You might want to ask Don.........because when i get the light im going to need a lot of info on dropins.
You got it, you guys just help me decide how to organize it and I'll put it up later on tonight.
This would probably best be moved to a dropin section.
We're talking here about P60 dropins, a format originnally produced by Surefire. Actually a lot of the Chinese dropins may not fit in Surefire lights as they tend to be longer. Basically the spec is 26.5mm diameter, about 36mm length (Including springs). They may have one or two springs.
However, beware of voltages.
I now make it a point to mark dropins on arrival so that I can tell in the future what will work with what. It took burning one out to discover the wisdom of this policy. Some say 3-18V which means in practice you can use 1-4 rechargeable ltihium cells.
Some are 3 or 6V only and are designed for use only with non-rechargeable CR123 cells. Avoid these ones unless you are rich.
Some are 4.2V maximum which means one 16340 (CR123 sized rechargeable) or one 18650. Some will seem brighter on two cells, but will not survive the experience for long. If it gets hot fast, use a lower voltage setup.
This, of course, assumes that what arrives has the same spec as what you thought you were buying. For a case in point I now own a single mode XP-G R4 dropin. It used to be a five mode but couldn't withstand 8.4V for long. It came in this light. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32720. At first, and even second read it seems to say it will take 8.4V. It won't.
Many of the 5 mode ones are 4.2V only. Many that state a maximum voltage of 18V are going to have very inefficient drivers because of the wide range of voltages they have to handle and often all that running them on 4 cells is going to do is get them very, very hot, rather quickly. Heat is not good for electronics or LEDs. If it is well designed and you can handle the length (4 18650s is 9" 270mm before you add the length of heads, tails switches and the like. The result is going to be more than a foot(30cm) long, probably nearer 18"(50cm)), then it should give you enormous runtimes with large amounts of light. But then you have this non-pocketable device that you need to find some way to carry.
Normally there is no advantage in using 4x16340 instead of 2x18650. A good 18650 will give you 2,500mAh so you get 2,500 x 8.4V=21 watt-hours. The best 16340s will give you 750mAh (the generic ones are lucky to give you 550 and that's when they are new) so at 16.8V that gives you 12.7 watt-hours or just over half the runtime. Actually it is likely to be quite a bit less than half as a lot of the extra voltage gets turned into excess heat.
Or you can check current - if it is pulling more than two amps it is almost certainly intended for a lower voltage. If you are lucky you won't kill it finding out. The quad die ones if well heatsinked might be able to pull 3A from a cell - but if the heat isn't controlled which is hard to do in such a form factor, all it is going to do at such currents is fry itself, and maybe your hand.
Searching DX for Drop-in yields 28 of them, but quite a few of those are out of stock.
If you are looking for one that makes a lot of light, but doesn't project a beam an enormous distance then you probably want to look at the quad die (P7 / MC-E) ones. Remember that the diameter of the reflector is identical in all of these so you have no chance of turning an enormous LED like a P7 into a thrower in one of these reflectors. Some people prefer the beam from the P7 LED to the MC-E. DX sell an MC-E one that claims over 400 lumens but isn't. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.21037. They do not appear to sell a P7 one. Neither do KD. I am told it is not that hard to swap an LED and driver in one of these dropins but I've never tried it and it seems fiddly. I know that KD sell an MC-E dropin which is noticeably brighter than the DX one, but since what I ordered was an XP-G R5, I have no idea of the SKU for it. I can't find it on the KD web server which obviously has its mind fixated on the Chinese New Year and is in no hurry to dish up web pages.
If you want a pencil beam, you want to look at some dropin with a smaller LED. These tend to have lower output but a more focussed beam which makes them seem dim indoors as it takes distance to show how they can still light things up. These days there are any number of Cree XP-E R2 dropins. Some of them even contain R2 binned LEDs. I have several which are indistinguishable from one another. Except some are probably 5 mode, some single mode, some will work best with two cells, some will die in contact with two cells. Most of these say Super Bright R2 on them and each one is slightly different from the next. Since i can't actually tell the difference between them other than output it is hard to link to any particular one, they all look the same. The 5 mode one that comes with the Ultrafire WF-504B http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.24200 is pretty good - at least in the example I have.
If you want something that makes more light than the R2 dropins, but still has some throw (For such a small reflector), then the quite recent XP-G R5 dropins are worth a look. They are pumping out probably 60-80% of the light of the quad die ones, but as the light-emitting area is smaller, they have more throw. They can be pretty bright but won't throw as far as a good R2. However, they will put out 70-100% more light and at a much kinder to the batteries current.
There are many, more specialised dropins such as infrared and ultra-violet ones. I have no use for lots of IR, and if you get shorter wavelength UV ones, remember to wear eye protection. Longer wavelength UV ones are readily available, such as this one. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16694 or a complete light with the another dropin capable of up to 8.4V http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10709. Neither of these are of short enough wavelength to light up the security features in current Bank of England notes. No idea about other currencies as I don't often see them here.
For more information, there is a long-running thread on P60 dropins in CPF. Part 2, Part 3.
Not anymore!
anyone “remember” these flashlights? i wanted to make a modding of RC-T5 with xmls or xpls…any idea for driver?? these body hosts are made from veery good material…why not?
I am starting a board development for my RC-T6, will probably end up with something FET+7135 like.
I’ll start a thread when I have a bit more info.
okok.I had four xpgs in this years ago.xpls or xmls will be pretty hot.not enough energy I guess from two lions.but romisens body are awesome…
ok.i got the body finally.looks like,romisen company is over….
so what do you reccomend?two lions against four leds….xml,xpl?sst40?
and which driver for that composition??
Post some pics !!