project box (1551NFLBK).

Drilled out the required holes in the project box.



Thread the wires through the holes, solder up the connections, coat the solder points with liquid electrical tape. The strain reliefs are made out of LED holders and heat shrink tubing.



Gently pack everything in there. It was a tight fit.



Close it up...







I used a couple of velcro cable ties threaded through the flanges.



Mounted to the helmet. I hadn't realized I left that much spare wire between the switch and the light. Oh, well...







Hammond also makes a flanged box that's the same width and length; but, it's 5mm taller than the one I used (1551MFLBK). Although I included one in my last order, I decided to try and cram it all in the lower profile box. It's such a tight fit that I'd use the slightly deeper box if I were to rebuild it in the future.

[mattthemuppet]

that's a really neat switch/ driver box you've made, looks very professional! I think you'll probably have enough light to last you a little while now

TJ - a twin XM-L with a driver+switch in the centre (same as Troutie's) would be the best approach IMO. Simplest would be a 3A Kaidomain V2 driver with the LEDs wired in parallel (so 1.5A each) and a1S3P battery (2-3h runtime). If you want more light, then wire them in series with a buck driver (3S battery) or Lflex (2S battery), but you'd need double up the cells (6 or 4) to get the runtime. More light but more money Just don't forget to heat the light up as much as possible before you disassemble otherwise the screws might strip.