$1 homemade Q3 copper heatsink (+pics)

[thingsforjason]

...
The Canadian mint changed penny composition to coated zinc cores after 1997, so pre-1997 (98% copper) coins are the ones to use here. Not sure when the US mint changed over, can anyone verify?
...
Derek

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(U.S._coin)
FYI, this says that any US pennies from 1944 to 1981 should work (95% copper). I'm in the process of filing down a 1972 and 1974 penny right now. Gotta do something while I wait for the rest of my Q3 parts to come in.

 

[savumaki]

Re: $1 homemade Q3 copper heatsink (pics updated)

Great job mosport;

BTW if you don't want the switch you took out I'll buy it from you or trade for the stock I have in my Q3.

B4 this mod I used the two penny idea (which I got from a thread where the modder stayed international by using a Cdn and a US penny!!)
I direct drive mine and use RCR w UCL lens, great light. I took the head off using a hairdryer (and gloves). I figured there would be less mess than the hot bath method, worked fine. I also removed the clip from mine which I found to be virtually useless.(gave that away)

Again, the mod looks great; consider yourself 'bitten'.

Karl

 

[mosport]

Re: $1 homemade Q3 copper heatsink (pics updated)

Thanks for the kind words Karl, I also removed the clip from my Q3 and filled the holes up with JB Weld.

PM sent too,


Derek

 

[thingsforjason]

Re: $1 homemade Q3 copper heatsink (pics updated)

So i've finished filing down my pennies, but here's the question: How do I go about soldering them together?

In the original post, it talks about using a lighter and pliers, which i get...but do i just sandwich little piecies of solder in between the pennies and squeeze? or do i solder along the edges?

Questions, questions....

 

[thingsforjason]

Re: $1 homemade Q3 copper heatsink (pics updated)

It's all good; I got it figured out. Here's how I did it:

After filing down the pennies, I busted out my trusty Radio Shack soldering iron (it's all i got...for now) and flipped the switch the 30 Watts. While it was warming up, I used my file to gouge a cross hatch pattern on the sides I going to solder together; i don't know if that really helped, but i had nothing else to do.

Once the iron was hot, I blobed solder on each of the pennies in various spots, again on the sides that were getting soldered together and tried to spread that around. Then, using needle nose pliers i set one penny on top of the other. Finally, I just set my soldering iron firmly on the top of the penny sandwich and pressed, while using the pliers to keep the pennies lined up, until the solder melted again and the excess came out the sides.

Hack job, I know, but it seemed to work for me.

 

[Mirage_Man]

Re: $1 homemade Q3 copper heatsink (pics updated)

After sanding flat my two pennies I filed one penny's diameter down till it fit inside the ring. Then I put a chamfer around both pennies where they faced each other. Then I flowed the solder all the way around the edges. Once together I took my dremel with a sanding drum and sanded the egde of the non filed penny until it was even with the filed penny.

Hmmm.. did that make sense?

MM

 

[Icarus]

Re: $1 homemade Q3 copper heatsink (pics updated)

Nice and clean mod! :goodjob:

 

[tonyd]

:goodjob: Nice work. Rather than a final sanding for fit you may wish to place the copper heat sink in the freezer for a day or so then heat the Al light just prior to inserting the frozen heatsink. This will give a good tight fir when the temps equilbrate.

 

[wmpwi]

As a variation on the theme, I was plotting out the same mod while waiting for the new Cree to come in the mail. I was really surprised to see this post as it was almost exactly what I was planning. But once I saw the post, I got a slightly different idea with I suspect equally good results.

In my variation, I used the same copper part, but rather than file and sand it down to fit, as I only have a dremel type thing, I cut a slice out and pushed it together to make the smaller diameter. I left out the pennies because I wanted to use the Dorcy AAA driver technique that was popularized a while back. I used a Rev 3 board and ground it down a bit to fit and drilled out the reflector just enough. Fits like a glove.

Not sure if I'm going to fry anything but I have a Li-ion 700 mA and the output is a wall of light.

BTW - Excellent idea mosport

 

[mosport]

Very clever wmpwi!

Filing down copper for a tight fit can be a pain, I like how you pulled off this mod with a few cuts.

Thanks for sharing the Dorcy driver mod too, read about it but never saw the pics.

 

[wmpwi]

mosport, you were the inspiration. I was all ready to start filing and sanding til I saw how much you had to do. I suspect lazyness is the real mother of invention.

Very clever wmpwi!

Filing down copper for a tight fit can be a pain, I like how you pulled off this mod with a few cuts.

Thanks for sharing the Dorcy driver mod too, read about it but never saw the pics.