Sofirn Q8 group buy (gb closed, but try PM to Sofirn for discount)

Apply a frosted film, or get a front lens that has a slight diffusion film (eg UCLens). That should make it slightly better.

Another project piece arrived late yesterday afternoon, I now have the Sofirn Q8 and a 4 pound chunk of Aluminum that are engaged to be married soon, maybe even today! :smiley:

The marriage of 4”x3.25” 6061 bar stock to Sofirn Q8 in a private ceremony conducted by Reverend Dr. Frankendale took place this morning. The ceremony was about 3 1/2 hours, seems the 6061 had cold feet and needed some persuading.

The couple are now bonded and anxiously await the arrival of their little ones so they can begin their happy but exhausting life together…

They plan a rather large family, expecting 12 Samsung LH351D 80 CRI 5000K and 4 Cree XP-L HI V3 3A to pair up with Noctigon Quad MCPCB’s and Ledil Angie optics. Should be a rather enlightening experience. :smiley:

Wow…. that looks like the beginnings to a happy & bright future!! Best wishes to the happy couple as they anxiously await their ‘litter’ of chiren’…. :wink:

You can do gym with this big piece of Alu :slight_smile:
how much measure the Hole on the center of shelf?

Alen, the hole in the center is 14.4mm dia.

This 4” x 3.25” piece of 6061 was 4 lbs to begin with, more stock removal will be required for the emitters and then I’ll cut fins and shape it so quite a bit of weight loss will still occur.

Edit: Just mating it to the Q8 took it down to 2 lbs and 13/16. So I have a pound a 3/16 of shavings off this chunk already. lol

Maybe, but then there is absolutely no reason to buy the BLF Q8 :wink:
And I cannot compare directly.

Got some more preparation done on the Q8 41 MAG today. Some new plans have a little bit of a twist, a center reflector to add some punch down the middle. Reflector from an X5, emitter to be determined but I am pretty sure which one I’ll use. I plan to utilize the original driver with MOSFET and 7135 chip exchanged to match what I put on slave boards, so the original driver will be Master and I will have 4 slaves, the Master will run the center reflectored emitter and each of the slaves will run the 4 quad’s populated with Samsung emitters, for a total of 17 emitters. Projected output is in the 26,000 lumen range. :wink:

I know the pic here shows an HI in the middle, but that has changed. lol I will have to inset the MCPCB with the emitter in the center to allow for the deeper reflector, and I will have to cut the optics to meet the reflector but only a little, the cut curve will be where one of the 4 legs is so there will be that one sacrifice. Shouldn’t matter. The X5 reflector has an outer shelf for an o-ring that I’m thinking will catch the optic and pin it to the glass lens, so the leg won’t be missed. Will see. :wink:

Today’s work ended up with the light in this condition. Ready to inset the center board, the 4 quads should be ready to go in. I have a glass lens that fits but I’ll need to make some adjustments to the bezel as this lens is thicker than I’d planned, may still go ahead and order a UCLp for maximum throughput…

When I’m nearer to finished I’ll make aesthetic changes and cut cooling fins. :wink:

Looks amazing Dale. Nice machining on such large material on a smallish lathe. :beer:

This morning I inset the center MCPCB and reflector. I found a reflector that is a little smaller than the X5 I was going to use, this should allow me to use the 4 Ledil Angie’s on the Noctigon 33mm Quad MCPCB’s without cutting any on the optics. :slight_smile:

26mm Maxtoch copper MCPCB with XM footprint. I’ll be using a de-domed SST-40 for the center punch. :smiley: As you can see, I started to cut the remaining shelf to be ready for the boards and optics but decided to wait til I had them in hand to be sure of the depth. I COULD disassemble my D4S and check this measurement but so far I’m waiting. lol The shelf is at 10mm and the math makes me think I need 12.7mm, but I don’t know for sure so it’s wait time. The Maxtoch MCPCB and reflector required a 17.7mm depth, hence the inset.

Difficult to see in the picture but there is an AR coated glass lens in place… the lens from my BTU Shocker just happens to fit perfectly albeit a bit thicker than I’d planned. Will wait and not inset that for a perfect fit as I have sent a message to Chris to make a 95mm UCLp… :wink:

Edit: So yes, there will be 5 drivers to 5 “lights” within this one head, essentially 4 D4S lights with a modified 22mm tube light sporting a de-domed SST-40 for throw down the middle. Should be interesting to see what Sofirn’s carriers can do. 4 quads plus the one reflector, hence 41 in the name, and the MAG is a spinoff of both Magnum power and the acronym Most Audacious Guffaw, to poke fun of Giggles for the name of a flashlight. 25,000 lumens should get a pretty good gut laugh, yes?

You know this mod should have its own thread Dale. :slight_smile:

Yeah yeah yeah, simple little add on to the Q8. :stuck_out_tongue:

+1 … It really should. . :+1: . :wink:

Ready for the new tubes/carriers any time now. :slight_smile:

Today I researched the specs on the Ledil Angie and Noctigon quad MCPCB, made sure what depth I’d need between the emitter shelf and lens. Then I went out and cut the shelf to the right depth. Recessed the lens shelf in the bezel so the 2.2mm UCLp will fit properly. Then I cut fins in the bulk of the body. This is the part I really have the most trouble with on this lathe, using the parting tool. But it was being nice today so I went ahead and got the big head ready for mounting emitters. I can use a drill press I have on the back porch to do the rest of the assembly once I get the remaining pieces.

This Sofirn Q8 is all primed and ready to become a monster. :wink:

/\ … Looking good Dale, real good!! . :+1:

I would like to shape the rear of this big head down towards the Q8, but I won’t do that until it’s running and shows me how it handles heat. No need to remove cooling mass if it is going to be needed, and it may well be that even this is not enough.

I’m getting a strong feeling that the cells won’t be able to supply the power I want, especially in the carriers. I will probably have to fortify those but it remains a question as to whether or not I’ll be able to feed all these emitters.

Edit: I might have to make a new battery tube to hold 4 21700 30T’s. :slight_smile:

Dale, are you going to screw down all the mcpcb’s to assure they all make good contact to the shelf?

I don’t think so Jason, the aches and pains created thus far thoroughly convince me that drilling and tapping 10 small holes would not be in my best interest. I will use Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive and apply pressure while it cures, the lens will press down on the 5 pieces as well so I will use the lens in the mounting process and either a weight or my tabletop vice. I have the 3mm thick glass lens I can use, 95mm UCLp is on the way for the final. This should serve the purpose, will have to do.

Noctigon MCPCB’s and Optics have landed in Chicago, estimated delivery is Tuesday.

Need to get busy building the 4 Slave drivers and set that all up on the Master. Also need to drill for wires to run. About 10 hours in and plenty to do still…

Adhesive should work, but I would not trust the glass to push down equally on all the lenses/mcpcb.

This isn’t the first time I’ve done this Jason. :wink: Not even only the tenth… I’ll figure it out, usually do somehow.

The driver, well, speaks for itself I reckon…

I have the 2 screws mounted to lock the new head in place, this is the 2 screws that formally went into the reflector so it wouldn’t rotate. Working on getting the central hole drilled for the wires to run up through. I swapped the MOSFET and 7135 chip on the original Q8 driver so all drivers have the same components power wise, the original driver will supply power directly to the SST-40 in the middle via both red and black wires as usual. There are 2 14 ga positive leads that will be shared between two quads, so two of the quad boards per 14 ga positive. Then each Slave driver has an 18 ga Teflon coated lead for the negative. I used 26 ga Teflon wires for the signal leads, green to the MOSFET and orange to the 7135.

Haven’t tested it more than to ensure Anduril is working, so there’s that still to do as well…