LumenHound said:
Nick, you already know that I'm familiar with Viren's heatsink.
In fact, just 7 weeks ago we exchanged half a dozen PM's about the Q3 and you had described to me how you had to shim up one of Viren's heatsinks in your Q3 in order to raise the copper heatsink star assembly up to the proper height for the best focus with the McR20 reflector you were using. Do you remember telling me about the UCL you filed down to fit your Q3's bezel?
It was your positive PM replies to me about the Q3 that actually made me curious as to why you were somewhat down on them now.
I recall you mentioning that the UX1J you were using back in May was drawing an astonishing 1.7 amps at the beginning of a run with a freshly charged R123 so I'll remember that and resist the temptation of thinking about a U**J bin in my Q3.
Would it be fair to say that the life expectancy of U**J binned star in a Q3 with a copper heatsink is less than 50 hours?
I've heard of the TW4 and it seems to be a very sweet light indeed, but a TW4 is apples compared to the Q3's oranges.
I could buy 5 or 6 new Q3's and the rechargeable cells to go in them for what I'd have to lay out for just one KL4 on a E series single 123 body combo and I'm not including the cost of adding in the E1e 2 stage switch upgrade.
A TW4 compared to a Q3 is like comparing a Corvette to a Chevette. They will both get the primary task done but beyond that they are in 2 totally different leagues.
Lastly, what is the "lights made by people making a living wage" comment about??
Lumenhound:
I certainly do remember talking to you about the Q3 I have and which I was using to try to build a "sleeper".
I was discussing it as an experimental light which may very well have pushed to envelop more than a bit with the stock design. It is also true that people have put in other circuit boards such as the FluPic that make the Q3 an outstanding light with many useful features. but then again once you replace the LED, the board, the reflector, the glass, the power source, how much a Q3 is this Q3 have now?
I still think the light is a good project, and I fully realize that by using a ***j luxIII I'm drastically reducing the lifetime of the LED. Your points are very valid and I certainly do not disagree.
What I am trying to say here, since this is not the Homemade and Modified section, is that this person is not a modder(not yet, but I certainly hope he joins the rank of many modders much more competent than I am), and he would have take a few risks and experiments, and I am assuming the least and give my advice to a person who just wants a light that's reliable enough for hime to carry on a daily basis and is very bright. I am pointing out the fact taht it MAY not be reliable in the long run, that the board can quit and the user would be left in the dark. once you replace the board the cost of the light just went up another 10 dollars at least.
So don't take my comments in the wrong way, the Q3 is the most mod-friendly platform I have seen yet as far as complete lights go. but that's as far as I will reccomend it, as a platform for experiments, not as a main-stay light for someone to carry.
As far as the Chevette to Corvette analogy goes, you can buy a base model corvette for 35-40k, that is factory designed to hand the power with proper tranny, suspension, chassis and body work to hand the power, acceleration, speed on bumpy road, aerodynamics and rigity to prevent frame twist under the torqu that the power from a V8.
or you can buy a Chevette(which is no longer made), throw in a bunch of money for upgrades and you are still left with a chassis designed for a 4 banger, suspension that can't handle the speed the souped up engine can provide, and body work that goes throw the air like a motorhome.
At the end of the day the Corvette can usually be trusted to be a commuter(abeit a loud, fuel-hungry, and insurance unfriendly one) without too much maintainence.
The Chevette would have be looked after to make sure nothing small breaks that leads to bigger headaches down the road.
Since the original poster was carrying the Q3 as an EDC, I am recommending him a Corvette since he obviously wouldn;t mind be the one with the power in his hands, rather than a Chevette that would have him looking after it like a home-modified light that it would be if he went ahead and tuned it up.
