Malkoff problem & solution

Sorry if this had been done to death before.

I have been using a M60 drop in and now a M30 in various SF & Leaf bodies for my primary belt light at work for a good few months now.

Problem I have had with every body that I tried is that is the head is unscrewed even a fraction by accident then it will not light (and this has happened on duty with being carried in a V70 and the head rubbing against the bottom of my dual purpose vest)

The solution is the washers sold by Gene for using the modules with a M series shock isolated head.

You might get a slightly bigger gap between the body and the head but function is excellent.

Aluminium foil!

Strip/cut off of bit nice and neat
fold it up so you end up with a band of sorts...maybe 1cm across for example.

wrap it around the lip of the module and insert.
It should be a bit stiff to put the module back in......a bit of a tight fit is good.

At some point it will be a good idea to put the bezel on and screw it down to help seat the module and Foil.
Go carefully......use a bit of caution and common sense......you dont want to jam it in permanently...or break something.

You may need some trial and error to get the perfect amount of tightness. Took me 3 times to satisfy me with the custom workmanship:green:


Anyway after you have got it to your satisfaction you should find the Foil has created a rather nice custom insert...that can be reused.

I use this method...it works great......increases electrial contact reliability and now the module stays in the body even without the bezel on. Need to use my finger nails to pry it out.

I have also noticed the outside of the bezel gets a little warmer now.......I assume its because there is now a better thermal path to dissapate the heat.

have a go.....how much does some aluminium foil cost eh?

Aluminum foil works but a more elegant solution is the copper foil tape it has a slightly sticky back so it stays where you place it. Stained glass crafters use it to wrap the edge of the glass before soldering. Also solves "E" series contact problems.

The aluminum foil trick is a GOOD one for many P60 modules. I do that on all my DX modules and SF hosts. The lights conduct heat to the body/bezel better (as the previous poster and I have both noticed). it also helps maintain electrical contact when the bezel is loosened. I can take the Bezel completely OFF and still use the light.

Just to clarify, you mean wrapping a foil strip around the sides of the M60's heatsink right? Do you need to polish the chemcoat off or is it electrically conductive? ** just checked since my meter was handy, definately conductive, I always thought the chemcoat was non-conductive. Learn something new every day around here.

Yeah, just wrap it around the actual m60/m30 module...at the top near the lip/bezel area.
If you try and cut and fold it neatly you should end up with a very compact and neat looking spacer.

By making it a little bigger, and then sqeezing/pressing it into the body, the foil should compress tightly together making an almost solid spacer.

I like that copper foil tape idea too!
Whats the deal with the sticky back.......does it get in the way of conductivity.?

Alum foil works.

I like the idea of a a sticky copper foil, but wonder if the sticky part interferes with heat conduction?

Bill

The adhesive should be fine for thermal conduction since it's so thin, but it wouldn't do any favors for electrical contact. The aluminum foil works great, it needs to be folded over 3-4 times for a snug fit, but that's actually alot less space than I thought there was. The thermal contact was already good with the M60, but I bet it's stellar now. I'll add a tiny bit of thermal grease to the aluminum foil, since I pretty much leave the module as a permanet solution there shouldn't be a problem with it.

allthumbs said:

Aluminum foil works but a more elegant solution is the copper foil tape it has a slightly sticky back so it stays where you place it. Stained glass crafters use it to wrap the edge of the glass before soldering. Also solves "E" series contact problems.

Click to expand...

You say there are no electrical problems using copper foiol tape? Helped E series contact problems?

Bill