Improving heat sinking on P60 style drop ins.

[OneBigDay]

This is a really good tip. Thanks Norm for posting.

I have a new Nailbender SST-50 dropin in a Solarforce L2m Stainless Steel host and have been a little concerned about how this will dissipate heat. I just tried the pop can wrap and now the head does get warmer noticeably faster (a good thing). I still may need an aluminum host in the long run but I wanted to give this one a go first. I had read some tips in other posts about copper tape but was hesitant because of the adhesive. The pop can wrap seems like a clean version of the same idea.

My little MC-E starts getting warm almost straight away , and after 3 minutes its hot , 5 minutes and the entire flashlight is hot ...

You guys are brave putting MC-E dropins in a P60 host. I am new to this whole game but from what I've been reading here, this little guy gets HOT and it seems that's why we aren't seeing more small stock lights using this LED - too much heat. Having said that - I am very tempted to try a dropin like this myself :thinking:

 

[kimck99]

Hi Norm,

Just wanted to drop a note that that your suggestion works great. I have two P60 hosts (Surefire C2 and Solarforce L2P) and I took a Pepsi can and cut it into two strips about 0.5 to 0.7 inches wide.

It took a few cuts to get is to the right length to have the drop-in fit nice and snug. With the SST-50 and MCE drop-ins, respectively, the bodies get warmer much faster - especially the C2.

Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

 

[Norm]

With the SST-50 and MCE drop-ins, respectively, the bodies get warmer much faster - especially the C2.

Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

Your welcome.
Seems so much easier than playing around with foil, all my lights with drop ins use this method.
Cheers Norm

 

[Fusion_m8]

Thanks for the tip Norm. No soft drink cans though.... only VB, so I gotta make do!:thumbsup:

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

I used aluminum tape for my M60/6P. The tape I used is for holding ceramic backing in a weld joint. The aluminum realy got the head warm quick. I believe there was a 0.009" diffence between the module and head, and a soda can was too thick.

 

[Fichtenelch]

I use high-speed tape, since i work in aviation Much thicker than just normal al foil and comes with adhesive.

 

[kosPap]

personally I use alum food tray material...

and got a question:
does this worths it?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5092
got some and it seems more tape than copper...

 

[Norm]

personally I use alum food tray material...

and got a question:
does this worths it?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5092
got some and it seems more tape than copper...

This is a clone Kapton tape not copper tape.
Norm

 

[Sgt. LED]

Yeah, don't.

 

[Superorb]

Has anyone contacted 3M to determine the conductive properties (if any) of the adhesive on the copper tape?

 

[Patriot]

Great idea Norm and it's opened up thought on advanced versions of the concept. I'd interested in seeing a graph of the difference with and without the "tape" as related to time and temperature. A stop watch and infrared thermometer would be the quick and dirty way.

 

[recDNA]

I use copper tape from AC Moore. No adhesive. I also put a little piece of copper wire wrapped around where the pill connects to the reflector. Arctic silver is great stuff but too messy for me.

 

[waddup]

i wonder is the dropin could be wrapped in plastic and pushed into a jb weld or high temp epoxy blob inside the host? might be tricky and messy, but after its hardens and is cleaned up (dremel) would be a good fit with excellent heat transfer.

 

[dhouseng]

i tried the pepsi can strip method but i think it is still very hot on the dropin, i turn the L2p with R5 on for about a minute, i then quickly remove the dropin and touch the pepsi can strip and the wall around the head, the pill feels very hot, but the strip feels just very tiny bit of warm. what is wrong?

 

[Noctis]

i tried the pepsi can strip method but i think it is still very hot on the dropin, i turn the L2p with R5 on for about a minute, i then quickly remove the dropin and touch the pepsi can strip and the wall around the head, the pill feels very hot, but the strip feels just very tiny bit of warm. what is wrong?

Could be bad thermal contact still. Do you have to really shove the module inside the light when you put it in?

The copper tape + Arctic Silver 5 combination is pricey at $20 and very messy, but it's exceptionally effective IMO. Though I really only go that far for the really hot emitters(SST-50/90, MCE, P7). In my Surefire 6P with an SST-90 direct drive, the heat transfer is good enough that I can feel the heat inside of 10 seconds, and the light always gets too hot to hold before the emitter shifts to a blue tint.

 

[Norm]

i tried the pepsi can strip method but i think it is still very hot on the dropin, i turn the L2p with R5 on for about a minute, i then quickly remove the dropin and touch the pepsi can strip and the wall around the head, the pill feels very hot, but the strip feels just very tiny bit of warm. what is wrong?

Thin thin aluminium strip will cool almost instantly when taken out of the light, it doesn't have enough thermal mass on its own to stay hot.
It's job is to fill the space and conduct the heat to the body of the light.
Norm

 

[sims2k]

I am going to try the thick aluminum foil first before cutting up a pop can for my SF C2 and Solarforce L2 lights. Thanks guys for the ideas.

 

[Tally-ho]

i tried the pepsi can strip method but i think it is still very hot on the dropin, i turn the L2p with R5 on for about a minute, i then quickly remove the dropin and touch the pepsi can strip and the wall around the head, the pill feels very hot, but the strip feels just very tiny bit of warm. what is wrong?

Does the drop-in fit very tightly into the host ?
Did you remove the varnish that is on the internal side of the can ?

 

[dhouseng]

Does the drop-in fit very tightly into the host ?
Did you remove the varnish that is on the internal side of the can ?

yeap the drop in fit very tightly and i sanded away the printings on both side of the strip.

but theres another problem, the strip seems to scrape off a tiny bit of the aluminium wall of the L2P everytime i put the dropin in and taking it out.

how did you guys manage to make the strip stay in place? my dropin fits too tightly that everytime i remove the dropin there's a 'pop' sound, and the strip follows the dropin.

 

[Tally-ho]

the pill feels very hot, but the strip feels just very tiny bit of warm. what is wrong?

It tried the soda can mod (very tight fit) and I also didn't notice a great difference. Then I remembered that in France and probably europe, soda cans are made of steel that have a low thermal conductivity.
The result was under my expectation but it was fun to do.