Sold/Expired Surefire E-Series MicroTower (E-MT) LED drop in

[koala]

Preorder & Payment List updated.
If you have not PM me your name & shipping shipping address, please do so, I know Paypal have your address but sometimes there can be typo, just for a confirmation.

To those of you who paid extra, thank you very much for your support and generosity. The money can be used to cover the extra shipping fees to Europe countries and paypal fees. You'll get priority on whatever I sell in the near future (hint hint).

yclo is going to look for film canisters to secure the E-MT during shipping. He's responsible for designing aluminium the tower, packing and shipping. We should be able to ship out the first sub-batch by this week.

To date, yclo has been a pretty easy going person to work with. Although he doesn't post a lot, he's a very friendly person and he does communicate very well. Another thing that I notice, when he does something he would think throughly before he proceed. This makes him a bit like an old person . I am glad to meet him otherwise the E-MT project would not be possible.

If you have a mod you are itching to be done, he does mods most lights. So if you do want to get something modded, PM yclo he will get you sorted.

 

[jsr]

E-MT FM has an Atmel AVR tiny microcontroller roughly about $3 each. I haven't found a suitable inductor that fit in the tower yet. Parts alone, I am guessing extra $10. Regarding the software, still working on it. I really have no idea how much they will cost as I don't even have a working prototype yet. All I have is a prototype board with some components so big can't fit in the tower. My rough guess is that they will be less than $80? Is that too high? It's too early to tell I don't want to give false hope.

Since majority wants a simple UI, and I don't have a crazy clicking habit, it will be at most low, medium and high. I am looking at simple UI that can lock the light to certain mode so tactical mode is still possible.

If you are waiting for the FM, it'll be a very long wait because building F1 and F2 takes a lot of time and effort. After building less than 20pcs my eyes are screwed now. The SMD components are quite tiny. I have used(testing) F1 and F2 for a few months now, so it's quite safe to say they are good to go. The E-MT FM will require some testing time.

I definitely want a very simple UI. I almost never use medium. I either need just a little light or a LOT of light, so low and high would be enough for me. I personally prefer the FM as I want a low capability to extend runtime. Re the price...obviously the lower the price, the more customers you will attract, but you will get quite a bit of interest even at $80. $70 would be great for me, but I can likely stretch for the extra $10 if product quality is high and performance is good.

koala - are you using solder paste? For small SMT components, I would highly suggest solder paste and a directed heat gun. A small metal funnel modified to fit in front of a heat gun capable of 210-260C would work fine. HTH to save your eyes. Looking very forward to the FM module, with simple UI.

 

[KevinL]

Koala needs some of them magnifiers like the surgeons wear They're like glasses, with high powered magnifiers stuck on the front of them. That might reduce eyestrain along with the solder paste described by jsr.

 

[koala]

koala is currently alternating between two soldering system...

a Hakko FX951 about a year old...

and a tip like this on the far right ->>>>>

and a Hakko 936 with similiar tip.

The FX951 soldering system has higher heat capabilities more suited for Lead Free soldering but koala prefers the 936 for the handle ergonomics. The 936 is 4 years old now.

Koala also has a retired Hakko Red series. Koala used it while he was a poor student. Koala paid $8 for it. It served koala 15 years straight without fail. It went through about 7-8 sets of tips. It doesn't have ceramic heating so takes a very long to warm up so koala broke up with it and married the Hakko 936.

The FX951 is most impressive, it takes 3-5seconds to heat up. The 936 about 10 seconds or less.

And 0.35mm Multicore 362 as the solder. Initially koala was thinking about Lead Free solder for everything but the higher heat requirements puts koala off. Soldering the Rebel requires a lot of heat because the aluminium tower sucks away the heat quickly.

It isn't about the components that makes koala's eyes tired. They solder quite easily actually. koala had about 20 set of F1 and F2 long before the Rebel arrived. It's the Rebel modification that takes a lot of time and eye sight.

 

[koala]

How do you use solder paste? What does it look like?

I tried heat air solder before, but you need to secure the components otherwise all the rest of the components close to it will be blown away...

Is heat gun easy to control?

koala - are you using solder paste? For small SMT components, I would highly suggest solder paste and a directed heat gun. A small metal funnel modified to fit in front of a heat gun capable of 210-260C would work fine. HTH to save your eyes. Looking very forward to the FM module, with simple UI.

 

[koala]

New news, yclo has found high hit point packaging items in the forest. He is returning to the camp as we speak. We should be able to ship the first batch by tomorrow.

 

[KevinL]

New news, yclo has found high hit point packaging items in the forest.

:thumbsup:

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Did those items get sent from camp. You got forests down there?

Bill

 

[jsr]

How do you use solder paste? What does it look like?

I tried heat air solder before, but you need to secure the components otherwise all the rest of the components close to it will be blown away...

Is heat gun easy to control?

Solder paste is solder in paste form. It contains super tiny solder balls mixed with flux. For small component pads, you can use a fine toothpick or other fine tip instrument to take a bit of paste and add it to each pad. Then place the component onto the pad, the paste will help hold the component in place somewhat due to the paste's surface tension.

For the hot air gun, you need either one that has a very small funnel tip, or find a metal tip to direct the hot air into a small funnel. There's a way to convert a desoldering iron with a air pump into a heat gun as it's designed the same, except the air is sucked in instead of blown out. I forgot the exact steps, sorry...maybe you can look it up on the net. Otherwise, any hot air gun with a directed tip (small nozel that matches the lead/pad size of your components) will reflow the solder paste in that directed area only.

A 3rd option is to place all the components onto the PCB with pastes and place the PCB onto a hot plate. If you don't have a hot plate, you can use the oven set to ~210C for leaded paste. The heat will reflow the solder on the entire board and solder all components at once. You will still likely have to do the emitter by hand as the aluminum will not provide enough heat to the joint to reflow the solder.

HTH.

 

[koala]

Did those items get sent from camp. You got forests down there?

Bill

Hi Bill,

All was shipped this morning as of 7 Dec 2007, except for yours I am sorry I should have listed yours as "building". It took longer than expected, and when I'm done with it the post office was closed. I don't want to rush it off as I am not comfortable if it is not tested throughly. I'll make sure that it's solid to avoid complications in the future. I hope I have not disappointed you. I will not start the new batch as long as yours is not shipped. My apologies once again.

For others, we didn't get to send the it out on Thursday because we was attacked by huge summer bugs. Fortunately the camp is well protected, yclo setup a incan bulb to attract the bugs. I couldn't care much so I slept while yclo defended the camp. The items are fine the bugs didn't seem to favor it much as they don't know how to light it up...

Please check the E-MT pre-order list for latest updates.

Solder paste is solder in paste form. It contains super tiny solder balls mixed with flux. For small component pads, you can use a fine toothpick or other fine tip instrument to take a bit of paste and add it to each pad. Then place the component onto the pad, the paste will help hold the component in place somewhat due to the paste's surface tension.

Wow that sounds cool! I must try that! The oven reflow thingy... solder contains lead right? Kitchen oven is NOT the right place. Anyone interested please don't mix lead and food. I know lead don't get atomize until very high temperatures but there is danger of contamination. Not directed to you jsr, I know you know lead = poison.

 

[LiteFan]

What am I missing I cannot find the Paypal address...soneone please help

 

[Bullzeyebill]

LiteFan, you are down on the list and have not yet received an email from Koala with the paypal address(s).

Bill

 

[LiteFan]

LiteFan, you are down on the list and have not yet received an email from Koala with the paypal address(s).

Bill

Thanks Bill, I just reread 187 and figured it out...I think I got tooo excited

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Mine is still being made/tested.

Bill

 

[koala]

Koala's index finger was hit with a little disaster this morning at work...

Must respect network cable crimp with cutting blades... so it wasn't from building the E-MT. Koala lost some fingernails and some blood, it isn't a big deal, it happens once a while. The next batch should take quite a while , with koala's condition. koala apologize for the wait and aweful pic.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Mine is still being made/tested.

Bill

Don't worry Bill, yours is done sitting at home packed. I didn't make it to the post office today it's kinda hectic monday, will drop it off on the way to work tomorrow. I set yours a bit high at 370mA @ 3.0V, it will never see such high current when installed because the resistance in the body and tailcap will drop it. Also battery voltage settle to about 2.7-2.8V.

 

[KevinL]

OWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

That REALLY hurts.. that's a lot of damage to the finger!

Condolences from a fellow networker. Don't the crimpers have finger guards?

 

[koala]

The culprit.

What finger guards? The boss is seriously considering a safer tool for me after the incident. Problem is he is clueless and doesn't even know what it is for so it's up to me. Got recommendation? Send PM please, this thread is getting messy :devil:

 

[Praetor]

Have you tried the AMP tool?

Anything's possible... but you'd really have to work at it to sustain that particular injury with the AMP stripper.

 

[LiteFan]

Bummer about the finger Koala, glad it was not worse.

 

[koala]

Hello guys,

Been busy building the towers. My index finger is recovering well. I still can't grab stuff with it, it will be painful but it's no longer swelling. I have to use my middle finger a lot and it causes a fatigue and hand cramp because of the unusual grip. Fortunately I am getting used to it. Getting a cut on my hand is usual but losing part of the fingernail is bad.

A bunch of towers nearly completed, up for grab. Those next in the line should get my PM request for payment and instructions. I don't think it will reach you by Christmas even if I post it tomorrow. I am sorry about that.

For those fortunate? enough to be in the first batch, you should be getting the towers anytime soon. Take care when inserting the tower, it will be a bit loose so it will fall out when you are changing your cells. The reason is because some old bezels have smaller bulb hole size, so there's some variation there. You can stick a tape around the neck so it get stuck in there semi permanent. It won't affect the thermal transfer. The thermal path is between the bottom of the neck and the lips touching the tube body. So make sure that you tighten the bezel, to ensure good thermal transfer and reduce electrical resistance. Also wipe clean the lip of the battery tube to further reduce the resistance.

You can buy two stage switch from the Sandwichshop and get a Low and High E-MT. There, I said it, you don't need the E-MT FM to get low and high function. I haven't experimented with the two stage switch yet but it should work.

Please do post your opinion. I wish that you post your most honest opinion whether you like it or not. I am looking forward(very excited) to know.

Thank you for reading. Have a good day.
Vincent.