Stenlight Reflectors

[JonSidneyB]

I intended to have these reflectors out some time ago. The first batch of these reflectors had a slight flaw that we were able to fix. Before I got them fixed my father got sick then passed away. Things kind of went to a standstill and the business almost went completely under. To those that tried to contact me a month or more ago sorry for the slow replys. Taking care of my fathers affairs swamped me.

Well I am back now and the reflectors are now available.

Here is a tiny bit of information about them

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=124770&highlight=stenlight+reflectors

I have them on my website now but I have not finished typing up the discription

[JoeyS]

Hmmm... I thought this project had been scrapped altogether since you stopped carrying the stenlight on your website, Jon.
Sorry to here about your loss.

[JonSidneyB]

Nah, I didn't drop it. It just got delayed quite a bit.

Now it is time to rebuild the business. I am In hopes that I can create a few things of interest to the underground world. I have 3 projects that I would like to do but they will take time and I need to get back up on my feet first.

How have you been doing?

[JonSidneyB]

My goal on these was to make the beam wider and at the same time increase the range while also making the beam smoother. :)

I hope you will get good use out of them.

[JoeyS]

Actually, didn't mean to say that you stopped carrying the sten, just that it has been out of stock for several months... Which, under the circumstances, completely understood.
I am looking forward to installing the new reflectors. I've been using scotch tape as a diffuser since I got mine. Hopefully these will balance the beam a bit.
I'll report my experiences once we get em underground.

[JonSidneyB]

[JonSidneyB]

I understand I might have placed this in the wrong location. If I have placed this in the wrong location can the moderator move this to the right spot.

Thanks
Jon

[JoeyS]

I got a pair of these replacement reflectors in the mail today and just installed them in my stenlight. They are solid aluminum with a stippled/ orange peel texture similar to many combat flashlight reflectors. The old ones were plastic. Took me about 15 minutes to swap them out.
WOW. That's all I can say... "Caving" around the living room here, the beam is hands-down better than it was before. The old ones had a dark ring that seemed to leave the area where my next step was going to be dark. That was my only dislike of the stenlight in general (a small annoyance, really). Now the beam is a perfect wide circle of flood light with a tight central spot. The dark ring is gone.
I hope to try it underground this weekend, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to like the beam a whole lot better.

[yvonnedroms]

I received my set of reflectors and tried them out while caving in Germany Valley (WV) this past weekend. I was thrilled to see that the reflectors improved visibility significantly, mainly because the circle of light is purer and bigger, giving me more up-and-down vision as well as peripheral vision. This allowed me to see better without craning my neck or repositioning the head piece. The light also seemed to be brighter, somehow, at the same setting as I usually used. The spotlight beam is focused and reaches far. A definite improvement. Thank you, Jon!

[JonSidneyB]

This light is of a customer of mine.

It has a square inductor. The inductor is in the middle and is a square with the corners cut off. These inductors were only on the earliest of Stenlights. On the later ones the inductor is round.

When I started this I didn't realize that there were any square inductors.

What happens is the the reflecor makes contact with the square inductor before it fully seats.

In a round inductored Stenlight you have to wiggle the reflectors around a little and they will eventually drop in. No force is needed and should not be used.

With the square inductor the notch needs to be ground into the reflector where it contacts the square inductor until it will fully seat over the LEDs. Here is where it gets difficult to make these fit all square inductors. We are finding that their is a variance between square inductors. We notched several of them then found that a couple of people had to take and exacto knife or file and take off a tiny bit more metal to get it to fit.

If you are handy with tools it is not that big of an operation to get the reflector to fit the square inductor. Just don't force it into place.

I will come back afterwhile and provide installation instructions.

[JonSidneyB]

I am going to quickly make instructions on how to install these then try and improve the verbiage latter.

Please note that one of the reflectors has a flat spot on the side of its shoulder. This is important.

First unscrew the 6 screws on the face of the Stenlight. After the screws are removed a metal frame will be easily removed. Under this metal frame will be the window and a gasket. The window and gasket might be snug. Gentle prying can remove these but please do not damage the gasket. If it is damaged replacement gaskets are available. When the window and gasket is removed the stock optics should drop out easily. The optics will be in a metal plate with 2 holes in it. Stenlight calls this metal plate with the 2 holes the web.

If this is the Stenlight with the round inductor things are easier. The reflectors go in opposite of the way the optics were in the web. The reflectors go into the web bezel first. One of the reflectors will have a flat spot on the side of its shoulder. This flat spot must be placed so that it is next the reflector with out the flat spot. It may take a firm push to seat the reflectors into the web.

Now that the reflectors are loaded into the web rest the reflector bases over the leds. Do not force but move it around and it should drop into place. It can take a bit of jiggling but it will eventually drop into place.

Now place the window and gasket in place followed by the frame and replace the screws.

If you have a square inductor it is a little more difficult but doable. We had to make a notch in the reflectors for the ones with the square inductor, as it will contact the reflector before it will fully seat. There is some variance in the square inductors so it is possible that you might need to file some material off if it will not fully seat.

[paul]

Jon - are your reflectors available for shipping to the UK? If so how much shipping cost is there?

[JonSidneyB]

Hello Paul,

My website charges a flat 10.00 for international shipping no matter how big or small the order. I ship internationally using GPM

Thanks
Jon

[JoeyS]

Well I went down To Georgia yesterday for the Frick's Cave open house and tried out the new reflectors underground. Just like I expected, the beam is perfect, I kid not. I let another caver who was using his own Sten take mine and compare it side by side. He seemed impressed as well. No more dark rings from this beam, just a wider field of flood light and a central hotspot. It's deifinitely worth the cost and 15 minutes to upgrade to these, IMO.

[Mark620]

I finally put my reflectors in...wow a big difference...went caving yesterday...