first build, c8 pill, u2 cool white emitter, 2.8 ld25? driver

Ok, no pictures yet, just some questions before I get started.

The brass pill screws into my c8 perfectly, which I guess indicates I have what someone considers an original c8.

The driver did not come with a positive spring, for now, as all my cells are button tops, I’m considering trying it without, if I get a lot of mode switching, I’ll get some, unless the cells don’t reach the driver….

The pill is brass, so soldering to the negative ring should not be a problem, I’m thinking of using a micro torch to heat the brass though, ww’ll see how the iron does first, I do have access to some big ones if need be, or as I say, directly heat the brass then use the iron to complete the solder joint.

Thermal glue? I know fujik is the name banded about, along with arctic silver, but I live in England and these may be brands that are US only. Do I just need CPU thermal grease? It would be nice to just pick some up local rather than having to order and wait, but if it has to be fujik for some reason I will do.

Centering/isolation ring? One was not supplied with the pill, I’ve tried the aluminum reflector and it fits over the little square emmitter board in the centre of the 16mm disk, can I use the duct tape gasket trick? I’m thinking a layer of duct tape, then tap it out like you would a gasket on a manifold, then another layer and so on till I have a duct tape isolation disk a few mill thick to isolate the reflector from the leads and the little board, again because I don’t want to have to find, order and wait for a 20mm plastic disk before I hit the magic button. :bigsmile:

Hope someone can offer some guidance and I’ll add photo’s when I make a start.

I wouldnt heat the whole pill, soldering iron should be enough. You want to apply heat only very short so the driver components dont overheat.

Thermal glue would be better than thermal grease, because with thermal grease, the emitter might get loose when you unscrew the reflector. Arctic Silver is nothing special, can be found anywhere. Just search amazon.co.uk for "thermal glue" or "thermal adhesive". Fujik is so popular because you get a lot of it for about 7$. You can pot drivers with it, waste it as you want because there is so much of it.

I didnt use a center ring, just try to get the LED straight by eye and put something between to insulate the contacts. I used some thicker plastic foil and cut a hole in the middle. Maybe you need to use more layers (duct tape would be handy then) to get proper focus.

Spring might not be necessary, depends on the driver.. you didnt mention which you got.

+1 Thermal glue rather than grease. You could get away with Duct tape, unless the pill will get hot. Duct tape adhesive gets very soft with not much heat. Kapton tape would be good too. It only takes a thin piece to isolate, not layers. 2mil Kapton isolates. Or you could just cover the leads with thermal glue. Depends on how tight you plan on going with the reflector. You could cut an isolation disc from any thin plastic, like the lid from a cool whip style container or butter tub.

+1

Good to see you getting into the modding. If your unlucky like me you will have a few failures ahead of you that only makes you more determined. Having only started modding myself I have started collecting things like isolator discs, springs, drivers and different leds etc. Shops like IOS have these items and cost very little in the big scheme of things and when you need an item its there instead of waiting weeks. Good luck.

Thanks guys, I did wonder about the grease/glue situation and how secure the led board would end up, the current q5 in the light is definitely on grease, I popped it off with a finger nail…. Find out how that works tomorrow.

The driver is a 2.8a 3 - 4.2v 4 mode (h-m-l-strobe :~ ) ld-25 board from lck led. I paid the price of wanting all my components in one package so didn’t get the kd drivers, it is what it is.

The isolator, I’ll play with, we get through plenty of milk so a plastic disk is not unobtainable, I did think the duct tape would aid focusing (yeah, like I know what I’m on about) but at nearly 3a, heat is definitely going to be present.

I’ll.call in at napkin tomorrow and see what they have glue wise. Really don’t want to have to wait for a postal order unless its absolutely necessary.

Re the micro torch, its a tiny flame, I was more thinking of getting spots hot than the whole pill, but I’ll try the irons first, might be over thinking the heat sinking of the brass, it is very thin to be fair. It’s just better to ask than to ruin perfectly good components for want of a little research.

Cheers MRsDNF, I am thinking I need to get a parts box and start filling it with springs, common o-rings, isolation disks etc. Just wanted my boards and pill and then with the car business, forgot to go back and order the other bits.
Will a coated lense make much difference, or more to the point, is it worth stocking a few of the common sizes? More thinking of breakages here.

I’ll take one …

+1 Arctic Silver adhesive, there are some very good ebay sellers around, last lot I bought (I’m in England too!), I ordered about 3pm and it was delivered the next morning, so not too long to wait.

It’s certainly worth collecting common bits together, my last order from DX is still in it’s envelope as I’ve not needed anything yet….

Thanks for the tip Loris, I’ll have a look. Manny, it maybe worth speakung to e1320, I have no guarentee this is even going to work, never mind be happy selling it to someone else, plus for the shipping you could just get an xintd c8. This is more for my personal satisfaction/learning curve than a practical mod.

I’ve cut some isolation disk blanks, hole sawed out a piece of scrap trunking lid, 22mm and 25mm, I’ll see what works out. Nice thing is the pilot hole is just smaller than the emitter pcb (the little square bit) so I can ream it out for a good fit.

I’m getting there, slowly.

Quote, '' I have no guarentee this is even going to work, never mind be happy selling it to someone else, plus for the shipping you could just get an xintd c8. This is more for my personal satisfaction/learning curve than a practical mod''.

Excellent atitude. When all else fails try again, (I hope your not feeding anyone else but yourself), hang the expense .

Um, we have three kids, two under two, however with the introduction token, the heat sink, xm-l u2 16mm star, ld-25 driver, xm-l u2 14mm star and 3 - 12v 3mode driver worked out at £20 delivered, I can live with that.

However when I come to buy a piece of 40mm round copper bar stock for the other driver/emitter, I may have to hide the receipt, or risk being beaten to death with it.

Plus we’re on holiday start of august, then I’m taking my stepson and his mate to a huge off road site in Scotland at the end of September (its for his birthday, not my enjoyment, honest). The second build may have to wait till October/November.

Two kids under two, are they worth more on fleabay than 3 teenagers? OK dont ring the cops, I'm just joking. Copper is as you say very expensive and probably not worth the money but it does wick heat away extremely well. I bought a foot of 1 1/2 '', 38mm, copper and from memory was about $80.00 Australian. A foot of 1 1/4'', 32mm, cost $65.00. I have had fun with it though.

Well, it lights up :bigsmile: and……….

NO BLINKIES! :bigsmile:

I need to sort out an isolation disk of some sort and wait for the thermal glue I’ve ordered to arrive, hopefully tomorrow.

I’ve had time to take readings but didn’t write them down, high definitely gave 2.67a from a crap fire 3000 (i’ve nothing else with me)
Medium gave between 1.2 - 1.4a and low gave about .26a.

What I did find when I screwed it together and switched it on for 30 seconds or so on high was it dimmed down then lit up, dimmed down then lit up. I suspect this is either emitter getting warm with not being properly connected to the pill or its the crap fires unable to maintain near 3a (i’ve no other light that will push them that high, although they drive the current q5 in the c8 fine. It may also have been the reflector pushing too hard on the star, may need an o-ring/spacer to sort that out.

But, it lights up! I’m chuffed, I’ll try and get some photos tonight.

Nice work getting it going. It’s a great feeling. Pretty soon you will be building all of your lights.

I’m seeing a few blinky elimination driver swaps on the horizon :bigsmile:

Way to go, Gords! I’m proud of you!! 8)

8)

I’ve only just realised (after checking back and finding pols update) not only is this driver 3 mode. It’s supposedly no pwm.

Now to be fair, I’m not sure I actually notice pwm, but its definitely got no flicker on low modes. Just let me find a link to it….

There we go, I think I noticed that when ordering but then clean forgot when it got here. I got mine from lck-led. Fairly slow delivery (near three weeks) but well packaged.

I like it, I’ve ordered an xm-l reflector, I was not to impressed with what I saw through the xre-q5 one, although the q5 beam is awesome and very throwy, I do think with what I have spent, I’d be very near an xintd c8, but I wouldn’t have learnt anything, which is the real object here.

I do think I’ll get some of these drivers in stock, along with some kd 3a ones for when really poorly driven lights turn up….

Ah reading that link, the dimming maybe the cell dropping to 3v underload, its done a few days work already, I’ll test it all properly when the glue and reflector get here. For now I’m just pretty happy not to have a pile of ashes with a lump of brass in the middle :bigsmile:

E1320 is working up a new group buy …… I just got from E1320 5 mode UF2100 with a .0002 lumen low and 850 lumen Turbo…… Awesome !!!