Thank you!
Thanks for offering the copper boards,great idea with pre-mounted emitters.I am curious about the function of the nickel plating on the back of the board.I would assume it's an anti-corrosive of sorts but I want to ask Calvin or Craig to be sure.I am also wondering if the nickel would affect thermal transfer,as it's W/m.k rating is 90.7 vs copper at over 400.Thanks for answers.
Hhhmm, though I do have a pretty accurate lumens/lux setup, I do lack a bench supply and the type of measuring equipment to do something like what Match has done in the past. If I do the testing, it would be purely on produced output and other somewhat limited evaluations. PPtk I thought did a pretty good job at first with the design of the SinkPAD 16 mm, then with the testing/review of the Noctigon's for IOS.
I do really want to get a bench supply and a better testing and measurement setup though, but think I'd have to retire to have time for this all, and retirement wouldn't go over well with the wifey at this point...
Sorry, didn't pick up on this thread til now...
Calvin/Craig - they look great!! Would like specs on the thickness of the boards though, and if you'll be offering them separately, if you'll have the XP-G2 pad version, and if you'll have them in 20 mm size. Thanks!!
I asked about 20mm and XP-G2 yesterday, but they haven’t responded to those questions yet…
I'm think'n I'll be sanding off that nickel on the backside... The thermal grease should be enough protection when mounted. The gold coating on the Noctigon's comes off when lightly touched with 2000 or 2500 grit sand paper, just hope the nickel is thin enough.
I’ll be sanding it off too. The nickel coating left on the star will show me the high and low points and how much farther I need to go to make it perfectly flat… just like auto-body work.
+1 - exactly. Just wish these budget pill tops were somewhat flat. Sometimes I go through the 6-8 levels of sanding, then notice the pill top is total crap, and the star is spinning on a center pt, teeter-tottering, or has an inverted top - dont have the tools and/or know-how to do that kind of leveling...
I received the sample today. I’ll do a test similar to what Match has done in the past. I doubt it will be directly comparable in values though, just the curve. I’ll also do some more invasive tests (lapping, remove emitter, dimensions, macro shots, etc). Edit: I have a bench supply for up to 6A, which should be adequate. Emitter will be mounted on a 900g aluminum heatsink with a large fan on the back to ensure the emitter test remains as close as possible to room temperature. Match used a very large copper heatsink to accomplish the same result.
The back is nickel plated very thinly, I suspect to keep it from oxidizing. It would not take long to lap it away. There’s a very fine raised edge from the stamping process that you will want to lap down as well. I will be testing this as-is first.
Thanks for the sample Calvin. I assume based on the emitter phosphor colour that my sample is a U2 1C?
Thanks relic! Thought I noticed that raised edge from the pics also. I'm liking what I see with those "overflow" pads, whatever you call them. They look huge for the center pad. Think on the SinkPAD 16 design, the pads and overflow parts are very small - difficult to really see and use.
Also that outline for the LED will be very helpful. All those angles on a SinkPAD 16 makes it difficult to tell if the LED is still aligned properly.
Tom E good point on the outline silkscreen, it really does help confirm proper centering and alignment. My sample is perfectly aligned/centered. There is a small ‘trench’ on either side of the center thermal pad. It looks like the the center pillar is sloped away from the emitter base a bit. Once I’m done all the flux tests I’ll take the emitter off and get some close-up shots.
OK, I could not resist. I mounted the emitter on the heatsink with silver thermal compound and drove it at 700mA (matches one of Cree’s specified flux values.
- Cree XM-L2 U2 Flux at 700mA (25C) = 341 lumens
- Quick test @ 700mA: 338 lumens at start, 336 lumens after 30 seconds.
Seems close enough to spec. Almost no sag, which I would expect with it being bonded and only ~2W of power.
Not at this time. We might put up an interest thread later to gauge the market size.
The thin nickel plating should be negligible in affecting thermal transfer and can be sanded off. I've asked relic to do a test comparison with the plating intact and then sanded off.
The boards should be 1.5mm thick. Not at this time. We might put up an interest thread later to gauge the market size.
Yes that is correct.
Until the end of the week, use promo code July4 to receive a discount on all pre-order and regular Nitecore/Zebralight flashlights! (Offer does not cover bundled flashlights)
Nitecore SRT3 and SRT5 pre-orders are active. The SRT3 is set to arrive next week. The SRT5 is expected to arrive the week after.
I have completed one test of the DCB star provided by Calvin. Preliminary test results look promising.
Enjoy. I still have plenty to test, but I wanted to at least get some idea of the performance available for any potential ‘motivated shoppers’ 
All those layers are thinner than you can think of, but gold is very soft while nickel is harder even if they would be at the same thickness, the gold would go first.
Crazy good price on the ZL, and I have no money.
So torn... do I get the SRT3 or the SRT5 or the SC52W.... so many lights so little money.
SC52w, problem solved
Tempting. I already own the regular sc52, and love it. I expect this one is an XML2T6.
Warehouse/office moving in progress! Our official address is now 2564 Seaboard Ave. San Jose, CA 95131 (Google Maps) location is functional but messy still so please pardon our dust if you plan to visit in the next week or two.
Cool! Hours of operation?