Diy 900 lumen and 1800 lumen kits

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Diy 900 lumen and 1800 lumen kits

155 posts & 71 voices | Started 1 year ago by trout | Latest reply from brew

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Netdonkey - Member

Hi Chris,

Thanks again for leaving the bits out for me. I had a quick look around the box but could not spot the lupine. Any chance you could post it back to me at some point? Let me know the cost and I will paypal you it.

I have a 7.4 and 7.2 battery in the garage. I was planning on using the 7.4 but wondered what would happen if I use 7.2 (The 7.2 is nominal so wondering if the company are being cautious with a 7.4 setup?) am i likely to fry anything or will it just not work?

My final question before I finish the wet and drying and send it off for anodising is about setting the power. I am tring to work out what to set low med and high to based on your beam shots. Should i be going for 500ma 1500ma and 3000ma?

Hoping to take some build photos and post back soon

Posted 1 year ago #
thesurfbus - Member

NetDonkey - I have my configured in Duo Mode with L5 at 3000mA, once you have your head around how to configure the driver, its really easy to change the setup.

Not sure how you determine what your intermediate power levels are, you configure the driver to give the Max current L5 and the other levels are scaled from this, there is a table for the H6Flex (I am assuming you are using the LFlex) which gives current output for each power level, but this is for the older driver which doesn't support 3000mA.

Posted 1 year ago #
thesurfbus - Member

First ride last night, and the light was amazing (for 10 minutes), it was totally swamping the 4x XPGs that I was using on my bars, the Laura Optics give a nice wide beam without the sharp cutoff at the edges that the Reginas give.
Unfortuneately after 10 minutes the light would only turn on for 60 seconds before flashing 8/9 times and turning off. Once home I got out the manual to find that the default Voltage Cut-off was set at 12V and I was using a 12V battery, I tweaked it down to 11V and it seemed to be OK until the Thermal Cut-out kicked in, when the light dimmed, this was indoors with no airflow and the casing got quite hot to the touch, once cooled full power was again available.
I have charged the battery (12V Lion CCTV battery from Ebay) and will try a full run tonight.

Posted 1 year ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

thesurfbus - is this the type of battery you are using?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Portable-12V-Li-ion-Rechargeable-Battery-Pack-4800mAh-/250725312575?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6064a83f

If so could you let me know the dimensions and weight? It looks like the chepest way of powering the light. Although it looks like you might be having problems...

Posted 1 year ago #
5thElefant - Member

I've been using one of those to power a p7 for a while (and a brief test on a twin XM-L was fine).

110x60x15mm
~210g

Posted 1 year ago #
thesurfbus - Member

FunkyDunc - Yes thats the battery, I have been using it with 4x XPGs with no problems, they seem to have got cheaper as well, think I will buy another.
The only downside to the battery is the shape, as it doesn't lend itself to fitting on a frame, I had been mounting mine to the headtube with a big Velcro strap. I did start to take it apart to see if it could be rebuilt in a different shape, but gave up and put it back together.
There is another CCTV battery that is twice the size, which I might fit into a water bottle for the bigger rides.

I am hoping all my problems will be sorted now.

Posted 1 year ago #
thesurfbus - Member

There is also a 6800mAh version which is 85x62x20mm, this would extend the battery life of two XMLs on full to just over 3 hours, there is also a tiny 1800mAh version which would be handy to keep in the back pocket as a backup.

Posted 1 year ago #
thesurfbus - Member

I ran a soak test last night on the light, I set the Voltage Cutoff to 10V and the Thermal cutout to 60 degrees C, I was using a 12V 4800mAh battery.
The ambient temperature was 3 degrees C, but after 10 minutes the Thermal Cutout kicked in, I had an old computer fan which I rigged up and there were no further Thermal Cutouts.
The light ran for just under 90 minutes on high (3A) power, where the Voltage Cutout switched the light off, I checked the battery with the multimeter and it was 10.3V.
So the light performed perfectly, the only thing I need to tweak is the Voltage Cutoff, I was thinking of setting it to 9V (75%), any thoughts if this would damage the battery?

Posted 1 year ago #
5thElefant - Member

I wouldn't worry about heat. My twin xm-l setup has (I would guess) half the surface area and is only vaguely warm to touch when riding (30C at most).

My P7 setup is similar outside but when it's occasionally used in the attic it will get to over 60C in a matter of minutes. Amazing what a bit of airflow will do.

Posted 1 year ago #
reg - Member

Hello to trout,iv sent you a couple of emails,just wondering if you got them as my mail is playing up,iv been communicating with smudge by text?it was to order two twins and one single.please.

Posted 1 year ago #
stumpyjag - Member

Hi, Could I also request a price for a Lflex driver, XML led and regina reflector. Many thanks great post

Posted 1 year ago #
trout - Member

i am away on hols till the weekend with very iffy tinternet so will catch up with the mails when I get back

Posted 1 year ago #
thesurfbus - Member

Lowered the cutoff voltage to 9V and ran the light until it cut out, again got just under 90 minutes on Full Power,.
I guess its no surprise but those cheap 12V CCTV Batteries are not as good as they say on the tin. But at £15 a pop they are still good value for money.
Not looking forward to the clocks changing next week, as it will be less time to use my lovely new light.

Posted 1 year ago #
Netdonkey - Member

Right project finished. I decided on a trimode set-up using the 2nd, 4th and 5th brightness settings. I found, filing the LEDs a bit fiddly. you have to get pretty close to the pads. Other than that all went well.

I was going to have the case anodised but had heat and conductivity concerns and a burning desire to finish it.

Here are the beam shots using a 7.4v 6800mAh battery at a 3000mA drive current. burn times to follow

L2

L4

L5

Posted 1 year ago #
reg - Member

Hello smudge,batteries received,many thanks for fast services.

Posted 1 year ago #
smudge - Member

Thanks reg.
Happy light building

Smudge

Posted 1 year ago #
reg - Member

Hello trout,got new mail address so sent it over.Many thanks Reg

Posted 1 year ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

Trout YHM ta

Posted 1 year ago #
peakprowler - Member

Trout, got your email regarding demoing a 2 x XML & replied, would like to pick it up asap, could you reply please

Posted 1 year ago #
tomaso - Member

Interested in a pair of XMLs optics and driver, but wanted to use my existing Hope2 housing and battery - have you got a price please?
Thanks
Tom
PS did e-mail but seen you've had problems...

Posted 1 year ago #
reg - Member

Thanks trout,to those who cant get through be patience,worth the wait extremely nice bloke,many thanks Reg..

Posted 1 year ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

Trout, or others...

I'm part way through my build and at the stage of gluing the optics on to the stars. The stars are fully screwed down on to the heat sink, but when I put the optics on top they protrude above the internal flanges of the casing.

I thought the clear plastic lens cover is glued flush on to the internal flange with the optics below, however with the optics as they are the cover will just sit on top of the optics in a sense 'floating'.

Is that correct or should the optics be far enough inside the case that the lens cover fits firmly on to the flange (as it looks like on page 2 of this thread)

Hope this makes sense…

Posted 1 year ago #
trout - Member

Hi Dunc

no the lexan cover sits on the lenses and is then glued in

you want a small blob of glue on the flanges for the corners of the optics

the corners of the optics sit on or just above the ledge`s

Posted 1 year ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

I'm part way through my build now, unfortuntaely a broken wrist has stopped me.

I decided to spray paint the casing with this http://www.plasti-kote.co.uk/Product/pcode---4427/pccode---6751 which is rated to 120 degress so should hopefully be ok and only cost £3 a can.

I was expecting the build to be harder than it was and the case etc to be quite basic. However what you are actually getting is a well engineerd kit to put together at home!

This is what that part finished light looks like.

and fron the rear with power cable still to be fitted...

with cheap ebay battery which will be frame mounted in an old SMART lights battery pack.

Posted 1 year ago #
thesurfbus - Member

FunkyDunc - I couldn't get my Ebay battery like yours to work properly, the light turns off after about 1 minutes use, there is nothing wrong with the battery as its fine on a 4x XPG set up, but I think that it just can't supply the current that the XMLs require.
I currently use 4x 18650 batteries with no problems.

Posted 1 year ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

OK finally got my lights fully built and hit a BIG problem.

The cheap Ebay battery has a charger, but even after 8 hours charging the green charged light didnt come on. SO I ran the light not knowing if fully charged or not. It ran for 95 minutes on full and then switched off, no flashing for low volatge.

Ive tried recharging but as thesurfbus above says, it is now only lighting for approx 1 minute before shutting off.

So basically probably not a good buy!

Whats the next cheapest way of getting a reliable battery pack working? Is it 18650 cells I wouldnt have thought 4 x would give much run time on full??

Which cells and charger would people recommend?

Thanks

Posted 10 months ago #
T1000 - Member

for battery packs try someone like

rcmdirect

for one of the RC retailers in the uk usually one of them will have a special on the Li poly pack you want

for a cheap balance charger try one of the esky units are good

I've been using li poly's for seveveral years without any problems but have a look at the safety faq's on some of the RC sites (as long as you treat them with respect they're fine)

Posted 10 months ago #
kinda666 - Member

I've got the 900 version and I'm using 2 18650's in series?? to give me 3.7v and 5200mah (helmet mounted) yeah it probably won't give me much burn time at full whack but not planning on using it on full all the time anyway!

Posted 10 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

I think this is smudge from this forum who has a good reputation for supplying batteries
http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/index.html

Posted 10 months ago #
grtdkad - Member

+1 for Smudge. He helped me with an old TrailTech HID
My current Troute light is Smudge batteried and runs for ever!

Posted 10 months ago #
kinda666 - Member

Yup Smudge is the man!!

Posted 10 months ago #
trout - Member

Dunc I have a few battery packs in stock with chargers if you are stuck
They are of course Smudge packs

Posted 10 months ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

Trout - YHM

Posted 10 months ago #
smudge - Member

Thanks troutie, I can also vouch he only sells my batteries & chargers.

Posted 10 months ago #
Wally - Member

Troutie YGM.

Posted 10 months ago #