Zooming Model List (2018 Updated) Tell us about your newest zoomie!

Why are brass pills considered premium?
They can store ~10% more heat (depending on alloy) while having 3 times the weight and 30-50% lower thermal conductivity…

Not really an answer, but I don’t think they are “premium”.
But, even if they are not premium, there must be a valid reason to see almost all the flashlight manufacturers (that make flashlights with pills) to use them!
I actually would like to see direct comparisons with flashlights and their heat dissipation with alu vs brass pills.

IMHO They don’t have any advantage to aluminum pills except that you can solder MCPCB directly to it for ultimate heat transfer. Or do they really have? Anyone did tests?

I also prefer aluminum pills + artic silver(or any other quality cpu paste) combination better. Especially if they have aluminum MCPCB retaining ring like this OTR Z821 (I mean it should have from pics on their web site)

That kind of ring is used on a lot of uniquefire and other zoomies. Brinyte for example has poor plastic one but it serves its purpose to press hold mcpcb firmly to pill.

But I also don’t have nothing against brass except for the 3 times the weight you mentioned… I always strive to max throw performance in as smaller and lighter package possible.

I think that anyone with a lathe will say that it is maybe easier to work with brass (or copper as most China sellers wrongly state :smiley: ) than with aluminum which tends to bend more easily under pressure…

Looking at the various heatsink/pill materials, I did some armchair engineering tests. I have some old C8’s with screw in aluminum pills, tested a C8 with integrated shelf, and one with a brass pill. I also tested some aluminum and copper/alumimum heatsinks. From my experience, aluminum transfers heat better than brass, and moves it away from the emitter better to the flashlight body, but has lower thermal mass, so it heats up faster, bit cools off faster. Brass is much denser than aluminum and can store more heat, but is not good at moving it away from the emitter to the atmosphere. Your light heats up slower, but cools slower. Copper is denser than brass and has even better heat transfer, more in line with aluminum, so it gives the best of both metals, high heat transfer and thermal mass/capacity. Drawbacks of aluminum is you can’t solder to it like brass or copper, and you need a bigger host or more surface area to move heat around. Bottom line, if you can get copper pills, by all means do. If you can get brass over aluminum, that’s fine too. If all you have is aluminum, then that’s okay for lower power setups or smaller hosts.

I agree with you mostly there. copper is great but has some consequences. Those titanium/copper pill combos seemed about the worse setup I've had experience with. The heat just bottles up in the copper and takes long to cool down. Had a D4 (v1) like that - it's awful, burning hot almost instantly. Copper pills are ok as long as surrounded by alum, or you don't have to touch them. Something is needed to draw out the heat from the copper because it draws in the heat so efficiently.

True. Size matters too. You need a pretty stout host to take away dozens of watts of energy. A small flashlight wlike the D4 or FW3 or FW4 will heat up fast. Very short turbo and aggressive stepdown. A good example is my fet driven xhp70.2 project. Even with the computer heatsink rated for 100 watt cpu, the xhp70.2 on turbo heats it up to 140 F in about 4 minutes.

If I had to choose an ideal flashlight heatsinking material, I’d take the lead from the computer cooler industry and say copper/aluminum is very good, the best of both metals properties. Copper to soak up the heat and its thermal mass, and aluminum to move it away to the atmosphere (or your hand). Downside is copper is expensive! More expensive than brass, bronze, or aluminum.

:+1:

My vote goes to aluminum pill with retaining ring for MCPCB & Driver. That is pure perfection IMHO, and modding is the most friendly even for total beginner same as for pro(no soldering, easy repairable). Only problem is that just quite few flashlights have this kind of pill…

Zoom1 fits 21700 battery or 18650 batteries.
It uses a side-switch operation.
Uses Push-Pull for zooming (instead of rotating which is a bit common in some other zoomies)

Unfortunately, I’m not a modder so I don’t know if it can be converted to Anduril driver…

Beamshot demo of Lumintop Zoom1 from wide to focused

Not perfect, there’s still a donut in the intermediate beam but good enough. Thanks for the vid. :slight_smile:

MascaratumB

Did your OTR ever come in? Mine’s still in transit but I did find this, which worries me a bit:

http://kaidomain.com/Flashlight-DIY-and-Tools/diy-flashlight-shell-or-flashlight-host/DIY-Zoomable-LED-Flashlight-Host-116mm-x-32mm-Black

My understanding is some of the more advanced modders occasionally solder things to the pill, in which case I think brass is preferred to aluminum.

My light is already in Portugal, but it wasn’t posted to me yet! Things are taking too long in customs or “international reception” departments :person_facepalming:

I am not sure why you are worried about that light! It is not the same as the one produced and sold by OTR.
Look at the host size and you’ll see that the one from KD is longer.

I hope mine arrives in the next week(s) :person_facepalming:

What’s the largest zoomie you can get nowadays for $20-30? I was looking at the UF1504 but I haven’t seen one available for under $40ish (host from mtn is a $$ pain to ship to Canada).

I’m mainly looking for a host to try seeing if I can project a Batman logo at a long distance.

I saw this thing with a head diameter of 54mm, probably a lens diameter of 45mm or so for $16 shipped to Canada. Any better options?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000276730652.html

I’d be willing to buy an old zoomie from someone here if the price is alright but I understand the shipping to Canada usually makes it impractical.

I don’t think even advanced modders like to do this because difference is negligible. It should be tested… But what can be easier than above mentioned setup? You have retaining ring for driver, retaining ring for MCPCB, aluminum pill is 5x lighter than brass pill…

This is truly modders heaven (when we talk about single emitter, 17mm drivers/MCPCB lights). Done in 5 minutes :+1:

Convoy has zoomie light!

It is called Convoy Z1 zoomable flashlight

Looks really nice, 21700 sisze and good blacking out inside the head.
Could probably get 250kcd with an LED swap, or 500+ with a collar…

I’m waiting for someone with a Jaxman Z1 to compare the lens and pill. It seems like a good value though. Especially when you can get 375-400kcd with white flat 1mm2 Jaxman Z1 (no collar)

If you want to send me the Convoy Z1, well… :wink:
I’m joking, though I do have a spare CULNM1 to match my Jaxman Z1. I just Corona seem to find the funds for new lights right now…

FWIW though, the Jaxman measures 53mm at the head, and Simon claims a 52mm diameter on the Convoy. Not going to be much difference here. My Jaxman gets me 5500mAh with the 26650, and the Convoy should be good for 5000 with a 21700. shrug
Hopefully the lens is nice, and it will be a cheaper way to get that kind of quality in a zoomie for people.

Yeah, like Enderman said, White Flat should get you 350kcd+ without a collar. Although with the 6A driver stock, 2mm^2 may be the simpler swap. And Simon actually carries 3030 gaskets, would just need some Sharpie…

Simon follows, and Simon listens… I am sure he will make 4,5-5A driver with White flat 1mm (CSLNM1.TG)…

Flashlight looks nice, old school style but there is always but… I would really want/need freaking 25.4mm(1”) 1x18650 tube version of this light… :person_facepalming:

Freaking hell 26650 and 21700 bats… I just wish they disappear…

For a light with a head this large, I don’t mind the larger battery size. I don’t find anything using 21700/26650 to be comfortably “pocketable” though.

I don’t object to either battery form factor on any sort of principle, and I definitely see the value in 21700 since the EV market seems to be focusing some innovation on that battery size. The discharge rates on 40T and 30T are pretty impressive!