Don’t use super glue products, as Kramer pointed out it will outgas and leave a residue on everything including the LED optic. Also, it will sipe into every crevice of the joint and reduce heat transfer. If you want the best adhesive get Arctic Alumina Silver 2 part thermal epoxy. Or try AA Ceramique paste, both are tops for getting the heat out of the star and into the pill/sink/body.
>>>>>If you want the best adhesive get Arctic Alumina Silver 2 part thermal
>>>>>>epoxy. Or try AA Ceramique paste, both are tops for
>>>>>>>getting the heat out of the star and into the pill/sink/body.
THANK YOU!!! And both of these are actual GLUE, as in stick stuff together when dry? NOT thermal grease like I use for computer CPUs that never dries. It is sticky, but not something you could use to glue two cpus together forever.
Where’s a good place to get these for cheep? The AAS 2 part is on flea bay but not the AACP.
Thanks!!!
Mine just came in the mail. It has a threaded retaining ring holding the black insulator and star in to the pill. Apart from the brand, black insulator, crenelated front bezel, it looks otherwise identical to the Sipik. It doesn’t smoke or cough so far, or fry bacon. It doesn’t seem to get too hot, which might be a concern, and I can’t speak for PWM, it’s still daylight here so after dark it will get a good run.
Otherwise, a pretty nice little light for the money. Nice EDC if it works out ok.
Edited to add the following
Well, after comparing my UltraOk Version it with This TomTop one I can say the UltraOK version of the Sipik does not have the bad visible PWM as the TomTop light. That’s a relief, because I bought this hoping to get rid of the constant flickering PWM on low.
They are slightly different lights really, but have a lot of similarities. The TomTop one has a slightly larger diameter head, although the machining looks the same.
The TomTop light has a nicer fit, finish and feel. It’s also a bit longer
UltraOK/Sipik is not nearly as bright. That actually suits me for an EDC
TomTop one has a nice smooth bezel, UltraOK is crenelated. Probably protects the lens better but I prefer the smooth one. Sadly they are not interchangeable. Despite obvious similarities, these are very different lights.
The UltraOK version is branded UltraOK Mini UF3-T6.
It has no memory, starts on high after a few seconds off
The TomTop one has some definite rings on flood, the UltraOK one rings are hardly noticeable. Flood and throw beams are very similar on both.
I prefer the warmer tint colour of the TomTop one, its a much warmer even white.
I got 2 of these bout 3 weeks ago from Manafont and didn't have any smoke problems. It does get hot in a couple of minutes though. It's super light, super small -- no where for the heat to go. Sure would like the low mode to be lower though, but I can't notice the PWM flicker. The mid is still brighter than a Romisen RC-29 on high, while the low is a little lower. For it's size and cost, this Sipik isn't so bad from my experience with them, though the quality of the housing materials is obviously cheap.
I can't seem to be able to get the pill out - it won't budge, seems like it's glued and didn't try heating it up.
>>>>> I can’t seem to be able to get the pill out - it won’t budge, seems like it’s glued and didn’t try heating it up.
I did it by spreading needlenose pliers (or hemostats) so they contacted the INSIDE pill edges and unscrewing it. Turned out to not be very tightly screwed in.
Couple members recommended I drill a couple small holes in the pill face and using those in the normal way as holes for hemo tips to back the pill out. That would have been the next step. It unscrews, BTW.
No glue that I saw anywhere but maybe they added some since the star on my two lights kept popping out and overheating (eventually fixed by thermal gluing it into place. The star into the pill. Not gluing the pill into the light).
Yup, light has a lot of promise. Mine is okay with heat once batteries get below about 4 volts. There’s also an ultrafire bronzey one of these that is very close to the sipik, but still different.
Man, you are LUCKY to have no PWM on the low mode. Mine is the worst I’ve seen in any light. Have it in all four of these lights: Have two sipiks and two ultrafire bronzeys that are very similar to the sipik.
Hope this helps!
My Sipik SK73 finally arrived after 6 weeks in transit (Manafont states that they shipped on July 17th.) They say that cargo space has been limited and has led to some delays.
First impressions are that it appears to be a bit brighter than my Aurora P7 C.
Draws about 2.3A at the tail cap from my battery charged to 4.08 volts. (may be a low reading due to my cheapo meter leads or my cheap batteries).
This is a small light! Almost as compact as some of my bulkier single AA lights.
I like the reversible clip.
I have not noticed any heating problems yet as I haven’t left it on high yet for more than half a minute.
Light has a noticeably purple tint to it - somewhat objectionable.
PWM on low mode is noticeable to my eyes, but not any more so than any of my other lights that have PWM. To check for PWM I zoom in to a small spot, then wave the light around. If it has PWM, you’ll see discrete images of the spot, not one long blur. Also, you can aim at something moving like a ceiling fan and see the effect.
I guess not a bad buy for $11.
>>>>>>>I have not noticed any heating problems yet as I haven’t left it on high yet for more than half a minute.
Best to check the star and make sure it is being held firmly in place in the pill. I got my smoke from the zoom head when the light was getting warm-to-hot, and I would zoom rapidly in and out. The difference in air pressure I think knocked/popped the star loose like a cork in a champagne bottle. (this also happened with two other bronze-color Ultrafire and sltrafire clones that are very similar in design to the sipik). I glued my first star in place with thermal paste and then the smoke stopped. It wasn’t billows of black smoke, but was definitely visible in the light’s beam when pulling the zoom head IN, which forced the smoke and air pressure out.
I have another sipik on order because I didn’t discover the loose star in time, and after I glued it, because of its previous overheating I’m sure, it burned out. But I agree it is a cool light if you can get the star in solid …. Although mine (probably not others) has the WORST PWM I have ever seen in any light. I can’t turn it on to refresh my memory of course because she burned up. I have some drivers and stars on the way and will mod this baby right up and hopefully bring it up to full potential, because there is a lot of potential there. It’s a bright little light with a reasonable beam, IMHO anyway. And a way handy size. Just wish the original was made better …. But you’re right, it is only $11.
I unscrewed the pill assembly and took a quick look. The star seemed to be in pretty tight on mine. It had a flat white plastic donut over the star that was stuck in place which I didn’t try to remove since nothing seemed to be loose. The body gets fairly hot even on medium, so I think there is good thermal transfer. Body of the flashlight is so small that heat isn’t radiated away well for long sessions on high, even if heat sinking is good. That’s my impression.
As long as your white ring is in solid, you’re probably okay. But like I said, it was the air pressure that knocked the star loose when moving the zoom in and out (in the sipik and two clones). Hopefully they fixed the problem. Or maybe I’m just sentened to get lights with loose stars. I just got another completeley different light from meritline and it was also loose. In fact it wasn’t even touching the pill at all.
Figures they fixed it AFTER I had all the problems with mine!
Must be luck of the draw. This little light is growing on me. I’m going to try it out as my EDC starting tomorrow. It just fits in the side loop of my cell phone holster. Never thought I’d consider a 18650 powered light for EDC. Throw is not super as the emitter image when fully zoomed is almost 2ft across at a distance of 10 ft. My old X2000 zoomie with P4 emitter driven at about 3W shines a much smaller and more intense spot than this Sipik SK73. Side benefit to the 73 is by winter time it can double as a hand warmer!
>>>>>>I’m going to try it out as my EDC starting tomorrow
Yup, I’ll use the repaired ultrafire copy of the sipik as an EDC. Works good. Compact. But I do the Ultrafire clone of the sk98 as my main EDC most of the time. Just love that thing. Under $15. Smaller, brighter, 1 18650, useful zoom. Looks like a bigger sk68.
But the sk73 has some pluses. As I said, I have been using the sltrafire and ultrafire clones of the sipik 73 because my sipik 73, she done burned up. 
New one on order. Plus stars and drivers to fix the toasted one.
If you like the sk 73, I strongly suggest the ultrafire clone of the sk98. I have bought 6-8. Ebay vendors I used are listed in various threads on blf under my name. Someone on blf just bought one of the sk98 UF clones, and it didn’t have a solid pill any more, but a little thermal plaster fixed the conductivity with the edge contact. It does NOT get blazing hot like the real sk98. Highly recommended as an EDC. The flood is blazing and the zoom is fine.
Ran across this listing on ebay for what looks like a different branded SK-73. “1309 sold” at the time of this writing, price is now $9.49. This one has a black plastic piece around the emitter.