Could the XP-L V6 be the 3D tint? I remember you mentioned that you had got some or ordered some in the Zeusray thread, when you talked about that your favorite hue was the 4C.
I used 18awg both top and bottom, it is very tight at the bottom switch bypass so i had to place some kapton between the wall & wire solder blob, but it works & you get a few % more out of it
And i drilled out the center led pad on XM32 wide enough for the two 18awg wires.
You can also shave of some resistance by removing the reverse polarity diode from the FET driver, i assume you donât accidentally insert the battery the wrong way around
An upgrade to the A17DD-S08 with the top performing MOSFET the SIR800DP-T1-GE3, could also lower the resistance & up the output some more.
If you want to secure the mcpcb, why donât use some fujik.
Sometimes when i want to secure the mcpcb better and theres not any room to screw it down, i press some fat silicon wires in to the wire holes to make it so tight the mcpcb is pressed down, it doesnât look pretty but it works & on an optic build at least it doesnât show up in the beam like it can in an asferic.
No, I ordered qty 5 of those 3D's from Hank, and still have then in the original IOS bag, and don't think they look that warm, but not sure.
Cool! Some nice tips, thanks!!
Didn't know bout removing the diode... Sounds familiar, maybe read bout it. I got those 800 FET's on order from DigiKey, just placed this weekend - didn't have them yet so since I still had the original Vishay FET's, thought I'd go that route. Hhmm, think 18 AWG is the way to go. Did you use 18 AWG silicone or Teflon? Teflon is tuff to work with but is slimmer.
I got the Arctic 2 part epoxy but don't like using it for MCPCB's - fairly permanent, and I think the GC Extreme performs better -- but still, would be an option...
The surface of the XM 32mm Noctigon is so large, i would be surprised if the fujik thremal glue had an negative impact on output, compare to good cpu heatpaste like some arctic silver or GC extreme.
EDIT
I missed that yours was an quad, disregard the XM32 references tips, if you are not also building a triple that is
I havenât tried the diode removing mod myself yet, i read about it in one of wightâs driver threads, i think it was Richard who said it. i am not sure still if you simply remove it, or if you are supposed to bridge the pad also though. I guess when i test it i will just build it without & if it doesnât work like that i can always do that later.
I used RMMâs silicone 18awg wire, i donât have any 18awg teflon only 22awg & 20awg, where can i get some 18awg or thicker teflon?
I have some 12awg, 14awg & 16awg silicon on order, that i plan to try to wrestle with in future builds
Another thing i do when i want to test a new build at max, is to charge my best battery to 4.25v that little extra really makes a difference on the triple, i donât know exactly how much but visually inside the difference is from bright to blinding
Sure you lose some cycles, but i most often recharge them before 3.8v so i think i gain back some there also.
I have 6 Eagle Eye X6âs, all different, all major league in their own right. The form factor and ease of modification is just great. At the moment Iâve got from the XP-G2 to the MT-G2 and XHP-70. A nice Triple with XP-L V4 3D and a 2 Quads, one with the big quad sink and V6 2C the other with a larger optic and using the triple heat sink with additional copper using V6 3Dâs. I just love these little lights!
Guess Iâll order a couple more from Neal, no telling what will come up with the LEDâs this year, or next.
Fired up the quad Nichia Dtche Board and tested the optics. The khatod is much tighter than the Carclo. No picture yet as it was all hands on deck to hold the cell and B- wire to the head but from 7â (ceiling test) the smooth beam was half the diameter, roughly 2â across instead of the Carclo 4â. Again, it has the same led footprint and the pegs line up radially with the peg holes but are set outside the edge of the board. Something to consider for any who might be fortunate enough to have a 20mm quad board or want to ghetto DTP a Cutter board. Khatod also makes the same optic with an extended 35mm lip.
Dale, yes, read your shootout thread - just wow! I got a quad SupFire A6 too that does bout 2200 lumens, but it's RP-G2's. Still, nice output for a pocketable light like the A6. Been wanting to get the new X6R, haven't seen any discussions of it. Krono has one mentioned here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/31132 but hasn't posted the review yet.
I ordered 2 lights from Banggood a month ago yesterday. Their website says shipped. I checked the tracking number, and all it has said for the last three weeks is âtransitâ.
I had ordered a SuperPower 3 up from CNQG on Feb 13th, it didnât ship til Mar 9th. But tracking shows it hit San Francisco yesterday so it wonât be long now!
(This is a 3x26650 BTU Shocker clone) I figured $65 for a 3 up 26650 thatâs a clone of the fabulous BTU Shocker at half the price just canât go too wrong, ya know?
Finally finished my X6 triple build with the XP-L V6 3D's - came out really nice, using the A17HYBRID-S driver (FET+1*7135) with the blf-a6 firmware. Interesting that I get almost dead on results with the X6 quad I built. I prefer the triple, now that I built both - I wanted to get rid of the lumens-stealing lens, so raised the MCPCB by reflowing a copper slug underneath it, 20mmx20mm square, so doesn't cover it all but still gives you nice contact. I secured the heat sink to the body by screwing it on the bottom to the pill top, then screwed down the MCPCB/copper square to the top of the heat sink with GC Extreme in-between.
I prefer the triple for several reasons:
no lens required!
bigger, much more chunkier MCPCB, more space between LED's so better heat sinking
easier to wire with heavy gauge wires (I used 18 AWG, while on the quad used 20 AWG)
can be secured to the heat sink with screws (drilled and tapped) - the quad has no available space
For my two units, the triple is (so far) within 20 lumens of the quad but at 1 full amp lower. Now this could be because of emitters, wires, no lens, etc., so not just the mechanical differences.
Great job nitro on these heat sinks! Only thing I would have preferred would be for the triple heat sink to be enlarged to eliminate the need for a lens, but I could work around that. I never could have machined ones myself, like Dale can.
Nice work Tom, interesting to see the Triple stepping up to fill in like a Quad. I was also liking my Tripleâs best until I used a CUTE-4 optic for a Quad. Now itâs my favorite. (I must confess, it was a LOT more difficult to build, taking individual 10mm SinkPADâs as I couldnât find a copper quad mcpcb to fit)
I also find it interesting that you prefer the non-lens build. Iâve been keeping the glass to protect the more fragile optic, or going with UCLp lenses for optimum clarity while maintaining that protection. Should I measure my CUTE-4 build in the box without a lens and see if thereâs warrantable difference?
I took photoâs at a Tele-Communications Expo yesterday, showed the Quad to quite a few people in the Wireless and Fiber Optic industry (about 1000 in attendance) and most (read all) were astonished at the sheer output levels. A few found the moon level interesting, most wanted to exploit Turbo. lol
I hear you bout the protecting the optics, but my lights, unfortunately, don't get much abuse, and figure if only the optics get damaged, it's a lot cheaper than the LED's, driver, or even battery, to replace.
Cool bout the show!!
Edit: Hhmm - yes, definitely advantages with that CUTE-4 optic, even just because you did have to use separate MCPCB's - more copper where it's needed the most, more separation, better heat conduction.
Ohh - who is gonna be the first sucker, I mean tester/reviewer for this light: tmart.com/Tangspower-T88? This T88 looks just plain awesome, with modding of course. It's the 12X 6 cell light (from KD and others), but bigger head, more LEDs, added side switch. TMART has a great deal on this - $106 with XM-L2's. I'm think'n just buy the Noctigons and xfer the LED's to save a ton of $$$, then a FET based OSHPark driver, but you need the LDO part instead of the zener, maybe...
Changing topic again... btw, with the X6 triple using the FET + 1*7135 driver, I set up one mode with max output on the 7135, no FET, and measured 156 lumens. This means you should get 156 lumens for about 7.5 hours of continuous use on a 2500 mAh cell (350 mA draw) -- not bad.
@Dale, I am glad to hear you like the Cute-4 combination so much i havenât build mine yet but when i hear you say that i get real itchy to start
I havenât found the ledâs i want to use yet, i hoping some more 3D will show up on the market in a high flux bin.
I was a bit concerned about if the cute-4 was too shallow when i dry fitted it on 4 XP-L with the domes on. Did you find any issues when you built yours?
Shouldn't be too surprised - I said I raised the MCPCB in post #353 (?). Should size things up before you commit to wire and mounting. Also I think early on, it was said the size of the triple heat sink was based on using the glass - maybe Dale, or nitro, not sure, but it could/should have been made clearer. I used the thickest 20x20 square I had and it fits perfect now with no glass. I bought an assortment of 20x20's off of eBay last year.
), because it was measured at 93 mm here: 
