wquiles
Flashaholic
This is the sales thread for the PhD-M6 pack, which formally ends the feeler thread. We will have a separate on-going thread to discuss feedback/impressions/suggestions on the production packs, so please lets keep this thread focused solely on the sales side so that I can make sure I process orders properly and in a timely fashion. The original development thread for the PhD-M6 can be found here.
What is the PhD-M6:
It is a regulated custom battery pack with soft-start for the SureFire M6 flashlight, which also incorporates low battery detection monitoring to let the user know that the cells are almost depleted. The development thread and feeler threads have a lot more information, photos, videos, so I am not going to duplicate those here. Latest guide can be found here:
PhD-M6_Instructions_v8.pdf
Pricing and options:
- Regular price for CPF members: $195
- Regular price for non-CPF members: $245
- Custom programming values: $20 at the initial time of sale. Charge will be $40 (plus shipping) if I have to reprogram a pack already sold.
NOTE: I am already building/programming these packs based on your committed and confirmed status per post #2. If you do not indicate you want the custom values and specify those, you will get the default values. If I have to re-program a pack once I am ready to ship it because you forgot or changed your mind, it is already too late - I will charge the $40 extra, not the $20 for the changes. Your options at this point are to pay the $40 extra, taking the pack with the default values, or not ordering a pack. No exceptions.
- Forum member is defined as being a member of the forum before the feeler thread started (June 29, 2010).
Prices don't include shipping, insurance, nor tracking, and you need to provide your own 3x protected 17670 cells/charger.
However, in order to do say thanks to the folks who have contributed so much to the feeler thread and expressed their interest to buy one, I will be offering the PhD-M6 pack at the special introductory price of $145, for those 38 forum members that expressed their interest in the feeler thread (42 packs max as of the end of July). As I mentioned earlier, that was a non-committal list, so those 38 forum members don't have to buy a pack, but if they do want one, those forum members can buy it at the special introductory price.
Edit: My expectation is that if within one week or so those folks have not confirmed their orders, it clearly means they don't want to order one, so this special introductory price is a limited time offer. If you want a PhD-M6 pack, you need to commit to buy one now, so that I can get your name/place in the list.
Pricing Examples for those buying at the introductory price of $145:
Paypal in my signature, which is my gmail email address.
Prices with default values:
domestic paid with paypal = ($145 + $5) * 1.03 = $154.50
international paid via paypal = ($145 + $15) * 1.03 = $164.80
Prices with custom values ($20 extra):
domestic paid via paypal = ($165 + $5) * 1.03 = $175.10
international paid via paypal = ($165 + $15) * 1.03 = $185.40
Please put your CPF handle and short note about your order in the Paypal note. Also please select "Goods" so that your address will be shown in the payment.
NOTE: Do NOT send payment until instructed by me, either here in this thread or by email. I will not be collecting money until I have a pack ready to be programmed and to ship to you.
EDIT: If you live in Texas, I need to collect 8.25% for sales tax.
Shipping:
Unless otherwise requested privately by email (see my signature), I will be shipping by USPS Priority Mail, using the small flat rate box. Domestic cost will be $5, and $15 for international destinations. Insurance, tracking, and priority/express shipping charges are not included, but available for an extra charge.
Priority:
I am giving first priority to the folks in the feeler list, and specifically, post #2 has the list of those forum members. Once those are served or decide not to buy, I will then start selling packs to other forum members.
Availability:
Since these are all hand assembled/tested, it is a very time consuming process. I will be making available the packs in batches of about 9, as per my soldering fixture here shows.
Eric and I have already been ordering parts and building production pieces based on these feeler quantities (and some extra amount), so we already started "production". Please be patient with me as there is a lot of hand labor and I rather have folks waiting than rush through orders - I will take my time with each one to make sure it is ready and tested before shipping out
Default values:
Unless I hear otherwise, I am going to assume the default values/behavior for orders:
-> Level 1 = 5.0 volts
-> Level 2 = 6.8 volts
-> Level 3 = 7.5 volts
-> Level 4 = 10.8 volts
-> Default behavior for almost depleted cells = Moon Mode
Moon Mode means = PWM duty cycle goes down by 1/2, so output RMS voltage goes down approximately 30%.
Eric has created a chart comparing many bulbs, in regards with their output, current draw, recommended drive level, etc.. We are not recommending using all of those bulbs with the PhD-M6, since many of them really go past the safe 2C load on the cells, but it is still a very good summary, and a good way to compare bulbs, so that you can have some options. Updated bulb charts/tables from Eric:
PhDM6_Bulb_Chart_8_21_10.xls
Serial Number:
Each PhD-M6 pack comes with an unique 8 character serial number. The nomenclature for the serial number is as follows:
A3S2xxxx
A3 - First version (A), with 3 minor revisions
S2 - Standard/default values - second set (Custom packs will have a C in here, and prototypes had a P in here)
xxxx - production # (unique, always incrementing for each pack - if a pack is reprogrammed, it would get a new xxxx production number)
Packs with custom values will have a Cy in place of the S2, like this:
A3C1xxxx -> first custom set of values
A3C2xxxx -> second set of values
So far I have defined 3 sets of custom values:
C1 (used so far by oldways, ramplit, and RichS):
Level 1 = 6.8 Vrms
Level 2 = 7.4 Vrms
Level 3 = 9.2 Vrms
Level 4 = 10.8 Vrms
C2 (used so far by derangboy, DM51, BSBG, and LuxLuthor)
Level 1 = 6.8 Vrms
Level 2 = 7.4 Vrms
Level 3 = 9.3 Vrms
Level 4 = 10.8 Vrms
C3 (used so far by Justin Case):
Level 1 = 6.8 Vrms
Level 2 = 7.3 Vrms
Level 3 = 8.0 Vrms
Level 4 = 10.8 Vrms
C4 (used so far by Not So Bright)
Level 1 = 6.8 Vrms
Level 2 = 7.2 Vrms
Level 3 = 9.2 Vrms
Level 4= 10.8 Vrms
C5 (used so far by Troop#26)
Level 1 = 6.8Vrms
Level 2 = 7.5Vrms
Level 3 = 9.2Vrms
Level 4 = 10.8Vrms
If somebody asks for a custom set of values that matches exactly one of those above, the first part of the serial number will share the common C1, C2, C3, C4, or C5 - which makes sense since that implies that those packs have/share the same settings. As folks order new custom values, I will keep defining new C sets.
Thanks:
I have said it before and I will continue to say it because I did not get to this point of selling the pack by myself. Much thanks to:
- Alan B. for his initial work on the PWD code/solution which enabled me to come up with this M6-specific solution.
- Eric for volunteering to create the awesome custom battery carrier that is an integral part of the PhD-M6 pack.
- Jimmy and George for their support in many areas, not only with the code, but also with part selection, the PWB layout, etc.
- Many forum members who came up with great ideas/suggestions, and/or agreed to review/test/debug the initial prototypes
Warnings:
- For general user safety, prevention of Li-Ion cell, PhD-M6, flashlight damage, personal injury & personal properly, you MUST use protected 17670 Li-Ion cells!. Although the regulator does have reverse battery protection when used with "protected" 17670 LiIon cells, please note the battery polarity markings on the battery carrier for proper operation. The pack will shutdown when the cells are depleted, triggering the individual cell protection circuit. We recommend using AW protected Li-Ion 17670 cells found here: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=230876
- Do not use this pack with bulb setups above 35Watts.
- Always use eye protection when changing or handling bulbs. They are under high pressure and can explode. After inserting bulbs, always clean them with Isopropyl alcohol and let dry.
- This pack has been tested to work only with LiIon cells of LiCo chemistry. It has not been designed to work with any other cell type/chemistry.
Disclaimer:
This is a custom made product, which assumes the user has the necessary knowledge of safe Li-Ion charging procedures and usage. If this PhD-M6 is not used properly, it is possible to explode a bulb, cause a fire, personal injury, damage any part of your flashlight, batteries, this device, or other personal property. While best efforts have been made to provide a safe and quality product, none of the parties involved in making, servicing, or providing this device will be responsible for damages of any nature whatsoever resulting from the use of or reliance upon information from this document, online references, or the products to which the information refers. Any part in this product could fail unexpectedly, so you hereby agree to use this at your own risk, and take all necessary precautions.
SureFire, which manufactures and sells the M6 and respective bulbs is not affiliated or associated in any maner with ATDMS or this custom PhD-M6 product. SureFire does not manufacture, sponsor, warrant, and has no involvement or endorsement of any ATDMS product. The use of any/all SureFire trademarks is strictly for the purpose of identifying the host flashlight for the ATDMS product advertised. All other trademarks, copyrights, graphics, images, text, or other content not owned by ATDMS or any of its related companies that appear with this PhD-M6 are the property of their respective owners, irrespective of any affiliation, or involvement with ATDMS.
Will
What is the PhD-M6:
It is a regulated custom battery pack with soft-start for the SureFire M6 flashlight, which also incorporates low battery detection monitoring to let the user know that the cells are almost depleted. The development thread and feeler threads have a lot more information, photos, videos, so I am not going to duplicate those here. Latest guide can be found here:
PhD-M6_Instructions_v8.pdf
Pricing and options:
- Regular price for CPF members: $195
- Regular price for non-CPF members: $245
- Custom programming values: $20 at the initial time of sale. Charge will be $40 (plus shipping) if I have to reprogram a pack already sold.
NOTE: I am already building/programming these packs based on your committed and confirmed status per post #2. If you do not indicate you want the custom values and specify those, you will get the default values. If I have to re-program a pack once I am ready to ship it because you forgot or changed your mind, it is already too late - I will charge the $40 extra, not the $20 for the changes. Your options at this point are to pay the $40 extra, taking the pack with the default values, or not ordering a pack. No exceptions.
- Forum member is defined as being a member of the forum before the feeler thread started (June 29, 2010).
Prices don't include shipping, insurance, nor tracking, and you need to provide your own 3x protected 17670 cells/charger.
However, in order to do say thanks to the folks who have contributed so much to the feeler thread and expressed their interest to buy one, I will be offering the PhD-M6 pack at the special introductory price of $145, for those 38 forum members that expressed their interest in the feeler thread (42 packs max as of the end of July). As I mentioned earlier, that was a non-committal list, so those 38 forum members don't have to buy a pack, but if they do want one, those forum members can buy it at the special introductory price.
Edit: My expectation is that if within one week or so those folks have not confirmed their orders, it clearly means they don't want to order one, so this special introductory price is a limited time offer. If you want a PhD-M6 pack, you need to commit to buy one now, so that I can get your name/place in the list.
Pricing Examples for those buying at the introductory price of $145:
Paypal in my signature, which is my gmail email address.
Prices with default values:
domestic paid with paypal = ($145 + $5) * 1.03 = $154.50
international paid via paypal = ($145 + $15) * 1.03 = $164.80
Prices with custom values ($20 extra):
domestic paid via paypal = ($165 + $5) * 1.03 = $175.10
international paid via paypal = ($165 + $15) * 1.03 = $185.40
Please put your CPF handle and short note about your order in the Paypal note. Also please select "Goods" so that your address will be shown in the payment.
NOTE: Do NOT send payment until instructed by me, either here in this thread or by email. I will not be collecting money until I have a pack ready to be programmed and to ship to you.
EDIT: If you live in Texas, I need to collect 8.25% for sales tax.
Shipping:
Unless otherwise requested privately by email (see my signature), I will be shipping by USPS Priority Mail, using the small flat rate box. Domestic cost will be $5, and $15 for international destinations. Insurance, tracking, and priority/express shipping charges are not included, but available for an extra charge.
Priority:
I am giving first priority to the folks in the feeler list, and specifically, post #2 has the list of those forum members. Once those are served or decide not to buy, I will then start selling packs to other forum members.
Availability:
Since these are all hand assembled/tested, it is a very time consuming process. I will be making available the packs in batches of about 9, as per my soldering fixture here shows.
Eric and I have already been ordering parts and building production pieces based on these feeler quantities (and some extra amount), so we already started "production". Please be patient with me as there is a lot of hand labor and I rather have folks waiting than rush through orders - I will take my time with each one to make sure it is ready and tested before shipping out
Default values:
Unless I hear otherwise, I am going to assume the default values/behavior for orders:
-> Level 1 = 5.0 volts
-> Level 2 = 6.8 volts
-> Level 3 = 7.5 volts
-> Level 4 = 10.8 volts
-> Default behavior for almost depleted cells = Moon Mode
Moon Mode means = PWM duty cycle goes down by 1/2, so output RMS voltage goes down approximately 30%.
Eric has created a chart comparing many bulbs, in regards with their output, current draw, recommended drive level, etc.. We are not recommending using all of those bulbs with the PhD-M6, since many of them really go past the safe 2C load on the cells, but it is still a very good summary, and a good way to compare bulbs, so that you can have some options. Updated bulb charts/tables from Eric:
PhDM6_Bulb_Chart_8_21_10.xls
Serial Number:
Each PhD-M6 pack comes with an unique 8 character serial number. The nomenclature for the serial number is as follows:
A3S2xxxx
A3 - First version (A), with 3 minor revisions
S2 - Standard/default values - second set (Custom packs will have a C in here, and prototypes had a P in here)
xxxx - production # (unique, always incrementing for each pack - if a pack is reprogrammed, it would get a new xxxx production number)
Packs with custom values will have a Cy in place of the S2, like this:
A3C1xxxx -> first custom set of values
A3C2xxxx -> second set of values
So far I have defined 3 sets of custom values:
C1 (used so far by oldways, ramplit, and RichS):
Level 1 = 6.8 Vrms
Level 2 = 7.4 Vrms
Level 3 = 9.2 Vrms
Level 4 = 10.8 Vrms
C2 (used so far by derangboy, DM51, BSBG, and LuxLuthor)
Level 1 = 6.8 Vrms
Level 2 = 7.4 Vrms
Level 3 = 9.3 Vrms
Level 4 = 10.8 Vrms
C3 (used so far by Justin Case):
Level 1 = 6.8 Vrms
Level 2 = 7.3 Vrms
Level 3 = 8.0 Vrms
Level 4 = 10.8 Vrms
C4 (used so far by Not So Bright)
Level 1 = 6.8 Vrms
Level 2 = 7.2 Vrms
Level 3 = 9.2 Vrms
Level 4= 10.8 Vrms
C5 (used so far by Troop#26)
Level 1 = 6.8Vrms
Level 2 = 7.5Vrms
Level 3 = 9.2Vrms
Level 4 = 10.8Vrms
If somebody asks for a custom set of values that matches exactly one of those above, the first part of the serial number will share the common C1, C2, C3, C4, or C5 - which makes sense since that implies that those packs have/share the same settings. As folks order new custom values, I will keep defining new C sets.
Thanks:
I have said it before and I will continue to say it because I did not get to this point of selling the pack by myself. Much thanks to:
- Alan B. for his initial work on the PWD code/solution which enabled me to come up with this M6-specific solution.
- Eric for volunteering to create the awesome custom battery carrier that is an integral part of the PhD-M6 pack.
- Jimmy and George for their support in many areas, not only with the code, but also with part selection, the PWB layout, etc.
- Many forum members who came up with great ideas/suggestions, and/or agreed to review/test/debug the initial prototypes
Warnings:
- For general user safety, prevention of Li-Ion cell, PhD-M6, flashlight damage, personal injury & personal properly, you MUST use protected 17670 Li-Ion cells!. Although the regulator does have reverse battery protection when used with "protected" 17670 LiIon cells, please note the battery polarity markings on the battery carrier for proper operation. The pack will shutdown when the cells are depleted, triggering the individual cell protection circuit. We recommend using AW protected Li-Ion 17670 cells found here: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=230876
- Do not use this pack with bulb setups above 35Watts.
- Always use eye protection when changing or handling bulbs. They are under high pressure and can explode. After inserting bulbs, always clean them with Isopropyl alcohol and let dry.
- This pack has been tested to work only with LiIon cells of LiCo chemistry. It has not been designed to work with any other cell type/chemistry.
Disclaimer:
This is a custom made product, which assumes the user has the necessary knowledge of safe Li-Ion charging procedures and usage. If this PhD-M6 is not used properly, it is possible to explode a bulb, cause a fire, personal injury, damage any part of your flashlight, batteries, this device, or other personal property. While best efforts have been made to provide a safe and quality product, none of the parties involved in making, servicing, or providing this device will be responsible for damages of any nature whatsoever resulting from the use of or reliance upon information from this document, online references, or the products to which the information refers. Any part in this product could fail unexpectedly, so you hereby agree to use this at your own risk, and take all necessary precautions.
SureFire, which manufactures and sells the M6 and respective bulbs is not affiliated or associated in any maner with ATDMS or this custom PhD-M6 product. SureFire does not manufacture, sponsor, warrant, and has no involvement or endorsement of any ATDMS product. The use of any/all SureFire trademarks is strictly for the purpose of identifying the host flashlight for the ATDMS product advertised. All other trademarks, copyrights, graphics, images, text, or other content not owned by ATDMS or any of its related companies that appear with this PhD-M6 are the property of their respective owners, irrespective of any affiliation, or involvement with ATDMS.
Will
Last edited:
