Barkuti, nice work! I bookmarked the post. We get spoiled by Hank's QC/QA on his Noctigons. KD just isn't there (yet I hope), but actually Hank has always been keeping achieving quality/reliability as best he can. I find stuff like this though in stock flashlights as well, Lumintop recently, but other brands as well. I always try to post the details of the hidden defects to make everyone aware.
Hank used to contact me occasionally if I'd be interested in a batch of reduced price rejected MCPCB's. I'd bout always buy them - the defects were such minor things they made no difference, but sure enough, they'd be marked with an X as quality rejected.
Barkuti. Thanks for the testing and info. Always appreciated!
Are planning on rerunning the 2mm test after fixing the MCPCB issues? Very curious how much peak current may have changed. It seems like the KD batch has a really low current Imax limit.
May you also remove the LED from the star and photograph the solder coverage as well? It seems there is something off… 5.1A/mm on the NM and 3.7 on the PM seems like too big of a gap IMO
It doesn’t appear to, and yes, that would be an obvious bottleneck combined with the poor flatness. I guess I assumed it was epoxy since there weren’t any mechanical fasteners… 5.1A on the NM1 also suggested the setup was at least reasonable sufficient.
Both MCPCBs were already fixed with 2000 grit sandpaper, no need to re-run.
Now, yesterday I had a @#$% day. Emitters were thermal glued to the heatsink (with Tian Mu grey). Got really mad at me trying to forcefully remove the MCPCBs from the heatsink (alcohol, turpentine, pliers, …) slightly damaging the CSLNM1 board, and literally ruining the CSLPM1 with a blow. Ended up carefully sliding a razor blade underside, this worked pretty well. Lesson learned. :((
The performance of the CSLNM1 was definitively within margin (I didn't try anything higher than 5.1A). Concerning the CSLPM1, can't really say. djozz could only measure a maximum of 7.5A in his early test, beware so. Some more formal output tests are required, imho.
I'll order some CSLPM1 from led4power for my build. I will keep the driving current definitively under 7A anyway, there's really not much to gain near the limit.
Usually we screw down the MCPCB's for testing, but you might not have the tools or experience for that? I've done a bunch of tapping holes for screw mounts, both on a test alum block and in lights, but it's usually a pain, but this way you can use the better regular thermal greases.
Although I don’t do some powerful throwers as you folks, I like to try some things.
Last weekend I picked my Convoy S2 w/ Osram KW CSLPM1.TG 2mm2 (w/ led4power driver set on 6A,SMO reflector), my EagleEye X3R w/ OSRAM KW CSLNM1.TG 1mm2 (w/ led4power driver set on 4.5A, SMO reflector) and my Convoy S2 with XP-L HI U6-3A+ (w/ 8*7135 Biscotti driver, SMO reflector).
Went outside and compared some beams! Convoy S2 vs Eagle Eye X3R vs Convoy S2+
Convoy S2 vs Convoy S2+
Convoy S2 vs Eagle Eye X3R
The beam of the KW CSLPM1.TG 2mm2 (W2) is definitely wider than the KW CSLNM1.TG 1mm2 (W1), so it doesn’t do the pencil beam. Still, it is very intense I am curious to see how it would act on a zoomable flashlight like the Odepro KL52.
Do you consider it would be a nice option?
A DTP MCPCB, also or better known as thermoelectric separation bla bla bla at the other side, is expected to show electrical conductivity between the thermal pad and the back of the board.
