http://kaidomain.com/S025087-KT02-17mm-to-20mm-Brass-Ring-Driver-Adapter-2pcs?search=adapter
Would be nice to have adapter included, but it’s not the end of the world otherwise. I think you can buy these separately.
In for two 17mm
In for 2 17mm depending on price and shipping.
Thanks for your responses.
I can confirm that the driver costs will be $30USD each. We should be able to bring this cost down slightly once we have all the upfront costs paid for with the initial order.
BLF member sidehack will be manufacturing the drivers in his facility.
So im not shortchanged through paypal fees, I will have to incorporate this into the shipping costs, at this point, doing rough calculations, im looking at $6 for as many as you can fit in a mailer in the US (since this is where they are being made and shipped from) international orders will be negotiated accordingly. For any members in New Zealand, I can have them ship to my address to save on shipping costs and I will forward them on.
Since it will take a while to fill in the orders and produce them, expect a few months before getting your driver.
The sooner we get the orders come in, the sooner we can get them out.
Once the first 50 orders are placed, we will be able to get on and start production.
Flicking through the past posts, we have a good 50 or so 17mm boards accounted for if everyone so far commits to their order.
I will message those in this thread who showed interest, we can get 20mm produced, but you might have to wait longer unless we get more orders filled for 20mm. 17mm is the priority right now, but we will be able to use the same parts on both drivers, we just need another batch of PCBs and stencils made.
Anyone who has not done so already, please send me a PM with your order and I will follow up with instructions.
Any preference with the configuration, let me know also, all drivers will have the 7070 inductor and default firmware settings, but if you want a different inductor, let me know and I will adjust the order.
Sounds good. Still need them...
For reference, what specific emitters and hosts will be a good match for this driver?
What hosts with 17mm driver slots will be a good match?
I wanted 20mm because I like the Convoy L2.
It has good thermals and it is as small as I want for 50W
Im going to use my drivers in a convoy S2+ host.
17mm is actually a bit more versatile in the sense that you can use the ring adaptor and use it in larger hosts if necessary.
Good question regarding LED’s
I had been looking at using an XHP70, but there are other multi-die LED options out there that can make maximum use of the driver’s output.
The L2 should be a good host, the bigger switch helps. Does Convoy sell driver adapters that will work? Xhp 35 high would be pretty good. Xhp 50 should work fine but probably better off using the 3v version with a cheaper driver. If you can find a reflector that fits an xhp70 it would be a pretty good choice as well.
I have a M21a with xhp70, aliexpress orange peel reflector and a 40T battery. It does pretty good, 20mm driver though. Also have a C8 with the same setup. Both lights seem like they could handle more current without much trouble.
Then there’s an S2+ with xhp50 and an S2 with xhp35 hi. The S2 is an impressive little thrower but you have to use the smaller inductor because of the shallower driver pocket. It’s currently seeing bike light duty and has been reflashed for more suitable power levels. Even with the original program and the jumpers set for full power it didn’t seem to stress the switch too hard. The temperature regulation works really good as well.
Bangood has some old Astrolux hosts, they might be pretty good if the driver cavity is deep enough. Might be worth looking into if you can find a discount code.
A quick update here, I am getting a quote for getting the tailswitches built, they will likely require some assembly as the convoy tailsiwtch will need to be soldered on to the board. We may be able to do this if we can get a bunch of the switches from convoy, but will let you know.
Other option may be to provide the boards and let the users assemble, since its much easier to solder this than the driver itself which has BGA components.
Would it also be cheaper to deliver it to AU from NZ? Interested in 1 x GXB172
People that have built the tail switch report that soldering the battery without shorting it or overheating it isn’t easy. I used a supercapacitor since the battery cannot be shipped easily to Canada and damaged one by holding it on the flat surfaces with tweezers while soldering. It’s also 402 components, building one of these will require good equipment and soldering skills.
I find if you use good batteries and springs the Convoy switch works fine.
Perhaps, but all the drivers are being produced and drop shipped from the USA.
If there is enough Aussie orders, I might be able to save a bit on shipping costs and send out a bunch from NZ, but will have a better idea when i get the shipping costs finalised.
Most of the orders currently are from the USA, Europe and South Africa and a couple from Australia.
I will forward on any NZ orders I get as one order to myself, but will know what works out cheaper soon.
I agree, Ive done a bit of 402 soldering, but if your new to it, it can be tricky i suppose.
Interesting about using a supercapacitor, ill look into whats available that fits.
The Convoy switch is fine unless you plan on running on 50W the whole time.
Whats more important is to put braid across the battery terminal springs.
Bump
Any update?
Was just about to jump back on with an update but been so busy.
Right now I have 50 orders locked in which is enough to get the production started, but not enough to ship out all the orders.
Im waiting to hear back from the manufacturer to see whats the best option moving forward.
I really need at least 50 orders of any given size before we can get things moving.
Im also considering the likes of indegogo to get enough funding to secure the first batch.
Will keep you posted.
Did this driver end up being produced in any size?
I would definitely like a couple in 17mm and perhaps 20mm also.
Any news would be appreciated.
Yes I was about to provide an update.
Sorry things have taken so long (I need this driver as badly as everyone else!)
The member who offered to help produce these has been busy and I think covid 19 hasn’t helped things either.
He is still working out costs on a tailcap board, since so many are wanting the tailcap and driver, it should secure us more orders. It has put some off buying the driver as they want the tailcap board to suit.
I would like to get over the 50 boards if possible. If we get 100 boards locked in, it will be much easier going forward.
I’m interested, if this comes to be.
What was your experience with a USA assembly company compared to something like PCBway or JLCpcb? PCBway/JLC could source components or you can send components for them to assemble. I always see that they are insanely cheap.
The prices from PCBway were more expensive than what the price was offered to me from the US member.
I can also get the price down more if we get more orders in future.