Direct drive triple XP-G R5 D26 drop-in

I've been asked to assemble a triple XP-G R5 with a Carclo triple optic. The request is for a copper heatsink but I needed to make a prototype out of aluminum as aluminum is much easier to machine and is much cheaper if I make a mistake. I don't have any dimensions of the cavity where this is going so I wanted to put something together to make sure that I can get at least in the ball park on certain dimensions. I want the unit to make contact with the inside walls of the host to allow the heat to transfer out to the atmosphere better. Here are some pictures of the prototype:





Despite the length, the bezel screws all the way down and only leaves a small gap about the thickness of a business card. It's going to be used in a SureFire 9P using three IMR 16340 cells and an Oveready Zero Tolerance unit in a Z41 tailcap. We'll have to see if the XP-Gs can handle this. I suppose that I could always mill out a pocket for a 17mm driver if it came to it. Unfortunately, the board that the XP-Gs are mounted to are wired 3S, complicating matters.

I'll post more as this project progresses.

Update on 10/31/2010
I finally decided to get off my lazy behind and work on this some more yesterday.


Cutting a piece of copper by hand. It's 1.375" in diameter as the copper that I had ordered for this project was the wrong diameter (too small).


The copper blank and the aluminum prototype. Since copper is expensive I should have cut it about 1/4" shorter. Oh, well.


Cleaned up the saw marks and started reducing the diameter of the slug on the mill configured as a lathe.


Cut down to about 27.3mm diameter, cut the step for the end of the bezel. The four-jaw chuck is then removed from the headstock and the mill reconfigured from lathe mode to mill mode and a pocket for the 3XP-G board cut.


This is as far as I got yesterday.

I think I spent about 4 hours on it to get to this point. The copper slug got really hot while working it even with cutting oil used as a lubricant so I had to let it cool for half an hour a few times.

I still need to flip the slug over and cut the other side. Stay tuned...

oo:. And let the triples battles begin. :naughty:.

Direct Drive off 3 IMR 16340's in a 9P to be exact

We all seen what the DD Moddoo Tripples can do, now lets see what PCC can do with an overkill heatsink:devil:

Good Job PCC:thumbsup:

Nice work PCC :thumbsup:

That heat sink is exactly what I was thinking, I always wondered why the other guys cut them short and didnt make them like that. I have not gotten around to making one myself but hopefully some day, or I will take one of those if you make them?

Looks awesome!

:rock:

Thanks, guys. I'm still working on getting the rear part of the heatsink to fit the taper in the bottom of a 6P host better. After this is done I can make the copper version. I will say that the copper one is going to be a one-off as copper is quite a bit more difficult to work with than aluminum. I'm also pondering the possibility of making the upper part of the heatsink out of aluminum and the lower part, aft of the triple star, copper. This would simplify the machining needed on the more difficult to machine copper and would still leave a nice ring of material to support the optics.

Can anyone suggest a driver that can power a 3S configuration from either 2 or 3 Li-Ion cells? Seeing as how I'm cutting this to fit I can make even a larger 19mm driver work with this drop-in. The only reason we're going DD on this one is because of the lack of drivers for this configuration.

I wish I could help on the driver part, from what I found on doing research there isnt much out there. Other than the regulated "luxrc" ones that others are using.

I think the "two tone" heatsink would be cool, the copper and Al could do that job better than just Al. Cheaper than an entire heatsink of copper.

I took a mold of the 6P, C2, etc size area with the stuff dentists use to make a soft mold, that allowed me to measure and look at it from a different "angle". Thats how I came to the same idea as you with the extra material at the top.

PCC said:

Can anyone suggest a driver that can power a 3S configuration from either 2 or 3 Li-Ion cells? Seeing as how I'm cutting this to fit I can make even a larger 19mm driver work with this drop-in. The only reason we're going DD on this one is because of the lack of drivers for this configuration.

Click to expand...

Totally agreed. I have been recently searching for exactly such a device that will boost 6-8.4Vin to 11.1 for the three LEDs in series and that will fit in a 17mm package. Haven't found one. I theorized about fitting a 3-XPG board in an old KL3 at one point in time, but could not find any drivers that would fit the bill. It's the same electrical problem you face except our chosen hosts are a little bit different.

Let me know if you stumble across any. These could be very interesting.

I can't think of any drivers but I am wondering if you would be better off using LiFePO4 RCR123s for this setup. They are a closer match to the Vf of the LEDs. Btw, is this going to turn into a sales thread? If so, I am interested in buying one if I it is in an acceptable price range for me. :twothumbs

I'd even be interested if you end up using a lux-rc board. The heatsink design is intriguing even if you decide on a Al/Cu two-tone version.

flashfiend said:

Btw, is this going to turn into a sales thread?

Click to expand...

No plans on doing a series production as I'm doing this at home on a small manual mill and cutting copper is a royal PITA. I will say that I can make them from aluminum fairly easily if you want one but I don't know how useful it would be since you cannot solder a circuit board to aluminum. I did, however, just buy a piece of C110 copper that is 3/4" (22.2mm) by 31" long.

I don't know why I ordered 3/4" diameter copper when I needed 1.125", which would have been ideal for this particular project. I guess I got my metric to SAE standard conversions mixed up in my head when I ordered this. More coffee? In any case, I bit the bullet and started making the copper version of this using a 1.375" diameter copper rod that I've been using to make D-Mag heatsinks with. I know, it's a waste of copper, but what can I do? I need to get this done! First post updated with pictures.