I don’t think the adhesive would make much difference to heat transfer, the head heats up nicely.
If you want to test the theory wrap some copper tape round your finger and hold a lighted match under it. :bigsmile:
It contacts the base of the reflector, which is in good contact with the threaded part of the pill. Of course having the pill itself in direct contact with the light body would be best but considering the P60 format this is pretty good, and it doesn't make it hard to change dropins like tightly fitted wrapping can. Just unscrew the bezel, remove dropin, and drop in the next one and it will work just as well as the previous one with no fitting or wrapping or hammering or prying required. If a wrapped dropin is easy to remove/replace, it's not fitting tight enough for good heat transfer. The solid spacer is only tight when the bezel is screwed down.
No disrespect at all comfychair, I've appreciated many of your posts - but are you saying that the heat is conducted downwards through the "lip" at the base of the reflector? This just seems like an extremely small surface area for thermal conduction when compared with the wrap method?
I understand your point about convenience, though I'm not sure it matters too much in my case as I only infrequently swap dropins in my P60s. YMMV. Perhaps I will try both.
While we are straying a little OT, do you ever bother with thermal past on the pill threads as I've seen others mention from time to time?
Cheers
Trying to get things back on topic a bit…
emmet: are you using the negative spring on the dropin?
The light failed to light with the paper clip test. All springs are as they came with the light, and appear to be contacting the battery adequately. Everything seems tightened down as well.
Then I’m 99% sure that the problem is in the drop-in. The host itself should be fine.
Thanks Rojos, that’s what I was guessing. That’s two drop-in’s from Kaidodomain that have failed me. Any recommendations for replacements?
I don’t know. I haven’t bought a pre-built drop-in in a while. I just build my own.
troisanh, thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out. Any others?
Maybe there’s a short at the base of the reflector. Try unscrewing it a couple of turns and testing again, then if that helps you may need to put some better insulating material over the wires.
I just got one and it’s perfect for the L2P. Bright, without being a monster (longer battery life less heat) and the standard 3 modes like I like em. http://www.lighthound.com/Solar-Force-XM-L-U2-Drop-In-3-Mode-27—9-Volts_p_4110.html
http://edcplus.com/accessories-p60-dropins-c-3_18.html
The EDC+ P60’s are made of a 1 piece, solid aluminum body that is thermally potted. They have linear current regulated drivers with no PWM, gold plated springs, and low voltage cut-off. They are pretty much a no-brainer if you are willing to spend ~$40 on a P60. You will not find a better one for the money.
Have you considered repairing the KD drop-ins yourself or making your own? It’s kind of fun if you know how to solder or are willing to learn.
The Solarforce star boards are usually thermal pasted to the pill with good alignment, but if the star pops loose, it could ‘spin’ and pinch the driver wires as you tighten the reflector.
Severely pinched, the thinly insulated wires can begin to short and fail.
This Solarforce drop-in has a nicely positioned star, with air-space around the wires.
This cheapo UltraFire drop-in has possibly pinched wires, and may need help.
Maybe not.
Thanks for the help, guys. I appreciate all of your replies.
And the UF one is using a wide-base XRE reflector! (unless there's an insulator stuck on there)
remove the drop-in and use a bit of wire to connect the - battery to the base, then touch the battery + to the driver spring. If you still have flickering check the center spring, some DX, KD and MF drop-ins have poorly soldered springs or weak - solder bridges to the drop-in base, both will cause all sort of headaches. If you have access to a soldering iron you can fix the solder joints easily. Good luck.
I think I can handle that, Gurthang, thanks.