Loneoceans GXB172 Driver Group Buy

thijsco19 · January 11, 2020, 11:09am

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

id30209 · January 11, 2020, 11:10am

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

Umpi2000 · January 11, 2020, 12:15pm

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

Agro · January 11, 2020, 5:47pm

nzoomed:

skinny_tie:

I think 30 USD (~44 AUD) is too much for me since I don’t really have a plan for the driver. It doesn’t seem unreasonable for a small run of a unique product, I just can’t justify it for myself.

What kind of quantity is required to bring the unit cost down?

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?

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.

nzoomed · January 11, 2020, 10:29pm

Agro:

nzoomed:

skinny_tie:

I think 30 USD (~44 AUD) is too much for me since I don’t really have a plan for the driver. It doesn’t seem unreasonable for a small run of a unique product, I just can’t justify it for myself.

What kind of quantity is required to bring the unit cost down?

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?

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.

nzoomed · January 11, 2020, 10:35pm

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.

aswang · January 11, 2020, 10:52pm

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

nzoomed · January 11, 2020, 11:05pm

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

rngwn · January 11, 2020, 11:11pm

Any host recommendation for these drivers?

nzoomed · January 11, 2020, 11:23pm

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+

id30209 · January 11, 2020, 11:31pm

17mm in S2+
20mm in S21A

rngwn · January 11, 2020, 11:45pm

I’m just having this nagging feeling that pulling 50w out of a single 18650 might not be the greatest idea.

nzoomed · January 12, 2020, 12:01am

I dont think many people would be doing this, technically the driver can pull 50W, but with the default settings, max output is 5.5A which means just shy of 20W

Barkuti · January 12, 2020, 1:21am

Is nothing new, common as apples or donuts. Of course, use a cell with enough power delivery/continuous discharge rating, namely if maxing out the driver's output power. A 30Q cell is just shy of this, although an acceptable or 0K choice in responsible hands. In any case, a high discharge cell is a must (Murata VTC5/VTC5A/VTC5D, Samsung 20S/25R/25S, LG HE2/HG2, Sanyo NSX, Molicel P26A/P42A…).

e1000 · January 12, 2020, 3:55am

This is going to be super unpopular, but you really need to build in extra costs for things like lost packages, returns, failed boards, shipping, etc etc etc, and don’t forget your time as well. Just my take. Still in for 4 at 17mm.

likevvii · January 12, 2020, 6:26am

In for:
1pcs 17mm
1pcs 20mm

Maybe depending on how much vertical clearance there is in my host, maybe I could swap out default inductor with the largest compatible I can find.

Super excited. I’ve wanted a crazy 1S XHP70.2 since forever!

nzoomed · January 13, 2020, 1:06am

Yes I agree, Im still trying to work out the final cost, I have to keep the balance of a fair price and not look like im doing it as a means of making profit from an open source design, but at the same time reimburse myself for labour etc.

nzoomed · January 13, 2020, 1:07am

This is what I intend to build in my convoy with this driver.
Its also a bit tempting for me to make a triple emitter UV light with this driver too.

clientequator · January 13, 2020, 5:10am

Big thank you to nzoomed for help make this group order! My gxb172 is running for past year and I am happy with it in my flashlight, always surprise to show friends the brightnest! I do not think I place order since I build some drivers before, but I recommend it for people who want to try gxb172. good luck!

Agro · January 13, 2020, 7:43am

There is nothing wrong in profiting from open source designs. Quite the opposite IMHO, when I open source something I want others to take maximum benefit from it. If it’s financial - that’s great.
Even if profit is not what drives you, bending yourself to balance at the edge of loss it is simply counterproductive. Price it fairly without forgetting about yourself and people should be happy.