2W MCU-C88 Q5 26650 Host

It has been a long time waiting for this unit to be finished and I am very excited as this is definitely the new prize of my collection.


Alright so here we go. In my searching for 3XAA hosts that will accept a 26650 I came across this sweet looking unit from Ultrafire. It is the Cree MCU-C88 Q5 LED Flashlight Torch. I think it was about $40 so I had to order it up.:eg:













I have to say when I got it I was extremely impressed with the quality of this unit. Solid feel, great construction and one of the sweetest flashlight I have seen to date. This host is certainly on par with the quality of the RL-2088 and I am going to call it Franky Jr.:yh:












Here are a few more shots of the host notice the fins on the head, the amazing looking stainless steel retaining ring and the sweet grooves on the tailcap.


























So I hit up Jayrob and let him know what I had and what I was looking for. Of course he was very enthusiastic about another "Epic Build" as he called it so I got it sent off to him.




He started out by pulling out the pill and seeing what it needed to get it ready.












When you look you can see the positive contact point for the battery is press fit into the back of the pill with the old driver inside. You can remove it with a pair of needle nose pliers to expose the driver board.












Now I wanted to have an area to sink dual flexdrives and Jay did a great job machining flat the top of the pill for me to use. This provides a large flat surface with direct contact with the host body for heat dissipation.










Then finally he made this massive heatsink for this unit to keep this poor little diode from overheating.:beer:











This heatsink really fits like a glove. Literally when you put it in with a module in it you can feel the air having a hard time escaping as you try to push it down. Great contact with the host body.:eg:

Assembly​

So here is the break down of what the build consists of. A heatsink, head, body, tailcap and retaining ring. Also shown is the 26650 4000mAh battery. You will also need two flexdrives, thermal adhesive, a diode, and an aixiz module.












I started by stripping my wire from the host and preparing a couple of flex drives set to 900mA each.

As you can see the pill has two wires for both positive and negative with that wonderful wire from Flaminpryo. That way I have a separate line going to each of the drivers.










Once I had the drivers wired up I got out my thermal adhesive and sinked them to the top of the pill.











Next I combined the two drivers output wires and soldered them to a diode.











Screwed the head back on.










Put the module in the heatsink.












Screwed the stainless steel ring down and put in a lens. Now this unit was pretty sweet but looking at it I thought the cavity where the retaining ring was a little deep and started thinking about a focus adapter to make focusing a little easier.












So I sent the head of the unit out to Flaminpryo and asked him to make a focus adapter that is second to none. I wanted the aggressive look of the units with the drilled holes but I also wanted the glow of the tritium vials. It took a bit to get the vials but it was well worth the wait. And here is what he sent me.











The vials looks so sweet in the dark it is hard to get a good picture of them that shows how cool they actually are.










The vials are also recessed so they are less likely to be damaged by impact.









It screws into the head with ease.










The adapter has a perfect fit over the retaining ring. It literally looks a part of the unit.

Host Shots​

Here are a few shots of the unit for your viewing pleasure.

Beam Shots​

Here are some over glorified long exposure shots of the beam.:eg:

LPM TEST:eg:​

Here is the LPM test taken with a 405-G-1 lens.








Here is a running video with a 405-G-1.

Final Thoughts​

I want to give a big thanks to Jayrob and Flaminpryo for making this unit a reality. This thing is down right sick. It took almost two months to get everything together for this build and I must say it was well worth the wait. This unit has such an aggressive look, feels extremely solid, utilizes a massive 4000mAh battery and is such a quality host. This make it a perfect unit in my book. Can anybody say Host of the Year 2011.



Thanks for reading my review If you would like to see more please check my tutorial compilation page linked in my sig.:beer:​