Skylight's entry to the 7th BLF Old Lumens Contest 2019 - modified light category [Matainvoy ML18S FINISHED, video added]

The_Whispering_Galle · March 16, 2020, 12:57am

Amazing build! Congrats on the win!

Skylight · March 16, 2020, 7:47pm

Thank you, The Whispering Gallery. :partying_face:

Good luck with the prices, hope you get one you like. :sunglasses:

ArtieT59 · April 4, 2021, 12:52am

Wow!! This is an incredible mod, and very inspiring for me.

Quick question (sorry if you answered it in the thread, i just watched the video)

How did you ensure the mcpcb would lay flat on the “shelf” after you soldered in that (amazing) custom made copper heatsink? Im assuming with the copper braid you had uneven edges that were not flat the whole way around, did you sand?

I ask, because i am installing my first new driver soon and i will need to use copper braid and solder like that to fill the gap to the host, as the driver isnt wide enough in diameter. And i am going to need to make sure my battery tube makes solid contact with the driver.

Thanks, and great job, really! I would love to make a build like yours, i’m assuming the heat management is off the chart compared to the original mf01s!

Hank33 · April 4, 2021, 1:00am

What’s better than 1 led? 18 leds!! Hey nice work brother. Must of clocked overtime on this one! Can I send you mine?

Skylight · April 5, 2021, 7:17pm

Artiet59:

Wow!! This is an incredible mod, and very inspiring for me.

Quick question (sorry if you answered it in the thread, i just watched the video)

How did you ensure the mcpcb would lay flat on the “shelf” after you soldered in that (amazing) custom made copper heatsink? Im assuming with the copper braid you had uneven edges that were not flat the whole way around, did you sand?

I ask, because i am installing my first new driver soon and i will need to use copper braid and solder like that to fill the gap to the host, as the driver isnt wide enough in diameter. And i am going to need to make sure my battery tube makes solid contact with the driver.

Thanks, and great job, really! I would love to make a build like yours, i’m assuming the heat management is off the chart compared to the original mf01s!

Thank you, Artiet59. Nice to hear that this mod is still not outdated.

The copper braid indeed had uneven edges but they were pressed down by the MCPCB as I put the copper braid loosely with some thermal glue. The thermal paste and the optics are holding it down well. If you are enlarging a driver I would use solid copper wire, soldered to the driver.

It takes quite a while to heat up the copper spacer. I never ran this flashlight more than 5 or 10 minutes and mostly only at the Anduril ceiling level which is pretty high at around 17A. In winter it only gets warm on the outside. It it true that the MF01S heats up much faster but I suppose the LH351D are also running cooler than the SST20.

Skylight · April 5, 2021, 7:29pm

Thanks, Hank33. This flashlight mod was worth all the work. Considering the cost it would be cheaper to straight away buy a MF01S. It would require a very good reason to convince me to build the same flashlight again. :innocent: My next L6 mod might get four XHP70 in a quad reflector.

ArtieT59 · April 5, 2021, 10:03pm

Skylight:

Artiet59:

Wow!! This is an incredible mod, and very inspiring for me.

Quick question (sorry if you answered it in the thread, i just watched the video)

How did you ensure the mcpcb would lay flat on the “shelf” after you soldered in that (amazing) custom made copper heatsink? Im assuming with the copper braid you had uneven edges that were not flat the whole way around, did you sand?

I ask, because i am installing my first new driver soon and i will need to use copper braid and solder like that to fill the gap to the host, as the driver isnt wide enough in diameter. And i am going to need to make sure my battery tube makes solid contact with the driver.

Thanks, and great job, really! I would love to make a build like yours, i’m assuming the heat management is off the chart compared to the original mf01s!

Thank you, Artiet59. Nice to hear that this mod is still not outdated.

The copper braid indeed had uneven edges but they were pressed down by the MCPCB as I put the copper braid loosely with some thermal glue. The thermal paste and the optics are holding it down well. If you are enlarging a driver I would use solid copper wire, soldered to the driver.

It takes quite a while to heat up the copper spacer. I never ran this flashlight more than 5 or 10 minutes and mostly only at the Anduril ceiling level which is pretty high at around 17A. In winter it only gets warm on the outside. It it true that the MF01S heats up much faster but I suppose the LH351D are also running cooler than the SST20.

Thanks for the response! OK, that makes sense you used thermal grease and didn’t solder it. And thank you for the info, i do have copper wire so i will definitely use that instead of braid if you recommend it. I wont be able to hot plate solder it because i dont want to remove the spring, so i will test my solder skills lol, but it will probably be smoother then braid for battery tube connection. thanks Skylight!