Freeme,
I’ve been looking for the same item for some time. At one point I had a lead on a possible E.U. supplier, but it dead-ended…
How do you hold the driver(?) to the bottom of the pill? Is there some adhesive involved? How do you solder the wires to the emitter while holding a solder iron, solder material, the wires and the pill? Maybe one of the members here will create some videos each one on a different part of the process.
1) choosing the right components to work together properly.
emitter, bin , color, amp restrictions, etc
which driver works best for that LED, modes, battery configuartion, etc
2) which parts to assemble first, why
assembly tricks and tests
3) How to connect reflector, springs, and heat sink wrapping
4) conductive heat sink paste
Bushwhacked, this is interesting. My first question is how do you judge quality in drop ins? I have read on many of these websites that the market is flooded with fake parts etc. The second one certainly fits the criteria, has a wide voltage spread where using 3 or 4 CR123 fits the voltage spread. I certainly like the price, but the price also makes me believe it may not be the real deal. Is Kaidomain a quality company and do you trust the quality of their parts?
What other companies can I do business with and not have to worry about low quality or fake items. I recently received a daily email flyer from Newegg, who I have done a lot of business with, in which they had 3 flashlights for sale too cheap and when I looked at them I believe the flashlights were fake UltraFires. Also the vender had a terrible user review rating. I wrote Newegg about this and they promised to get back to me but I have not heard from them since which seriously disappoints me.
I also looked at Mountain Electronics, who offers to assemble drop ins for a small ($5ish) fee. which is something I would be interested in as well. Is Mountain Electronics a good company? Thanks.
Mountain Electronics is excellent. The owner is member RMM and he has an excellent reputation for providing top quality batteries, parts and customized lights. Also look at Malkoff Devices and below is a link to Vinz Custom listing right here on the group.
Malkoff Devices has an outstanding reputation for very reliable drop-ins.
Sportac drop-ins from EagleTac
https://www.eagletac-usa.com/products/productList.aspx?uid=46-47
LOTS of sources for P60 drop-ins, both off the shelf and custom assembled.
When I read your statement what I am picturing is a pill inside a pill. An adapter that is a pill but with a large hole in the middle and threaded inside and outside so you can thread a P60 pill inside a C8 sized pill. That would be great. Then add a P60 sized reflector when use in a P60, or swap to a C8 reflector when in a C8. If that is doable it would allow people to use one pill in multiple sized hosts. Great idea.
What’s the adhesive paste for and when do you use it? What keeps the driver card from moving around after the wires are soldered? Does the drover fit into the shape of the pill with no room to wiggle?
The Solarforce low and high voltage drop ins are XR-E and XP-G. I’d rather have a XP-G2 for the low voltage and XM-L2, MT-G2 (maybe too big for a P60) or now the XP-L for the high voltage. That is why the drop in suggested by Bushwhacked from Kaidomain looks interesting.
The thermal paste goes underneath the emitter star and helps the thermal transfer from the the star to the pill.
The driver is soldered in. You sit it in place and solder the outer ring to the pill. This is what earths the driver.
What is they said “If you build it they will come” :>) Through out history when you make something easier more people are willing to get involved. I would use building PC’s as a good example.
Sorry I don’t what you mean by that.
I honestly think you are making this all out to be much harder than it is. I had no idea about P60s when I first joined. So I bought one, grabbed my soldering iron and took it all apart. Then just experimented with different combos. Additionally I have no idea what the fascination is with using multiple CR123a cells. What’s wrong with just getting a simple single cell driver and using an 18650?
Single cell’s are better than darkness. But if you want to really reach out and touch someone you need more cells, more powerful LED. Solarforce is selling a K-3 Head with a MT-G2 LED but the head is bigger than a P60. I like the P60 because I can have it on me all the time, which is great because you can never predict when the power will go out and you are in the dark.
They might be good. But the voltage spread is too narrow.
3 amps output from a driver powered by a single 18650 is the same as 3 amps output from a driver powered by a wheelbarrow full of CR123s all in series. The extra input voltage doesn't magically make more light come out the shiny end.
Just what I was about to say.
Windsurf;
The 18650 has several advantages in that they can have greater capacity than a pair of CR123A batteries and in higher current versions such as the Panasonic NCR18650BD and NCR18650PF they have much greater current providing ability than the 3 volt CR123A primary battery. The rechargeable RCR123A is available in high current versions too but a pair of most brands of protected ones are too long for many lights and the mAh capacity of two is less than half that of a high end 18650. Heck I just bought some 16650 batteries from Mountain Electronics so I could convert some lights bored too small for an 18650 to switch to a single battery.
How well a P60 handles different battery choices is dependent on the driver and LED and many lights produce no more light from two CR123A batteries than from a 18650. All the Mountain Electronics high power smaller lights such as the S3 and C8 size lights are designed to run on a single high current 18650 battery. After all one 18650 battery is putting out MORE voltage than three NiMH batteries in series and that combo in D size can power a quite powerful light. Four D NiMh batteries, 4.8V nominal, power the Fenix TK70 which is a 2000 Lumens light.
You want it all, for nothing. Sorry man. Either learn to do it yourself, take a chance on quality or pony up the cash for exactly what you want. Everyone here has been more than helpful. There’s a search bar at the top left. Use it.
Meaning no offence, but this is seriously no more difficult than eating steak and chips.
Don’t agree. Torches are cheap and plentiful with HUGE variation. And there are already systems to build or customise. Many sellers/manufactures offer custom choices when you order too.
It really couldn’t get simpler than it is now. Designing something just for the sake of it, will:
-cost more
-be very niche and thus limited
-probably worse performing