Loneoceans GXB172 Driver Group Buy

Yeah, quite true, I think the switch would be fine in most applications.

Ive just got a quote on the boards for the tailcaps, and they come just under $1 each, so you are looking at $2 for a pair of boards for a tailcap switch.

The highest cost of the board is the components, coming in just shy of $20 per board, the total costs for production and assembly of the PCB’s is $549.

Please note that this cost of the assembled board is far cheaper than if you were to assemble it yourself. Even if we did a group buy of the PCB’s themselves, you are still looking at least $30 or more, not to mention shipping costs.
Mouser quotes me just shy of $22USD for the components to do a single driver. Then you have to buy the inductor off coilcraft which is around $4USD, so there is definitely a big saving made here.
We definitely could get the driver cost down under $30 with more orders.
As it stands, the quoted price for 100 boards stands at $2567 USD, so already is under $30USD, but im taking other factors into account, such as 15% import tax I will face upon receiving the goods.
They also charge $52USD for shipping to me.
So taking all that into account the total is $3004.
So im not out of pocket, I will have to charge extra for paypal fees on top of all of this, then there is international shipping on top of all this for each buyer, I dont imagine this to be much, and will use the most cost effective method.

The only way we will cut down costs is by making more boards.
Question is, can we fill up this first 100 orders? I dont want to be out of pocket with a whole bunch of drivers I cant sell. I think we could easily fill up 50 orders, but not sure about 100 quite yet.
Are most builders from candlepowerforums over here too, or should I start a thread over there too?

Although I am not using Reddit apparently a lot of flashlight enthusiast are. Perhaps there too?

Actually thats a good idea, there is quite a strong reddit community, either way, feel free to share this thread round and point them to it if they are interested :slight_smile:

Since I was getting 1 out of curiosity rather than for a specific need, $30 would be over my limit.

I was going to suggest revisiting your idea of bundling/kitting the components for a DIY build until I notice how incredibly small the parts are. There’s no way I could hand shoulder those parts.

:frowning:

Interested depending on price… cool!

lol this is exactly why I explored this option in the first place! Not many people have reflow ovens or stations either.
I probably can carefully solder the components alright, and have already ordered some boards, so probably will end up doing that at some point just for the exercise i guess!

The main benefit is that doing a bulk order is actually still cheaper than assembling by hand and you dont have to worry about damaging anything, testing, troubleshooting etc.
Building this driver yourself can easily cost over $40USD, by the time you take shipping for components into account.

Price per driver will definitely be around $30 +/- $1 at current quotes for 100 boards.
Will update the thread to reflect this.

Are all the components going to be quality and to loneocean’s specs precisely?

What are the UI options Going to be?

I will keep it standard spec, per loneoceans guidelines.
You can change a few options through the jumpers or tweaking values in the firmware.
If I end up having to program them all manually, I guess I can do custom settings if people request it.

Though to price is a bit high, I might be interested in 1.

I have to cut on half my requirement, 1x17mm and 1x20mm. Several FET switches board are still needed.

Can’t you run a vote for one specific UI? It’ll simplify it surely?

Post may lose a package or 2 and you’ll be the one to take the loss. Take it into account while calculating the price.

I would be, and hence why I would only go with tracked shipping.

Well most of the settings people would want to change can be done themselves with the soldering iron and shorting out the jumper pads.
the default settings will be fine for most users I would imagine. Some who want to run different voltages may need to change the firmware.

If there is a specific firmware change required, Im sure this can be done at extra cost.

Got too excited. If the price is around 30 USD, change my interest to just the 2 17mm drivers. Thanks for doing this nzoomed.

All good.
Still waiting to get more numbers of interested, so feel free to spread word around. :slight_smile:

Any host recommendation for these drivers?

Any single cell host that accepts a 17mm driver.
I expect most of us will be putting them in a convoy S2+ or similar host, as they are the most popular.

The tailcap board is also designed for the Convoy S2+