looking for a good value flashlight

hello
i got few months ago skyray king 7x cree L2 (white light) and it is disappointing. even 1 cheap 18650 battery can power it to full brightness. so it’s not so powerful.
i would like to know if there is any flashlight with the a good value like the convoy c8, provides about 1000lm per 17$, but at least 3000lm?
real lumen rating with powerful drivers, not like the skyray king with many leds with no decent drivers.
thanks

So just to clarify, you’re looking for 3000 real lumens for around $50?

well, if you can buy 3x1000+lm for 50$, i don’t see why 3000lm in one flashlight should cost more so yes

Does it have to be ready-to-go off the shelf, or can you do some modifications?

actually at first i thought i can modify the skyray king which has good base, 4 batteries cap, 7 xm-L2, and i like its beam so if it’s easy, just to add drivers and solder them, might be an option but if you know ready to go flashlight like this, i would love to hear about both options. i also already have 6 samsung 25R
is it easy to upgrade the skyray king?

That will be the most cost-effective option, as long as your model has enough metal in it to handle the heat.

there are lots of threads about the skyray, some people have even made custom drivers for them

just search for “SRK mod”

Supfire M6 with resistor mod.

thank you both
ok, this one is not better than the one you sent me? (which i didn’t see the current it provides)

this one will fit to my skyray king? do i require anything else except the driver?
can i get it like this?
short click:on/off, long or double click to switch modes

thank you very much for the help

The one I posted is a FET driver, so it will do as much current as your batteries can provide.

There are so many different versions of the SRK, it’s hard to know exactly what you will need to do to make it fit. Taking measurements and posting pictures could help, but someone else can give better advice. I don’t have an SRK personally.

On the UI question, I recommend that you go ask RMM what’s available. (RMM owns mtnelectronics.com) AFAIK RMM normally just flashes STAR, so that would not be available, but I still recommend that you ask RMM. Tom E made something based on STAR that was closer to what you are asking for, but definitely not exactly what you are asking for. I’m actually kind of interested in the UI you described.

The FET driver is a DD driver, it will provide more current than the 32x 7135 driver. DD = Direct Drive, completely unregulated. It still has modes, but they all just based on duty cycle reduction from the highest mode.

If you’d like to better understand the different types of drivers, take a look here: lagman - Understanding the difference between Linear, Buck, Boost and Direct Drive drivers HKJ also wrote on the subject, but I can’t find the article right now.

Oops, I forgot to mention that increasing the current to your emitters increases the chance of damaging them while they are on the stock MCPCB / star. That board is non-DTP, switching to DTP MCPCBs such as Noctigon or SinkPAD is recommended once drive current gets past a certain point.

I think you’re probably safe with the 32x 7135 driver and 7x XM-L or XM-L2 since that’s <2A each, but I don’t know for sure since the whole assembly will be getting so hot…

I just put the FET driver In a 7x SRK. You just have to file off the tabs and then pop the driver in and solder it.

You can ask Richard if he can do custom filmware for you to make the modes what you want. Bu I got the standard modes am think they are good

Single short press go to moon then single short press again goes through 7 modes. Long press from off goes to turbo. You can shuffle down modes by long press release on any mode.

I have put in a big piece of copper in my head and screwed the mcpcb to it so it’s not dtp but it’s the best that I will get without buying 7 noctigons. It’s nice and bright maby 5000l

thank you all
i think i will go with the FET driver. sounds very good

i really don’t like those types of UI. what i want is simple as something like this:
short press: on/off
long press: increasing brightness gradually(or steps if can’t be) up to the max
press+long press decreasing gradually to the minimum
all those gradually should be pretty quick but not so fast
maybe strobe(on the same brightness) by 5 fast clicks, not necessary

too much shortcuts can be confusing and i don’t like those kind of UI that force to go though different modes just to turn it off

i will contact RWM now

Sounds like you might like DrJones MokkaDRV

I have it in my Courui with a side switch, love the UI. Very intuitive and convenient, especially the two methods of turning on the Light which on my setup give either High with a short press or with a longer press straight into moonlight mode.

yes, close
i really like the short press to go on/off but from the last brightness

this is my light
http://s18.postimg.org/hmjdfe0xz/20150116_054651.jpg
http://s18.postimg.org/p52io0sav/20150116_054554.jpg
http://s18.postimg.org/5bv0924av/20150116_054531.jpg

however i tried to remove the red part, i was unable to screw it. it stock there.

The driver in question seems to be using a standard SO8-packaged FET. It’s not as ‘strong’ an FET as what’s used in the BLF driver RMM is offering. That’s probably a good thing, helps keep you from killing those non-DTP mounted LEDs. Since it’s a weak FET, it’s possible that it could burn with 7 emitters in parallel and 4 strong (high drain) cells. No big deal, I’m just mentioning that it’s possible. If it burned you could just replace it with a better one.

There are several methods for removing the driver from an SRK, and many, many posts on the topic. Here is one: Removing the Driver from a SRK..

The driver does not unscrew. It is press-fit.

Gotta be careful removing that red driver, I have the EXACT same SRK as the OP…the driver is glued in…ALOT!

thank you all
now a little problem, the mtnelectronics does not shipping to Israel.
so, he is the only one who sell those 46mm drivers?
i searched for FET driver, didn’t found anything like that

Did you contact RMM directly? RMM told you that he is unable to ship to Israel? That would be a surprise to me. http://mtnelectronics.com/internationalshipping.htm

You can just build one yourself. I’m sure OSH Park ships directly to Israel. That will get you the bare boards, then you can source all the parts and solder it together yourself. It’s not actually super difficult if you can solder a little.

Take a look at the Rufusbduck’s Oshpark Projects thread to see what drivers & related items forum members have shared. International shipping is free from OSH Park. “manufactured in the USA, and shipped for free to anywhere in the world”

EDIT: You should start by simply modifying your stock driver as described above. If you don’t like the UI, piggyback an ATtiny13A or whatever and get a better UI. All the info is available on BLF.