Awesome, great job! Gotta love the ingenuity of making a stinkpad, if for just making it a DTP (direct thermal path) star vs one with the pcb substrate under the emitter thermal slug
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If this doesnât fit that AA battery holder, does anybody know of a light that will fit it?
It think most 26650 lights take 4AAA holders. I usually solder a piece of copper tubing with a little disk to the holder or to the driver to make up the vertical difference. Much less capacity, but at least you get the voltage up a bit for better performance.
Thanks for your input. Yes, I will follow DBCstmâs Eagle Eye X6 triple build (35mm optic, 3 XP-Ls, and 32mm noctigon). I will order one of your FET driver boards from OSH Park (maybe 17mm FET+7135 driver, so I can use it for other lights) and figure out how to make a spacer.
BLF member âcanâ directed me to this thread and I appreciate it. Just ordered a couple of them. Back when I first got into 26650 flashlights (which is about the time I learned what a 26650 battery was ) I was torn between the TF A8 and an F13. Both were recommended here on BLF. I ended up getting the A8 (actually two of them because my wife took my first one) and it has become my favorite flashlight. Purchased both for $17 each (one on Amazon and the other Ebay) as I wasnât yet familiar with websites like GB/DX/FT etc. So for the price of one A8 I can now get two F13âs and Iâll be able to compare them. And nice to have a second 26650 light as back up.
This is one of the reasons I like my TF A8 in that it can use three different battery options (26650/18650/3xAAA). Iâm glad to know this one can do so as well. I think options are important.
This TR-A9-2 would easily fit that 3xAA Carrier from Gearbest. The Lumintop SD10 4xAA Carrier would probably fit in the TR-A9-2 also. I think the TR-A9-2 had a bad pill thermal design though. Too bad.
Got my F13 today. Wow, very nice light for the money. Thanks for the code OL!
Had a bit of a panic when I opened it up. The star clearly had XML-U2 written on it.
Closer inspection revealed that the emitter was XM-L2 after all. They must have been using up old stars. Phew!
Hmmm me thinks Iâll put a bit more solder on that positive joint.
They are good lights right off the shelf and better when they have a good copper star and a nicer driver put in. 5 amps is not unreasonable, since they transfer heat well. Glad y'all are having fun with them.
Thatâs strange⌠Got mine today too. But on the outside it says âXML-T6â - and thatâs whatâs inside - so it seems. It is only an older XML with green top, 3 bond wires and 6 stripes. On a grey star with no other text than +/- signs on it. Letâs see what the customer service has to say about thatâŚ
1 From the Deal Alert thread.
Nice build for the price. It wonât quite lock out by unscrewing the tail cap after some wear, because some aluminum shows through the anodizing on the threads. I have not opened it up.
I have to delete all my book marks to this site. Old-Lumens you just forced to buy my 6th light this month
I have read these forums for a while but never really paid attention to the âdealsâ now Iâm like sweet its under $20 I can get that one. Well buying 6 lights under $20 doesnât save me money AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I need help.
Iâm tempted to buy another one of these,the only thing holding me back is the first one I got from a earlier GB. The tail cap is very loose on the threads, it wobbles side to side when screwing on and the threads donât look like they will last long. Is this normal for the F13 or did I just get a bad example?
Now that you mention it I did note mine being a bit loose as well. The tolerances could have been a little better, certainly. Once tightened up itâs rock solid though. Given the high number of threads on there I canât see it being much of an issue anyway, as theyâre not under any great strain.