I plan on making a Nichia219 light in the near future. I thought I would get a wide variety of ideas for a good host from you fellow BLFers. I'm not sure yet what kind of cells I want to run it on yet, so I thought I'd leave it wide open, and look at my options.
Okay, here's the dig. I'm an untried, unskilled wannabe, so I'd like a well made host that comes with all the bits. a host that will only involve installing the driver and LED. It must be optimized for a Nichia LED, (IE:proper reflector angle...probabally one meant for XP-G...etc.) and suggestions for the best driver to push the Nichia to its best efficiency, without overpowering it. I would also prefer a driver with leads already attached.(no more than three modes, no disco)
I really don't want to get into P60 drop ins at this time, but all other suggestions will be researched and considered, perhaps with questions asked. Links are always appreciated.
Don't worry about budget. I'll decide on my budget while taking into consideration quality, and whether or not I like the way it looks.
This is a fact finding mission. Thanks for any input.
Well, one of my lights in the schedule of making is a 219 in this AA host from cnqualitygoods with a BLF-mini driver, it seems robust and has a XP-G reflector (=option when ordered):
Apart from the BLF-mini driver that is not around much (not for sale anymore I believe), I think it is a set-up for a nice light. Don't use a driver that goes over 1.5A.
Keep in mind when you use the mounted 219's from Illumination Supply that the board is 10mm and very thick. That caused me problems fitting it in lights made for thin 16mm boards (like the host i suggested): the solder blobs are close to the led and in the way of the reflector, and the assmbly can get too thick with the extra mm thickness of the board. My 219 mods have never been straightforward.
It is made for a 17mm driver, the pill is thick aluminium, so direct heatsinking from the led is very good. It is not a big light so the heatsinking of the entire body is limited. But to drive a 219 @ 1.5A is no problem at all in this host. One minus: with the tailcap that came with the light it can not tailstand, still looking for a flat 14mm tailcap (anyone?) because the trick with the extra o-ring under the cap does not work here.
And there's always the red AA host from cnqualitygoods as well. I believe it is reviewed somewhere on BLF.
Unless you go with P60, there's not really a lot of "just hook up the led & driver" hosts out there. At least not ones that are so universal. So you do a P60 and decide later on you want an XM-L2 in it. Just a different drop in.
Just my thoughts, that's all.
A solarforce would be a great host. They are very good quality. Bare hosts are not a lot of money and there's a lot to choose from. I think a bare L2N or L2M are less than $15 and a drop in can come from many sites. XP-G drop in will work. Solarforce would be something I would use, if I were doing Li-ion batts, since they have so many options, using the basic hosts.
It’s just that I already have a Malkoff with a Malkoff Nichia 219 drop in. I think part of my addiction is that I love all the different styles and shapes of flashlights themselves…different lengths, widths, head diameters. I want every torch to be physically different, and have its own unique attributes.
Try CNQG and looking at their bare hosts. They have a few. One thing you will run into is that some are not quite so easy. Also, anything with a big reflector will not be great with the 219, but CNQG does have 3 or 4 hosts there. At least they used to. CNQualitygoods.
Thanks Justin. Another reason is…I just want some practical experience. For me physically doing it will help me understand how it all works better than just reading. I can always sell or give one away if the result doesn’t turn my crank. If I can do this, I would like to move on to cracking open and modding beloved lights that could use a different tint…etec.
I know you aren’t looking for a p60 style light but I pieced together a solarforce l2t tailcap/body with an l2p head for sub $14 before shipping. Sub $16 after.
It’s a really nice host and has some decent weight to it (compared to the other solarforce p60s I have). It’s also different enough for me to have it and other more standard ones like the l2p.
Also, in terms of driving it at 1.5 amps. Correct me if I am wrong but I think people have successfully driven it past 1.5amps without damage.
I plan on building my own nichia p60 drop in soon for my l2t. Parts include:
XPG OP drop in
Nichia led
16mm XPG board
DrJones 1.4amp lupodrv driver (I plan on piggybacking one more 7135)
I do plan on getting a couple of solarforce eventually. Like you say, very affordable to play with. I’m just playing now. I want to learn to put together a few lights before I try to tear one apart. That’s my logic anyway.
I’d avoid 1-2 nimh or alkaline cell drivers as they have a hard time supplying the 1.4A you want to feed the Nichia. A single lithium cell driver in the range of 1-1.5A in a 10440, 14500, 16350, or 18650 host would work. I took the stock driver and led out of a TF Mini 01 and installed a Nichia and 1.4A Nanjig 101AK and tir optic. I did have to file both the optic and the driver a little to fit and insulate the driver from the pill but it only took an hour or so. It makes for a much nicer tint and better run time.
Well, there’s others I would choose, but most are for XM-L. Also, as was said once here, the 219 on a 10mm star is not a good choice, due to the thickness of the star and the “too close” proximity of the wires to the led. Better off on a 16mm or 20mm star, depending on the size of the host. That means reflowing and if that’s out, it leaves something like an XP-G or XP-G2, that is already on a 16mm or 20mm star.
You should also check out the build threads on AA Minimags as someone could make you a pill that you could add a driver to. A 3 x AA would be ideal for nimhs and a 2 x AA could use 14500 and spacer. The mod can be done without doing any cutting or boring but later you could try that too. It just needs to have the ano filed from the end of the battery tube.
How about a c8 upgrade with op xp-g reflector? Nice sized pill so its easier to solder, use a 1.4a two group nanjg driver from fasttech, it’ll also take a 20mm star which I think you can get the nichia’s on to save reflowing.
I like it when my flashlights can have a good output on Li-ions but also run (but with much lower output) on primaries when in need. The 7135-based Nanjg drivers have good modes, high PWM and are robust, but can't use primaries (With the use of the 101AK the mini can't run on cr123 primaries anymore). There are a few boost drivers for primaries (like that TF-mini driver you removed, and in my experience this one) that don't fry on Li-ions, they just go on direct drive in the range of 1.4-2A, with the high Vf of the Nichia it will be close to 1.4A.
If they do, I think the TF-3T6 would be awesome. I think it drives each LED under 1.5A and you can use all kinds of battery configurations (1-3 18650, 4 AA Nimh, 3 4/3af’s, etc).
It would give a flood of high CRI light with some decent throw too. Does anyone know the answer to my above question?
