Kendall's question answered!

WARNING: FLASHAHOLIC CONTENT

Kendall the CarpentryHero said...

"Will you make your flashlights with an upgradeable, replaceable Pill like a better version of the P60 and host idea. An upgradeable light even if I'm mailing it in for the upgrade ;-) ?"

Sort of! For those of you that aren't familiar with the terminology, a flashlight "pill" is a component comprised of an LED emitter, driver electronics, and a metallic body to hold those components and act as a heat sink. Sometimes the pill is combined with a reflector to create a "drop in" module. A P60 module is an industry standard size so P60 pills should fit into any P60 host. This is actually an interesting concept and I may do a P60 format light in the future.

A section view of the light head. The walls of the copper
sleeve are actually thicker than what is depicted here.

My current design does not use a "pill" for a few reasons...that I might get into in another post. Suffice to say I think using an LED mounted on a 20mm star MCPCB (Metal Core Printed Circuit Board) is the best option, for me, at this time. The head is a solid, one-piece design to maximize thermal transfer.

One of my primary design principles is "design for disassembly and repair." So yes, these lights will most definitely have the ability to be upgraded with newer LEDs or electronics. One reason I went with the MCBCB is that it makes it really easy for me to swap out LEDs.