P60 Flashlight Drop-ins
 

For those using flashlights that take the P60 drop-in LED modules as headlights or flashlights this may be of interest. Many flashlights from Solarforce, Surefire, Dereelight and other vendors take these LED modules.

Thrunite now is shipping a XM-L LED P60 upgrade LED module that is putting out about 460 OTF lumens. Floody beam and quite bright. I got the module from Sbflashlights.com and the cost was about $30 including shipping. I got the 3 to 9 volt 3 mode module version. This is a very efficient LED which in the Thrunite drop-in draws 1.5 amps maximum at nominal voltage so heat buildup should not be too bad. I checked the module temperature after 15 minutes of running and the temperature was just a bit above my body temperature.

Do you know if the Solarforce cell charger they have is any good? Most of the DX ones have an actual charge rate well below what they claim.

Thanks for the info - there are some others that look tempting too.

Plutonix;

No idea. I got my 18650 charger from Battery Junction, the common WF-139. The common recommendation on Candlepower Forums seems to be the Pila IBC charger as the best of the Li Ion chargers. That or a fully adjustable hobbyist Li Ion pack charger.

Below is a link to the Pila.

http://www.bugoutgearusa.com/bach.html

I have a WF-139 as well as the "Digital Ion Charger". Both say they charge at 450ma but I measured them at about half that when I checked them out when new. I might retest.

Charging takes forever with some Panasonic 2900s I got, so I am half looking for something in between the slow DX models and the $50 price tag of the Pila.

Thanks!

Will that drop-in fit this?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15946

I bought this casing a while back but the emitter I bought didn't fit. It would be nice to get a drop-in unit for it that would be retinal-burning bright.

I think that one is meant for mounting your own LED and/or driver (says it is optimized for XRE). The reason he mentioned P60 is because it is kind of a common size and form factor for all in one drop ins . Sometimes those DIY bodies are actually factory seconds.

In the ultrafire line, WF-501A,B,C,D, WF-502B,C,D, WF-503B,C and 504B will all take P60 drop ins (26mm diameter which is much smaller than the one you have). There may be others. Some of them are cheap the 502Bs with Luxeon emitter is only $10.

I have a DX charger that is rated at 1A x 2 and yet it takes more time to charge my AW2900 than it does the 600ma x 2 Pila charger. It has a much better charging algoryithm.

Tatfiend, how is the tint on that XM-L drop in? Is there any green tint at all?

See the private message I sent you.

The light body you link to is definitely NOT P60 drop-in compatible. The P60 module includes a reflector that is much smaller than is used by the linked to light. The reflector is about 1" outside diameter at the largest. As for eye searing output from a P60 light the P60 module design is getting old and was originaly designed by Surefire for LEDs below 100 Lumens. There are MUCH higher output P60 modules available today but the highest power ones have cooling problems when run at maximum for very long. This can be minimized by making sure that there is a tight fit between the module reflector and the cavity it installs in on the flashlight and using thermal conductive compound in that area. The tight fit is achieved by wrapping the reflector with aluminum, copper or brass foil or shim stock. These steps increase module installation difficulty but are recommended for installing P60 modules that draw more than about 1.5 amps nominal at the module rated voltage. Note that I mentioned my checking module temperature in my original post.

One P60 module is now made with a Luminus SST90 LED. Properly heat sinked this LED can dissipate 30 watts of power and put out about 2500 Lumens. No way can it be safely driven to any where near that in a P60 module. The main flashlight it is installed in weighs 3.5 pounds and has huge amounts of heat finning on the head, the Olight SR90. It also costs over $400.

I am not sure the stickers and labels always reflect reality on some of those DX items. A little like the 3600mah ratings on cells that are more like 1800.

I have one of the square black boxy chargers for 18650s only that has a 1a x 2 sticker but it actually only charges at 340ma. That is a sensible rate for a charger that works with smaller cells like 14500: it is almost spot on .5C for the typical ~700mah capacity. The reason I bought the 18650 specific one was for the higher rate. It does seem to terminate better than the WF-139 though.

If yours is similar (there are only a few that claim 1A on DX), the 600ma rate of the Pila could actually be higher. I know the Pila is much better though - I just cant justify the cost yet.

So I think there is a factory that just prints generic stickers with and without fake UL or CE symbols, random charge rates, various model numbers and warnings (FOR USE ONLY IN HOME) and the manufacturer just orders whatever fiction sounds best. :D

Is there a drop in that fits this? It wouldn't have to be high powered. Just something that would work.

Tatfiend, how did the red drop-in from Solarforce-sales.com work for you?

I'm still thinking of supplementing my Planetbike Superflash with this
red drop-in with flash mode:
http://solarforce-sales.com/product_...=RB&s=28&id=39
in this body:
http://solarforce-sales.com/product_...=FB&s=1&id=157

I'm quite fond of the custom drop-ins Nailbender over at CPF makes. They are top notch quality wise, and are made to your requirements. IIRC my XP-G was $35.

Solarforce Sales shipped the wrong red drop-ins, single mode versus the 5 modes ordered. They gave me a partial refund on their error but to get the problem fully corrected they wanted me to ship the original error parts all the way back to HK. With packing, filling out paperwork at the post office and time to stand in line at the post office I said to hell with it. I now have two single mode red P60 drop-ins which are pretty useless to me and will stick with USA vendors in the future.

Not that I am aware of. The P60 style of drop-ins are THE STANDARD that has been copied by everyone. Anything else is proprietary. Parts to make up drop-ins with larger reflectors using standard P60 size LED mount brass pills are made by Dereelight for use in one of their flashlights. A couple of different designs of drop-ins specifically for their own lights are also made by EagleTec. They screw into the flashlight body.

I am a hobbyist machinist so could probably make things fit together but at the price you paid for that body probably better to just write it off.

One last thought before I write it off. Couldn't I hook it up direct-drive? Just run it without a circuit board? I know how to solder, and I have a tube of thermal cement laying around somewhere. DX has all kinds of emitter for sale, cheap.
Or would I be throwing good money after bad?

DX has all sorts of cheap circuit driver boards too. It is really, really small scale work.

FWIW, solarforce-sales started selling single-mode XM-L lights and drop-ins today. They're significantly cheaper than Thrunite, and considering Solarforce's history, it's virtually certain that they won't be driven hard.


The XTAR WP2 seems to be generally accepted as the best inexpensive charger right now, although I've heard people say that the charging current at termination is much higher than it should be and that it may not fully charge some cells. It's $16 on eBay. I'm pretty certain that the Solarforce charger is just a cheap, generic charger that they've slapped their name on (compare it to DX sku 6105). From what I've read, it continues to trickle charge past 4.2V. I wouldn't buy it.

Thanks. I had considered the WP2. The WP6 seemed to have too many issues for the $10 you save compared to a Pila.