Out of curiousity how many 18650's are people using for their packs?
Foxyrider .
Sorry it seems Virgin Media like to protect me from emails
even important stuff ie orders from my website .
and this last two weeks alot of my mail has been filtered out by their servers.
This has caused huge problems
mails working again with no filtering so am now getting lots of tackle enlargeing mails too .
stayhigh - I am using 4x 18650's for two of the light units with a splitter cable (or will once they are built)
BlackCatTech,
If you have any spare holders still, please put me down for 1x 4 battery pack. Oh and thanks for the quick supply of drivers via ebay this week too.
I will email you my details tonight.
Thanks
Cheers Troutie - sorry to shout - its busy here 🙂
Thanks
Rich
posting out all who have paid to date tomorrow.
Woohoo! Homer style! Thanks for all your efforts.
Troutie, did you manage to rig up the star drilling jig, and drill us some holes for regina legs?
Yeap !, e-myther trouble is what did it.
Still, I hope you've sorted it now Trout 😉
BTW, big thanks to Trout for piggy backing some items onto his order from Cutters for me. Much appreciated fella 😉
Trout, yhm mate.
Cheers
Luminous
8)
As a side issue, has anyone had a play with any elliptical optics on individual xp-g's (i.e not triples)?
I'm a bit confused about Carclo 20mm ellipticals, there seems to be more than one elliptical lens and more than one holder. I think 10197 is suitable in a 10566 holder, but then I found references to 10003/L25 in 20mm. Will they work and fit on an xp-g?
As I said in my first post, I'd like to try a dip beam similar to the one on my halogen twin Smart lights for road use. I'll quite happily play with the reginas aimed down at first, especially having seen Lipseal's light in the flesh, but would like to try alternatives. Anyone any advice?
Ive bought some of these in the hope that i can trim them down to fit in a box. My plan is to use 1 box with the regina's and 1 with these.
Hi all
BlackCatTech,
if there is spare i will have some of those holders if you have them going. if i can of each one twin and one quad holder. please i will send the payment now for the kit and holders.
Thanks for all the ordering and posting out BlackCatTech, and trout.
Just to follow on from my previous post above.
I have just had a look at the lens, it will just about fit in the box without modification if you remove it from the black housing.
Thanks Gary. I think I've read a similar idea elsewhere ... the problem there was that (if I remember correctly) without the holder there is no way of fixing the lens without altering the optical property of the lens.
I wondered about a few different makes of 21.4/21.6 square and round lens/holder combos but they look like they might be a bit fragile to file down to 20mm. The Carclo ones I quote might be the only ones that fit without filing ... just not sure if I got the numbers right. Anyone tried them?
Question. I bought the black box with the plastic ends. Is the driver going to be OK AAA'd to the plastic end panel rather than alu? Its obviously not as good a thermal conductor as alu but its only a couple of mm of plastic between the driver and the arctic scottish air...does it get that hot?
trout - did you get a list sorted, the last list was from 6 days ago, here it is:
Jazid - xpg LED Kit (incl. lexan + angle) + Driver Kit (3way + 2way)
runswithscissors 2x LED kit + Driver kit
bobblehat 4 * 20mm xp-g + 2 pieces of lexan please!
john_walker74 2* LEDs and bits & 2 * Driver
bigjim LED kit + driver kit
mau00149 led kit + driver kit
norcbot led kit + driver kit
landy813 - driver
Clobber, 4xLED kit + 4xDriver kit + 2*20mm xp-g (these are for friends so I'll make sure there is a profit for you Troutie!)
Damo2576 - LED & Driver Kit)
Steelrider - LED kit + driver kit
Citizen Kane- 3 LEDs and 3 Reflectors
chinochio- LED kit (unsure on if driver was needed?)
Ells- 4 LEDs and 4 Reflectors
defaultslipper- LED kit and Driver kit
but I think others have asked here since, though not updated the list, but its too confusing for this time of night going through all those posts. Perhaps if those who requested that aren't on this list update the list for trout that would be good.
Bigjim .... why not do what I did .... cut a rectangular hole in the plastic and AAA a piece of ali to the [u]outside[/u] of the plastic panel (I used a spare ali panel from another box, but any neat piece will do).
Then AAA the piece of ali that Troutie provided to the underside of the driver board and AAA that through the hole in the plastic to the ali on the outside!
One tip ..... don't cover the whole of the 19mm width of the driver, you have to make a more precise hole in the plastic with 19mm covered .... 14mm to 16mm covered gives you a bit less plastic to cut out.
Right, the holders are on order. Not sure when they will arrive - I'm hoping this week. Not sure on weights yet so I'll have to work out postage if anyone wants to buy lots. To summarise costs etc:
DIY Kit comprising Driver, Switch + Boot, Power Plug and Socket etc £8
Twin 18650 holder £1.75
Single, Triple or Quad 18650 holder £2.25
Postage:
DIY Kit £1
18650 Holders £1.50
DIY Kit + Holder £2
I've got plenty of 2 and 4 way ones, only 2 or 3 single and triple ones. There are 10 kits left at the moment. First come first served on all items.
Payment as a gift please - I'm doing the extras at cost plus a few pence only so I'd appreciate not having to pay Paypal fees! Address in my profile.
Quick 'n' nasty diagram of my last post.
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If you use a Hammond metal panel the screws will also hold the metal panel to the case as well as the AAA between the metal panel and the plastic panel.
BlackCatTech - I've emailed you re. payment
Service is slipping I am afraid .
No holes in stars as too busy sorry .
no free bit of cable or little bit of ali as have run out .
and to cap it all I think I may have missed putting the odd bit of Lexan in the odd packet as have some left sitting of the bench ???.
but arnt gonna unpack them all just to see if yours is missing then mail me and will pop it in an envelope
Ref the list Gave up on that and sent stuff to who ever had paid .
some more leds on their way as I would really like to keep some to use myself too 😆
trout thats not good enough, you'll be telling me you aren't coming round to build it for me next. not to worry, i have various bits of alu from pc heatsinks after rescuing an old pc out of a bin, much to my girlfriend's delight. I'll delight in rummaging through skips for cable next time we go out.
bobblehat, thanks for the idea, does the driver+alu actually get that hot to warrant doing that though? I had also thought of gluing it to the box but that would be a problem if I need to get it out if something goes wrong.
The honest answer Bigjim is I don't know yet! Troutie hopefully sending my LEDs out today, so I can't fire mine up yet! It's all sat there in partial state of assembly waiting for LEDs and Lexan.
I mounted my driver that way because I intend to experiment with a 7.2V Sub-C NiMH pack, as well as an 8 Cell Eneloop pack. Stephen (BCT) warned me that the driver gets hotter as the battery volts fall nearer to the lower limit of the driver and getting closer to the Vf of this 2 LED set-up.
The other reason I chose this method was partially because of what I had to hand, 2 solid plastic end caps, 2 skeletal end caps and 2 metal end plates (I'm building 2 lights) and aesthetics. I had to make a choice whether to use the skeletal cap on the front with no chance of any vignetting through an open lexan plate or use the skeletal cap at the rear with the metal plate and drill or cut the solid end cap for the LED end. I didn't fancy cutting out or drilling the solid endcap for the front, I didn't trust myself to make it look as neat as CK's. So the solid end cap went on the rear, with the hole I cut for the driver being neatly covered by the ali end plate.
There might be a very slight advantage too. I was worried about the LEDs heating up the driver directly by conduction and convection inside the case. The plastic end cap might just reduce the conduction from the metal case to the metal plate, with the thick layer of plastic end cap in between. The driver is AAA'd to the inside of the metal plate which in turn is fully exposed to the outside ...... marginal ... but all helps.
What gauge of wire should I get from maplin for wiring the LEDs to the driver etc? I have some various mega thin bits for the low current bits to teh switch. I'm also wiring a couple of P7's on another set of lights so something that'll cope with wiring up them as well as these XPG's would be good.
bobblehat - by skeletal end caps do you mean the plastic bits that come with the alu end plates if you get that option? I'm not too worried about making mega neat holes like CK's, it'll either be dark, or you'll be blinded by the LEDs if they are on, so no one will see. Paperclip on a soldering iron could help make neat hole. interesting how the driver runs hotter as the battery gets lower, seems backwards to my simple brain.
You can see them here BJ ...
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I too had some old duff PC stuff around, found some nice red and black wire on an old noisy power supply that I took out of a PC. The gauge seemed similar to each core of the 3A 3way mains cable I'm using for the pigtail, so I judge it would be good for the driver to LED hook up. Both the PC wire and the 3A 3Way cable soldered nicely into the driver pad holes with just a little wiggle room in the holes before soldering.
Hope Stephen doesn't mind me quoting his email regarding the use of 7.2V NiHM pack ... sort of explains what BJ was mentioning about heat issues with the driver. I think these need to be put into context though ... and say I don't think it's anything other than a minor issue with this build. I'm just going to experiment with a battery and case size that might be at one extreme end of all the builds going on here. I can just fall back on ... or even prefer ... the 9.6V Eneloop pack anyway!
QUOTE: Q: "Hi Stephen. I'm about to build a 2xp-g/Regina bike bar light and wondered if a 7.2V Nimh 3700mAH battery I already have would work with your driver (8.4V hot off the charger)? It seems a little close to your minimum recommended. I don't mind it dimming near the end point if it has no bad effects on the driver."
A: "Hi Bob, It does seem a little close to what is ideal. The internal circuitry would need about 1V of overhead to operate under these conditions. You would be unlikely to get full output once the voltage drops and the driver will start to dissipate more heat as it will be passing current for longer. (The circuit send out pulses of current to charge an inductor, the closer the input is to the output the larger these pulses need to be) If you can keep the driver away from the heat of the LEDs then you should get away with it though."
Ah I see. I'm going for death by 4x18650 so that shouldn't be an issue for me. Your desk needs to be messier.
Bobble sorry but I was expecting a post office where I am working
Cambois. Geordie land
there is not even a pub until I have fitted the flooring .
will endeavor to find HMPO tomorrow. I have them in the van ready
Received driver kit today, cheers Steven.
DoH! Post Office closures ..... Bl00dy Government ...... Newcastle Brooon! Bah! (Tetley Bitter .... Eh?)
Better luck tomorrow ........ don't go near Hartlepool ... they hang [s]Floor Fitters[/s] Monkeys there!
finally got a night ride in last night and used the torch as a head torch and i got to say its pretty darn good. riding a mixture of techy steep switchbacks and fast rooty sections. i dont feel i need a bar light with this at all.
pretty chuffed!
Bobblehat - hey, watch it! I'm originally from a little town just north of Hartlepool... That said, it must say something about the locals that they are so proud of their ancestors inability to differentiate between a monkey and a Spaniard that they elect a man in a monkey suit as mayor...
Bigjim - Trying not to get too technical, but the cooler the driver runs the lower the losses. Also, running it from the 2x 18650 or a similar voltage is slightly outside the specs of the IC manufacturer anyway so it needs all the help it can get!
18650 holders - I'm getting lots of people asking to add on to the order. No need, if you want 2 or 4 way ones just send a payment as above - I've ordered 20 of each. The single and three-way ones you'd best ask about though as I only ordered 5 of each as only one person had expressed an interest when I placed the order. I may well be doing another Digikey order in the next few weeks so if there are more want holders than I have I can get another batch.
A friend of mine has one of these:[url= http://www.solidlights.co.uk/ ]Solid Lights[/url] running off a dynamo hub. Could this homebrew light be run off a dynamo hub and what would you need to do circuitry wise?
Steelfan - remove the driver and add some components as mentioned [url= http://www.pilom.com/BicycleElectronics/DynamoCircuits.htm ]here[/url].
Once I've got these two working using Teap0t drivers, a dynamo light is my next build!
BCT - I would like to order a 3 cell holder if any are left if not a 4 cell holder please. I'll send payment plus p&p.
Thanks
Simon
BTC & Troutie
Any news on the Lumi can conversion? Or are you still going through the list of emails?
Lads - the holders have arrived! Problem is that I'm in the process of preparing to trade at a show this weekend so it is unlikely they will get posted before Monday.
This also means replies to emails may be slow - apologies for this.
Foxyrider - will get back to you after the weekend. Sorry about this but not got the time to look in to it until the show is over.
Right, some holders posted. No time for any more until Monday now I'm afraid! Also, all triples now gone. Still get over a dozen each of 2 and 4 way and 3 1-way ones.
Foxyrider - will get back to you after the weekend. Sorry about this but not got the time to look in to it until the show is over.
Cheers, signed, Mr Impatient 😉
BCT - my holders arrived this morning - many thanks
Gave it a go using my magicshine battery pack and no luck.
Not sure why not, will have to investigate further, no light, no burning, nowt......still my soldering was ok for shaky hands.
Quirrel isn't the magicshine battery pack 7.4v, if so its too low voltage I suspect.
I use a 7.4V pack and it works ok?
Can I get a Quad 18650 holder please, will pay pal £2.25+ the 1.50 postage
Sugru arrived,(will post up pickies for you trout re switch housing.
Just need a small power socket and lead to extend out from unit?
Should have build underway week on Mon....it's gonna be tight.
Could I get away with glueing the driver to the wall of the unit Trout, using that Artic Silver (Maplins?)?
Cheers
I don't think Maplin do any "Arctic" products, LT.
You might be better using Arctic Alumina Adhesive (AAA), as Arctic Silver has a slight capacitive effect. I got my AAA off ebay, but I think us lot have bought the whole lot out from that UK supplier (others are available)! Do a search for Arctic Alumina Adhesive (must say adhesive and not just paste).
The potential slight problem with gluing the driver to the main part of the case is that the LEDs could heat the driver up. It all depends on how big you've left your case, what power you have the light running at, voltage of battery, outside temp, whether you're good at switching it low or off when standing still etc etc. You will probably get away with it, but it would be better to glue it directly to the back panel if you've got the metal one or cut a hole in the plastic one and glue a piece of ali on the outside to the plastic, then glue the driver to the ali. I put a crude diagram on page 19 of the latter arrangement. I'm just playing safe because my cases are 39mm.
Good news I managed to get the stuff posted on sat morning
had a truly horrendous drive down from Blythe 5 hours to do 114 miles.
so missed the PO on friday .
Been playing around with the AYup method of driving the leds
using 2 resistors and while not wanting to do BCT out of any sales for the minimalist build it seems not bad and will run nicely from 2 x 18650s
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trout can you get alternative reflectors with more flood?
tempted to do another for the bars. (not that i need one but more for the hell of doing it.)
you cant use these bad boys on the road. the missus was complaining it hurt her eyes from about 100ft away. at half power.
might need a bigger resistor.
I too would be interested if there are any alternative optics for a wider spread.
This websites useful if you are going down the Resistor route [url= http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz ]http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz[/url]
Trout I take it that big resistor is a 3W?
I'm sure Troutie knows this but for those who don't, the Vf of LEDs varies with a number of factors including temperature. This is why a range is given on most datasheets. When choosing a resistor you therefore need to be vary careful to balance not frying the LED against getting the most from it.
Taking extremes, assuming two fresh-off-the-charger cells are 4.2V each giving 8.4V and your LEDs are the best of the batch and running very hot (Vf decreases with increasing temperature) so say 3.1V each. That gives 8.4-6.2 = 2.2V overhead. Using a 2.2 ohm resistor gives 1A in that scenario. However, get the battery dropping to nominal at 3.7V or 7.4V for the pair and your LEDs aren't so go so say 3.4V each you only have 7.4-6.8 = 0.6V margin. You're only getting 270mA through the LED then. Even dropping the resistor to 1.5 ohm which would be nearly the 1.5A limit of the XPG under the initial conditions then you're still under half an amp under 'normal' operating conditions.
It does have the nice feature that the drive current drops with battery voltage so you get a gradual dimming.
Carrying on Troutie's good work of doing me out of a job you would actually be better with a linear regulator for the two-cell job. Over the whole range the efficiency would about equal out and the 2.2W it would have to dissipate worst case would be possible at a pinch. You'd need a low drop one though - no point using an LM317 as the drop is worse than with my circuit.
Hey Dont worry Steven I am only playing around to further my own knowledge so your drivers are safe and the easiest way to drive the leds .
just using the resistor approach means limiting your battery choice too .
The light I have just built has a 1.5 ohm and a 3.9 ohm and gets around 1.2 amps at 8 volts or 400 ma on low . not had a real play yet
but the resistors get very hot which is why they are glued to the case to shed some heat .
I just got the £20 kit from Troutie today. Thanks!
But I've realised its a little above my tech ability and that I dont really have time....
If anyone wants it let me know, I'll send on for the original £20 for anyone that wants it!
damo2576, i will have the parts off you. im sure i will need a second set
Just processing any orders for those who paid over the weekend and will update the group on what is left once they are done.
Could anyone who ordered by about Friday lunchtime please let me know if they have received their stuff and if it is correct - I've already mucked up one order so I hope I haven't swapped two over or anything daft like that!
Quick update on the holders. Payments and requests have left me with:
3x 4 way
10x 2 way
2x 1 way
Still about 10 kits left.
Hi BCT
Are there any 2 Way holders left? If so how much?
Doug
Stephen / Chris, parts received ok thanks.
thesurfbus - prices are listed a few posts back
BCT - I have received a 'small package' at the office, though not sure whether that will be yours or trouts until I am back in office. Will let you know as requried.
All the bits are now here (I think). Just been to maplins to get the box and some silicone sealant. Just got to put it all together and get the batteries charged up. Not riding til Sunday night so got a bit of time to play with it. Only going to use the copper slip stuff for the heatsinks, havn't figured out how I am going to attach the driver to a heatsink yet, probably just use some clips.
Going to try with an old 8.4V 2400mA Ni-Cd battery as that is what I have available, but will probably switch to an 18650 pack later. I have read through every single post again to make sure I havn't missed anything so hopefully I won't have too many issues, and I should have a working light by the weekend! 😀
How is everyone elses lights coming on? There must be a few more out there that have been finished, there don't seem to be many pics of finished lights considering how many people have got the kits? Are people still using this as a headlight, or as a handlebar mount?
Hopefully Adam will be along soon with more detail but a quick warning for those of you building this up.
It is worth checking with a multimeter that there are no shorts between the LEDs and the case. The panel you mount the power connector on will be live to whatever potential the outer barrel of the plug is wired to. If the LEDs are shorted on the case when you screw the back panel on you may well end up with a short which can destroy the driver.
I can't remember where I bought them from but at work I have some insulating washers for TO220 transistors where the bush is a moulded part of the washer. It is very easy to trim these to size to give a fully insulated bush for the mounting screws. If I work out where I got them I'll let you know - it doesn't look like it was Rapid though as their website doesn't list anything like that.
hi there just to confirm that I have received all the parts thanks trout and BCT. Bring on the building.
They're ALIVE! 😀
Just the initial hook up, so got to work on the case, weatherproofing and the bar switches.
Glad I used pigtails for the power instead of sockets. Just one less thing to worry about!
Interesting to see how the current rises as I drop the volts on the bench power supply!
Well done bobblehat 8)
might do well with extra weatherproofing with the rain thats forecast this week.
Bobblehat,
Oh no, I jumped in and purchased the following from ebay before reading your reply....
...Arctic Silver Thermal ADHESIVE 7g
NOTE: Even though Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive is specifically engineered for high electrical resistance it should be keep away from electrical traces pins and leads. The cured adhesive is slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridged two close-proximityelectrical paths.
I imagine the guy'll do a swap, one learns 😆
Just use touch up paint over the contacts before you use the adhesive, that's what I did.
Sounds good Lipseal. It's only the 2 little exposed contacts on the back of the driver board that may need sealing. I doubt that it's a problem really, but no point taking chances! The adhesive shouldn't get anywhere near the 5 main solder pads to be a problem .... not unless it's ladled on ... which is not recommended.
I'm mentally planning the next build .... a hub dynamo version. Got the LED's & reginas on their way via Damo .... sorry Norcbot. Anyone got one or two spare Hammond end panels to sell ... any colour/type?
Finally got some pictures sorted of build and finished light. Its a bit rough around the edges but I'm very pleased with it. I took it out for a ride last night, bout an hour and a half and was massively impressed with the amount of light it throws with a throw of about 30-40 paces. I did try taking some pics with my phone but they didnt come out very well at all 🙁
Heres my pics then 🙂
Heatsink with holes drilled and threaded & copper slipped.
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Heatsink with LED's attached.
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Heatsink and driver assembley all soldered and siliconed.
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Finished build.
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Mounted on bars.
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Its currently on my helmet, will get some pics up of that later on.
Massive massive thanks go out to Chris and Steve for organising all the kits and putting up with all my stupid questions and thanks to everyone else who has given advice throughout this thread.
😀 😀 😀
Nice one I hope you enjoyed doing it. and get a lot of pleasure riding with your own creation .
any estimate on time. and total cost.
Troutie
stayhigh, did you glue the driver and heatsink straight onto the plastic back panel?
Amazing really when you see the size of the led's they could be so damn bright 8)
Good work High, its amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it, and an even a mega grin factor when biking and asked whose lights you are using 😛
Getting on with the build up here in sunny [cough] scotland. I don't have any thermal glue for the driver heatsink, is there anything else that i can use? It didn't matter for the LEDs as the screws held it in place over the copper slip, but there is no space on the driver for screws!
Can i just use another sort of glue to attach the driver, or will it burn into flames when it gets hot? Help much appreciated, soldering challenge to begin tonight which should be interesting! One thing I have noticed is that i don't think there is enough space for the driver, switch and power socket on the backplate (as seen in stayhigh's post above) if you got the slightly larger switch from BCT in the second batch- I might be wrong but looking at it it all seems too close. Just means I will have to use the main body of the box as the heatsink and double check for any shorts.
I did thoroughly enjoy building the light up despite a couple of traumas with the build which were down to hamfisted enthusiasm on my part . I'm thoroughly looking forward to getting started on the next one over the weekend, it will be easier having already done one.
All in the pair will have cost me around £80 (led kit x2, driver kit x2, hammond x2, AAA from ebay, silicone adhesive & mixed screw set from Maplin and a helmet mount) which I think is fantastic value for the amount of light it humps out and the satisfaction of making it myself.
I'm not sure on the battery runtime yet, I'v done and 1.5 hour ride with no sign of fade and no heat build up either (helmet mount). I'm going out tonight for 2 hours and confident it will cope.
bigjim: I used AAA to bond the driver onto the bback plate. I used the skeletal end piece but thinking of using a plastic one for the next build. I cant see why the AAA wont bond to the plastic.
defaultslipper: You maybe able to use araldite instead of AAA. If you have pc shop near you you could see if they have any thermal paste for cpu's?
defaultslipper - you could consider mixing some metal dust (file something down and collect the filings) with an adhesive. I do know Araldite starts to soften at about 100C but then the driver shouldn't be getting that hot anyway!
Be aware that this would probably be electrically conductive though.
A 'normal' adhesive would not transfer heat to the metal plate. They would be unlikely to burst in to flames, depends how hot it gets! Most adhesives are good for 70C plus and the PCB shouldn't be getting that hot.
Light is done and i really pleased with it, a little ruff around the edges (damaged a reflector by melting it a little with the exhaust out the side of the soldering iron) i think less speed and more haste was in order. Good luck to the people fitting it in to a small case cut mine down to 50mm and it was tight. would have made it easer to have had sorter cable between components. Off to got test it 😀
Use a 9V power supply from work and it was fine, just neeld to go get a replacement switch, boot and box.
Would a block of mobile phone batteries wired in series do the job. They appear to be about 3.7v so three would be around 10v and still compact.
enjoyed reading the thread and very tempted to give it a go.
my only question is regarding the battery's required.
what's best to go for on a budget and/or DIY??
what voltage and mAh do i need for the hammond light?
Puntopete ... what you already got?
If it's a battery of over 7.2 volts and capable of giving 1 Amp for an hour or longer then you have a starting point!
If you've got nowt and want the cheapest option, what about 8 * AA eneloops or 8 standard NiMH AA cells and a cheap holder from MAPLIN or elsewhere and any 4 or 8 cell NiMH charger from just about anywhere?
Teap0t's driver needs a minimum of about 1 volt above the Vf (forward voltage) of the 2 xp-g Leds .... which is about 3.3V each or 6.6V for 2 Leds at around 1 Amp. So your power source needs to be (ideally) 7.6V minimum, and capable at giving 1 Amp for as long as you want the light to be on.
8 Eneloops at 9.6V will power this setup for about 2.5 hours at full power of 970mA. If you set it up with a lower current, you'll get a longer run time. You might get away with using an RC 7.2V Sub-C pack, but that's a bit experimental at this stage .... not yet tested.
The other popular way is with 18650 Li-ion cells at 3.7V each. The set up seems to work OK with a standard 2-cell pack of 7.4V ... I've seen Lipseal's build working beautifully with this 2-cell pack. It was impressive!
Theory says you're better using a 3 cell pack at 11.1V or higher .... Teap0t's driver will handle all of these variations, but as I said there is some caution with using the lower voltage packs.
If you are old school and have any sort of 12v Lead acid set up that you are willing to carry on your bike ... that would do also!
Evening all.
Stumbled across this thread (and forum) whilst researching the Magicshine lights, with a view to purchasing one. I've spent the last two evenings reading, Dealextreme have just lost an order.
Hats off to Troutie, CK, BCT and others who have shared their valuable knowledge and time, thank you gentlemen (or gentleladies, you can never tell on t'interweb :D).
I'd be very grateful if I could be added to the list for the following
Mr T: 2 LED stars + reflectors and aluminium bits and bobs.
Mr BCT: 970mA driver board (3 way, that's hi/lo/off ?), 2 quad 18650 holders and switches etc.
thanks for your reply. i haven't got anything yet, so starting from scratch.
800 posts 🙂
BCT; 18650 holders recieved today, cheers.