Great beam pics, thanks for sharing! Even better when i worked out the title is under the pic :person_facepalming: ha ha
Great shots, thanks!
Copper won’t necessarily speed up the thermal response though; it’ll generally slow down the response. The reason is because copper is a more effective sponge; it can hold more heat energy. It’s like making the head out of ~142% as much aluminum, so it heats up slower and cools down slower, and the regulation can respond slower. Unfortunately, it also weighs ~332% as much.
Specific heat:
- Aluminum: 0.91 j/g
- Copper: 0.39 j/g
Density:
- Aluminum: 2.70 g/cm3
- Copper: 8.96 g/cm3
Specific heat by volume:
- Aluminum: 2.46 j/cm3
- Copper: 3.49 j/cm3
Quite difficult
A clicky has a rotating mechanism inside it like that of a pushbutton pen. Press and it clicks to “on”. Press again and it clicks to “off”, interrupting main current.
In contrast, main current does not flow through an e-switch. Instead, the driver remains powered at all times. The e-switch is simply a data input used to tell the driver MCU that the button has been depressed and it’s time to following its programming. Since main current does not flow through the e-switch, a much smaller switch with thinner wires can be used. Also, since the switch is merely a data input, a rotating clicky mechanism is not needed. Mechanically, an e-switch uses a momentary pushbutton in which electricity flows only while the button is held down.
The biggest problem is you can’t simply swap out a clicky for an e-switch. You either need a dedicated setup with the driver in the tail near the switch (not easy to do), or you need separate electrical connection to the tailcap e-switch. Lights designed to use clicky switches don’t have this extra electrical connection.
Some solutions:
- HDS lights use a tailcap e-switch. They have a separate switchwire that runs inside a channel from the driver in the head to a contact ring in the tailcap.
- Lightflux lights and the upcoming FW3a have a metal tube sitting inside the battery tube. In lightflux lights this metal tube is isolated from the exterior body by a thin plastic tube. In the FW3a, the exterior tube’s anodization isolates the interior tube.
- Some very cheap generic Costco budget lights have an e-switch and driver in the tailcap.
- At least one modder on BLF figured out how to install any driver in the tailcap for use with an e-switch. Required some fancy wiring and a creatively built tailcap. Not easy to do.
- It’s possible to build a small tailcap e-switch that can be directly swapped out for a clicky switch. The e-switch will need a dedicated circuit board with either a capacitor or small battery and some kind of gate, plus the momentary pushbutton. Note that with this design, pressing the button will turn the light on or off, but it won’t be able to do the full range of functions that an e-switch attached directly to the driver can do (such as having certain things take place for however long you hold the button down)
Bottom line: converting a tailcap clicky light into a tailcap e-switch light can be done, but doing so is a quite advanced and difficult mod. I modded a couple Sipik 58s to use tailcap e-switches by adding an extra electrical connection from the head to the tailcap. Building the mod and making sure it worked took some very careful thought and probably around 15 hours of work per light.
I think those are Neal’s pictures — the same Neal who has helped with so many BLF projects. He sells Emisar products now too.
Sure, but the temperature difference between what user feels and what driver reads would be lower.
Yeah, I guess a need a second D4 too …
TK
has Neal a webpage?
Just ordered a D4 with the XP-L HI 3A in Black...can't wait to get it even though I'll probably look to get a 219 when (if?) it comes back in stock!
Here I was…minding my own business…pretty doggone happy with my grey D4 XP-G2 3D…even mildly considering selling my Zebralight SC62w which has been my faithful EDC for some time now….and you go and link pics of beamshots comparing the models that make me want that dang D4 XPL HI version even though I talked myself out of it originally because of the extra cost.
Thanks. Thanks a lot. :person_facepalming:
What version of ToyKeeper’s firmware is in this light? It looks like she made some changes to it in July, which raised the sustained output (after thermal regulation) from about 5% output up to over 20. Is the better regulation (the 20 version) the one that ships with this light?
If it’s the 5% version, that’s only about 190 lumens (based on the Nicha 219 max of 3800 lumens). If it’s over 20%, then that’s a much more respectable ~800 lumens sustained output. Pretty good, really.
I know, it’s probably already been answered in the first 2000 posts….
Had the same feeling after seeing those pics. Thankfully there is no xpl-hi 5D version available yet 
ME TOO! I love my XP-G2 3D but that XPL HI, wowsa!
FWIW, remember that the labels are under the images. The pictures with the small throwy hotspot are the D1, not the D4 XP-L HI.
Tom E wrote the firmware. I only tweaked it a little.
However, none of the changes determine the sustained output level. The user configures that by setting the temperature limit. The different stable levels in the graphs are due to having different temperature limits configured. If you want it higher, set a higher temperature limit or help it shed heat somehow.
The latest D4 code is in my repository, linked in my signature, under Tom_E/RampingIOS.
That was clear. I’m just impressed with how much further it seems the D4 HI projects without sacrificing much breadth. Definitely knew which one I was looking at. 
Impressive how it compares to the distance of the D1 in relative brightness.
yeah, that difference is not inconsequential, I have debated myself on a 2nd D4 and now have lost.
I have the 219C green and love it. It is cute until doubleclicked…. instant Hulk.
I just ordered the grey XPL HI 3A from Mtn, and partially justified it by cancelling my 2nd Q8.
I think our usage/carry is better served by the smaller size.
I begin to want my flashlight firmware to update itself every few days, automagically, by wifi ….