$250 conus.
My latest stubby raises the photon count from earlier efforts. A 4500K SST-50 is driven by a hybrid driver that gives the following tail cap currents measured with a Fluke 117 with heavy 4" leads: High = 4.2A; Medium = 1.22A; Low = .40A.
The driver is a ShiningBeam #1217 sandwiched in parallel with a 4x7135 board. Of course, the standard leads were replaced with #24 Teflon wire.
The driver is packaged in a brass sleeve,
which is held deep in the heat sink with a brass retaining ring. Those deeply recessed threads were cut with some blind faith, let me tell you.
The emitter was reflow soldered onto a small raised pad on a substantial copper plate.
The point of this whole exercise was to maximize the transfer of heat away from the emitter. The Mag, as well as many other lights, has the head threaded onto the body. The result is that for heat to get to the head, it has to transfer across an interface between the heat sink and the body and then across another interface from the body to the head. Since the Mag head has a lot of mass that really ought to be put to use for heat dissipation, it seems more efficient to screw the head to the heat sink directly. I'm no engineer but this makes sense to me.
So, the heat sink has two threads, one to allow it to be screwed into the inside of the body and the other to mate to the threads inside the head.
The end product looks similar to the standard Mag configuration but provides a direct path for heat to get across a single interface from the heat sink to the head. Also, note that the heat sink has a long, hollow section that extends well into the body to facilitate heat transfer along that path. The inside of the body is very smoothly bored to closely fit the outside diameter of the heat sink and thermal grease was applied in final assembly. The hollow section is sized to fit the front end of a 26650.
The aft end of the 26650 is supported by a Delrin tube that is held firmly in the body with an o-ring.
A smaller tube is provided for an 18650, though an IMR 26650 is the better choice for this light because of the current that it can deliver.
The tail cap incorporates a McClicky.
This conical reflector gives a nice beam with a strong hot spot that has fairly diffuse edges as compared with the more flat-bottomed P7/MC-E reflectors that also work well with the SST-50. This reflector, in conjunction with the warmth of the 4500K emitter, yields a luscious beam. Beam shots will follow if I can stay up late enough to take them.
A UCL lens from flashlightlens.com rounds out the specs.
Here are some beam shots.
This one shows the cutoff at the edge of the spill - it's well-defined.
The color is slightly warm - it looks especially good indoors for some reason.
My latest stubby raises the photon count from earlier efforts. A 4500K SST-50 is driven by a hybrid driver that gives the following tail cap currents measured with a Fluke 117 with heavy 4" leads: High = 4.2A; Medium = 1.22A; Low = .40A.
The driver is a ShiningBeam #1217 sandwiched in parallel with a 4x7135 board. Of course, the standard leads were replaced with #24 Teflon wire.
The driver is packaged in a brass sleeve,
which is held deep in the heat sink with a brass retaining ring. Those deeply recessed threads were cut with some blind faith, let me tell you.
The emitter was reflow soldered onto a small raised pad on a substantial copper plate.
The point of this whole exercise was to maximize the transfer of heat away from the emitter. The Mag, as well as many other lights, has the head threaded onto the body. The result is that for heat to get to the head, it has to transfer across an interface between the heat sink and the body and then across another interface from the body to the head. Since the Mag head has a lot of mass that really ought to be put to use for heat dissipation, it seems more efficient to screw the head to the heat sink directly. I'm no engineer but this makes sense to me.
So, the heat sink has two threads, one to allow it to be screwed into the inside of the body and the other to mate to the threads inside the head.
The end product looks similar to the standard Mag configuration but provides a direct path for heat to get across a single interface from the heat sink to the head. Also, note that the heat sink has a long, hollow section that extends well into the body to facilitate heat transfer along that path. The inside of the body is very smoothly bored to closely fit the outside diameter of the heat sink and thermal grease was applied in final assembly. The hollow section is sized to fit the front end of a 26650.
The aft end of the 26650 is supported by a Delrin tube that is held firmly in the body with an o-ring.
A smaller tube is provided for an 18650, though an IMR 26650 is the better choice for this light because of the current that it can deliver.
The tail cap incorporates a McClicky.
This conical reflector gives a nice beam with a strong hot spot that has fairly diffuse edges as compared with the more flat-bottomed P7/MC-E reflectors that also work well with the SST-50. This reflector, in conjunction with the warmth of the 4500K emitter, yields a luscious beam. Beam shots will follow if I can stay up late enough to take them.
A UCL lens from flashlightlens.com rounds out the specs.
Here are some beam shots.
This one shows the cutoff at the edge of the spill - it's well-defined.
The color is slightly warm - it looks especially good indoors for some reason.
Last edited:
