Copper S2+ limited edition

Good points, although I think it’ll do better than 30% extra time, because the copper’s higher thermal conductivity will spread the heat more and make it comfortable to hold for longer.

For example, my Astrolux S41S gets very hot at the head, even while the tail is still cold, due to the poor thermal conductivity of stainless steel. It’s uncomfortable to hold normally at that point, because at least one finger will be touching the hot head.

My S2+ Desert Tan is comfortably warm at the tail by the time the head is uncomfortably hot, due to the better thermal conductivity of aluminium. The fact that more heat conducts rearwards buys extra time before the head finally gets too hot anyway.

I’m thinking that the copper S2+ will be more uniformly hot all over (but still safe) before the head finally gets too hot to hold, which would buy more time still before the user has to shut it down.

In short, I’m expecting to get the 30% extra from volumetric thermal capacity, plus some unknown extra percentage from the fact that copper’s higher thermal conductivity brings more of the light’s body into play, both to store heat and to dissipate it.

I’m looking forward to my chance to find out :slight_smile:

Just checked the AliExpress page: 33 orders placed, 17 units available. Not bad for 36 hours advertised only on BLF :+1:

If it only had a copper 18350 tube. If it did, I’d snatch one up in a heartbeat. :cry:

“Fresh” Cu is actually a salmon-pink. Scour some Cu under running water and see.

In seconds, it oxidises and takes on that more orangey tinge.

I’m thinking, if it’s coated, it was freshly scrubbed and then immediately coated if it’s indeed pinkish.

That’s be pretty kewl… :smiley:

Mmm, had to order one for a :-) gift. Host only, will be powered by an H1-A with a CRI90+ XHP50. For the price difference, Simon will add a requested 16mm 5050 DTP board, holster, diffuser and gift box. :LOVE:

Cheers ^:)

That may well be, but radiation will account for milliwatts only.

I have no idea what power level can be sustained with an S2+ though, is it more than a couple watts?

5-7 watts depends from air temperature.

The A6 is reverse clicky.

I replaced the stock 3/5 mode convoy driver in an aluminum S2+ with an A6 driver. It works.

I’ve paired mine with a SST-40 emitter on a DTP copper MCPCB. Rather than bypassing the tail spring, I doubled up the stock spring with a smaller phosphor bronze spring inside of it. On turbo, with a 30Q or an Aspire 18350 it is very bright and it heats up a lot, fast.

It’ll be better with a copper host, probably, but keep in mind that when it warms up, the click timing on the A6 driver gets wonky. It becomes almost impossible to reverse with a medium click, and half-clicks have to be fast, or the driver will get even more confused. Mountain electronics’ version of the driver uses better components and suffers much less from this problem.

Thanks. I’ll swap drivers and see how it goes. :wink:

Actually, convoy S2 sized light radiates 1-2 Watts at 60C (25C ambient), calculator is here:

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/radiation-heat-transfer-d_431.html

Not much,but S2 has very small surface area, on bigger lights, or lights with fins, radiation can be very significant part of cooling.

Where can I find the available options?

I love seeing all the opinions, some closer to truth and some pretty outlandish.

FWIW, pure 100% oxygen free copper is orange in it’s raw state, bright beautiful orange. So is Tellurium Copper. Don’t believe me? Cut it on the lathe and see…

The pink hue comes from handling it….a reaction to the oils in your hand.

Pretty sure SinkPAD lists their copper stars at nearly twice the thermal capacitance of their aluminum stars, not 30% better. That should be worth something, considering the source. (Al’s 210.0 W/m.K, vs Cu’s 385.0 W/m.K) At 210.0 W/m.K * 30% the result would be 273 W/m.K, obviously copper fares much much better at ~83%+ gain over Aluminum.

I have a Hoop pill waiting for this light. Triple something or other it is! :smiley:

And I also just read recently that the anodizing gives Aluminum it’s thermal emissivity, the dye to change it’s color adds nothing… it is, after all, just dye in microscopic amounts…. (Type III being better than Type II as it’s a deeper ano)

Thanks JDub, and Simon, appreciate the willingness to please. :wink:

I can’t argue with led4power’s formula’s and calculators, but I don’t spend the money on Tellurium copper for no reason, or just because it’s pretty or heavy. My lights built with heavy copper pills maintain their output in the light box for longer times. I did the C8 Trifecta on this years ago using copper heat sinks from ryansoh. It was clearly obvious how much difference the copper pill made over the aluminum one.

Let us not forget, cooling the emitters is mission critical, not keeping our delicate fingers comfy. :wink:

Might also point out that a full copper light heats up everywhere, get’s hotter in your hands AND heat’s up the cell inside a lot faster. Not necessarily a good thing, in some ways…

Edit: Not trying to be critical in any way, honestly, but I’ve built almost as many lights as led4power has posts in this forum! For the most part, extreme hot rods every one. Wow, how the time flies!

You’re right, I used the light’s volume instead of its surface area when estimating the radiated heat :person_facepalming:

I would’ve guessed for sure that convection and conduction do way more to transfer heat away. But of course it would be boring if I didn’t learn anything while being here :slight_smile:

Like I said, scour it under running water, before it gets the chance to oxidise (which happens almost instantly). It’ll be a salmon pink. Within seconds of exposure to air, it’ll have already turned that characteristic “copper color”.

It passivates almost instantly, so cutting it on a lathe, scouring it with steel wool, anything in air, and you’ll never see it in all its pink glory.

Take a slab of pc board, a Cu-bottom pan, etc., and try it.

So if something Cu is pickled and immediately coated, it can be a nice pink color.

“Within seconds…”

So when it’s spinning on the lathe and you’re cutting off the oxidized layer and watching the true nature of the metal spin around, you see it immediately, before air gets to it, under the oil, orange.

Reaction (and color-change) is almost immediate.

Maybe tinged by oil, maybe at higher heat, etc., sure, I’ll believe you when you say that’s what you see, but just try what I suggested. Take a rather large flat(ish) piece of Cu, and under running water give it a good scour. It’ll be a bright salmon-pink. I’ve seen this. As soon as you stop scouring, even under water, it’ll start turning orangey. That’s how fast the oxidation is.

Again, don’t take my word for it; try it.

Just for s&g…

“Copper just above its melting point keeps its pink color when enough light (the camera’s flash in this case) outshines the orange incandescence color.”

Hmm, and

“What you describe as pink is the actual colour of copper. The colour of a clean, solid surface of high-purity copper is typically salmon red. In your case, the appearance may be further affected by the particle size of the precipitate.”

Just sayin’…

Doesn’t convection have a bigger impact on cooling than radiation? Certainly with a slight breeze it would, but even with still air it must have a pretty big effect. Anyone know the actual number?

Convection is dominant part of cooling, otherwise flashlight would become hot much faster.