Questions about direct drive

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

After reading this thread I started thinking about doing a direct drive light or two. This should be about as simple as it gets, source, load and switch right? Then I started thinking about the possible pitfalls, destroyed LEDs, destroyed batteries and the possibility of holding a hand grenade in my hand.

I’ve ordered various parts I didn’t already have on hand but thought maybe I should ask a few questions before I start.
The likely candidates are:

1. My current L2P, triple XP-G2 mounted on a copper heatsink with a 7135 x 14 driver. It currently pulls over 5.0A with no evidence of excessive heat (it does get hot though :wink: )
The only thing I’m thinking of doing on this other than swapping the driver for a contact board is changing the MCPCB from aluminum to copper.

2. My current M1, dedomed XM-L2 on noctigon with a 7135 x 12. Thinking just swap the driver for contact board.

3. My current L2M, XP-G2 on noctigon with a 7135 x 12. Again, thinking about swapping the driver for contact board but not sure if the XP-G2 will handle it.

4. An empty M1, ordered an MT-G2 and two AW 18350 IMRs, I also have AW 16340 IMRs and ICR123s available.

5. An empty UltraFire WF-602C using an XM-L2 on noctigon with either a 16340 IMR or ICR123.

These would be simple WOW lights, no intention of running for more than a few minutes. I have AW IMR 18650s and an assortment of protected AW and Panasonic 18650 batteries handy.

Questions that come to mind:

Are these combinations feasible?

Can a single XP-G2 survive direct drive in a P60 host?

What size wire should I use? I have silicone available in AWG20, 22 and 24.

Should I avoid the usual spring, resistance mods?

Am I really going to gain much in output on the first two lights?

I already have two of the fifth lights (WF-602C) with XM-L2s (dedomed 1C with a smo reflector and the other 7D4 op reflector) with 7135 x 8 drivers. Would I see any increase by going DD?

Thanks for any suggestions.

2

XP-G2 can handle direct drive but it depends on a few things. Is it on copper or not and how heavy are your wires. On noctigons or sink pads no problem, without noctigons you better stick with thin wires and no spring mods. As this is just a brief use light you will see improvements but you can watch the lumens drop on these fast as the heat builds up.

I have done a P-60 direct drive XP-G2 on aluminum and didn’t fry it, but it was very thin wires and just simple protected batteries nothing high drain/amp. On copper you can go for higher amps for sure but you still get heat sagging pretty quickly. Is it worth it? I don’t know really as I haven’t run any of your drivers like that.