A very well engineered and clever light, the Li-14430 was a collaboration between three members of
the Candlepowerforums. Namely (CPF name that is) they are, tvodrd, DougS and Chief_Wiqqum. I
was honored as a recipient of a couple of these that I was given all necessary components as well as
build instructions. That I didn't follow the instructions and subsequently let the "magic smoke" out of a
converter (I admit to one here) is not what this page is about. Well after this light was designed and
components fabricated by the three, a new reflector hit the scene; the IMS so17xa. I happened to
receive some samples of these reflectors about the same time I was gifted with a couple do-it-yourself
kits. I felt this light was worthy of the effort of trying to incorporate the latest in photon management
devices available; the so17xa. That's what this page is about.
Above is shown the original optic choices on either side of a sectioned and cut down so17xa. The
original design called out for two heat sinks based on either a cut down NX05 or a cut down Mag AA
reflector. I modified the pedestal heat sink designed for the Mag reflector by shortening its height by
.120". I also needed to open up the reflector cavity in the head by boring and existing counter bore to a
total depth of .150" and then stepping some 60 degree chamfered counter bore cuts below this. The
so17xa was modified from an "old style" in one case and a "new style" in the first case. The old style
was easier to work with by chucking it in a special collet and then approaching from the rear with a
.560" OD reduction cut. In the cross section above, you can see this cut and the area in the reflector
where the walls got so thin that the Al reflective material deformed. The "chopped" reflector was
obtained by parting the reflector from the front lip held in the lathe. The parting line corresponds with
the deformation line seen above. The quoted dimensions are primarily here for future reference and not
necessary for a casual appreciation or understanding of this "mod".
These lights have two levels of light output and with the so17xa reflector, a very clean and useful
moderate spot beam with ample spill beyond the spot results. In the picture just above, You can see a
gold plated screw and nut that was used in clamping the heat sink and PCB prior to soldering the LED.
Two of these screws were used for clamping and then removed and the holes were used for mounting
screws in the head as the design intended.