Hello Mr. Zang,
Do you have any updates for us? Please reply.
+1
I recall one recent response from Bill was he needed about 10 days to get the PCB done. That was early last week. Sorry FlashPilot, I forgot about that in my email earlier today.
I am still going to ask for an update, just to stay in the loop.
I’m still holding out hope that this turns out well 
UPDATE: Bill just got back to me and has been very busy. While 4A doesnt seem possible in a 17mm driver, we will see what the maximum current might be in a boost driver of that size. Im hopeful for at least 3.5A, but we wont know till Bill regroups with his engineering team.
For now, only the 629 MCU would be available, so only basic mode groups for now. Relic pressed for the 675 but it is not available to their manufacturing team. Relic says they can be swapped by the user with reflow/soldering skills, so there is still some hope for those that want fully programmable modes (as mentioned above).
If we can at least get a 17mm boost driver available to the masses, there will be further interests in physically larger and more powerful boost drivers in the future.
Relic: email headed your way…
interested
This is a very nice project with great looking targets. I’d really love to see it come to fruition as Relic has been playing it out. I’ve recently tried my first ramping driver and have to say that it’s frustrating. It goes through too fast, I can’t get the modes set, and have a nice lo and double Hi that I can’t seem to get changed. The whole idea of a ramping set is great, but it’s got to be actually usable or it’s pointless. I now have a much simpler driver coming to replace the ramping driver. First time ever to do a driver mod and I’m already, in less than a week, swapping it out.
If this can be done the way y’all are going about it, I’d love in! The 17mm board is great, the Amperage level is just what I’m trying to achieve (in fact, just today I ordered 7135 chips to be able to take the new driver from 3.04 to 4.1A, also a first if I do that)
Best of luck in getting this done, would love a shot at 3 or 4 of these myself.
Thanks FlashPilot for getting in touch with Bill. I got the email.
basically, the compromises are significant. I will respond to Bill asking for clarification on the memory restrictions and the output power limit.
I do understand what he means by 4A is too much for a 17mm board. There is no space for the larger components. A two-piece board would be needed, but I’m afraid it would price us out of a budget board. I may ask him to drop down to 3.5A, 3.2A should be doable.
A larger board would make it not popular enough to consider.
I have replied to Bill, let’s see if he is OK with 3.5A… even 3A is quite good (my absolute minimum for this project) when you consider it would be delivered at any Li-Ion battery voltage from 3.0V to 4.2V. A linear driver would drop out much earlier, especially on XM-L2.
Thanks Relic, I received your reply & Im glad to help out wherever I can. Im pleased that Bill hasnt given up on us yet and continues to challenge his engineers. It is a bit disheartening to discover that the assumed target of 4A is no longer possible. I agree that anything above 3A will be very useable to the masses, especially when boosted all the way down to 3.0V.
If this doesnt materialize, we’ll be approaching other Chinese flashlight manufacturers (and others) to see what their engineers can do for us. Since Bill continues to respond and is attempting to make strives, we’ll give him and his team the first crack at this market.
Bill, thank you for staying with us. We are very pleased with all of your efforts in trying to make this driver a reality. It may be difficult for you to comprehend the potential sales volumes that may await you - if you succeed in bringing this driver to market at an affordable price. Please be assured that it will completely revolutionize the single cell budget flashlight.
The proposal at this time:
3.5A
Boost down to 3.0V
17mm
629 MCU
Modes: 100–25–2%–20mA with memory
We look forward to assisting you again very soon.
I am so ready to buy one! even if its 3.5a!
One??? 
Oh, I see; you mean one for each light you have. 
I may be lynched for saying this, but i prefer 3.0 to 3.5 amps
It's a witch ! Burn it !
Also in for at least one of these!
Where is the rope?? Somebody, get the rope. Ill hold him down!
Nah… just kidding…
If you prefer 3A. Why dont you just buy this and be happy?
The need for boost seem to be at 3,5 amps when using typical protected cells. Maybe even more need for boost with cooper star.
4A+ combined with cooper star is where you really need boost with a single cell.
I have a feeling that this driver will not be that awesome if its “only” 3,5A max. 4A would be sooo much better in my opinion.
I noticed that Fasttech recently added a ramping driver (linear) so I ordered one (5A version) to evaluate.
Looks like the one that’s giving me fits that’s fixing to get replaced. I’ve got another, wanna review it too?
that is not a boost driver, its the 105C (linear driver) which we all know so well
the appeal of this driver when it becomes available is that you will get regulated current till battery depletion, and you will also get more then a few mins of full output with the higher voltage XM-L2
besides, i have a secret weapon, 3.55A of C8 power to blind my attackers with
I know.
But if you only push out say, 3A then what is the point of boost?
(I never use my batteries till they are 100% empy. And if I did, I would not mind that the output went down under 3A for the last 5-10 minutes (?) or so just to improve runtime)
I have yet to see some tests that would indicate a boost circuit would have a really noticeable benefit at 3A on XM-L2.
Cree datasheets for XM-L2 is basically the same as XM-L on 3A.
I don't have any tests either, i don't usually use my batteries till 100% empty either, but i like having the option, and there is nothing i hate more then dropping output, especially when i am away from home and happen to need lots of light, the battery is down to 50% power but the output is 50-75% of what it would be on full.
XM-L2 does still need more voltage then XM-L at 3A, so you may see output dropping when you have 75% battery life left depending on battery model