2981

Yeah, they are doable but sadly not cheap. The driver and tailcap PCB will cost almost as much as the light if purchased separately sadly.

For me personally I would get an extra 2-4 of them if they had all the mod friendly boards stock to make modding cheaper/easier. I am going to guess that others would do the same.

With lights that are not very mod friendly I will get one, mod it and then move on to something else. This light has some many mod options though that it could easily take several of them before I got board and moved on.

Just off the top of my head I would like

one with XP-L HD stock LED’s
one with XHP35 HD High CRI mixed tint
one with XHP35 HI high CRI mixed tint thrower
one with XHP50’s 12k lumen monster

There are several more options such as XHP70’s and the 144A’s as well but those are my top picks at this point.

The less mod friendly and the more costly each mod costs the fewer lights I will end up with. It always boils down to the budget.

2982

PCBs are not that expensive, only OSHPark is. PCB Way charges $10 for 10pcs of 10x10cm boards. DirtyPCBs has similar price for 10pcs.

2983

Right, PCB’s can be sourced from various suppliers. Do any of them make DTP boards? Whats the cost for them?

2984

Interesting sources for bulk quantities, they are more expensive then oshpark for small orders of the small boards from what I saw. Although for the SRK size boards you are correct, they are cheaper, although you still have to order 10 boards lol.

Now it is interesting that they offer aluminum PCB’s, I would love to get them made out of aluminum for better heat sinking, plus the MCU internal temp reference would work perfectly then.

All that said, you are still looking at around $25-30 after shipping for the tailcap and driver PCB + components to make them work. So around $30 total, almost as much as the light. You simply have an extra 9 left over boards to play with.

The MCPCB on the other hand your only option is to use individual stars, which is not nearly as nice as the factory single piece setup.

2985

…wouldn’t 4 seperate 16mm DTP stars be more mod-friendly?
Maybe you want to change 1 or 2 LEDs (mixing tints), maybe you want XM-L2, so you can swap MCPCBs.
Centring them could be tough, but recessions could be milled in the base plate perhaps?

2986

A single large MCPCB is easier, centering the LED’s is a pain.

You can easily swap LED’s on the MCPCB setup we have proposed to mix tints ect. much easier then using individual stars.

2987

Just put your soldering iron under the LED you want to replace without flowing the others?
(i have no experience with soldering multiple emitter MCPCBs)
But it seems we will then ‘be stuck’ with the 3535 footprint.
(fine by me)

2988

Nah, you will “reflow” them all but that is not a problem, simply do not take the others off and they will not move.

Yes, the 3535 footprint is the main issue, that is why we want the dual footprint MCPCB that offers both 3535 and 5050, that covers 95% of modding options. The rest can install separate stars.

If the latest MCPCB designs were used then we would have full adjustability in the setup for 4P, 2s2p or 4S LED setup as well.

If all the PCB designs we have proposed were used this would be one of if not the most mod friendly light ever produced. At least in this form factor / class for sure.

2989

[quote=Texas_Ace]

[quote=Jerommel]

I think this really has to be emphasized to Thorfire. They probably don't care that much about the small sales of BLF types, but I guess they care about having a light that gains legendary status at a place like BLF, because that absolutely gets google hits, keeps the light in the spotlight for a long time to come, and results in mass market sales too. Somewhat just because of visibility, somewhat because, well all the BLF'ers like it, so it must be a good one, I'll buy it. And somewhat because, wow... neat all the things it can do, maybe someday I'll even get around to trying that, good to know I could if I ever wanted to. And all for pennies of cost per unit, just some time investment upfront to lay it out.

As for what I want, I'm not really that much into throw, but on the balance of what I expect of this light, I'm pretty sure I will want to push it more on throw and not on lumens. I'm a little skeptical of 10,000 lumens. If it does get twice the lumens I think it will cost some in watts too, probably not quite twice because effectively you push the led's less hard, moee efficient. Maybe that's a bigger factor at highest output, but I care more about reasonably usable output that highest output anyway.

It seems to me if they include both pads, they could ship it with xm-l2 which wouldn't be any different than xp-l HD except for possibly reflector fit. This seems like a win in all directions. I guess thorfire doesn't want to include xhp50 refelctors because they don't want to sell a light with a sloppy fit. But if they sell it with xm-l2, then those reflectors fit well from the start (aren't they the same or about?). They save money, we get all the choices. Problem is, they might just say... good idea, will just make a simple 4 by xm-l2 board.

2990

Add me to the list!

2991

Ok list updated!
And weekend is kind of a fact now in China.
So Sunday evening or Monday i will go after those quotes so the ledboards can be pushed since I agree the current set of pcbs and ledboard make an extremely interesting combination

2992

Under ideal circumstances nothing will go wrong… :slight_smile:
But, having thought about it some more, since the MCPCB seems to be pressed down by the reflector, which also centres the lot, it’s probably the most cost effective and even best solution. (no milled recessions, no threaded holes in the base ‘shelf’, no screws)

There is increasingly less use for the 5050 footprint i.m.o., so maybe just settle for 3535.

Yes, i saw that.
Nice!
But it means you have to bake on jumpers too, something ThorFire probably would rather avoid or it would cost more to manufacture.
ThorFire probably wants a simple 4P set up, but with the newest LEDs with lower Vf, you don’t even really need a boost driver to enjoy all of your mAh.

I was thinking it may be costlier to put 8 DTPs on an MCPCB in stead of 4.
But if they CNC mill it to leave the DTPs raised, maybe it doesn’t make a difference.

Anyway, was just thinking out loud here. :slight_smile:

I think it’s great stuff. :+1:
Looking forward to receiving the end product. :sunglasses:

2993

[quote=Jerommel]

[quote=Texas_Ace]

Nope, not have to, just better. Could leave traces to be cut by modders. But it doesn’t seem like there is actually a significant cost to adding some jumpers and that would be better yet.

Anyway, the image below is not meant to seriously compete with previous designs, just completing the set. I didn’t bother to label this one. It’s a “chickenfoot” structure (mirror symmetry, save pad sizes, instead of rotational), requiring a jumper wire across the board for 4S*, but with the rotated pad circular layout and outer pads placed outside. It’s extra simple and symmetric for a number of tiny reasons that keep me from getting the others there (at least with this hole pattern). I streamlined the jumpers too, but I don’t really like that. It just looks better though. And looks were the best motive for this last variant anyway.

  • or have to turn led’s around, edit: actually I could split the strip around the bottom right outer circle for a cross back, but it reduces trace size there. The rotational design has an interior cross back for the bridge connection, and gets the 4S connection free. The mirror design gets the bridge connection free but needs an exterior 4S cross back.
2994

It would be awesome to have the dual footprint set up. I’m game for slinging 4 XHP50s in mine.

2995

Indeed, I would love a 12k lumen beast, even if I know it is just silly. Although there are some nice high CRI options in the XHP50 as well, could make a nice photography light.

2996

…and I’m game for the 4 x XHP50s also!!

2997

Yes I totally see the value of a part like that.
Not only for the Q8, man those PCBs and ledboard would make for some nice SRK modding as well. I really think Thorfre should make them as designed and sell them besides the Q8!

2998

Indeed, the PCB’s would have a market 110%. Heck I would order some of them to upgrade some of my SRK’s just to save me the hassle of building them.

2999

Exactly! so rest assure we will push for it :wink:

3000

Well I guess it's kind of understood, but anything I posted comes with no restrictions other than keeping it unrestricted. Maybe we should patent use of concentric circles though, and all use of the color green, on anything.

I think selling them as separate upgrades is a bit lame though. It's not a thing for the masses, just for some enthusiasts. In that sense it makes sense to sell it as an extra, except that it won't cost them extra to just ship with it in the first place so it's an add-on sale just because they can. I don't mind being sold back our own ideas, but charging me extra for it just because they can when folks here are designing a light for them at no charge, would seem kind of too bad and violates the spirit of the agreement here to make this light as customized as possible without raising the price. They could get around the whole thing this way... SRK is $40, all other features/options are extra.