I bought this drop in when it came out and back then it was considered the “budget choice” for those who seek a P60 triple. I was still at CPF at that time and this thing sold like crazy.
However, I was never happy with my purchase. Apart from a nice construction and ability to take up to 9V with 3xCR123s, there is nothing special or remarkable about it. The output was average at best, it was only offered in single mode, it didn’t seem quite as efficient compared to a common 2.8A single XM-L drop-in, and it didn’t fit some solarforce models correctly leaving a 1.5mm gap.
So a year later with practically zero real use I decided to take it apart and see how can I mod it, BLF way.
This drop-in is made of BRASS, I don’t know if there is any advantage over aluminium, but hey it looks like copper and lot of people got fooled by thinking it has excellent heat transfer.
Taking off the front retaining ring we get this:
Very thin aluminium mcpcb screwed down to a solid aluminium 20x7.6mm pill with paste in between. The optic looks like a carclo but it says “BICOM” on it.
Close-up of the driver. A 16mm contact board soldered to a 17mm retaining ring, with a main 16mm driver on top. Neat idea, no need to solder directly to the shell. This is a single mode, 3-9v buck driver.
Driver room is 17x12mm, plenty of space.
Inside of the pill.
As of now I have absolutely no idea of what to put in it. I was thinking of triple nichia with a 12x7135 driver, sanded down to 16mm and use the adapter ring to retain a cleaner look. Or go hot rod with an DD triple XP-L setup. What do you think?
