Some notices to DQG Tiny 26650 V3.0 (post by designer and producer: GEORGE)

There is already the PK26.

I was using my DQG tiny 26650 v3 last night for quite some time without issues .
Today , i grabbed the light , and made a long press to enter turbo , i got light for 1-2 seconds , and then nothing …

I removed the battery , and there was an awful smell .

And then opened the flashlight to see what was wrong (first time removing it’s driver) … I found the positive wire de-soldered from the driver , and the driver in this condition :

It seems it burned 2 leds also …

I’ve been wanting this light for some time……but I admit I’m hesitant based on feedback I’ve seen (since I’m in US and addressing defects or problems would not be conveniently done overseas).

Smaller triple? Oh yeah!
But will it have fiberglass PCB? That’s a serious limitation…
Titanium? For me, that’s a drawback.

How about 18350?
And XP-L2?

I find it difficult to comprehend how using a superior material is a drawback.

Virtually any reason one could name is a hunt in the wrong direction. Small is small, and it comes with it’s own limitations. Same for lightweight. The thermal issues that come from making a light small are there regardless what you make the light out of. Power and output is sacrificed out of necessity, starting at the power supply rather than the material the host is constructed of. Once that is understood, the light can be smaller and lighter in weight. That’s probably easier for me to come to grasp with because I like Titanium.

Superior in what sense?
Ti is not as good as Al for heat management.

Titanium is a far superior metal to aluminum. Strength, resistance to stains or oxidation, weight to strength ratio, and overall aesthetic dynamics. A small light can’t manage heat well, regardless of whether it’s made in Aluminum, Titanium, Copper or pure Gold. There’s just not enough mass to take large thermal content away. For a small light, with a smaller cell or absolute minimal design parameters, power needs to be applied practically. Or it will get hot. I know this because I have built hundreds of lights, in aluminum and copper and titanium. In the end, the light gets hot if too much power is applied, regardless.

Sure, aluminum can be made pretty for the initial sale. Carry it in your pocket for a few years and tell me how pretty it is. Where does all the protective coating go? How deep are the gouges and dents? None of that is a problem with a Ti light.

Ti lights can be made much thinner and yield similar or greater strength. Thinner and lighter, tougher and more elegant at the same time. If Ti isn’t your element, why are you reading and posting negatives about the use of titanium in a light? The designer want’s to make a small titanium light for those that enjoy such endeavors. I am one of those, apparently some of you are not.

The light in my avatar is a 10440 Titanium custom, making 800 lumens. It works quite well, I’ve had it around my neck for over 4 years now and use it all the time. It is 78mm in length, with a 20mm head diameter. Ti lights work, as well as any light that is designed well. Ti materials are more costly to work with, so on a budget level the products made with titanium may not be for everyone. They last longer, don’t corrode, and will be in use much longer than their inferior counterparts, and look good doing it. Works for me! :slight_smile:

It’s not mass but surface area that keeps a light cool (in the long run).
Good conduction to that surface area is important too.
I’m not sure how Ti (usually in an alloy) compares to Stainless Steel, but the latter is no good for heat transfer.
Noticeable difference between the S41 and the S41S for example.
You’re right about the strength benefits of Ti.
The price is also superior… :smiley:

…by the way, Dale, very nice little light in your avatar.
Never realized it’s that small.
But i guess the copper section helps keep it from getting way too hot too fast also.

Thanks, the “Texas Poker” wasn’t exactly designed to my parameters, Fred changed it when he got started building it. I wanted the exposed copper fins below the emitter shelf but in the end it was touch and go with a “high end” Photon Fanatic build and he threatened to not do it at all so it was his way or no way. I designed it based on the lines of a Leupold rifle scope, the intention was to have the lower head threaded onto the copper below the emitter shelf, the ti bezel screwed on top. Should have been fairly simple, but Fred builds complicated little lights. lol (It was his idea on the naming, not mine) I got it making 135 lumens. Built a 10mm FET driver for it to get over 1000 lumens and backed up a bit with a High CRI Nichia emitter.

So yes, copper where it counts, Ti where the usage and toughness dictates.

April 29th, 2013…

And for the record, THIS was NOT a budget undertaking!

A Ti and Cu light I built for myself for EDC, it runs on an 18500 cell powering quad XP-L W2 2B emitters and makes 3400 lumens.

It doesn’t necessarily take a lot of copper as long as it’s in the right place. This one is far more robust than need be with very thick walls in the Ti for long term durability. What I hope to gain by showing these pics is a nice DQG Tiny Ti light that can actually run with authority. :wink:

If you indeed make titanium elements smaller and thinner - yes, you can make a light that is slightly smaller. Alu has the same specific modulus, so in stiffness-limited elements you won’t save any weight. Aluminum has better specific strength, so in strenght-limited elements you will lose some weight. It is softer, so there will be more elements that you have to make heavier to avoid damage. Overall weight should be very close.
Alu has better thermal conductivity, so comparing lights of the same weight, it will cool better.
You can make titanium light of the same volume as alu one. It will be heavier and thus have better short-term cooling capacity, but worse long term. Alternatively you can made copper head and alu tube. You’ll arrive at about the same size and weight as Ti, yet superior heat dissipation.
Alu is much cheaper too.
It is indeed much less durable and I would welcome improvements here. But I do see much higher price for something that’s not much better for me a drawback.

Interesting. Because a quick search shows…

Material……… Yeild Strength (Map)…… Tensile Strength (MPa)……Elastic Modulus (GPa) …… Relative Cost

Titanium……….170………………………………240……………………………103……………………………66.4
6061 AL……….55……………………………….124……………………………69……………………………….8.7

The only place Aluminum has an advantage is in cost. (Well, thermal displacement. But you may not want a battery tube to pull heat down into the battery compartment. :wink: )

Titanium you’ve shown here is CP (commercially pure) titanium. Most popular titanium alloy is 6Al4V or TC4 (Chinese designation) titanium. Depending on the shape you’re getting (bar, sheet) the strength value changes. But roughly it’s 900 MPA (yield).
The 6061 Al is most likely T0 (as is), which is pretty much never used. The most common 6061 temper is T6. Yield strength, again depending on shape is about 276 MPa (yield). Notice this aluminium alloy is stronger than CP titanium, although density is lower.
Normally you divide strength value with density to get specific strength.

Titanium 6Al4V: 900/4.4 = 205
6061-T6: 276/2.7 = 102

So specific strength of Ti-6Al4V is about twice compared to 6061-T6 (But 7075-T6 is stronger than 6061-T6). But this only holds true for tensile strength. When bending or buckling is involved, then aluminium is likely to win from titanium.

And we’re making an awfully large assumption that most of our budget small lights are made from 6061. They are not. I’ve had quite a few show galling and pitting that 6061 will never show. Just saying. And CP may or may not be used. It’s what MBI made my HF out of, but my Texas Poker is Surgical Grade 23 (essentially 6Al4V ELI) as is my EDC Quad. Also of note, Chinese TC4 is not the equivalent of American 6Al4V, there is quite a difference. (other than Texas Lumens… Dan… I haven’t heard of a 7075 flashlight in production, certainly not in our budget realm)

At any rate, the Ti is corrosion resistant and accepts wear and tear with little to no issue. Not so with our small aluminum flashlights.

I’ve made lights from bar stock from both 6061 and 6Al4V, I prefer the Titanium myself but that is of course a personal interest. A flashlight is not a pry bar, nor is it intended to be anything other than a flashlight. Long term use in harsh conditions can be demanding, for those instances, Titanium outperforms aluminum hands down. Design of the DQG Tiny will still be up to our man here, not any of us, of course. But y’all know a few different perspectives on it now anyway. lol

Titanium is beautiful, but unless the light is designed from the ground up to only be made from titanium, it usually results in a heavy light compared to aluminum.

Also, because titanium doesn’t transfer heat as well, sometimes a titanium light will get burning hot at the head, while the rest of the light remains cool. This may be nice for keeping the battery compartment cool, but not so nice if the switch is on that burning hot head and you have to touch it to operate the light.

Regardless, I’d be very happy to buy a DQG 18650 triple titanium. I love DQG lights! :disappointed:

Thermal management can be a problem in some titanium DQG lights :smiley:

Have there been any updates on this upcoming DQG triple 18650.
+1 on high CRI option.

Question for DQG 26650 owners. I accidentally broke the 3.3 uh Inductor on my driver.
I know nothing about drivers, and there seem to be many options on Ali express.

It measures 7mm x 7mm x 4mm approx. Anybody know what kind of Inductor I should use to replace the broken one?

I hope they can make an upgraded version of the 18650 one that is more reliable. So many switch failure reports and bad thermals.