The brass post is the diameter of the spring, typically, and enough length that the cell cannot possibly touch the retaining ring… this post replaces the spring on the driver, and as such, you must have a spring at the switch or you’d have a battery crusher style which could be compromised by a drop, breaking contact and rendering the light unusable.
I have, on an occasion, drilled a small hole in the brass post on the underside to line up with a through hole in the driver such that a wire could be passed through from the brass post directly to the emitter for best possible current transfer…
The Miller, I am not trying to argue. I am simply saying if a pill is made correctly and the proper spring is used on the driver…. there will be no issue no matter what battery is used. Or in place of a proper spring use a brass button like Dale suggested.
The Cometa is only an example of complete failure in the areas mentioned above. Nothing was done correctly. :person_facepalming:
Took my 2 Z1’s to the lake a week ago. Wanted to see what the difference in throw would be. Here are the results:
XML2 U4 1C on the left
XPG2 S4 2B on the right (old stock)
Both are dedomed
To the naked eye, they both look to be about equal brightness. The XML obviously has a much larger die so it produces a larger “square.” But side-by-side, the lumens on the trees look to be equal.
Those trees are about 600-650 feet away according to Google Earth.
I just got back from testing my Z1 down in the ravine. Awesome!
The HXP-35 HI is about as perfect in this light as you can get. The throw is amazing when zoomed, lighting up the distance with full clarity, and there isn’t any annoying visible matrix.
When deployed in spot mode, it will easily illuminate the entire infield of a ballpark well enough to play. (I was standing at home plate)
I do love what’s coming out of this build, but you also have to realize that I have nothing to compare it to, such as the same Z1 host with an XPL HI. Besides the XHP-35 being 12V with four mini dies, I have no idea what the visual comparison and output would be between the two. Besides that, I’m impressed enough that I ordered another host last night.
Now I have to decide what to put in it.
My Z1 got an Luminus SBT-70 for the round die and it’s ensuing round hot spot. I like it, as I simply adore the way they build this emitter, but it’s not an absolute kind of light due to horrible inefficiency of this emitter. One thing I do not like is the blue rectangle from around the perimeter of the substrate. It’s normal for this light, not seen in a reflectored light (I have several) but the zoomed in image clearly shows it, even in the field.
What most impressed me most was the area that was illuminated at a long distance on zoom. Not just a small square of light moving around, but a large illuminated piece of real estate. The square shape isn’t a factor once it’s greatly enlarged. I could clearly see what was in the distance, not just a hot point of light that throws far, but unable to discern the big picture. No visible matrix or bond wires sold me. It’s easy to adapt to the squarish beam, but magnified quad matrixes and bond wires is annoying. I’m about as happy as a clam with how this light performs with the XHP-35 HI.
And you used a driver from Richard to do this?
I just ordered one from him for a 3V Buck set-up, probably have to get another now… I already have some XHP-35’s and 6 of the 26350’s. Didn’t the Z1 come with an extension tube? I forget, my box is stored and I haven’t gone to the issue of getting to it yet.