P60 Fun (post your P60 flashlight set-ups)

[Tofty]

I recently counted my P60 compatible lights and discovered that i have.....quite a lot.
Most of them have been modded in some way or another, if they were ever standard to begin with and i suspect i'm not the only person with this modular fascination.

So i'd like to see your P60 hosts, modded or standard and don't forget to include which type of drop-in you're running and with what batteries.


I'll start things off with my Fivemega Copper Ultra Cool 6P:







The drop-in is an EDC+ X60L3 triple Nichia 219 (92CRI) bought from Illumination Supply,
Being run by a Enerpower 3400mAh protected 18650.
It's not really the right drop-in for the host as it probably produces less than 600 lumens.
A nice high current MT-G2 might suit it better as it would be closer to 2000 lumens and get very hot.


Many more to come.......

[nuphoria]

That thing is off the hook!

[Syph007]

Wow that's just awesome.  It looks like a rocket. 

[enki_ck]

Wow that's just awesome.  It looks like a rocket. 

+1 Only that the flames come out from the other end.

[Tofty]

.....the flames come out from the other end.

Yeah, that was the weirdest fire eating show i have ever seen.


Anyway, thanks guys and gals.
Here's a family shot:



I have a few more lights on the way and some of these ones aren't finished yet.

[MadPlumbarian]

Nice job, I have a couple myself, but the one that I use for my EDC I kinda did a couple mods, I changed the bulb to a led, which gave it a 80led output for 12hrs, (rather have something dependable then high output for a EDC) also a click switch , and a NICE defensive bezel!  JR

[mvyrmnd]

All of my P60's are solarforce hosts - so they're nothing special... the dropins are another story

I have:

Kerberos Triple High CRI XP-G
EDC+ Triple High CRI Nichia 219
Nailbender High CRI XM-L
Nailbender Warm XP-G2
vinhnguyen RGBW MC-E Mule
vinhnguyen UV
Lumensfactory IMR-9

There may be more, but that's off the top of my head...

[Tofty]

Nice job, I have a couple myself, but the one that I use for my EDC I kinda did a couple mods, I changed the bulb to a led, which gave it a 80led output for 12hrs, (rather have something dependable then high output for a EDC) also a click switch , and a NICE defensive bezel!  JR

Sounds like a nice useable set-up, 80 lumens with the right beam profile can be all the light you could ever need.
I'm assuming it's a Surefire host if you've swapped turned the tail switch into a clicky.

All of my P60's are solarforce hosts - so they're nothing special... the dropins are another story

I have:

Kerberos Triple High CRI XP-G
EDC+ Triple High CRI Nichia 219
Nailbender High CRI XM-L
Nailbender Warm XP-G2
vinhnguyen RGBW MC-E Mule
vinhnguyen UV
Lumensfactory IMR-9

There may be more, but that's off the top of my head...

I'm really starting to like the Solarforce hosts, great for mixing and matching between models.

It's a shame the Kerberos quads and triples are no longer available but hopefully Mattaus will be picking up the mantle soon.
I've got a few Nailbender drop-ins on their way to me so looking forward to trying out some of the new second-generation cree LEDs.
Those RGBW MC-Es are really cool with the blue red blue red strobe.
Is the Vinhnguyen UV one of the 365nm Nichia chips?
Just looked up the IMR-9, i'd looked on the lumens factory site before but had completely missed it, nice to see an incandescent that has such a high output for such a low price (probably won't last 100,000 hours like the LED's though).

[MadPlumbarian]

Yeah I found that cabelas made there own, exactly identical, but with a click switch, so I bought it.. Only thing is when I put the other witch on the cabelas it didn't work, so I have no clue were that ended up. But here's a look at my couple of surefires. JR

And how bright the led is,

I did the same thing to my maglite, changed over the bezel, and also switched it to a led, I did have a click switch but, I didn't like it so it went back to norm,

And here's a few of my others, my fav is the one the left, it's a fenix T1, nasty little light, runs on 2 3v 123's, has a very heavy bezel, and two dif led settings, reg@65 lumens, and turbo@225 lumens! And ofcourse a clicky switch good little self defense light! 

[mvyrmnd]

I'm really starting to like the Solarforce hosts, great for mixing and matching between models.

It's a shame the Kerberos quads and triples are no longer available but hopefully Mattaus will be picking up the mantle soon.
I've got a few Nailbender drop-ins on their way to me so looking forward to trying out some of the new second-generation cree LEDs.
Those RGBW MC-Es are really cool with the blue red blue red strobe.
Is the Vinhnguyen UV one of the 365nm Nichia chips?
Just looked up the IMR-9, i'd looked on the lumens factory site before but had completely missed it, nice to see an incandescent that has such a high output for such a low price (probably won't last 100,000 hours like the LED's though).

I actually own the #1 mattsaus drop in from his first run - but it's broken

The UV is some unknown chip - is good for lighting up secret ink and whatnot, but it's not a proper 365nm output.

The IMR-9 is stunning, but I use it rarely.

[nuphoria]

I love the idea of P60 lego, especially if you are new to the flashy world. I only had a couple of different basic ones myself, nothing very hi spec or cost.

The one I kept and use quite a lot is just a Solarforce L2P with a Vinhnguyen triple XPG R5 I think... it has nice blue glow powder in it and a neutralish floody beam. Great outside all round light

Here is Muji looking after it for me

[Tofty]

Yeah I found that cabelas made there own, exactly identical, but with a click switch, so I bought it.. Only thing is when I put the other witch on the cabelas it didn't work, so I have no clue were that ended up. But here's a look at my couple of surefires. JR

I did the same thing to my maglite, changed over the bezel, and also switched it to a led, I did have a click switch but, I didn't like it so it went back to norm,

And here's a few of my others, my fav is the one the left, it's a fenix T1, nasty little light, runs on 2 3v 123's, has a very heavy bezel, and two dif led settings, reg@65 lumens, and turbo@225 lumens! And ofcourse a clicky switch good little self defense light!

That's the biggest problem with playing surefire/clone lego; since there is no true standardisation to the format, apart from the threads, there is no guarantee that one part will make good electrical contact with another. This is quite often down to anodising being in the wrong place and the solution can be relatively straight forward if a little time consuming.
I'm still amazed though that surefire never supplied their P/Z/C/G series lights with a clicky switch as standard, or for that matter never made their own P60 LED drop-in.

Nobody likes that Maglite switch, it's the Niteizes IQ switch which must be the least well named switch of all time. It has a constant parasitic drain so you have to turn the light off properly by turning the head anyway and the modes while seemingly useful, very quickly become irritating and pointless. I made the same mistake and got taken in my it's alleged advantages.
In fact all the Niteizes maglite accessories i've owned have been rubbish; their LED drop-in was badly centred, purple and very underpowered and their normal clicky switch has a poor click action and a tacky, wobbly switch cover.
I would recommend both the Terralux tail switch (nice simple clicky) and their drop-in module which uses a Cree XR-E.
The weird thing is that the Niteizes and Turralux accessories are pretty much the same price, at least in my market place.
The strike bezel is a nice touch though, the XCapeCap Talon is i'm not mistaken.

The Fenix T1 looks like a nice solid tactical light but with the one major draw back a lot of these lights seem to share, the pocket/carry clip is in the worst place possible with the head (the heaviest part) sticking right out of whatever pocket it's clipped onto. Clips should allow deep carry or not bother being put on lights at all. At least that's my opinion.

I actually own the #1 mattsaus drop in from his first run - but it's broken
The UV is some unknown chip - is good for lighting up secret ink and whatnot, but it's not a proper 365nm output.
The IMR-9 is stunning, but I use it rarely.

Did you ever send the mattaus triple back to get repaired? I know a number of people had problems with theirs, it was something to do with the potting giving the spring problems.
Anyway his new and hopefully up and coming triple looks like being quite an impressive piece of kit, physically as well as electronically.

The Nichia 365nm chips seem almost impossible to get hold off, i think Nichia themselves don't like selling them to the public as they can be quite dangerous without the right protection.

The IMR-9 seems worth having simply because it's so cheap and can go in so many lights.
It must also be good for tint comparison against high powered LEDs when a normal incandescent would be completely swamped.

I love the idea of P60 lego, especially if you are new to the flashy world. I only had a couple of different basic ones myself, nothing very hi spec or cost.
The one I kept and use quite a lot is just a Solarforce L2P with a Vinhnguyen triple XPG R5 I think... it has nice blue glow powder in it and a neutralish floody beam. Great outside all round light
Here is Muji looking after it for me

With the P60 format, torch hosts don't ever really become obsolete, only their LEDs do, so an easy way of replacing only the necessary parts is sensible and efficient. A Solarforce host might last more than 50 years with the only other component prone to eventual failure being the switch.
 
I'd say that a triple XP-G R5 is pretty high spec, although it all depends how it's driven.
when did you get the drop-in? He doesn't seem to be offering triples with optics at the moment, only mules.
I bought a couple of P60s from Vinhnguyen a year of so ago and wasn't overly impressed with the quality of the soldering or chip centering (to be fair the drop-ins still work fine) and have held off ordering since, but thinking about it, i ordered them just shortly after he started up.
After having made hundreds, if not thousands, of drop-ins with many happy customers i doubt my initial issues have any validity now.
He does offer a direct drive MT-G2 producing a stated 3000+ lumens which sounds like such a bad idea i might get one for the copper host.

I hope Muji doesn't use that torch to dazzle milkmen (check for thumbs).

[MadPlumbarian]

I did the same thing to my maglite, changed over the bezel, and also switched it to a led, I did have a click switch but, I didn't like it so it went back to norm,

That's the biggest problem with playing surefire/clone lego; since there is no true standardisation to the format, apart from the threads, there is no guarantee that one part will make good electrical contact with another. This is quite often down to anodising being in the wrong place and the solution can be relatively straight forward if a little time consuming.
I'm still amazed though that surefire never supplied their P/Z/C/G series lights with a clicky switch as standard, or for that matter never made their own P60 LED drop-in.

Nobody likes that Maglite switch, it's the Niteizes IQ switch which must be the least well named switch of all time. It has a constant parasitic drain so you have to turn the light off properly by turning the head anyway and the modes while seemingly useful, very quickly become irritating and pointless. I made the same mistake and got taken in my it's alleged advantages.
In fact all the Niteizes maglite accessories i've owned have been rubbish; their LED drop-in was badly centred, purple and very underpowered and their normal clicky switch has a poor click action and a tacky, wobbly switch cover.
I would recommend both the Terralux tail switch (nice simple clicky) and their drop-in module which uses a Cree XR-E.
The weird thing is that the Niteizes and Turralux accessories are pretty much the same price, at least in my market place.
The strike bezel is a nice touch though, the XCapeCap Talon is i'm not mistaken.

The Fenix T1 looks like a nice solid tactical light but with the one major draw back a lot of these lights seem to share, the pocket/carry clip is in the worst place possible with the head (the heaviest part) sticking right out of whatever pocket it's clipped onto. Clips should allow deep carry or not bother being put on lights at all. At least that's my opinion.

The bulb in the maglite is a TerraLux TLE-5ex, great bulb, and I think the bezel is from Xcape, I got it off of eBay, I don't remember if ordered the surefire bezel there also, but the surefire is the led series, but I didn't pay full price, I payed only the cost of the plastic one, he he.. As far as the fenix goes the clip is a wire clip but is really tight, good really heavy strike bezel without spikes, there on the rear, but the one real thing I like about it is the fact that it has a high and low output. Keep it at low 60 lumens, for normal use, then whe it matters most boost it up to 225! JR

[nuphoria]

I got my drop in from CPFM a couple of years ago. Somewhere around the $90 I think. Had no problem with it at all

[Tofty]

The bulb in the maglite is a TerraLux TLE-5ex, great bulb, and I think the bezel is from Xcape, I got it off of eBay, I don't remember if ordered the surefire bezel there also, but the surefire is the led series, but I didn't pay full price, I payed only the cost of the plastic one, he he.. As far as the fenix goes the clip is a wire clip but is really tight, good really heavy strike bezel without spikes, there on the rear, but the one real thing I like about it is the fact that it has a high and low output. Keep it at low 60 lumens, for normal use, then whe it matters most boost it up to 225! JR

The terralux dop-in i have uses an XR-E while the newer one's look like they use an XP-G, do you know which one yours is?

Surefire's have always been considered overpriced so it's nice to know someone got a good deal for once.

The T1 certainly sounds like it's worth a closer look.

I got my drop in from CPFM a couple of years ago. Somewhere around the $90 I think. Had no problem with it at all

I'm probably just far too fussy about certain things then.

There are some strange gaps in the types of non-limited run custom P60 drop-ins offered on CPF:
No triples or quads with optics at all and no UVs either.


Time for a few more photo's:







This is my bored out Surefire C2 with Cryos cooling bezel and RPM clicky tail.
It doesn't have a drop-in yet as it's waiting for something special.

[mvyrmnd]

This is my bored out Surefire C2 with Cryos cooling bezel and RPM clicky tail.
It doesn't have a drop-in yet as it's waiting for something special.

Looks like a perfect host for a Wrightlight (mattaus) Hyperion

[Tofty]

You read my mind.

[mvyrmnd]

You read my mind.

You know what they say about great minds and fools   

[MadPlumbarian]

The terralux dop-in i have uses an XR-E while the newer one's look like they use an XP-G, do you know which one yours is?

Surefire's have always been considered overpriced so it's nice to know someone got a good deal for once.

The T1 certainly sounds like it's worth a closer look.

T x p g r e? I don't know there all letters to me, all I knew it was a TLE-5EX, it don't say anything besides TerraLux on it and yes, surefires are certainly over priced! But that T1 I think was a good deal, I think I paid $55 for it, and definitely a good look if you can find it! That's why I got a rechargeable 123a battery system for my EDC led surefire, and that led t1, only thing is i have yet to use it since the two leds have yet to burn off the batteries that i had, JR

[Tofty]

You know what they say about great minds and fools   

No, but i know the difference between the two; ten pints.

T x p g r e? I don't know there all letters to me, all I knew it was a TLE-5EX, it don't say anything besides TerraLux on it

Right then learning time, not that this is really worth knowing but anyway......



The much smaller XP-G is on the left and the XR-E with inbuilt reflector is on the right.
These are both Cree LEDs with the XR-E being a much older architecture .
The XP-G has the same sized footprint as the Cree XP-E, XP-C, and XT-E as well as the Nichia 219 high CRI LED.
The XP-G has a much greater maximum lumen level while the XR-E is able to throw light further due to it's smaller die, narrower angled beam and the advantage of an in-built primary reflector.

To be fair, most torches on the market at the moment will have either an XP-G sized LED or the similar shaped but larger and more powerful XM-L, which is very floody with little throw.
That's all you really need to know about LEDs.

[MadPlumbarian]

Gotcha i have the one on the right, still puts out i nice bright stream with a good throw. JR

[Tofty]

I was just wondering whether it was worth getting a new Terralux drop-in with the better LED, but without a direct comparison i can't really tell if it's worth it. I find my Terralux's tint to be a bit purple on the edges but i'd still rather have that than the low output of my original LED Mini-mag.


How about a few more pictures, this time they're of my ever increasing Solarforce collection:



The torch not shown elsewhere is a standard L2T with a Vinhnguyen 2.1A cool XP-G and an Enerpower 2900mAh protected 18650.


Modified L2P awaiting a Nailbender 1.5A XP-G2 5000k 5mode.




L2T Stainless Edition also awaiting a Nailbender 1.4A XP-E2 4000k 3 mode.



Modified L2P with a Dishe Lanyard-N-Grip Ring in stainless steel.



This is one of my favourite lights for some reason so it deserves the triple.

[powernoodle]

You aren't having fun until you melt the lens.  This one is a P90.

[nuphoria]

Oops!

I heard stacking several batteries makes them more likely to go BOOM

[Essexman]

Can you all PLEASE stop posting those very nice P60 lights. I don't have any, and really can't start getting into them.

Tofty those solarforce with the stainless ends look great! Do you have a prefered online shop for Solar force?

[Tofty]

@powernoodle: Nice collection of old P and G series lights, i didn't know the early 6Ps didn't have a bezel ring, which i suppose makes replacing the press fitted plastic lens a much harder job.
P90s aren't in the thread title so it should be disqualified, but i'll allow it....this time.

Oops!
I heard stacking several batteries makes them more likely to go BOOM

I think mostly it's just the Ultra/Trustfire batteries that explode when messed about with in series and usually it's because they were poorly matched, so one ends up working much harder than the other.
A nice set of AWs shouldn't ever be a problem.
Also it looks like a duel 18650 setup so it's not as if the cells will be working close to their maximum coulomb rating in any case, it's everything else that's likely to go BOOM instead.

Can you all PLEASE stop posting those very nice P60 lights. I don't have any, and really can't start getting into them.

Tofty those solarforce with the stainless ends look great! Do you have a prefered online shop for Solar force?

Sorry can't do that, i've got loads more P60 pictures to show.
How can you have avoided P60s all this time?
To be fair one good Solarforce host like a L2P is all you ever really need, new drop-ins can come onto the market and then become obsolete but the host should just keep on going.

That picture of the L2P with the stainless ends came out really well, the light level and detail clarity are just right, a really lucky shot.

I've bought pretty much all my Solarforce stuff from ebay, straight from Hong Kong. I've a few of the suppliers and they all seem to deliver and have better prices than domestic stores.
I've never tried the Solarforce drop-ins though, i've heard their not great, perfectly useable just not great.

[nuphoria]

Prices seen to vary now and again but I have used these guys myself:

http://www.sbflashlights.com/Solarforce-Lights-c5/

[Tofty]

Time for more fun.

I've been working on two slightly unusual drop-ins over the last few days; one's not finished yet and i'm too scared to use the other one for now.


The 5mm Array drop-in (a work-in-progress).







I'm not quite sure why i started making this one, i just thought it would be cool to use something considered quite out of date, the original flashlight LED format of 5mm, but in an up to date as possible way.
The LEDs i'm using are Nichia NSDW570GS-K1 with an output of 28 lumens each and are one of the highest performing 5mm LEDs available.
I'm also over-driving them quite a bit so 250 lumens from the array may me achievable.

I've run out of silver solder so progress on this has stalled for now.


The 2W 445nm Laser drop-in.





The drop-in is mostly copper as laser diodes are more sensitive to excessive heat than LEDs are so much more heat-sinking is needed.
The bezel ring is titanium to match some other titanium accessories it may have in the future.
The focus adjusting ring in the centre will probably be replaced with a blue anodised aluminium version.




I didn't really spend enough time getting the cutting speeds right and the cutting tool itself wasn't really appropriate so the finish is pretty lousy but it is a really good fit with the host so it doesn't really matter.




The spring-less positive contact puck also looks a bit iffy but it has been threaded into the plastic surround which is why it looks off centre and the threaded hole is meant to be offset due to clearance requirements inside the drop-in.

This laser can be very dangerous if used incorrectly so i've tested only once for just a second to make sure it was working at all and it will now sit stored away with no batteries in it until i get a good set of goggles.

This one is only my first attempt at a laser P60 style drop-in, my next iteration will hopefully fit completely inside the flashlight's profile and be fairly universal unlike this one.

[Tofty]

Bit of an update....

Firstly the Array Drop-in is rubbish, it looks good but the beam is awful.












At least the laser works a little better.

[Gareth]

Shame the Array drop-in didn't work so well, but that laser (and the pics) look excellent.