Got the BG one too but having trouble removing the pill. Any tips? I’m assuming it just twists off from the front so I took some needle nose pliers and tried to unscrew it. It turned three times and not it won’t budge. How are you getting it out?
Make sure there's no cell in the light because they give pressure to the pill. Yes, basically you unscrew (CCW)from the lens end. Not sure, might have had to add drill holes to use a needle-nose -- can't recall. If it jams, try tightening it back up and play with it - may be getting cross-threaded. It's all cheap stuff.
Ohhh - the hollow pill versions are actually a different host in several areas. Compared side by side, you can see little changes. One good thing is they got the lens closer to the emitter so you don't need to sand down the slider to get a bigger area in flood mode. Another thing is the lens is now protected by being more recessed when sitting it lens down - with the older model, many times sitting it down on the table would make contact with the lens, marking it up.
So far, got one good one with a solid pill — really liked it, modded very well.
So I bought more — now up to four that came with hollow pills.
Not a bargain at the lottery on this variety.
You probably think too much on the hollow pill. It’s a small light with low current, major bottleneck is on the lack of heatsinking mass and fins - it’s a tradeoff for being tiny and cheap.
I seriously doubt hollow/solid pill makes any difference on this light.
Ones I got with hollow pill have some better features - wider flood for example. Looking closely some mods to the design.
I’m not thinking, I’m practicing.
The solid pill makes all the difference for me— it supports (and perfectly centers) the emitters I most like: luxeon Rebel PC emitters in a variety of colors, on a 10mm square Sinkpad2.
That drops into the circle cutout on the pill for these little lights, leaving the wire holes clear and the emitter centered.
On a hollow pill, only the corners of the square, not the entire surface, make contact at the rim — not useful.
Yeah, I can stuff a copper disk into the hole, raising the emitter a bit (loses the precise focus but improves the flood).
A thick star will do a lot to distribute the heat in a narrow light. In a wider light, when putting in a thin star, I epoxied a slightly narrower plate behind it, doubling its thickness without changing the focus.
> plate behind it
Yep, doing that now. 14.2mm diameter copper disks, tedious to cut and file by hand, to back up the 10mm square Rebels
But these cost more than a buck apiece:: This item is unavailable - Etsy
anyone got a better source for little round copper disks that fit these lights?
I have some of the 10mm square Rebels on Sinkpad2 to try next). Ready To Light High-Power LED Modules
CK made me some drivers (same diameter as the SK68 driver)
and these little zoomies really do work very well.
But it’s embarassing how many I have accumulated playing the lottery and losing.
Well, they’re good gifts, they do wow people, tiny and bright, better than the SK68s I think.
Use the "bopper" on etsy - best prices and if can't find something you want listed, just ask her - she gets back to you pretty quick.
Here's one listing of hers: https://www.etsy.com/listing/62082177/copper-discs-20-gauge?ref=shop_home_active_13
I've bought a ton of rounds from her in different sizes and thickness's -- first recommended by O-L 
.
I asked my brother if he had any shell casings that were 12.3 mm. in diameter, but no. I think of asking for copper or silver of a useful size when I pass a coin store, but probably out of my budget. I took the skin off my finger filing the coatings off an old 20 mm. star mcpcb then filed it from 20 mm. to 18 or 19 mm. to fit the hollow of the pill. Your etsy link looks good.
Added: Diameters in furlongs :Sp .
I am disappointed that I haven’t seen any of these in local stores yet. I do see very cheap lights with a power led instead of a lot of 5 mm. leds, but no cheap zoomies yet.
Cross-reference for the search tool — this is the light often called the
#3 zoomie
because it’s #3 in the list at Under $10, 1x AA/ AAA/ 10440/ 14500 flashlight reference
How did you remove the slider sleeve? I was not able to.
Unscrew the top bezel. The you must unscrew the pill. Hopefully there are 2 guide holes for a small needlenose, if not, you may have to drill your own guide holes. The pill must be unscrewed from the top in order to get the slider off. At least this is how all the ones I got worked - lots of variations out there...
Tom: Thanks.
There’s no holes. I can drive them for sure.
Also, there are not slot in some of the SK68 clones. Maybe I should drive holes on them also?
Do you have any suggestions on the LED driver circuits? I would like to get a couple of ones like my old and good SK 68 that takes 2A from Ni-MH.
15mm single NiMH (1.2 volt) drivers are hard to find.
I’ve used the 15mm “SK68” driver (mtnelectronics) that handles li-ion (only)
but I’ve melted the black plastic washer thing around LEDs using that on high for more than a few minutes, even with a copper disk and heatsink goop added.
Hhmm... Well, if you want to lock it in to 14500 cells, I like the BLF SK68 style drivers: MtnE_SK68 Assembled, MtnE_bare. I also use 15mm FET DD drivers in them. The BLF drivers require some care to mount them to get a good solid ground connection.
Hank is probably right there - I always get rid of the plastic.
Hank, Tom_E:
Thank you both.
So looks like my old SK-68 is a rare one. Maybe that’s why I cannot buy one like that anymore.
The one Tom mentioned is interesting. Maybe I will get it some day.
> I always get rid of the plastic.
I should do that — since I’m using the copper disks, might as well fix everything in place with an epoxy heatsink glue
I’d been trying to keep everything replaceable but with the #3 and SK68s, well, there’s always another one in the drawer somewhere if I want to experiment.
Even the so called permanent 2 part epoxy I use can be broken. I use newegg_Arctic_silver_alumina. I also do a lot of tapping and add screws, etc., in place of epoxy.