mini c8

TIR is not necessary - just happened to be laying on my bench when i was messing w/ the light.

KD has small reflectors - also dealextreme and cnqualitygoods.

http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1409
http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1407
http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1381
http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1378
same as uf2011 http://dx.com/p/18mm-12mm-aluminum-textured-op-reflector-for-cree-led-emitters-4-pack-14598

lens might fit?
http://kaidomain.com/product/details.S020793

edit - you’ll need a way to prevent shorting the emitter solder joints together if you use those reflectors (plastic centering ring, spacer, etc.)

oh, and I think around 500mah is about as high as I’d go for current, and I’d stay with AAA. save the 10440 for something w/ better heatsinking.

So technically the stock driver at 510ma would push an XRE ok and I could use a copper cap for slightly increased heat sinking. All I really need to buy is a better aluminum reflector and a lense to make this a pretty cool little light that will run on a AAA battery. Right? I have an XRE 16mm star already. I really do thank you guys for your time and knowledge on this light.
Rick

yes, I think I stuck w/ stock driver

you’ll want that spacer/insulator, too

http://www.kaidomain.com/Search/SearchResult.isolator

you’re welcome, i’m glad someone else like that light.

would be great if someone would make a quality one - AA head on minimum size AAA body…

Hey Manxbuggy,

just in case you don't know - if your driver draws 510 mA from the battery, then it can't push the same current to the led.

The driver boosts up the battery voltage to 3.4V (or whatever the led needs) and therefore delivers less current to the led.

BTW, mine draws only 340 mA.

Is there a link to an ebay seller?

BIC has them for under $3. I have a couple of the C8, they're good for what they are. I can confirm the 500mA reading, it's a rather good boost driver compared to others in the same price range.

Thanks guys. You suckered me into two. They should make good hosts for mods and yes I agree with liking the C8 look.

found this by mistake on fasttech :bigsmile: ordered 6 :~

Ricky suggested I post here about his revised Mini C8, and consequently the one that he gave me. I like miniature items, especially ones that are duplicates of a known larger daily use item. This one being a carbon copy of the C8 that most of us are very familiar with, it is certainly appealing to me.

I also have no sense. No sense of propriety. So, with total disregard to values and time spent, I set out to make Ricky’s Mini C8 a better light. This meant a custom made pill was in order. :slight_smile: I started with a 1” bar of 6061, and ended up with this…

Utilizing a copper Noctigon board with an XP-G2 R5 2B emitter, I put a stock 3.04A Qlite behind it…

Here’s a look into the 18mm McGizmo reflector, glued to the Noctigon to ensure centering in this little light…

But I did something new, and I believe in so doing I made a mistake. I ran out of Arctic Alumina so I used JB Weld instead. I have been seeing some others using it with no fear of shorting or causing electrical issue, but I must have missed something….as I believe the JB Weld is acting as a resistor and limiting the output of what I intended to be a little powerhouse. The light will only pull .73A, making 217 OTF lumens with 3 modes.

217 is significantly higher than it started, for sure. And of course the tint and beam profile are very nice now too. Rick likes it, it’s pretty darn potent, so that will have to be enough for me…for now.

Gotta run, but will be back with version 2 of this little Mini C8 in a little while

Think of us also, when making the 2.0 version, i would love one or two for upgrading the c8 mini :slight_smile:

Well, I took a different route for V2. I’ve been watching Rufusbduck build his fabulous coppery inventions by stacking sheet copper and soldering the pieces together. Which made me think about this 1” wide 1/4” thick bus bar I’ve got. So, being the proud new owner of a set of digital calipers, I sat down and took measurements, wrote notes, figured out just exactly what it’d take to fit everything I needed into the Mini C8. And found that the actual heat sink by necessity would be no more than a 1/4” thick. Just not room for much else, with given dimensions of the reflector, the driver, the led board and where it had to go.

So I took the copper bar out to the shed where the drill press is, hunted my one and only bi-metal hole saw and proceeded to cut a slug out of the copper, sans the centering drill bit so there’d be no center hole. Sometimes ya just get lucky! Come to find out, the slug I cut fit nicely into the Mini C8 with minimal to no work at all! So, with this new concept of “easy” in mind, I drilled 2 holes for the lead wires with my cordless drill (miraculously got them straight and they came out just where they needed to) and instead of overcomplicating things with a recessed cup for the driver, I merely used Arctic Alumina to glue it to the copper pill…after re-flowing a Noctigon directly to the pill. Glad I chose to reflow, as the already mounted XP-G2 R5 2B (same as the V1) had quite a bit of flux and solder come out from under it when everything went liquid! (There, obviously, had been too much solder under the emitter…it was not re-flowed properly to begin with)

So with everything looking good to go, and taking test measurements this time of the driver (it pushed my test XM-L on Al star at 2.89A, looking good!) I then glued the driver to the copper pill, everything is a tight fit here, so a little light sanding on the driver board to ensure fitment.

And with everything assembled, wires connected, loose and working as a complete light engine, it tested out at 2.6A on my DMM. The difference maybe between the XM-L in my test vs the XP-G2 having a different Vf, and possibly some battery loss…remember, this is an IMR10440 so capacity is only 350mAh!

With the light fully assembled, 18mm McGizmo reflector glued to the Noctigon for centering and assembly, I’m seeing 518 OTF lumens at start-up on a fresh Efest IMR10440, 459 OTF lumens at 30 seconds. :slight_smile: It’s pulling 2.49A from the tail. And acting very much like a big light, at 89mm long with a 26mm head.

Ya just gotta love it when they practically fall together! I did some relief on the battery tube to prevent the very thick end from shorting the driver, other than that it was a pretty easy build, with the 2 holes through the 1/4” copper being the most difficult to pull off.

Room was totally dark, I used my chopped AA MiniMag Triple in ultra low mode directed at the Mini C8 to illuminate it for the picture.

Maybe off topic,but I found another mini C8 version host:

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=16497109262

It's not "mini",it's more small head C8.

DBCstm thats freaking awesome! H)

LED what type of battery is that version?

Dimensions are a bit smaller than C8, suggesting… 14500 territory?

I like how they show the a decent amount of the assembly process.

Looks like a decent amount of quality for ~$5.

No,18650.

Great work Dale. Love it! I have an R5 in the box waiting for a project. Where did you get the 18mm reflector and what are the dimensions?

and what lens did you use?

Could you please say which dimensions the perfect heatsink has?

The reflector came from IS, in their garage sale items. It’s a relic from a different age. lol, or otherwise extinct. McGizmo 18mm

I’ve used 4 of em, have 2 and 3 on the way. :slight_smile: me likey

That one looks kind of like a 502b. If so you would have plenty of power options for it because it will accept most p60 drop-ins.