MC-E + lowes Task Force ???

I was thinking about modding my Lowes TF with these and a 1x18650....

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-132/3-dsh-Mode-Regulated-Circuit-Board/Detail

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-130/Cree-MC-dsh-E-M-dsh-bin-WC/Detail


Has anyone tried it?
Has anyone tried the an MC-E with a refracting optic?... (not aspheric, I already know what that will do)
How much current can the TF switch handle?

I think the TF might have enough metal to conduct heat, and I can keep the 18650 at the tailcap end of the light with a dummy-spacer.

I don't know anything about the Lowes flashlight, so I can't help you there.

In terms of heat management, in High mode with that Shining Beam driver, 2.5A to the emitter translates to about 8.5W of power delivered to the MC-E. Probably 80%-90% of that is converted to heat, so as long as you can dissipate 7W or so of heat, the MC-E should survive.

The driver board also probably won't be the most efficient one on the market (it looks like an AMC7135 sandwich board, which gets less efficient the farther you get from Vf). If it is 70%-80% efficient, then it needs to generate 10W-12W of power to deliver 8.5W to the MC-E. That means dissipating another 1.5W to 3.5W as heat. Since the driver is no doubt attached to the same heat sink/pill as the LED, you need to dissipate all 8.5W to 10.5W of heat or the MC-E is going to cook.

Probably what this means is that you shouldn't run the mod'ed light in High mode for very long.

I don't know if this will help or not, but I've been using an 18650 with the Task Force stock LED, and have run it for 45 minutes at a stretch without any problems.

I took out the stock switch and turned it into a twisty, which- come to think of it- would be a good way to avoid problems with the switch not being able to handle the current, eh?