I finally got around to putting a cheap 14500 in my SK68 clone UltraOK ZS2 from ebay, and its pretty bright, so now I am thinking I could use a spare in case the 14500 fries the emitter, so might as well look for the best choice that comes in a SK68 clone as well as potential updates.
My first thought was one of the ebay SK68’s that advertise either a XP-G or XM-L T6, but some are saying that is going to be too floody, and I am a bit of a spot brightness guy (daylight looking around under the hood of a car fighting wash out from the indirect sunlight).
Tonight I plan to order one or two sk68 clones and maybe a couple more 14500 batteries of better quality. My idea is to see what I get stock, then consider mods depending on the ideas and if I fry one stock. I might wait til Sunday though, since nothing likely to ship before next week.
Assuming one doesn’t die, pick based on how the driver works with a 14500 cell (preferably between 1.5A to 2.0A - you could go higher but heat sinking and shedding and run times are all problematic).
Whether the pill is hollow or not, consider adding some copper filler if you do an LED upgrade. Old Lumens did some posts on using copper rounds and shot or similar material & solder to back the PCB.
The XPG2 is the best compromise between the XPE and XML options IMO . . good lumen increase at same draw with a slightly larger (more usable) spot. I have a couple XML aspherics with 18650 bodies; nice to have more capacity, but the size of even the smallest is just a LOT larger.
When you order, consider a 3 mode unless you plan a custom driver. With the 14500 it’s nice to have a lower level option. My XPG2 low is only a little less bright than the best AA single mode XPE I’ve seen, so I use high like a turbo option.
I took my UltraOK sk68 clone partially apart, so I kind of know how to do that, and I do know how to solder and have a good Weller iron, not looking forward to that level just yet. Ordering an sk68 clone is always a shot in the dark about what you get, and playing a little more with this one using a 14500 I agree 100% on the need for 3 mode, hi low off, just didn’t think about it in the excitement of gee its much brighter now.
Gotta watch the ebay ads, some say 3 mode, on, off, zoom.
So far nothing sk68 like comes with a XPG that I found, but if I can figure out the size I may order a pill or chip or whatever its called, a star I think.
Since I have more questions I am opting for a Sunday night order, unless a low auction catches my eye.
You might add some heat sink compound between the pill and the body. An other thing to compare is how thick the body is, between the pill and the fins. Adding thin copper to reduce the gap between the body and head, as suggested above, will increase the conduction both to the head and to the fins. The fins have a more effective shape than those on some lights.
The XRE PCB or star pulled by another member for me on the XPG2 was on a 16mm, calipers say 15.13 to 15.91 depending where on the ring they land. I guess the important criteria is the size of where it will mount.
Hopefully somebody will help with where to order what you need or offer to help if you want it. I was fortunate to have another member do mine. IO has them per the link below, but Illumination Supply might be able to make one up to get it faster. You many not need copper but if the pill/base it sits on is hollow (has a big hole in the middle) it would be far preferable IMO, even if you fill it.
The cheapest way is probably just to reflow the LED and fill the pill as much as possible. A new PCB doesn’t add a lot, but if you aren’t careful it gets to a point where a new light makes sense.
Some of the stars are copper, that looked like a good idea, but I guess if I change the star that means soldering the power wires. Still maybe that is less likely to mess up than soldering the emitter, plus star and emitter need to be compatible and I don’t know if they differ much.
Thinking I understand the terminology;
Pill is the metal carrier for the driver board and the star.
Star is the circuit board for the emitter.
Emitter is the actual LED chip.
Since its my EDC, not doing anything too wild until I have a couple spares.
My natural cheapness got a little weak today, started thinking about not wasting time etc and buy a SC52, but my toy want list is growing too fast to not look for at least a great deal.
Is there a reason you’re jumping from a Sipik clone all the way to a ZL SC52? There are plenty of perfectly nice 1xAA/14500 lights that cost between $15 and $40 that you could choose from.
Nothing does what the SC52 does, 280 LM out of a AA Eneloop, 500 LM out of a 14500 for a minute. Its is really well made, incredibly small, and without getting too Mary Poppins, its practically perfect in every way except cost, and it’s not crazy expensive.
I’ve looked closely at all of the 1xAA/14500 lights people have suggested, and the Xtar is fairly close, but still a clear step below and its $40.
I’m still going to play with some SK68 clones, and wait until a good deal shows up on the SC52 again, but I think it may be just too tempting to resist even factoring in a little of the time is money business.
BTW I could make a pretty long list of the special things the SC52 does, like low voltage detection on 14500’s, that lesser lights don’t have, and that adds up.
I was looking at getting a Zebralight H502D (85 CRI typical, 5000k Rebel, 170-something lumen) earlier this summer but since doing some reading I decided to wait for Armytek to bring out their Tiara line. Too bad because the 502D was tempting with such a ‘choice’ emitter.
I’m not an underwater user, so not too worried in that regard, but in no hurry to acquire, so maybe it will get sorted out before I buy.
For those who don’t follow the link, a guy bought a new SC52 and put it in a glass of water to run a high output test, water got past the lens. There are waiting on a response from Illumination Supply to return it.
