BLF Kronos X6/X5 GB - Group Buy now closed.

Tks tom and emarkd, right now I’m so busy though I dont have time to do mods, the immediate “solution” was sticking it upside-down in a toilet paper roll as a holder…she doesn’t like that either, but for now when I ask her would she rather see the light, its staying :wink:

how do i post images ? I am apart of many forums and none of those ways work that i know of. Im using flicker

I have one other problem I’ve found now: the SS is sharp and the lanyard is already fraying, also the other edge along the tailcap scrapes my thumb when I hit the tailcap switch. This is one light that almost definitely needs the lanyard too, not only because of the weight but because…I dont want to ding the pretty light!! Suggestions for a non-handy guy to sand/smooth, not scratch SS edges?… :confused:

I was going to suggest a SS/Cu X5 as a true mini-me X6. Or a SS/Cu A5. Maybe a SS/Cu X5&A5 combo?

I don’t need all these lights but I want them anyway. :slight_smile:

Alex1234, in Flickr click on the picture you want to share, then in the bottom right click on the down point arrow with the underscore line under it (the download arrow), in the window that opens click View all sizes then choose the size you want to upload here, I usually use 1200x 1600 so there will be a decent size image when the viewer clicks on it to view it larger. Right click on that image then Alt+C on copy image address.
In here, when posting, use the small image of a landscape to put this address in the first line with Ctl+V, then choose 100 for the percentage, this will fit it to the viewers screen whether they are looking at it on an iphone or a 32” monitor. At the bottom, use the Ctl+V again to add the image link in the optional line, this lets them click on it to view it in a new window at the chosen size, 1200x1600 or whatever you choose.

I got my Al set in yesterday. The little X5 is so flippin fun to use I remember now why it was so difficult to turn my sample Cu X5 into a quad! :slight_smile:

I really doubt it would be a good idea to sell a completely build up triple or quad… That’s just my 2 cents, and I don’t want to cause any trouble or drama. But a triple or quad is really a different animal, people would be forced to use unprotected cells. I certainly could live with the fact that my triples aren’t that exclusive anymore and everybody and their mother could buy them from china, but I would be worried if that’s the kind of light you want to sell to everybody and their mother. I for myself wouldn’t want to be responsible for that. Again, just my 0.02 $. No offense to anyone.

edit: With that beeing said, I think it would be best to sell a kit, that people can build for theirselves, maybe just a screw-in heatsink or a host specifically for a triple.

chouster, I believe you’re onto something… I don’t really want to sell triples or quad for that reason, I can’t know if the person buying one knows how to use it properly without getting in a bind. I don’t want that on my conscience so by and large I don’t mod the triples and quads for just anyone.

A kit would make a lot of sense, but perhaps it would need to be difficult enough to force a learning curve, sort of self-educational if that’s possible? In that way it’s still not so easy that grandma could end up burning her favorite apron with it. :wink:

I made a quad Al X5 and sent it to a friend in CT that camps a lot. He’s been testing it in the field and loves it! But he had it come on in his Carhart pocket and it skeert him proper! He said it was HOT! Almost burned him, could barely get the cell out of it to let it all cool down as it was too hot to touch. Not sure how he managed to get it to come on in a pocket, something else must’ve been in there that got crunched into the recessed tail cap while bending over getting firewood or something, shoveling snow, perhaps, which is what I think is what he was doing just prior.

Care needs to be taken, to be sure.

I said it several comments back but all I want is a copper light engine piece for my stainless X6 that’s machined for a triple instead of a reflector. I don’t even want a “kit”, let me source my own driver, noctigon and optics. If we can’t get Manker on board with this as part of the group then I hope someone steps up to put together something like Nitro and others do on occasion.

But if we decide to offer a finished light instead I’ll still buy it.

+1 to both ideas. I Agree!

Hello guys!

We have allowed two weeks for those to make their purchases of the WOOD box sets. You have one more day before we release the codes to those on the standby list. So, if you have not made your purchase yet, please do so!

As far as the NON-box sets, they are now open to the standby list, and codes have been sent to you. If you wish to be added to the standby list, please let me know. If you posted previously that you wanted to be on the standby list and I missed you, please indicate that so I also put you on the list. Just let me know which post number you originally made your request. Please keep in mind that the two S/Ns on the NON-box sets are NOT likely to match..

Cheers,
kroon
(Updated in OP)

My SS/Cu set arrived yesterday afternoon. The package was packed similarly to the way already described by others, but I could find no damage, cosmetic or otherwise, other than a small tear in the felt inside the display box. I casually disassembled both lights completely, but for the drivers, and I applied lubrication to the bone-dry threads. Reassembled, I installed a cell and took the X5 for a short spin, and the doctors have told me I’ll be fine. The bandages on my eyes came off this morning, and they tell me my vision should be completely restored within a few short months. I must say I am kind of disappointed in this group buy due to all the guilt I have incurred receiving an impeccable set, a pretty and powerful pair of flashlights that I have no business owning or operating at any cost, let alone the easy and affordable amount I paid. I am not sure what I am going to do now when I need to light up tree tops three football fields away, grab the X5 or the X6. I don’t in any way mean to disparage the organizers, designers, programmer, BLF members, manfacturer, reseller or shipper, but if anyone has a solution to this, sharing your suggestions for troubleshooting this unforseen issue would be appreciated. Also, it appears I will need a larger apartment because of the increasing amount of my gratitude, which had been building since before the set arrived, there is hardly any place left to sit and now the door doesn’t close all the way.

Interesting idea and a step forward from Dales multi concurrent reflow idea. If Manker ends up marketing an SS/Al version then there might be enough units in production to make this worth their investment but it might be more likely to consider this as an Al/Cu triple option that allows for deeper cut fins since sales of a lesser expensive Al host should be much greater. Even a dedicated all Al triple host would be a step in the right direction. Until that time there’s always the option of cutting up a host and frankenmodding to you’re own spec.

Please put me on the stand by list for a non box set.

I love the cc/sc x5-x6 so much that i got the Al versions aswell. $50 i mean come on…

Been messing with my tailcaps a bit more today. I think I’m quite satisfied with them now. Here they are, with some trit for comparison:

That’s 2x 0805-sized orange emitters and a 8.2K resistor in the copper light and 2x 0805-sized blue emitters and a 12K resistor in the stainless light. I also swapped the pinkish boot into the copper. I don’t know if the orange emitters are just less efficient or if the pink boot soaks up more light, but putting the same resistor in each tailcap didn’t look very even to me.

In real life the tailcaps still look brighter than the trit because there’s more lighted surface area, but the intensity of the two is pretty close to my eyes. I’m happy with it like this, but if these lights lived on my bedside table a foot from my head I’d probably go with even lower resistor values. In other words, ymmv.

EDIT: I had a question PM’ed to me for some clarity so just to be clear, that’s 1 resistor in each tailcap, a 12K in the stainless and an 8.2K in the copper. Leave the other set of resistor pads empty; you don’t need them to get the second emitter to light up.

Two of my three SS/Cu-sets arrived yesterday and I could cry in elation!
These lights are so power- and beautiful.
Again: Thanks for all your efforts developing such a great light.

My wife laughs at me already, because I always and everywhere carry the small X5 around with me, but my children love it.

Would you please put me on the stand-by list for two more sets of them?
I have some good friends, who knew to appreciate such a nice gift.

—TK

This is an idea only toward any future group buy

Yeh, I was thinking only for group-buy participants, who would already have an account — during the group-only group buy — who could from the beginning agree that any issues get sorted out here by prearrangement first. That would screen the retailer during the first weeks or month, while it’s still a private buy.

I’m looking for a way to openly (here) address “Charlie Test” issues, before it goes to the retailer (as I hear retailers might be overwhelmed and scared off by such attention)

Sort out the sortable problems early among us. That’s after the sale — “Charlie Test” results — which we as a group of buyers could arrange to do among ourselves, since the retailers aren’t going to do that.

Once we know the results, the retailer could get heads-up before the public buy starts, like:

— “of the 200 group buy lights, twenty of the reflectors had Fred’s fingerprint on them, left index finger mostly”

or

— “of the 200 group buy lights, one in ten had the tailswitch fall out”

or such possibly useful information.

EDIT — that “Charlie Test” would be a 100 percent sample of the group-bought lights, far better than the sampling most QC uses
(Remembering
— QA is to find and fix errors immediately, by the manufacturer, during production;
— QC is after production, for the wholesaler/seller, to have an idea how many problems users will complain about; and
— CT is what happens when QC isn’t done.

So I’m suggesting future group buys formally arrange to BE the “Charlie Test” group, as a closed somewhat private thing.

Then the retailer could deal with the issues among the group buy folks — a fixed ilmited known number — and have an idea what support would cost to the later public buyers.

Benefit to us — we don’t scare the retailer, and the retailer gets a very clear idea of problems found (and which ones we can’t fix among ourselves)
————————————-

Once the retailer is selling to the general public, support and detecting parasites is on the retailer.

Anyone who bought without BLF participation, who later comes here, opens a new account, and complains/scams — won’t get our support.

Enough, off topic, just tossing the idea toward any future group buy as something to consider when setting up the announcement.

Hey Krono, please put me down for 3 SS/Cu sets, one unboxed, two boxed. thanks

You were lucky. Mine are permanently embedded in the lacquer and not going to come off without some work.