Hell yeah!
Gonna order the 98 next month, can’t wait for that!
And therein lies the majority of my qualms. I have to carry another light with me if I stop using zoomies. And another spare battery next to the one I already carry.
And then where is the definition of “better flood” ? or “better throw”?.
To me the best flood is evenly distributed. No hotspot/corona/spill transitions and no artifacts. I need the light to have no distractions for my work. I often find myself working in small quarters with infinitesimally small objects that I need to manipulate in awkward ways places where it was never intended humans to access again. Especiallly not 6”1 humans with a bit of flab 
And in those situations I have learned that the more even the light distribution is the better are my perception of depth and angles relative to each other.
About throw. To me the best throw is one without any spill! My eyes ability to clearly see details about my chosen target are much affected by the backscattered light from reflectored lights. A XML thrower at full blast being fed 5+ amps and putting out 75 + kcd is often of less actual use to me than a 1,8 amp driven XR-E behind a aspheric. And no I cannot use the spill to put perspective to the target the same way that a reflectored light can but that is the whole point isn’t it 
And then again if it is a aspheric lens in a zoomie I just slightly unfocus it to enlarge the target area.
But if “WOW” that is bright is the point then a reflectored light works best on friends because they can compare it to the maglite or other lights that they know whereas the aspheric light beam apparently seem odd and alien to them. But somehow also draw them. Go figure that one out - I haven’t
Anyhow this is not written to end the discussions about the “best light” or “best flood” or “best throw” differences between reflectored lights and apheric lights. That has been tried over and over on every light forum I’ve ever seen and it doesn’t work that way. It is merely to point out that this is what works best for me and as I wrote to TroopLevis: To each their own.
Oh and I forgot: I am SOOO disappointed with the SIPIK company! BAD COMPANY, BAD BAD BAD!
To market this without proper heat sinking. I feel so let down and I am sorry if anyone bought this light because of this thread and feel like they wasted money. I used my sipik sk68’s for years. More or less since they came out. And they never let me down, I like the design and the clip and in fact the whole package. So I was stoked when I saw the pictures on Manafont. Hoping for a complete upscaling of the 68 model to the 98 model was apparently too much to ask for so to the Sipik company all I want to say is
Sorry.
> and now the the star isn’t contacting the “pill”.
Any chance of a straight on closeup of the driver board while it’s open, or any good picture?
Been wondering what people will find when they start opening those up. I bet it varies from one to the next.
Mine arrived this morning. Based on the problems found, I hope this is different when I open it. Gonna test it out when it gets dark.
Any ideas on how to improve heat sinking? Thermal compound perhaps?
What you see there is a 18x6mm solid coper disc.
That should do it UPz
My thoughts exactly. 
Fabricate that disc yourself? Or available for purchase somewhere?
Might just as well dump the star and mount it straight on copper. You know... since it's right there...
No, UPz just likes tempting people with home made things and then saying they aren't for sale. :P
:bigsmile: Cool! I might as well do that.
I see how you still remember that lathe-born mag heatsink 
The copper disk is pretty easy to machine, no electric tools needed. The most important part is to find a correct diammetter stock bar of copper. The hole in the pill measures 18mm (17.8mm in another unit, some tolerance). Go to your hardware store and ask for a copper bar of 18mm, cut a disk using a handsaw of 6mm.
Cut to small bits on oposite sides for the wires.
Try to fit the disk in place, use sandpaper if needed. The hardest fit the better.
I’ve used a vice to push it to the place.
More pics here.
PS: Sorry for my terrible engrish english
I never see any copper bar where I live. Especially not 18mm ones. What are they for anyway? (real usage)
Lathe works.
I have multiple diammeters at work, but here can be found on hardware stores.
I read this post and the reviews and negative first impressions, and then ordered an SK98 anyway for the heck of it. I really dig my little SK68 and even the UF 3-mode clone I just got. I figure if this SK98 has high and low modes, and I’m not abusing my torch with rigorous testing and running on high all the time, maybe I’ll at least get better, larger-format performance than the SK68 even with the SK98 on low. Obviously zooming an XM-L emitter isn’t going to be the prettiest throw, but having a powerful LED zoomy in my collection seemed like a good idea if not for just the fun factor alone. In fact, I have another eBay no-name special (not a Sipik clone - different design) on the way that boasts 1400 lm. LOL. But I’ll bet that actual 300 or so lms will seem pretty bright when zoomed to throw. Some guys report the SK68 only topping out at 90lm or so, but the perceived brightness of the little rocket seems to be so much more because of the zoom function. Gimmick or not, it’s fun to have a 100 yard beam capability in a little device that fits in my front pocket.
Any feedback on my ideology? If we don’t run this SK98 on high for any length of time, can we expect it to hold together? Anyone else order one of those other 18650 zoomy things from eBay or elsewhere?
I really like my Poppas W-878! Very versatile battery configuration (26650, 18650, 3AAA) and very large flood. $16.33 at Manafont.
-Garry
Ooh, nice! Yeah I saw those, and your review. Hmmmm….
any reviews ?
I can give a simple layman review without draw measurements and photos. I just got my SK98 today, and because I have a couple loser UF red 18650s that have bunk protection circuits that don’t allow enough draw, I’ve not been able to play much with it. But I have a third red 18650 that seems to hold at a bit higher draw, and the driver in this SK98 wants to pull more voltage, which I guess is a good thing. If you read the reviews earlier in the thread that the plastic portion of the “pill” might melt within several minutes on “high” because of poorly designed heat-sinking(or lack thereof), well that may be the downfall of these lights.
That being said, mine is REALLY bright. If you own an SK68 or one of the clones, you know how they can perform and they are impressive for the size. So it’s somewhat exciting to know what a 18650 version might be capable of. I was. I don’t plan on using mine on high for any length of time, so I appreciate the mode options.
Anyway, I’ll cut to the chase - and make it simple: everything about the SK98 is BIGGER. The size, the flood, the amount of light out the front, and somewhat sadly, the size of the projected emitter zoomed out to throw. It’s huge, not a pin-point of fire like the SK68, which is shooting out far less lumens, but seems so bright because of that small diameter throw beam. The SK98 seems not to throw as far because of such a large throw spot.
But, it is bright. If you read in the thread above, there are some cool suggestions to mod the pill for sufficient heat sinking to prevent meltdown on high. The potential for cool mods to improve this light is pretty good if you mod, but not much will change the fact that you cant zoom-throw the big XM-L emitter like other LEDs.
The more experienced members here can critique my assessments freely, because I’m just learning this stuff. But I think I get it…
And welcome to the BLF. I hope you have fun here. In fact it already seems like you do.
And I do appreciate the “laymans review”. In fact it made me think I still need this light. I guess I´m easy & cheap