The cost will depend on what diameter the slug is. If I can use 1" copper like for the C8s cost will be about $22. If it takes the larger 1 1/4" then probly around $25.
I would consider a C12 if it was available from some other location that Lightmalls. Forgive me, but it looks like a C8 with more fins around the head…what’s it’s advantage?
Although I dont own a Light malls ultrafire C12, I thought I read that they were quite poorly made, being to thin and light weight to properly conduct heat through the entire length of the cooling fin surface area. I and several others bailed when we read the abysmal reviews. Wouldnt it be far better to select a much more capable host for such a great heat sink?
An encapsulated copper pill wont correct the problems of a poorly designed thin aluminum host that is incapable of properly transferring heat to the ambient air. If the original pill were the only problem with the C12, then that might be a good fix. But it seems that the host itself was the result of someones overzealous penny pinching ideas of saving an ounce of aluminum that should have been left in the walls to transfer heat to ALL of the cooling fins (not just the ones at the base)… IMO, another Bill Zeng failure, amongst several others. I’ll wait for others to chime in, and if I seem out of line then I apologize.
Others have mentioned that VOB’s work is outstanding, and I dont want to distract from that. It just seems that a more worthy host actually capable of taking advantage of greater heat conduction might be a far better option… just my opinion.
+1
I’d put forward the Big Head side switch aka Courui 1600 for a candidate that would benefit hugely form a custom designed copper pill.
I suspect this light will become fairly popular with the modders here and has great potential for some serious output, but the stock pill/emitter shelf really sucks!
I was thinking of contacting VOB and some other guys who have done custom copper pill runs in the past to see if someone would be up for designing and manufacturing a replacement heatsink/pill for the light.
Frankly I think it would a lot simpler to machine than a HD2010 pill as well, I envisage basically a two stage copper slug with wire holes and a threaded section that mates with the thread in the light body. No need to mount a driver or worry about extra steps to fit a battery tube either. Would require some R&D work though since it’s not a direct copy of an existing pill in a different material.
The light is very new so not too many people have one, but I suspect the vast majority of those who do have one/are getting one on this forum would be interested in a copper pill upgrade for it. I certainly would be down for at least one if not more.
Good point, but that section is fully threaded. If the copper pill is threaded nearly full length instead of being needlessly cut down in diameter the way the stock pill was (idiotic manufacturers ), then copper will be right up against a lot of the fins.
There's no reason I can see to have reduced to diameter at the driver end of the pill. It just makes an air space between the pill and the body directly under the fins.
(Playing with extensions and sleeve to use 4AA Duraloops. )
Gj, thanks for such great details and photos. Sure, the stock pill sucks in a huge way and anything would be an improvement. But I thought the largest limitation was in the thin metal used in the head and wouldnt conduct heat throughout. Conducting heat to the base will heat the base, not the entire head to the same extent due to the thin metal used. What do you think?
I build around 10-15 custom C8’s every week for resale/gifts. The only hosts I use conducts heat throughout the entire head due to the thicker metal in the head. The cheaper C8’s are just that… cheap and dont evenly conduct heat throughout the head, so they become heat soaked and overheat very quickly. A sold sterling silver 1” threaded pill wouldnt circumvent the problem because the heat would still be locked in the base and not spread evenly throughout the entire head. Heat needs surface area to transfer to the air and the metal must be of sufficient thickness to do its job. I had my eye on the C12 when it was first introduced because of the appearance of useful additional surface area for cooling. Across several threads, most people complained that the head was to thin to conduct heat throughout the entire head, which circumvented its usefulness. Also, the lightmalls C8 was said to be considerably brighter and better built than their C12.
Maybe VOB could build a C12 copper prototype and compare it to a similarly equipped C8, since he already makes copper C8 pills.
You know much more about this than I do but it seems to me if you can get most of the length of the pill separated from those large fins (for this size light) by less than ~2mm, you're doing pretty well. If you want to draw heat further forward into the head, why not put a few strips of adhesive copper tape inside? Take a piece of copper pipe, slit it open, expand and AA it to the wall?
), then copper will be right up against a lot of the fins.
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It would save 3 weeks vs me having to order one from China.
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