Polishing LEDs?

B

Buck268

Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
1,864
Well, I've had the same photon II led on my keys for about 4 years now, and the led is starting to show some notable wear. I've tried to hand rub it with metal polish, but that didn't do any good.

Does anybody have any ideas on resurfacing led itself?
 
there are three types of lenses used on led's. plastic, silicone, and rarely glass. the photon should have a plastic lens. use a very fine abrasive such as silver polish, a cue tip, and lots of patience. or spend another 10 bucks.
 
Is the beam quality affected?

If it bothers you, I'd just get a new one myself. The Photon II isn't exactly a bank-breaker, and something like a polishing kit of high-grit sandpapers will probably cost more than the light itself.

Within the last year or so, they switched LEDs on the white Photons that supposedly (and reviews confirm it) doubles the output, so why not just get a new one?
 
Mothers mag & alum. polish on my finger! Its working great; why didn't I think of it earlier (after all I was using the same stuff, just on a clothe).

I might give the silver polish a whirl too, if I find any laying around. Why spend $10 if you dont need to?
 
Planterz said:
Is the beam quality affected?

If it bothers you, I'd just get a new one myself. The Photon II isn't exactly a bank-breaker, and something like a polishing kit of high-grit sandpapers will probably cost more than the light itself.

Within the last year or so, they switched LEDs on the white Photons that supposedly (and reviews confirm it) doubles the output, so why not just get a new one?
Click to expand...


No kidding, do you know any specs on it, or how the updated LED has affected the battery life? In any case, like my above post, I've found mothers alum polish on my finger is working great!
 
Planterz said:
Within the last year or so, they switched LEDs on the white Photons that supposedly (and reviews confirm it) doubles the output, so why not just get a new one?
Click to expand...

I bought one recently, it's really far better than the earlier one.

A great product.
 
hmmm, I'm going to have to dig up some reviews. This one is plenty bright enough for me, and I'd hate to sacrafice run time for uneeded brightness.
 
run time is not affected. LED efficiency is increasing by leaps and bounds, just look at the jump from luxeons to crees. The photon uses nichia, the newer nichia ce puts out double the light with the same power consumption, that means same brightness with double run time or same run time with double brightness. Of course you are correct, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I however am a flashaholic and can't help but to upgrade at every opportunity.
 
I've heard of people frosting the lens with sandpaper to smooth out the beam, but this is the first I've heard of polishing the lens. Is it making a difference to the beam, or just to the way the lens looks?
 
Well I had some scratches and disscoloration at the front of the LED, and it definately affected the output. Anyways, I did frost it with 2000 grit wetdry, which helped but after polishing it for a little while with mothers alum. polish on my finger tips it seems to be even brighter yet. I don't know if I could say polishing is better or frosting is better; though I cannot see how a frosted medium could transmit as much light as a polished one.
 
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