I was trying to say let's not ignore a small difference (2Celsius), mostly thinking on the number itself 2.6 vs 3, not the current itself 2.6A 3A. I was ironic in that post. I actually like to get the best out of everything, like AR coated lens even if I gain only 5% more light transmission, that 5% is not a standard of course, quality of the AR or single and double sided ca make a difference in gains, or even poor uncoated original can make a higher percentage gain.
Depends how you get your SinkPADs, but yes they cost something usually.
Anybody knows a website of Noctigon? Couldn’t find it.
Well sure, so they also got a manufacturing for direct copper boards? Interesting.
I also like the fact that the noctigon is easily available, and a good price, but the gold will reduce performance slightly, i’m not sure by how much though but i do hope its negligible, but it is possible the sinkpad may have a slight advantage being all copper, but i still agree that real world performance should be comparable between the two.
I thought only the solder pads were gold plated?
Either way, the results show a slight edge to the noctigon
the bottom is also gold plated, and the thermal analysis didn’t take into account the gold portion, i assume it will only make a degree or two difference, but so does the divet in the sinkpad
Didn’t notice that. Good eye.
Though if people are worried about that, they can polish the gold plating off much easier than lapping that divot out.
But if I could get two sinkpads for the price of one noctigon, I would be going for the sinkpad.
It's probably a 2-3microns thick finish (0.002-0.003mm) and hardly has an effect.
It's specified on the website and in this review.
i agree it likely has little effect, but i do keep it in mind
Oops :party: shows how much I pay attention.
One thing I disliked on the SinkPADs I got is the thickness of the electrical connections. They could do them very wide but instead they make them just these tiny copper layer lines.
Now look at Noctigon and see how wide the copper electrical connection is from the pads to the emitter.
I have to say just that would make me prefer the Noctigons if the price and other things were the same as SinkPAD.
Sure you don’t need wide electrical connection, and they do safe some little cash on material by having it thin but it does not hurt to have it nice and wide especially when XM-L is 3A emitter, some people push it even higher and reducing all resistances is a nice thing to do with high loads.
Gold plating is a nice touch too, it does not tarnish over time. Especially if you touched it just once the pure copper will tarnish fast. At least I can see that on my SinkPADs stored in a sealed bag that I’ve touched and some didn’t even have to, it does tarnish. Especially if you work with pure copper you will notice it, otherwise you might just say hey that is clean, for quite some time until starts to get darker and browny and then green haha.
How significant is the difference in thickness between Noctigon and Sinkpad?
Sinkpads seem to be substantially thicker? Will this make them better able to absorb and transfer heat? Especially considering the star is going to be sitting inside an aluminum flashlight.
Totally unmeasurable… gold is the fourth best conductor of heat (diamond, silver, copper, gold) and it is VERY thin. It’s conductivity is around 15% less than copper. Aluminum is about half that of copper.
What texaspyro said, gold is very close to copper. Right between aluminum and copper, in fact.
Thermal conductivity, Top-5 (25C, W/m-K)
Other commonly used materials in flashlights:
So your saying we should get diamond stars and pills?
How about a synthetic diamond head, does it have good emissivity (you know, for the uber rich person who has everything)?
I agree the difference would be minimal, but i would be interested in seeing it added to the thermal analysis, for thoroughness (i can be a bit OCD about thoroughness and complete data)
BTW, i now have two thoughts on M1 lumen sag, brass pill and anodized threads inside the head preventing optimum heat transfer.
Actually, you want isotopically pure carbon 12 diamond… it has twice the thermal conductivity of natural diamond.
And you can buy diamond heat spreaders. They are not all that expensive. Also, I make my own thermal paste out of diamond dust.
How would that resist shock? I mean if you drop the flashlights and it would be a pcb, 1.6mm thick?