Its FR-4 PCB. wikipedia: FR-4 (G-10 isn’t commonly used for PCBs anymore). Thin copper circuit traces bonded to fire resistant fiberglass.
Led stars are MCPCB, metal core PCB. Standard MCPCBs have thin copper circuit traces ontop of a dielectric layer bonded to an aluminum core. Noctigon removes the dielectric under the center thermal pad of the LED. Plus Noctigon has a copper core instead of aluminum.
How about at the same current? Say… 2 amps.
OSH Park, for those prices, will not/can't do true metal core. They have all sorts of restrictions on the boards, including only one width. Your job (order of boards) gets bundled together with many others jobs (differnet designs) on a panel, where the panel is one huge rectangle of all the same material, same thickness.
They look like bare copper underneath. That are a two layer copper and FR4 “sandwich”.
From the website…
Specifications
All 2 boards are FR4 170Tg/290Td which are suitable for lead-free processes and temperature.
4 Layer boards are now FR408 (180Tg). See
the support site for the stackup.
They have ENIG (gold) finish for superior solderability and environmental resistance.
They’re 1.6mm thick (0.063 inches) with 1 ounce copper on both sides. For four layer boards, the internal copper is 0.5 ounce.
The minimum specs for 2 layer orders are 6 mil traces with 6 mil spacing, and 13 mil drills with 7 mil annular rings.
That sounds good, right?
Here: http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree shows at 1.5A, an XM-L2 U2 will do about 680 lumens, while a XP-G2 R5 will do about 538 lumens. 20% is about the max you will lose on de-doming, so maybe dead even, maybe the XM-L2 is still ahead. The XM-L2 is a proven beast. Guys have done incredible things with them here. I did a 5,400 lumens Shocker (domed), and a 1,650 de-domed XM-L2 in a TN31 for example.
Look at Match’s results, both on copper and aluminum stars here
The triple XM-L board I have appears to be G10 with perforated metal pads, silver plated copper? But it doesn’t appear to have a solid metal thermal path to the pill or heat sink below it. That’s what I was referring to.
And Qlite’s appear to have G10 as their substrate, I’ve got lots of G10, as big as 2” thick x 12” round. I’ve made so much from the stuff I recognize the smell when filing off the attachment tips to fit it in the pill.
Even made custom grips for a .45 Ruger Vaquero out of G10. Almost indestructible stuff, especially at that kind of thickness.
So if I do a build using Richard’s and Comfychair’s FET driver with the Oshpark 3XML designed by Scaru the difference in time that I can run it on high before it’s too hot to hold versus a more ideal copper star with direct thermal path will most likely seconds? Unless Richard comes up with a copper spacer for the S6, I’m thinking of a home rolled P-60 in a Solarforce. Ala dorpmuller -if that helps visualize thermal capability. Thanks for any input or suggestions.
A poor heat path would result in a cooler light to the touch but more heat for the emitter. That means lumen/heat sag or worse at higher currents.
That OSH Park board sounds very risky to me. Probably worse than a 10 cent aluminum star for thermal characteristics. Making it even worse is that you have 3 XML/XM-L2's on that board, yikes! My total guesstamit would be even at 1.5A per LED (4.5A total), you would see rapid drop off in the first 3 secs, high rate of drop following that --- only guessing here. Wonder if scaru or anyone ever actually used it. Might be worth it to pm scaru.
I can't see the point in going triple unless you want high output, implying high amps, and that board sure doesn't seem suitable for it. In theory for low amps I suppose, driving 3 XML's at 0.5A each for example, should be more efficient that driving one at 1.5A for lumens per amp (efficiency). Even at a total of 1.5A though, that board sounds risky.
Tried out RMM's Efest 18650 35A rated cell last night in a FET (direct drive) based Tivo driver, hosted in a P60. In my quick and dirty test:
The Samsung 20R I used though is fairly old (1 year) and well used, many charges, so it could be somewhat weaker now. Panasonic PD or PF's do about 5.4A.
I'm liking this Efest cell with the extra capacity - longer high output.
Tom E, valid points and also my concern. I know enough to be dangerous but don’t know enough to know how. I gave up trying to get a triple XML from Vinz. Others have had success but I have not. He has a custom driver and pushes 9amps on one of his builds. I lost the thread of his builds and have not found it by searching just now. That is what I am looking to replicate. I believe Foy or Scaru that both have some of his drop-ins were saying they were hitting 10 minute run times. It can be done, I’m just trying to figure out how.
Here is a link to the thread by Scaru about the drop-in
The new Efest is quite close to 20R performance, with 25% more capacity…supposedly.
It get’s a big thumbs up from me too! 
Richard do you offer a driver with phase correct PWM? Sorry if you answered this before. Also you mentioned on the site that for the FET mod it needs to be shielded, is this doable on a 17mm driver or just on Comfychair’s big ones. (Pun intended) Also while I’m at the wishing well, are there pictures of how and where to attach the FET?
In that thread OP, it says the board is directly soldered to that beauty of a copper heat sink, so he may have modded the board so the center emitter pads directly solder to the heat sink via a custom copper pad, or something. If that's the case, it's a great super SinkPAD style setup.
when will the S6 “SSSP” Triple XP-G2 Flashlight be back in stock?
Hi jmpaul, I currently don't have any ETA on it. If Comfy has the time I am going to have him make some more pills for me, if not I will have to buy some equipment and get set up to do it myself. The issue as always is having enough time to make them.
Scotty, yes the STAR firmware can be configured for phase correct or fast PWM (you need phase correct for the FET). When did I mention that the FET mod need to be shielded? It works great as is on the 105C. In a few of the modes you can hear a slight whine, but it is very quiet and not objectionable at all. The way that Comfy has been getting rid of it is to install a very large capacitor, which there obviously isn't room enough for on a 105C board.
just a thought for your webpage - maybe a subscribe feature that notifies us when an item is back in stock?
Been working on that feature! I had a solution but it broke some other stuff so I'm working on getting it working.
Just discovered that my S6 SSSP’s head is interchangeable with that on my Roche F12. They have the same threads.
Here’s my SSSP head on a Roche F12 body. The F12 has better knurling and is grippier. It also tailstands better with the stock tailcap boot. However, it is maybe a half cm longer than the S6 body and the cutouts at the tailcap might feel sharper in the pocket. Also the S6 body has double o-rings at each end compared to single o-rings for the F12.
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Here’s a couple pics of my SSSP head on my cut-down 1x18350 F12 body next to a Zebralight SC52w. The entire light is only 75mm long. Pretty tiny for a triple!
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Throw an IMR 18350 in there and you'll have one of the most powerful keychain lights ever made!