Sipik SK68 Total Overhaul -01/05 All finished

Thanks SL, both the brass sheet and brass tubing are K&S precision metals products sold online and in hardware and hobby stores. The brazing isn’t necessary, solder would do for any of this I just think of solder as a temporary connection and brazing as a permanent one.

Dude, that is pretty awesome! Take an ugly POS and make it a good light, I tried one and gave up…

A true textbook contradiction to the “You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear” adage.

Kinda passed this thread because I saw the pill fitted with coper in the “mod today” thread. Geez, even as I looked at the pics scrolling down one by one, my thoughts and anticipation of the next pic were never close. Direction it went was off by a mile from what I expected next.

Very nice work.

Great work, thanks for sharing!
:beer:

That is amazing work…especially with the makeshift lathe. So much work into a $4 host, but end result looks awesome.

A yugo with a hemi? Still a yugo. But with such a low bar to start from I wanted to see how much better it could be done. Even better would be an improved fit on the pill. I will add a foil wrap But it’s not the same as good machining. There are 18650 zoomies and 10440 aspherics but the Sipik occupies a sparse nitch.

Can’t wait to see it over a beer Buddy!

I’m around for the holidays. :beer:

Bump for some updates

Outstanding work sir. I like what you’ve done to this humble 68.

You and Steve should compare notes, I don’t make sense to him either.

Love it.... I am so going to use that copper slug idea. Me and a friend at work were just talking about a way of doing what you did with that. I can't think of a more simple way of doing it.

So far I have only switched out the emitter in my project sk68, put in a CREE XP-E2 U5 on Noctigon 16mm, changed the wiring of course. Actually gonna change them again as soon as the wire arrives.

I attempted an 8*7135 driver from Mountain but when I tried to get it seated I popped off about 3 of the 7135's. They were very, very close to the edge of the board. So I put the old board back in and set it up constant current. So for not I have to keep protected cells in it.

I have some Protected Sanyo UR14500P 840mAh cells that should be here tomorrow. I will take a current reading and see if that boosted it a bit more.

Even as it sits right now it will blister a stock 68. I actually carry it at work a good bit. It is just really easy to keep with me, and if I have to climb into a machine it does not get in the way. Always more than enough light if I need it.

But I bow to the master. But I am so using the slug... Damn fine thinking and work.

WTF :X ! have you done to a cheap SK68 man?! :!!!:

Amazing work, keep on going! :THUMBS-UP:

I’m not sure where your going removing the contacts but nice work in miniature.

XRE’s have contacts top and bottom. In fact, much of the top side is covered by copper with a narrow gap separating the +/. The + bond wires span this gap to the die. I’ll be soldering the wires to that copper. Removing the bottom side +/ pads will allow the pill to become the mcpcb.

Terry, I think sanding the 15 mm Mtn board down would be the way to go. As long as the ground rings are continuous with the vias at the edge then it will work. Part of the reason for the copper pipe though is to give me a place to solder the ground connection.

Thanks for the lesson. I was a little lost there for awhile. :+1:

I fully intend to try again after the holidays. The copper I am going to run with that. We over thought it. You took it and made it simple. Excellent thinking.

And the tail switches, even on one that I do not mod need to be changed.

I'm working tonight so I have not had a chance to take a current reading. I have a 98 with an 8*7135 in it and got 2 18650's with that order today. Suppose to be latest and greatest. I will post both as soon as time permits.

Another bumpdate. My order from Rich arrived so later this week I’ll part swap to a 15mm driver board that was part of the order.