Yeah Tom, good point. Think of it like shoving a Z-1 Vette engine into an old VW beetle. You might be able to, the results...performance wise...might be outrageously fun. But the car isn't made for that powerful engine and something's gonna give...maybe catastrophically! Just because you can, isn't always (or often) a sign that you should.
The smaller lights don't have the mass for heat sinking, will heat up, allow the LED to be hotter, shorten the life of the LED, have atrocious sag from the heat dropping the numbers you worked very hard to get and perhaps ending up in a few seconds, a minute, less output than it came with. So there's always a lot to it, a lot of aspects which we don't want to look at while we're going for top performance. It's fun to have a light with wow factor. Impress the friends, all that. But when the electricity is out, when you're working on the car, looking for the lost puppy, it's long term performance that really matters.
I've got lights for those things mentioned above. And I've got the 1/8th mile dragsters. :) Get caught out in the dark with the dragster in hand and it's likely you'll be still in the dark, with drained cells and an overheated light that doesn't work.
Edit: I should also add that y'alls quest for the best made me buy a XinTD V4 C8 a few minutes ago. :P Once it gets here, maybe I'll make the Convoy C8 the dragster...
I'm so sic - I got a XinTD rev 2 (modded out but domed) and a stock v4, plus a modded out Convoy C8 for throw (XP-G2 de-domed). Though I realy like the XinTD C8's as the best C8 out there, I think this C8 reflector design (fasttech SMO) does a little better than the XinTD's reflector. I'm basing this on my modded LM C8 head to head with my modded XinTD v2 and other C8's I built out same way, before the copper pill went into the LM C8, though the copper pill didn't seem to make any difference in output. Always thought the XinTD under-performed a little bit.
I always say I can gift or sell them, but finding it very hard to part with anything these days -- got some of my grandma in me - a "collector", not a thrower-outer. Maybe I am realy sic .
The Convoy L4 RacerR86 pointed out is looking real nice, accept not a modders dream with the electronic switch, and the copper star is not a direct thermal path type, so should be replaced for high amp use. Don't know details though for moddability... Maybe resistor mods or Dr Jones electronic switch driver, dunno. A quick BLF search and didn't find anything on modding a L4, but stock at 2.6A (??) it gets 840 lumens on a T6 4C which ain't bad, but I look to get in the 1,200-1,300's with XM-L2 U2 1A's.
The pill - XintD has a nice size brass (plus threaded reflector!) one while the Convoy has the small under-sized alumimun - no comparison in mass - many debate bout brass vs aluminum of course, but the extra mass in this comparison wins out. I've been disappointed with the Convoy pill from the get-go, but Ryan kind of took care of that problem. Still disappointed a 20mm star won't fit when the 20mm is the de-facto standard for a C8 light.
The body and finish - debatable but think the XinTD wins here too
Overall component quality - XinTD for the tailcap/switch, SMO reflector, AR lens
Since you were interested, I though Id get the ball rolling.. Some strange Vf results on various emitters in that thread too... I write and test too much... 0:)
The Wallbuys XINTD is a superb C8, 3 or 5 modes available, nice regulation, 3.04 amps, and doesn’t get too hot but DOES throw something real nice…
The KE-5 is a classic and still one of the brightest pocketable torches around. It’s got my approval. The Lightmalls C8 is another I recommend. The Convoy I don’t own but has the best track record on BLF.
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