Mini C8 AAA XM-L U2 Mod. XP-G2 Shots Added. 1.17.13

nice little build! I’ve used those TIRs and like them a lot, very useful beam. What diameter is the driver? V. interested in current at the emitter too.

OL - with these AA/AAA 1.5V boost drivers, tail cap current is going to be ~4x emitter current for a decent driver. So this should be putting out around (hands waving) 500mA at the emitter, give or take. I’m pretty sure >1A at the emitter from a single AA is pretty much impossible, due to physics and other stuff I don’t understand.

The driver used was 17mm in diameter. The pill is stepped to suit the insides of the flashlight body. The diameter where the driver sits was 18mm from memory which made the side walls on the pill .5mm thick. The light output from this driver doesn't set the world on fire but at the end of the day it is run from a AAA battery with a run time of 25minutes si I suppose you cant expect much more. I have another to build and will use an XP-G2 with the same driver so it will be an interesting comparrison. This may take awhile though as I'm heading to ezarc country for the land speed record attempts mid way through next month.

Hey O-L, I just received a 1-2AA/AA boosty from FastTech and so far it looks decent. At 1AA/AAA it drops off a bit, maybe around 600mA. On two cells it easily puts out 725mA. The efficiency didn’t look too bad either. Might be worth a try. I haven’t given it a full run through yet, but iitial tests look promising. It’s the best 1-2AA booster I’ve run into so far… I haven’t tried the one at I-O.

cool and fun light! Sort of O.L. style mod without the maglite+219+copper pipe to start with . Oh, and without direct drive, and with a lathe. Ok, quite different from O.L. style then. But it does have the TIR

relic38. What does the driver linked put out on one battery?

Great job on that light!

If I'm figuring right, 1.2v x 2A = 2.4w and if the emitter has a forward voltage of 3.2v then the driver is providing 750mA (2.4w÷3.2v=.75A).

Not too bad for a AAA driver, IMO. 8)

FT SKU # 1127402 , tested with a power supply, driving an XM-L:

Vin (V) Iin (A) Iout (A)
0.9 1.70 0.26
1.0 1.80 0.32
1.2 1.87 0.43
1.4 1.90 0.55
1.5 1.90 0.60
2.0 1.48 0.73
2.5 1.04 0.71
3.0 0.87 0.74

I didn’t measure emitter Voltage, but XM-L’s are below 3V when under 1A, so this is between 1W and 2W of drive. This driver appears to be between 50% and 75% efficient. IMO, not too bad.
Note: This driver does not support 10440/14500 Li-Ion. Even a LiFePO4 would be borderline (emitter current was over 2.5A DD at 3.7V!)
These are the best performing ones I’ve tried so far. When I get around to ordering from Manafont, I might throw in that other one just to check it out.

Thanks guys. We just need a 3 mode now, high, med and low with memory and it would be ideal.

XP-G2 pictures added and night shot pictures added to the first post.

Fantastic! Great work, mate. 8)

SO cool, since I’ve got my olight I3 yesterday, I’m starting to fall in love with these small form factor lights.

Very beautiful light, I’ll try to buy some

what’s the total cost of the xpg version?
Really like the ‘cuteness’ of this light with the power of the xpg,
Too bad the stock one sucks :slight_smile:

Thanks guys. Costs are. All prices are from memory but should be close.

Ebay flashlight around $3.50.

Pill 1 hr labour and $1.00 material.

IOS driver $2.80.

LedDna LED (out off stock) XP-G2 $5.50.

10 degree TIR about .75c from cant remember. Lots of stores have them

I forgot to mention that I tried the stock reflector but the hotspot was very shadowy. I did not play around with heights as the TIR was sitting there looking at me.

That’s better! XM-L’s just don’t work too hot in these tiny lights. I’ve been thinking about popping an XP-G in one since your first post. Now I’m sure. :slight_smile:

I've had time to sleep on it and I'm not sure if I have been a little un fair on the XM-L. The difference in patterns is the main reason the XP-G looks good even with the same TIR. The XM-L puts out more off a wall of light so all the light is spread around whereas the XP-G has a tight hotspot making the light shine farther away making it look far more impressive and in this size light seems to be far more suitable. At the end of the day it would depend on what you wanted to do with the light.

Ya, it all depends on your use. I have two xm-l’s and one xp-g in AA form. If I’ll be using the light outside I’ll grab the xp-g almost every time. Like you said, in this size light the xp-g seems more suitable. I just have to wait until my latest order comes in before I get started on anything new.

Such a cool little light. :beer:

I use the same Mfg & angle TIR on XM-L, XP-G and Nichia. XM-L is always going to be floody, XP-G and Nichia will be more of a spot. Does not seem to matter the die size as long as the led is centered in the TIR.

I’m trying to find a suitable TIR optic for basically a mirror of this mini C8 mod. I don’t have the mini C8 in my hands currently, so I don’t have the height measurement.

XP-G2 led on aluminum. The pill will probably be copper scraps soldered together. Same driver from Intl.

Would any of the tight angle optics from FT work?