I read many things about P60 drop in and i see that not only the kind of drop-in is important but also (in some case seems to be the most important thing) WHERE you buy it.
So here are the two question :
- Assuming that you use a solarforce L2 body, which drop-in would you buy between P7, XM-L T6, and MC-E to have a large amount of flood but also a good throw?
If it were me, I would get the Ultrafire 3 mode XM-L from Manafont. With a good cell it will produce a wall of light and reasonable throw. Be sure to wrap it in foil or aluminum strips to help it transfer heat to the head and body of the light.
Exactly the same here. P7 and MC-E are obsolete for me now that XM-L showed up. When it comes in neutral and warm white the MC-E will lose it's only advantage it had left vs XM-L.
An L2 style body is going to get hot quickly indoors or with summer temperatures. I've been running my L2P on high for 20 or 25 minutes at a time outdoors with temperatures of 5C or less. With these conditions it barely gets warm. I won't get away with that in the summer months of course, but in the summer I usually go to bed before it gets dark!
Let's not forget the dropin assembly itself. I suspect those could be iproved heavily. I wonder why they don't make the pill from copper. Easier to solder but will oxisize very soon. Don't know it wil have a heavy impact. Would probably help transfer heat compared to brass ones. I believe led stars are being very poorly (thermally speaking) bonded with the pill surface. There was a thread at CPF of someone doing tests on improved heatsinking and led brightness/current corellation. Very noticeable difference.