SF "Classic": host to drop in LED light engines

McGizmo

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SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engines

Hi guys,

I let TylerDurden get me side tracked on a project that I wanted to visit later when I had production parts but since my boss can never get me to stay focused on the current work at hand when there are more fun things to experiment with.....

P3-components.jpg


P3.jpg


In a nut shell, The soon to be available McCapsule will digest into a classic body tube with no modification to the tube required. It just drops in. A modified McR-27 reflector is threaded past the threads in the C head and then free floats in captivity. When the head is screwed down onto the tube, verifying that the reflector has found center on the LED, the reflector and McCapsule end up in compression between the rear shoulder of the LA cavity in the battery tube and a lip in the head against the reflector. The only McCapsule I had that was built out was my prototype which has a BB and is set for 1x123. Consequently, the picture above is of a "mut" 3P. Since I don't have the time or components for verification, I don't know to what extent this drop in package will be compatible across all of the classic system. There may be some head specific mod requirements for the reflector. It may be that a universal geometry can be determined. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif I need to disappear for a while now and get some stuff shipped and parts prepped for the anodizer.

My first impression is that this is going to be fun! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif This is a real drop in module here and completely reversible with no modifications required. I think there's some more mileage left in these aluminum reflectors. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

A two stage 6P with 5W LED might be pretty cool! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif
 

cy

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

I'm in for one.
 

jtice

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engines

Don, you are the master of modular components !!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

Yet another dropin... or should I say screw in? ... module that is going to breed new life,, er Light, into old lights. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

LEDmodMan

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engines

Dang it Don!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif

This place is gonna be the end of me... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

That's pretty darn cool! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif Great idea guys!

I wonder if this would work in an E2C on a UBH II format (still C-series bezel)? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif
 

jtivat

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engines

That is a must have!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 

ErickThakrar

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engines

Man...Are you gonna make these as pure dropin with no assembly required or will they require a sandwich? And how much? Ballpark is fine. I'm thinking 3 watt Lux /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

McGizmo

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

Guys,
I am really premature on this one in terms of fit and function in the various hosts. All indications are good though. As I just posted in another thread to TylerDurden, the same module, shown above, can go from a LongBow host to this 3P in less than 60 seconds. It screws into the Long bow and just drops into the 3P.
 

Fitz

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

Don,
How bright (in your opinion) could you go with this idea in something like, say, a 9P?
 

McGizmo

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

Mike, if bright is by lumens, I would guess a 5W on a DB driven at 750 or more mA?!?!?!? Add a two stage switch and you don't have to drive the light at full throttle all the time.

If bright is by lux, then a LuxIII DB 700 or more.......
 

ErickThakrar

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

It will fit in a longbow? And I just bought a Micra...*Sniff, sniff*...I luv ya man!*Sniff*
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

Fitz

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

Sorry Don- to clarify, I was thinking in terms of overall throw. I was thinking that I might need a little larger light with a good deal of throw to reach out and light things up sometimes. A SF D2 with a 6P to 9P adapter (if that works) would be the likely host.
 

mut

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

This looks great Don.
I have a question and it might be a dumb one, but can this also be used on an E series with the E2C.
I think the answer is yes.
This would open up even more for the modulariaty.

mut
 

jtice

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

Ok, I admit it, I am not all that knowledgable about Surefire lights.
Especially when it comes to sizes, and what fits what.

How about a list, of what lights this dripin will fit? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Will it fit in a Z2? or M2?
 

KevinL

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

[ QUOTE ]
sidespill said:
Poor man's KL5? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

That would be truly sweet, wouldn't it? Ever since I saw the Surefire G2 to LuxIII mod I've been wondering how to do that quickly, easily and cheaply. I can't get hold of aluminium rods, that's the problem, and I don't have a drill. Investing in a decent drill would probably let me buy the less expensive SF lights with the same money /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif but the parts bill would have come to just $15+$15. $80 for 80 lumens driven at 1 amp in a 6P body? Wow.

Now, if this could be done for a parts bill of say $40 ($15 for the Lux3, $15 for the DB converter (or resistor if you're really cheap. Could that be an option?), $10 for the McCapsule) that'd be awesome. Drop into a G2 for a $70 high powered 65 lumen LED, or the 6P if you like metal, at $90. Still easier on the wallet than a $140 L4..
 

tylerdurden

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

If it fits the 6P, it should almost definitely fit the Z2, Z3, C2, C3, G2, G2Z, 9P, 3P. It seems like it would fit in the M2 as well, but the shock isolation stuff might cause a problem - just get a C2 bezel instead, you won't need the shock isolation for an LED.
 

McGizmo

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

I'll work on this some more in the next couple days. So far, I think I have the reflector modification down to work in the various heads I can test (6P, C2, M2, G2). There is an issue of nailing the required ground path in the plastic bodies. It may require a soldered skirt or perimeter wire on the PCB. The metal tubes are all working at present.

As for KevinL1's target prices, it looks like I modify these reflectors for free as well as provide them at no charge and Wayne sells the McCapsule for below his cost. Uh..... I think I'll pass! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Perhaps I should quit now without wasting further time and efffort. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif It looks like these parts will be available for modders who may not be after the cheapest possible solutions. Certainly if the components were done in lots of multi thousands, the costs could go way down. Not likely.

I am abit curious about the thermal issues of a 65 lumen 5W in a plastic body?!?!?!? Short bursts are one thing.
 

ErickThakrar

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

Don, what would a realistic price then be? Under or over a 100 bucks for a complete finished drop-in?
 

McGizmo

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

ErickThakrar,
Are you talking about a parts bill as KevinL1 has brought up or are you talking about a turnkey drop in module. How many of these are you talking about? A couple? A couple hundred?

The McCapsule already exists and will be available on Wayne's shop soon. He is having discussions now with CPF members about the possibility of organizing some "runs". The McCapsule is already slated for DIY and build to suit for the LongBows. The only significant difference here is modification of a reflector or even ordering in a batch of reflectors specifically designed for this application.

I suppose for Wayne and I to both be more effective in serving the CPF community, especially on the TK level, we need to develope a means for gauging interest if not out right getting a list going. I have been running beyond my capacity for a while now in just getting some parts designed and manufactured. There have been second opperations and some "fixes" required that have also been up to me and demanding of my time and labor. I am just starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel and from a DIY point of refference, I have been showing some of this stuff since it will be available to the DIYers. Soon the parts will be a reality and then the question of what to do with them will need to be addressed. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif I would like nothing more to turn these parts over to my marketing and assembly departments but I have discovered that these departments don't exist! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

You are asking me to be realistic. It may be a bit late for me to do *that*.

~ the short answer: ErickThakrar, I don't know the answer at this point, how many were you looking for? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 

ErickThakrar

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Re: SF \"Classic\": host to drop in LED light engin

Well... A simple "don't know yet" would have sufficed...Sheesh...
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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