How easy (or hard) is to change the 4P setup to 2S2P or 4S setup? Do we need additional pieces or can we mod the existing host with just some soldering skills?
Modding the Q8 to an XHP50.2 might be kinda expensive in comparison to the cost of the flashlight. IDK but a decent driver might already cost half of the price of the Q8. With LEDs and MCPCB it will cost more then the Q8 it self. Don’t get me wrong I would really love a monster flooder, I have more use for it than I have for a thrower. But the the overall cost might be too much for me.
To convert to 4s you would need a new driver, the TA46 multi-cell is already ready for this and I have used it in a few lights. The tailcap can be modded to work or you can order one of the tailcaps I made for this.
The process is not that hard but also not that simple. I would put it at an intermediate to maybe mildly advanced mod. No special tools are needed besides a drill but a bit more work needed then a basic emitter swap.
High-cri 219b fans can use existing 46mm linear drivers.
Are you sure that 4s or 2s2p mod is good idea? Parallel config is more safety and allows cell change to the touch in darkness. I dont think there is any difference between buck and boost driver self-cost.
I hope not too much. You all creating the C8 have worked up a really good flashlight, that can’t incorporate everything.
It’s also, sounds like, going to be a really excellent platform for people who want to try variations on the design.
I’m from the old school that likes constant-brightness lights rather than ‘hotrod’ direct drive lights because those slowly get dimmer as battery voltage drops,
though I’m aware that shortens the total useful time the light will light up if the user isn’t smart enough to choose lower levels.
I recognize why the direct drivers are currently (heh) popular, and recognize that the “best of both worlds” driver designs are probably too complicated and pricey for manufacturers to use as default choice.
As time move forward BLF lights will catch up to the big brand lights that run the batteries in series for higher voltage.
The Q8 for example with no other changes except running the cells and LED’s in 4S would be able to use a fairly simple and cheap buck driver that would give constant current, higher efficiency and even higher output is desired. There is a reason the big brands run the cells in series for high powered lights, it is simply the better way of doing things.
Possibly, he just doesn’t know what you mean by “meteor-style mod” as in the idea itself. Are you talking about a copper or aluminum spacer for TIR triples/quads or something else? I’m assuming the spacer is what you mean, since you’ve done those before.
I recall the observation elsewhere that even if you start with identical, perfectly matched cells, they’ll slowly become different as they’re repeatedly cycled.
Once they differ, even though they can be charged exactly the same when full, they’ll end up at different voltages when they’re drained, so one could get reversed.
Giving people lights with cells in series, you have to add the warning SB phrased so well in an earlier thread about battery charging:
The Q8 design is smart because parallel cells don’t build unbalanced cell risk into the design.
Yeah, it’s got the one-cell-overheat-on-turbo option for people who use it wrong, but nothing’s going to be fool-proof.
try to make the world idiot proof and the world will come up with a better idiot….
Has it been discussed what could happen if one would put different cells at extremely different states of charge in the Q8?
