Klem
Enlightened
Here's the Quickpower407 light engine with Khatod optic in a dive rig.
It's a 7-up XP-G (R2) with integral driver on a 40mm board. The LEDs are driven at 1Amp and the whole thing draws 20watts when all 7 LEDs are on.
Voltage range is 11V-20V so for me that disqualified anything shorter than a 4D if going the way of a Maglite mod. I decided on recycling an old UK SL6 as the canister and machining a solid head. My UK SL6 has been on many a dive back in the day, it's solid, waterproof and comes with a switch. But lately it's been sitting in my 'torch graveyard' (a big box), superceded by brighter torches and never to be used again.
4 C Cell Li-ion's in series gives a voltage range of 16V - 12V and 2.5hours of light.
I had hoped they'd fit in an UK SL4 (even more compact) but after forking out for the SL4 discovered they don't fit... C Cell Li-ion's are a few millimeters longer than a normal C Cell...Pity.
The solution was to use the old UK SL6, which takes 6 normal length C Cells, and use spacers.
The 6mm 3-core standard household cable goes into the head and canister via plastic glands, with a ring of silicone sealant ('To be sure, to be sure':thumbsup:).
The head is machined from a 60mm long, 50mm diameter solid piece of aluminium rod. Nothing fancy...it's like a cup with a hole drilled through it. The hole is tapped for the gland and cable. There's a ridge inside which the 6mm thick perspex lens sits against.
The board is glued to a 10mm aluminium disk with Arctic Silver thermal epoxy, which in turn is glued inside the cup. After 5 minutes this thing gets stinking hot! So I can imagine it wouldn't last long without generous heat dissipation, and don't even think of putting it in a plastic housing.
Final thoughts...
In all honesty I am not over the moon about the beam. I've used the narrowest optic and the beam width does not seem to match the manufacturers claim. Plus, I can't use any other manufacturers optics due to the way the designer has assembled the board. This is confirmed by the technician at Cutters (where it is sold).
I took a beamshot comparison last night with the DX 5*Cree XR-E drop-in and the DX is definitely more focussed. If you're looking for an area/video light this may be the go. If I can somehow rig it to my facemask or body it would make a good close-in light to compliment another primary throw light... We shall see.
Compared against the DE Drop-in (thanks to 350 for discovering this little gem) in this Maglite mod;
So, it's $100 for the 20Watt 7-up XP-G at whatever lumens you want to calculate it as, or $35 for the 16Watt 1200lumen 'cheap-n-cheerful' DE drop-in...Up to you.
It's a 7-up XP-G (R2) with integral driver on a 40mm board. The LEDs are driven at 1Amp and the whole thing draws 20watts when all 7 LEDs are on.
Voltage range is 11V-20V so for me that disqualified anything shorter than a 4D if going the way of a Maglite mod. I decided on recycling an old UK SL6 as the canister and machining a solid head. My UK SL6 has been on many a dive back in the day, it's solid, waterproof and comes with a switch. But lately it's been sitting in my 'torch graveyard' (a big box), superceded by brighter torches and never to be used again.
4 C Cell Li-ion's in series gives a voltage range of 16V - 12V and 2.5hours of light.
I had hoped they'd fit in an UK SL4 (even more compact) but after forking out for the SL4 discovered they don't fit... C Cell Li-ion's are a few millimeters longer than a normal C Cell...Pity.
The solution was to use the old UK SL6, which takes 6 normal length C Cells, and use spacers.
The 6mm 3-core standard household cable goes into the head and canister via plastic glands, with a ring of silicone sealant ('To be sure, to be sure':thumbsup:).
The head is machined from a 60mm long, 50mm diameter solid piece of aluminium rod. Nothing fancy...it's like a cup with a hole drilled through it. The hole is tapped for the gland and cable. There's a ridge inside which the 6mm thick perspex lens sits against.
The board is glued to a 10mm aluminium disk with Arctic Silver thermal epoxy, which in turn is glued inside the cup. After 5 minutes this thing gets stinking hot! So I can imagine it wouldn't last long without generous heat dissipation, and don't even think of putting it in a plastic housing.
Final thoughts...
In all honesty I am not over the moon about the beam. I've used the narrowest optic and the beam width does not seem to match the manufacturers claim. Plus, I can't use any other manufacturers optics due to the way the designer has assembled the board. This is confirmed by the technician at Cutters (where it is sold).
I took a beamshot comparison last night with the DX 5*Cree XR-E drop-in and the DX is definitely more focussed. If you're looking for an area/video light this may be the go. If I can somehow rig it to my facemask or body it would make a good close-in light to compliment another primary throw light... We shall see.
Compared against the DE Drop-in (thanks to 350 for discovering this little gem) in this Maglite mod;
So, it's $100 for the 20Watt 7-up XP-G at whatever lumens you want to calculate it as, or $35 for the 16Watt 1200lumen 'cheap-n-cheerful' DE drop-in...Up to you.
