Update! Heatsink/spacer from coins? How to make a spacer for s2+?(updated with pictures!)

Sounds good. :+1:

But i would suggest to get some 20 × 20 mm copper shims.
You can find them cheap on Ebay and AliExpress and they’re available in 1 mm and 1.5 mm thickness.

I used the gold colored 10cent ones, 89% copper,5% aluminum,5%zink,1%tin

I assumed they were brass, didn’t know they had so much copper in them.
Good to know. :+1:

Yeah I thought so too, but found a page about euro coins and they use a nordic gold named mix! Seems good to me don't know! How would I know if the cooling is good or not other than it gets hot? Measure temp somehow?

Yeah, wanted it done now, since my leds came in today, so decided to make my own, and it's hard to find these spacers in europe and kaidomain don't sell any and they're expensive too, more fun to make your own rather than buying imo! Question is how good will it cool?

I checked temp with an infrared thermometer, coins vs copper spacer (from kiruba). there was almost no difference with a FET driven S2+ (XML2 U4). Could also not feel a difference while the light was in my hand (subjective).
I have not done the test with a triple or quad setup yet, but can do it once I build them.

I already made the spacers, why would I need the copper shims,to make a spacer?

I got some 2mm copper sheet aswell at home but need to buy a 20mm hole saw! Maybe stacking 2mm copper plates would be best? I'm gonna try the coins tho will see how it works!

I soldered my mcpcb straight onto the coin spacer, therefore didn’t need any copper shims. If you sand everything down you wouldn’t need them, I guess?

yeah didn't sand between them only on pill side and mcpcb side to make it smooth, might have to take them apart and sand and resolder?

I'm gonna use thermal paste between spacer and mcpcb, but couldn't get the spacer to stick to the pill itself, so have to use thermal paste there too! I see most people run the spacer loose anyways with thermal paste!

If you have sanded enough between pill/spacer and between spacer/MCPCB you’d only need a bit of thermal paste and you are good to go.

It took me 2 attempts when I soldered the spacer to the pill, forgot the flux initially. Then I soldered the MCPCB onto the spacer and forgot the LED was still on there or thought it would stay. it detached and fell into the carpet. lol
Anyway, it is all soldered together and it rocks. No thermal paste at all, which is perfect.

ok, I have some 2mm copperbplate aswell that I could hole drill out and stack, but I guess with 2mm each it would need even more heat than the coins to stick? Or do you think my coins will be ok?

So like I said I filled the top recessed part of the pill and filled the 2 holes all with soldering tin so it's all flush and sanded it smooth! Do you think this was a good or a bad idea? I mean it should give a little more surfice area for the spacer to sit on instead of the thin edges only!

Yea the proper spaces have a slightly smaller diameter on one side like 18mm so it sits inside the lip of the pill. More contact area that way.

that's why I filled it with solder, so now the top of the pill is nice and flat as wide as the pill, nice surfice for spacer to rest on, do you think the solder will cool enough?

I'm slacking better put up some pics soon too, should I just upload random pics or add some story behind it too? It just takes so long to upload pics and then write about it too, that's why I never do lol, but I understand pictures says more lol

I am not sure. I’d leave it with just the spacer and pill sitting on each other. Once tighten you will have pressure making every thing stay in place. Plus the spacer is wide so there is no side movement and the lip help keep it stable.
Build it and see how it works. If the LEDs go blue they are to hot. Either way you won’t get long run times in small light with that much power.

Yea upload pics and write a few words future modders will find the info useful especially about how you made the spacer.

Hah, no I won't get any long run times lol, should be better than 18350's tho hoping to try it tomorrow and then making some pic updates after!

doh....oh ok well guess I'll have to lol No but I'll do that for sure