Techjunkie goes Lumi-nutz! (SST-50 projects)

[Techjunkie]

Got a few Luminus Phatlight SST-50 emitters in this evening and quickly slapped 'em in some DX/KD hosts that I had prepped for surgery a few days ago. Basically, I'm looking for a small host with a reflector that casts the purtiest beam and flaunts all the things the SST-50 can do that the MC-E can't.

Hosts were modded with forward click switches that can handle the 5A load. For now, these are direct drive. Stacks of AMC8135 based regulators will come later. Luckily, those switches add enough resistance to keep things in check with the IMR18650 charged to ~4.1V.

Candidates were the UniqueFire HS-802 and the SacredFire V-65C. I'm comparing them to a custom creation of mine that uses the Mag Rebel deep SMO reflector. All three torches used the same bin and tint SST-50 and drive current is comparable, with the Mag being a bit overdriven.

Beamshots will follow another night. For now, here's an overview.

The HS-802 has simply the most georgeous reflector I've ever seen come out of Hong Kong. It is an Aluminum masterpiece that is smoooth and deeeep! With the stock XR-E it out threw my WF-008 recoil thrower and was nearly a match for the KD 52mm Mag Q5 Aspheric kit. (DX sells an "Aurora SH-44" that pairs this host with a cool white SST-50 of unknown bin & tint.) With my 4500K SST-50 installed in the HS-802, it casts an intense perfectly round hotspot with very bright spill. The beam pattern and hotspot are picture perfect. It throws like crazy, especially for this emitter, but was still the loser for throw this three way shootout.

The V-65C is a cheaper clone of the MG RX-1. I expected the 52mm diameter Aluminum SMO reflector to have nearly identical properties to the Mag Rebel reflector, also being deeper than a stock Mag (incan) reflector. To my surprise, it was not the same at all. Throw beat the HS-802 reflector, but fell short of the Mag Rebel reflector. The beam produced a brighter but softer hotspot than the HS-802, and a wider, but much dimmer spill. Basically, the larger diameter of this reflector allows it to grab more of the light to concentrate it into the beam. Unlike the other two, deeper reflectors, this one does not create the sharp perfect round edge to the hotsopt that the others do. The tint was more creamy than cool, unlike the HS-802 reflector and lens which cool the tint off a bit.

The Mag Rebel reflector wins for throw and hotspot hands down. The hotspot is the most intense and perfectly round. Unfortunately, it casts a bit of a halo around the hotspot that is brighter than the rest of the spill, unlike the HS-802 which has just hotspot and uniform spill.

Either of these cheap hosts make for better pocket carry than a 2C Maglite (expect to see a 1C cut-down from me in the future :devil. The HS-802 (Aurora SH-44) has a narrower head but is longer than the V-65C and also weighs more.

This guy was getting lonely down in post #20 below:
Ultrafire C8-A1 modded to SST-50

As extremely cool as the HS-802 was, this C8 with SMO reflector made a better SST-50 host. Although not as good of a single-cell host for the SST-50 as the V-65C or the untouchable Mag 1C with Rebel reflector (post #4 & #7), this one is much more pocket friendly.

 

[moviles]

dropin pictures?

 

[Techjunkie]

dropin pictures?

In both hosts, the pill screws into the tube and the reflector is not threaded to the pill, so there's not really a drop-in, per se.

The V-65C uses a standard 20mm star and has a very deep aluminum pill. The HS-802 uses a 16mm round star and it's brass pill has some room, but is not nearly as deep as the other. I mounted the SST-50s on XR-E stars, a 20mm for the V-65C and a 16mm for the HS-802, for ease of operation. I considered buying SSRs, but those stars are thicker and would have required trimming, filing, etc., and I didn't want to risk dome damage in the process. When Avnet first dropped their price only on the SST I wanted and nothing else, it made the decision easy. (Now everything Luminus has been reduced.)

If/when I add the regulators to the pills, I'll take some photos. Right now, I'm just using bare PCBs from old drivers that have been stripped of all their components. The assembly looks identical to stock, except for the different emitter sitting on the star. Replacing the switch with forward click switches actually took more customization than changing the emitter.

 

[Techjunkie]

I've begun the 1C build. I'm doing a Ma_Sha-style cut-down - no rethreading of the neck, head permanently affixed. I'm still waiting on regulators to come in so for now, a single layer of kaptan tape makes for an incredibly snug fit. After everything else is ready, I'll go get some JB-weld.

I used a brake hone to widen the ID of the new "neck" even further to fit the brass pill from a 53mm DX drop-in module. I used a dremel cutting wheel to make a new slot for the compression ring to hold the pill in place and keep the battery from pushing it up from beneath.

I left the tube long enough to just fit a 26650, although I plan to use a 26500 with a spring that could work with either length. For the moment, it's a twisty. I haven't begun to convert the tailcap to a clickie yet.

The biggest pain with using these Mag Rebel reflectors is that the focus requires the bottom of the reflector bottoming out on the star, but the screws and wires get in the way. This time I was able to shave everything down without having to trim the bottom of the rflector and having it levitate above the board. Compared to the pic above, I actually had to sand the reflector edges a bit more, file down the screw heads a bit more and also re-solder th wires a bit further out to get everything perfect.

 

[jabe1]

Where are you getting Mag Rebel reflectors?!

 

[Techjunkie]

Where are you getting Mag Rebel reflectors?!

The first two came from 2D Mag Rebels that I picked up in Lowe's for $15 each just before Christmas. I got three more directly from Mag before they made their parts retailers aware of the new part and part number, which is:

108-846

These cast the most fantastic beam and the nicest hotspot I've ever seen, at least with the emitters I've tried 'em with.

 

[Techjunkie]

Tonight I created the Mag tailswitch using a Judco switch that has the same dimensions and same size innards as the one the LuxLuthor documented here. There's one important difference though. This one has Mag-switch style action. Judco describes it as momentary_on->on->off. Judco p/n 40-3355-01, DigiKey part number 526PB-ND.

The switch that LL pulled apart is rated for 5A. For whatever reason, this one is only rated at 2A. Maybe Judco is being more conservative with the rating on this switch because of the different way that the contacts engage to provide the momentary function. I took mine apart to chop down the end and to replace the provided wires with 18AWG stranded copper and the copper contacts inside look exactly like the ones in LL's photos.

This pic compares the mag-style switch to the 14V 10A switch that I also bought "just in case".

Ordinarily, I use the KD forward click switches, which are much smaller. That's what I used in the Chinese hosts that I installed SST-50s into above. For the Mag, I wanted something beefier.

I once had a short after the KD switch in a 3 NiMH C-cell torch. When I took a tailcap measurement, I very briefly measured 18A before disconnecting the leads. The switch still worked after the short which was at the emitter was fixed. Those things take a surprising amount of abuse. This Judco switch is visibly much beefier and uses copper components, so I have every expectation that the 4.2A duty that I will have it pulling will not be a problem.

The Judco Mag-style switch has already proven to be lower in resistance than the KD switches. Using the same fully charged IMR18650 battery in both torches pictured below and in the HS-802 pictured above, (none of which have regulators installed yet), the two with the KD switch did not color shift the way they do when current is measured at the tail, bypassing the switch. The Mag with the Judco switch did begin to turn blue after only a second. I'm confident that the heatsinking on the Mag is better than on either the KD/DX hosts, so I'm sure the difference was mainly in the switch. I'm actually wondering why I should bother installing regulators in the Chinese hosts at all.

Here are some pics of the almost finished product:

 

[^Gurthang]

Tech,

Sweet work! Is the host a stock C type head?


BTW, you OWE everyone some beamshots!!!! We're all setting here holding our knees together HARD 'cos we gotta pee and we don't wanna miss the PICs!!!

 

[Techjunkie]

Tech,

Sweet work! Is the host a stock C type head?


BTW, you OWE everyone some beamshots!!!! We're all setting here holding our knees together HARD 'cos we gotta pee and we don't wanna miss the PICs!!!

Heh, LOL, yes, I know I'm delinquent on the beamshots. I need to find a good target that really shows off the throw capability of these. That means going outside and it's been raining here in NY for almost an entire week. Thanks for the compliment too.

Also, yes, that is a stock 3C that I cut down to a 1x26650. I don't have a lathe to do the rethread so I did a "Ma_Sha1" style cutdown where you remove the threads inside the head (I used a brake hone) and simply glue the head to the neck permanently. The fit is already so snug without adhesive that a single piece of kapton tape wrapped once in a single layer around the neck makes the head very hard to put on and take off. I'm contemplating using something less permanent than JB-Weld, like maybe AAA, that way if I have to remove the pill, I can still take the head off to get at the retaining ring more easily. (The pill can only exit from the top.)

 

[ptolemy]

the HS-802 mod looks very nice. did you have to replace the switch to accomodate higher current?

hows the heatsinking? beam shots would be awesome

 

[Techjunkie]

the HS-802 mod looks very nice. did you have to replace the switch to accomodate higher current?

hows the heatsinking? beam shots would be awesome

Thanks.

The HS-802 is a heavy torch for its size and the emitter star sits in a brass pill that screws into the inside of the neck that the head screws onto. Mine came with the head threads glued and I left them that way 'cause my strap wrenches couldn't get a good enough grip to break the glue even after freezing. Despite the thread glue, I think the heatsinking is pretty good. When I swapped out the XR-E star for the SST-50 that I soldered onto a 16mm CREE XR-E star, I replaced the original thermal goo with some good silver thermal grease. So far, so good.

I replaced the stock 2-mode switch with a KD forward click switch. Those KD fwd switches handle current much better than stock reverse click switches. I've direct driven MC-E and P7s from them in many torches without a problem. Apparently, they do add more resistance than a Mag switch. I say that because with the KD switch and no regulation, a fully charged IMR18650 does not turn the SST-50 blue, but the same setup with a Mag switch requires regulation to keep current in check. Based on the throw and the tint of the 4500K SST-50 (which gets cooler at higher currents), I estimate ~4A to the emitter through the KD switch.

I plan to take some beamshots sometime this week. I'm hoping the drivers for my Mag SST-50s come in so I can do a full shootout. Also, I have to figure out how to compare the throw of all these SST-50s and the whitewalls and toolshed that I usually use are just too close to tell any of them a apart. The treetop 400ft away is a possible candidate, but shooting that requires a dry, clear night with no light polution or moonlight for the slow exposure that it requires. I may have to travel for this shootout.

 

[Techjunkie]

Last night, I received some new drivers to install into my Silver Mag 2C SST-50 project. Those drivers were a total disaster, but while I was in there, I pulled the AMC8135 based regulators that I had installed in it temporarily. The cut-down 1C Mag tailswitch shorty is now complete, pulling 4.3A at the tail from a single Sony 26650VT. If I put in a batteryspace 4000mAH LiMn 26650, it would have over an hour of runtime (the Sony batery is onlly 2500mAH). It's definitely one of my favorite creations. I hope to do some beamshots of all of these this weekend.

 

[Techjunkie]

I just wasted a whole bunch of time (2.5 hours) on a 13-way beamshot shootout that's way too stopped-down to appreciate the power of any of the torches, or be able to tell any difference between them. But, because I promised some long overdue shots, I've uploaded them anyway.

Until I re-shoot with a longer exposure, you can have a sneak peek at the practice post.

 

[moviles]

I'm looking for some host with good reflector.

the the UniqueFire HS-802 or the SacredFire V-65C accept 20 mm stars?

the star of some model have screws? (like some dx/kai p7 models like this: )

 

[Techjunkie]

The SmartFire/SacredFire V-65C accepts a 20mm star and makes an excellent host for the SST/SSR-50. The HS-802 reflector only does amazing things for the XR-E. I have found that my HS-802 SST-50 creation compares almost identically to the SkyRay S-R5 flashlight which is a measly CREE XP-G in P60 SMO drop-in.

I'm looking for some host with good reflector.

the the UniqueFire HS-802 or the SacredFire V-65C accept 20 mm stars?

the star of some model have screws? (like some dx/kai p7 models like this: )

 

[Techjunkie]

I've been working on some beamshots. Here are links to practice posts:


450ft to tree F4.0 ISO400 4.0sec WB5200K

50ft ISO400 F14 2sec 5200K

18ft. white wall ISO400 F10 1/4sec 5200K

 

[moviles]

The SmartFire/SacredFire V-65C accepts a 20mm star and makes an excellent host for the SST/SSR-50

this model have screws for pressing the star to the dropin?

I like your sst-90 with aspheric lens beamshots

 

[HarryN]

Very nice selection of beam options.

 

[Techjunkie]

this model have screws for pressing the star to the dropin?

I like your sst-90 with aspheric lens beamshots

No screws, just two holes for the wires to pass through. The reflector pins the star between itself and the pill. I'm only using silver thermal grease, no epoxy, no screws and so far, no problem. (Tailswitch retaining ring that threads into the cap strips easily on mine. I wrapped it in Al. foil to tighten things up.)

Thanks.

Very nice selection of beam options.

Thank you. I wasn't thrilled with the camera settings I chose, 'cause they make everything seem very much the same (except for tint). To the naked eye, there's a huge difference between the hotspots and throw among the different reflectors and emitters. I was especially surprised at the long exposure 450ft. shots. I should have stopped them down more or lessened exposure time to really show the difference in throw, which is huge. I'd have re-done them, but I don't want to p*ss-off my backyard neighbors, who are unfortunately in between me and that target tree.

 

[Techjunkie]

Not nearly as pleased with what the HS-802 was doing for the SST-50 compared to what it does for the XR-E, I've reverted that torch back to XR-E. (I gave it the full Techjunkie treatment and then gave it as a gift.)

With that 4500K SST-50 liberated, I found yet another host that I think is a much better fit for that emitter and a better fit for the pocket than the V-65C. Enter the UltraFire C8-A1. Basically, a standard C8 sized host and reflector, but the reflector is SMO and the beefy brass pill accommodates a 20mm star and secures the star with two screws.

I re-mounted the Luminus emiiter onto a 20mm XRE star and mounted it in place of the stock star. The stock config passes two thin wires through one small hole. I drilled a second hole in the pill opposite the first and passed one thick wire through each. The C8-A1 has the head glued to the tube so I couldn't adjust the height of the head on the neck to lower the pill. To keep the reflector from crushing the emitter and star, I had to put a glow-gasket in the space created by the bezel not being fully screwed down. A quick swap of the stock clickie for a KD fwd switch and the stock driver for direct drive and it's all done.

Here's some beamshots comparing the V-65C to the C8-A1.