Want to buy crappiest C8 light on Aliexpress

Boaz · 2022-11-22T11:32:07.000Z

Somewhere I still have some Lohan C8's that we paid under $5 for . I must have bought 4 or more .

I figure if Lindsey Lohan is selling lights. I'm a buyer

If they have any weight to them it's gotta be the lead paint .

Henk4U2 · 2022-11-22T17:16:01.000Z

Just ordered myself a Litwod (what’s in a name) C8 with T6 emitter.
Probably won’t arrive this year, I hope it will be worth the wait.
Let’s see what I can achieve with the goodies in my spare parts box.

Sirius9 · 2022-11-22T20:14:24.000Z

I am hoping for the worst. :laughing:

How many times you heard that :sunglasses:

I also ordered myself the “T6” version. Could have spent less if I registered new account with new email but that was too much hassle.

Henk4U2:

Let’s see what I can achieve with the goodies in my spare parts box.

But, you can only use working parts that you discarded from other projects as “not worthy”

SpeedB · 2022-11-23T03:26:08.000Z

Ordered this from Amazon just yesterday for my first mod build, no idea what to do till I have a look at the guts.
WARSUN LED Flashlight Tactical Flashlights High Lumens Bright Flash Light Camouflage Torch, 3 Lighting Modes, Drop-Resistant, IPX5 Waterproof for Camping, Riding, Traveling https://a.co/d/48SFrVG

epv · 2022-11-23T03:39:14.000Z

Found this one(link is external), and ordered Silly
If we judge by the company name, I have high hopes

I hope you got the set that includes “Exquisite gift box”

FunkyRider86 · 2022-11-25T07:57:36.000Z

I have a spare XHP70.2 on a Convoy MCPCB and I am really tempted to buy one of the cheapest crappy “P70” lights on Ali and see if I can cramp the real deal into it. Just need to find a driver because I’m sure the stock driver will be 3V and/or crap.

Henk4U2 · 2022-12-11T12:18:31.000Z

Henk4U2:

Just ordered myself a Litwod (what’s in a name) C8 with T6 emitter.
Probably won’t arrive this year, I hope it will be worth the wait.
Let’s see what I can achieve with the goodies in my spare parts box.

Update

Ordered November 22nd, expected arrival January 2nd. €5.04 incl. S&H and VAT.
Arrived yesterday (December 10th) at my neighbours door, after a mere 18 days.

First impresions: low quality ano (few chips off despite being properly packaged).
Has generic UI: high, med, low, strobe, and SOS. Next mode memory AFAIK.
The driver looks press-fit. Can’t see any threads in that side of the head.
There is no pill or shelf on the business end of the head.
The emitter seems to be press-fit in a ledge in the “floor” of the head.
Looks a bit like the driver side of a regular C8, but without a retaining ring.

Tailcap with press-fit switch, not swappable with a regular Convoy C8 tailcap.
However, the industrial strenght tailcap of my Fandyfire fits quite well.
A hard lockout is not possible because the tube has clean threads on both sides.

The bezel is swappable with all previous Convoy C8 models. Glass lens, not coated.
Plastic reflector, a bit shorter than the usual Convoy C8 reflector.
I you wanna use a regular Convoy reflector, you need a thinner centering ring.

FunkyRider86 · 2022-12-11T20:33:35.000Z

Looks like they managed to cut every corner possible. It’s a lost cause. If you want to make it half way decent you have to spend way more time and money than buying a quality one from the start. Lessen learned. I wanted to do the same, buying a crap light and try to ‘do it up’ just to have some fun. Not so at this time. An old Convoy C8, maybe even a beat up sceond hand would be a better bet.

QReciprocity42 · 2022-12-12T02:30:52.000Z

Wow, it's every bit as janky as you wished for, and then some!

I'd stick a dedomed 3500K 519A in it, put in a super low current driver (maybe 50mA because that's all it can thermally handle), and pretend it's a high-achieving incandescent.

FunkyRider86 · 2022-12-12T03:40:29.000Z

That would be a waste for a good 519A emitter.

Sirius9 · 2022-12-31T20:17:10.000Z

My light arrived December 23 (about 30 day over the world tour) and I can confirm what Henk4U2 described is exactly what I got.
I am impressed

- low quality build materials (cheapest aluminium you can find)
- see through screw on pill
- press-fit driver and led
- fake “Cree” led
- plastic reflector
bonus
- press-fit switch (wasn’t expecting that)

This is exactly what I wanted

zoulas · 2023-01-04T23:33:10.000Z

$4, wow, I would say it’s worth at least $5.

Congratulations

Sirius9 · 2023-01-04T23:49:42.000Z

It blows my mind sometimes.

- all that CNC work to make the host

- anodisation

- molds for all the plastic parts (reflector is plastic but the business end is fairly good looking, nice and shiny with minimal visual imperfections)

- all included manual labor

and shipping all the way from China to me, about 9000 kilometers

all that for $4.10
on top the quality is actually not the worst it could be, threads are not grinding, everything sits well…

Jerommel · 2023-01-05T11:41:41.000Z

Sirius9:

It blows my mind sometimes.

- all that CNC work to make the host

- anodisation

- molds for all the plastic parts (reflector is plastic but the business end is fairly good looking, nice and shiny with minimal visual imperfections)

- all included manual labor

and shipping all the way from China to me, about 9000 kilometers

all that for $4.10
on top the quality is actually not the worst it could be, threads are not grinding, everything sits well…

It may be old stock.
That fake XM-L, the ‘driver’ and that metal cover over the tail spring llook like 2015 or so to me.

gravelmonkey · 2023-01-05T11:48:59.000Z

Sirius9:

It blows my mind sometimes.

- all that CNC work to make the host

- anodisation

- molds for all the plastic parts (reflector is plastic but the business end is fairly good looking, nice and shiny with minimal visual imperfections)

- all included manual labor

and shipping all the way from China to me, about 9000 kilometers

all that for $4.10
on top the quality is actually not the worst it could be, threads are not grinding, everything sits well…

At risk of drifting into politics, to my mind, the phrase that comes to mind is: “if something seems to good to be true, then it probably is”.

There is a catch, probably the downside of offshoring Western Europe’s manufacturing capabilities.

That aside, I’m pleased you’ve recieved a reasonably good host and not just landfill, and I’m looking forward seeing the mods.

zoulas · 2023-01-05T12:06:16.000Z

It was $4, how can he have possibly gotten ripped off. The way I look at it, if you press the button and it turns on, he got a good deal.

Jerommel · 2023-01-05T12:12:12.000Z

Yeah, it has enough potential to turn it into a decent light.
If you have a 20mm copper dtp LED board that fits snugly in the pill either with or without a bead of JB Weld, it should be safe to run up to 10 Watts i.m.o.
Or just run 6 Watts or so with a Nichia 219B or C you may already have in stock.
Stick in a nanjg 105 with 5 or 6 × 7135 driver you probably still have in the spare parts box and the pill is good to go.
The tailswitch may have to be replaced.
Those ultra cheap tail switches can be really bad.
But a press fit switch assembly usually is good enough if it fits snugly enough.
But the plastic reflector is probably good enough for the job and it seems to already have a glass lens.

Muto · 2023-01-05T12:51:35.000Z

Jerommel:

Yeah, it has enough potential to turn it into a decent light.
If you have a 20mm copper dtp LED board that fits snugly in the pill either with or without a bead of JB Weld, it should be safe to run up to 10 Watts i.m.o.
Or just run 6 Watts or so with a Nichia 219B or C you may already have in stock.
Stick in a nanjg 105 with 5 or 6 × 7135 driver you probably still have in the spare parts box and the pill is good to go.
The tailswitch may have to be replaced.
Those ultra cheap tail switches can be really bad.
But a press fit switch assembly usually is good enough if it fits snugly enough.
But the plastic reflector is probably good enough for the job and it seems to already have a glass lens.

Copper board isn’t going to help much with a hollow pill.
With low enough power it won’t matter much either way.

QReciprocity42 · 2023-01-05T21:06:11.000Z

Put in a warm, high CRI emitter and a low power driver (100mA or less). You now have a high-performing incandescent!

Jerommel · 2023-01-05T22:55:18.000Z

Muto:

Copper board isn’t going to help much with a hollow pill.
With low enough power it won’t matter much either way.

It will definitely help, compared to an aluminium board.
I doubt a 1mm thick aluminium shelf in the pill (like in not hollow pills) will make a whole lot of difference.
[EDIT]Maybe i’m wrong.
Looking at the pics, the ledge the LED board rests on is really narrow… [/EDIT]
It is important though, that there is a decent thermal path from the copper board to the pill.
But the surface area of the board in contact with the hollow pill is easily larger than the thermal pad of a 3535 LED to the DTP board.
A bit of JB Weld will help improve things a bit more, or some thermal glue if you have any.
Ideally one press fits a round 20mm dtp board (like Noctigon of Kaidomain boards) into the pill, but perhap the cavity in the pill is too large to press fit it. I don’t know that.
But there are always ways to make it better, but it may take too much time and effort or stuff you don’t have (like aluminium solder and flux).