Perhaps the design flaws of the more expensive lights run more to unnecessary difficulty of production, but I still argue that if you are going to sell a few hundred thousand lights, or even ten thousand at $10 each, it is worth putting a lot of effort into the design. A simple example is the shape of the fins. Tapered fins are more common in cheaper lights and obviously cool better, as well as being easier to make, at least in large numbers. One of the things that makes flashlights interesting to me is that even complicated shapes are cheap to make with numerical control tools, at least as long as they are axially symmetrical. I expect it will be just as easy to spot flaws in expensive lights if we get one cut in half. The lack of an effective patent system must work both ways. One makes less money from a good design, but on the other hand to get a good design a Chinese designer apparently has only to correct the flaws in an existing design and adapt it to his needs, like free software. I wonder if the designers would sell their cut in half flashlights after they are done with them.
This is precisely why Iād love to see a ānaked in-depth reviewā
If there is enough interest I will open another thread, or someone else can, I donāt mind.
I am pretty sure that we can raise funds to motivate a reputable reviewer to āsee into itā.
Iāll stick to my promise and contribute 0.05 BTC (Bitcoin), or 5 LTC (Litecoin), if this is acceptable for the reviewer.
On this thread: 15mm SK68 Nanjg 5*7135 V1.0 [final] I describe filling the gap between the pill and the thick battery tube with metal, with minimal tooling and material. It would be nice if someone with more stuff would make some rings of copper or soft aluminum and sell them.
The discussion ended up on that thread, because the ring is incompatible with using a 17 mm. driver, so building a good 15 mm. driver was by far the hardest part of the mod. There seems to be little difference between an SK-58 and an SK-68 around the bottom of the pill. I consider 1.8 A too low current to require cooling fins.
I am working on an XM-L2 Noctigon UltraOK SK-68. It is working but not finished. I have a rough heat transfer ring in place and am working on a better one. The Qlite/BLF SK-68 driver is also in preliminary form. The clone I had the XM-L2 in before, with a 17 mm. driver has a hollow pill, so I took an UltraOK for the XM-L2 and put the works from it into the other clone.
The new ring is 18 mm. diameter, 2.5 mm. wide and 15 mm. ID to fit over the driver and stacked 7135s. The driver board sticks out of its groove slightly below the pill. There is plenty of spare clearance between the ring and the IMR cell. Its 1.5 mm. thickness is more than that of the flashlight body at this point.
I used some solid core 60/40 solder that I donāt use much. If cost were no object, I would have used 99% tin solder, but that is over priced.
The light now has 8 7135s and draws about 2.5 A. Perhaps contact between the 7135s and the ring would increase the current.
The body does now feel slightly hotter than the head, which seems to be a change, as they were about equal when I tested earlier.