The XP on aluminum was pretty much guaranteed to happen with a DD driver, but the XM-L should have lasted on the Sinkpad. They will usually last direct drive for 30+ seconds even not hooked up to a heatsink.
Both of the XM-Ls are quite bizarre, especially since the last one you mentioned worked before hooking up to the driver, then popped immediately. An XM-L on aluminum will usually last for a little while direct drive---at least several seconds.
Thanks for the information. I’ll get it sorted eventually. I just wanted the OP to know that, right now (today!), there are others experiencing the same pain and frustration.
Oh yeah, we've all been there. I'd like to say it gets better, but in some ways it doesn't, because once you get good at something you always end up trying something harder and more complicated---which means that the potential for failure increases exponentially.
Wait, you’re telling me people don’t always jump directly into the deep end. That’s what I’ve been doing wrong… :bigsmile:
I think the first MOD was a DD flashlight after blowing an emitter and maybe screwing up the driver. we all sit and say,Ok was is still working. Then humm if I get an “upgraded emitter” (what ever that means) and then strip everything off and go DD.
WaLa a working single mode bright light!!! TaDa….
We have ALL smelled that flower!!! Keep the good parts for stock & go again!!! 
Dan
I have ‘wasted’ quite a lot of money on burning the LEDs, drivers or even destroying some flashlights throughout my flashlight modding journey. With all the ‘wasted’ money I can actually buy myself some premium lights like Fenix, Olight, Nitecore…. etc.
The reason why I put quotation mark on the wasted word is because I think it depends on how we look at it - Rather than being just a flashlight collector, there are so much fun, frustrations and unknowns come along with modding. If you ask me are the money that I spent on modding considered wasted? I would say no. The experience as well as the skill and knowledge gained is something that money can’t buy. 
One step at a time, and just don’t quit. A lot of people are here in BLF to help. Welcome to the flashlight modding journey. 
Thank you guys for all the kind words.
So I took the challenge and set up few carts in some shops…
I took some xm-l1 just to have some led to sacrifice in case I have a corrupted (by me) driver, as they were the cheapest led.
Below are the screenshots some one could comment if there is something very useless… Which utility I overestimated? Also regarding the star dimensions I took some of 20 and some of 16mm… Did I do it wrong? I M not sure about led reflowing so I wanted something ready to go… In case I wanted, and I picked up a bit of this and a bit of that.
Can anyone point me to a good value for money solder Tin? Maybe…. Maybe the quality of what I had was part of my failure
I would personally stick to Noctigon MCPCB’s. Direct thermal path on copper is a big advantage. Also, I’d recommend buying them with the LED premounted for your first few attempts unless you have some experience reflowing them. It’s not that hard, but it’s one less thing to worry about in your first few builds.
The XM-L’s you have in the cart will be good for the reflow practice.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Also I cannot understand well why people buys xm-l2 instead of xp-l… I mean
Xm-l2 produce more light than xm-l2. Ok
Xp-g2 produces more throw than xm-l2. Due to die size and consequently optical rules . Ok
Well xp-l has more light than xm-l2, maintaining the size =throw of the Xp-g2. So why bother with xm-l2 or xp-g2?
You’ve got some numbers mixed up. The XP-L is an XM-L2 sized emitter on the XP-G2 die. It throws like an XM-L2.
Thanks for clarifying…!!
Finally with your input I found something immediate to understand
http://www.fstoplights.com/leds-types-bins/
Xp-l has xm-l die size in a Xp-g package
Dust yourself off and do it some more. That’s not so bad. I burned my fingers a lot as well at first. Now just occasionally. I bought a Hakko digital soldering station and decent leaded solder and some decent flux. What a difference. Then a good set of third hands and magnifying lens and I was confident enough to trash a pair of custom designed drivers for a project that cost me $260 to get. (Prototyping and programming) I said some bad words and took a break. Came back and fixed one.
Point is there is a learning curve for everyone. You’ll get better. Nothing worth while is easy, hang in there.
I’ll smoke a torch for you…
My first mod was discouraging, as was the next…
That’s cool man every mod I do smokes! I know the feeling.
Today I re-flowed my led off my mcpcb and popped off both positive and negative off the mcpcb as well.
Oh what a feeling!
I never bothered to keep track of the number of different failures I’ve had in blown LEDs, blown drivers, and home made pills that weren’t quite right. Get used to it or take up knitting. I’ve tried getting better but I still end up with a debris pile all too often. Getting discouraged is normal but doesn’t finish the job.
Wait until you start designing your own drivers… you spend countless hours getting the design right, upload and order, wait a few weeks until you get the boards, build and test it… only to find out it doesn’t work because you forgot something so darn simple it’s stupid. I know all about it… It can and has broken some of the best.
Look at it this way. If you are in need of rescue and you have no SOS blinky mode, you can still at least send up smoke signals. :bigsmile:
I'm with you Rufus.... NEVER COUNT!!! N E V E R !!! Dan
could I put this in my sign in this forum? :party:
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no, seriously….could , I?
Yeah, that’s a great quote!