[Closed] DIy 700 lumen batteries inside light

Quirrel - the jack polarity depends what you are connecting it to. Most DC power jacks are centre-positive so on the cable supplied the wire with a white stripe is the centre pin. Lumicycle for some reason went centre-negative so using a lumi battery pack the white strip wire would be negative. As the driver breaks when power is applied the wrong way it is safest to check with a meter before wiring up anyway.

As for cooling, really you need to get the heat to the box. If your heatsink is thick section and would give good contact with the case then no reason not to use it but the aim is heat transfer from the LEDs to the case, not dissipating said heat directly.

Your Netto battery wouldn't be that bad - 18W roughly so about 2.5 hours on full. Mind you, if it's a NiMH then I'd guess the weight would be a bit of a down-side.

No problem Quirrel ..... my twin lights have still only been around the back garden on a test rig .... still trying to decide on light levels and the new switches threw me back a bit. I set myself a harder task than I could have done, by trying to mimic the functions of the old twin halogen set up. So you're not the only slow coach! I'm due to do a 28 miler tomorrow, the 14 mile return in darkness .... 6 in total darkeness on a no light cycle track, so I'm going to take the test rig out for a proper test. I'll take back-up!

You're still heading in the right direction so that's a good sign. Use copper slip or heat sink paste and screws for the 2 LED stars. I only used AAA to stick the driver to the little ali plate and the little ali plate to the big ali plate on the back panel .... see one of my diagrams further back for that.

Are you now short of a switch and cover, or did you replace them?

trout - Member

keV
XML looks good. BUT
there are no tried and tested optics optics yet. and not a lot of the LEDs around yet

I am usually quick to get the new LEDs. but am hanging fire this time and watch what happens on the optic front

it will most likely be a flood monster as it is a bigger die than the xpg. so small optic/reflectors will not be too good

drivers exist. that will power it. same as the mce. p 7 s

Thanks for the feedback trout, bit of a shame as from looking at the figures I think 2 XM-L's with a 6x18650 battery pack would be ideal for me.

I guess for the mean time I'll need to look to build something around the XPG. I bumped into someone who had a MK 2 Liberator the other night, amazing light I was really impressed with how it lit up the ground around the front wheel as well. If only I could afford the full price for one.

Is there an optic for the XP-G which would fit inside one of these cases which would give a similar spill (not as bright of course) and also light up around the front wheel?

Thanks
Kev

Are you now short of a switch and cover, or did you replace them?

Got them from Maplin a few weeks ago.

Bought a second drill and dismantled the battery pack. It's a bit bigger than I thought, I may use it or I may just save it for DIY use.

Didn't do the 28 miler ... well miffed 😕 .... but did a quick 10 miles around a local circuit.

On well lit roads, the dip on low (about 25%) was pretty good. A nice bright central spot 20ft in front of the bike with plenty of spill to fill in closer to the wheel and to the side. I had no one flash me ... but think even on low, the spill at the top will get me noticed ... it seemed a bit bright .... time will tell if it annoys motorists.

Off the main roads on an unlit cycle path in a country park, the dip on 100% was really nice. The paths were a little frosty in parts, the beam showed exactly where! The spill is good enough on the turns to show you where you are heading.

The high beam was just crazy bright (for me anyway .... I'll get used to it!) The full 100% high beam looks in real life pretty much like Troutie's and other's beam shots photos, lots of throw and useful spill .... maybe the photos are a little exaggerated compared to my eyes impression .... but only a little. I had it aimed so that the hot spot of the high beam did not quite overlap the hot spot of the dip beam.

To me it was just no comparison with the old 10W overdriven halogen .... well over twice as bright as a totally unscientific impression, and a far more useable beam.

On an unlit country road, the main beam on 100% lit up the cat's eyes for a full 400 - 500 yards on an unlit straight road, and I was beginning to wonder if it was as good as my car's main beam (probably not .... just wishful thinking!) but dipping down to the dip beam on 25% for on-coming cars was no problem to continue at the same pace. I'm sure the on coming cars noticed the difference when I dipped, just like they would see a car doing the same. I had no one shout abuse or frantically flash their high beams at me .... so .... looking good! 😀

I'd be keen to experiment with oval or rectangular beams for the dip, to maybe control the upward spill, but will wait until I've asked a few victims (I mean fellow cyclists 😯 ) to stand in front of me on a sidewalk on a busy road, to compare my on-coming beam and car's dip lights.

No sign of any heat problems on 100% power .... but then it was a bit frosty, so not a conclusive test!

Fitted mine together last night, still haven't wired in the switch though, but got the led's etc in place permanently with some good old fashioned bodging. Holes were drilled a little off on the lenses but looks ok.

Just need to find some time to finish off the wiring up of the back panel now.

Got mine finished and fitted

I mounted the handlebar clamp slightly off centre so the light sits pretty much in line with the stem. It should make the commutes on unlit lanes a lot more pleasurable.
[img] [/img]

Did some comparisons with my old light last night and was mightily impressed with how much brighter this one is.

Interested in giving one of these lights a go having seen all the builds on this thread so BCT and Troutie do you still have kits available?

I will also contact you direct through emails in profile but thought would post here also incase you see this first.

Many thanks

Hi there, I'm also interested in building two.

If there's no bits left, where would I get them from?

I noticed that Troutie might not have any 20mm star XPG's left after reading about his "1800 lumen Regina batteries inc" on MTBR.

Thanks in advance for any help, and apologies for not ordering sooner.

I have plenty of XPGs on 20 mm stars now but only a few Reflectors with 100 on order so hopefull they will be in soon .

Thanks to Trout and BCT who sorted me out with the various parts this morning, really looking forward to getting on of these built and in use.

I can see this light building being a bit addictive, I started via the P7 torch route last winter but now want more light.

Be good to see a few more completed builds as everyone seems to have there own take on what they want.

You wont be dissapointed MK. I finished my lamp late last week and have been using it morning and evening to and from work (I'm blessed with an 8 mile commute, 7 miles of that is offroad 😀 ).

I'll post up some pics of my completed unit later this evening (provided I remember). I've just ordered another driver board from BCT (eBay), so I can start building another one for my helmet.

I fitted two switches to mine, one for power on/off and the other for lo/med/hi. The med position isn't neccessary so I'm going to change the 2nd switch to a two position unit and have hi/lo. I'll do the same with the helmet lamp, i prefer having two switches as there is no chance of me knocking the lamp off completely whilst fumbling around in my motorcycle gloves in the middle of nowhere in a blizzard 😀 .

The little rubber grommet that Mr T supplies is a perfect fit for a magicshine extension cable, I left about 6" of cable out of the back of the lamp and attached the remainder to the battery pack, very nice sealed connector.

Just waiting on some batteries from dx to get mine finished off.

It is addictive - I'm already thinking if I can replace the P4 in my joystick maxx with an XPG - the battery is dying and rather than pay Exposure the £70 for the pleasure of a new 18650 in it I'm tempted to take it apart and do that myself anyway. Also I'd like to make a joystick style single LED + battery for the helmet...

I remembered..

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That's the river weaver, frozen solid and covered in snow, decided against seeing if it will take my weight 😯

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🙁

My pics no worky...

Fixed, but not in the 15 minute window, I'm a dimwit... 🙄

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That's the river weaver, frozen solid and covered in snow, decided against seeing if it will take my weight 😯

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built myself a triple..

and using a 14.4v battery i built from 12 AA batteries.. gives about 15 volts when fully charged.. did a run test and it ran perfectly for about an hour and 20 minutes..

then dimmed significantly... and the dim mode switch didnt make any difference to the light output.. checked the battery and it was giving about 13.2 volts... im guessing this is too low for three LED's ?

it kept running for another hour or so though..

would i be better off running with 2 LED's with this battery?

or would the nimh batteries smudge supplies keep their voltages high enough to give decent run times with three LED's?

hmmmm.. now the dim mode isn't working at all... even with a fully charged battery..

worked the first time i turned it on after the recharge but now it just stays on full power.. in either switch poition

🙁 the wiring looks fine and ive even tried it with the other resistor with no joy..

has the driver board died? :/

Those of you using AA cells in cases - where did you get decent PP3 connectors/leads from? The ones in Maplin aren't up to it.
I've got a couple of Smudge packs but it would be nice to have the ability to make up a spare pack with Nimh AAs if I need to

3 XPgs will be 10.5 volts VF so even down to 13 volts it should be fine

at least it is working on full so your not left in the dark .

I finished mine last week and wired the battery pack up to my 18v drill pack, which is quite large, but fits perfectly in an underseat bag.

Not convinced it's water proof yet.

My reflectors are a bit off centre of the holes, the case is covered in silicon from my fingers, BUT I made it and it's mine.

When I have some more funds spare I might make another.

Hi Troutie

Just sent you an email re 2 x XP-Gs if you have any left.

Cheers Ben

BlackCat, Parts received yesterday, thank you.

A couple of points are making me scratch my head though. Looks and sounds straight forward until it’s all laid out in front of you! The wiring diagrams and photos of the drivers posted on this thread previously are for a different driver, so:

As mentioned in the supplied instructions, the driver differs from those sent out previously.
The switch diagram shows a resistor across its two outer terminals. Could you please clarify, this resistor is now incorporated in the board on the BCL01 driver and doesn’t need to be sourced and attached?

If the above is true, then the driver ‘C’ terminal is connected to the switch centre common terminal.
The other two switch terminals connect to the driver 1 and 2 terminals respectively?
Either terminal 1 or 2 are then connected to the battery negative terminal on the driver?
This then gives full/off/reduced.

Tried attaching a circuit diagram to illustrate this, but it wouldn’t paste.
Cheers

Philbr
Your stuff will be posted today or tomorrow I have been a bit slack this week due to work overload .

Ben I have replied so hoping it has made it through the snow .

No worries trout, no rush. Got to wait for hammoond box from maplin to arrive too, out of stock locally for a while now.

I can send you a box as have a few left if you want .

A couple of quid dearer than Maplins though £8 and only silver left .

Hi trout, what is the best way to contact you?

Sent an email using you email in your profile at the beginning of the week about parts for a Lumicycle conversion but have not got a reply. Did you recieve the email? It was sent from my hotmail account which sometimes causes problems.

cheers

russell

Russell

Yep I replied on the 30th .must have got stuck in a snow drift .

Here is the gist of it

plenty of XPE modules in stock in a 90% state of completion
25 XPGs triple led boards have left Australia this morning so should be here soon
plenty of the heatsinks .

stock of the single XPGs for the hammond is 50 plus .with holes drilled 😆
but only 4 reflectors left until 97 arrive mid next week
and 6 silver Hammond boxes in stock .
inside my garage it is measuring minus 12 today Brrr

Thanks trout, but I have them on order to be delivered when they are back in stock, which should only be a few days now.

managed to trace my problem to a faulty cell in my battery.. it gave 15 volts with no load but with any sort of load it reduced to around 8...! took it apart and found the offending cell looking a bit sorry for itself with a little scorch mark..

i think i shorted the battery during the original testing phase and popped it!

working fine now.. 😛

or at least it was till i tried to rewire everything more neatly and managed to knock one of the solder pads off the driver.. 🙄 hey ho.. new driver it is then!

this post makes me sound like a real disaster area! 8)

Those of you using AA cells in cases - where did you get decent PP3 connectors/leads from? The ones in Maplin aren't up to it.
I've got a couple of Smudge packs but it would be nice to have the ability to make up a spare pack with Nimh AAs if I need to

I use my favourite PP3 clip ..... good strong grip on the AA holders .... quite tolerant of heat from soldering ...... can take hefty wires.

Where do I get them from? ....... the top off those gold and black PP3 9V batteries once they are dead and destined for the recycle bin. I've tried other makes ... they're OK but the black and gold ones are the best I've found so far! They have a form similar to a shallow potting box ...... like this. (These are old ones lying around ... need a clean up ....... no PP3 ever goes in the bin whole 😀 )

[IMG] [/IMG]

I make sure they really are dead and carefully open the black and gold metal case, snip the plus and minus flat tabs at a convenient point, keep the top, throw the rest away.

I trim back the flat tabs to a length that is long enough to solder to, but too short to cause a short-circuit. Solder whatever gauge wire you want, using a heat sink on the clip to minimise heat distortion of the plastic. Cut a notch in the plastic to allow the wire to come out flat outside the clip, and pot with araldite rapid or similar ....... very sturdy decent wire gauged clip.

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Hi Mr T, payment sent for a set of XPGs, optics, aluminium angle and cable grommet. I even remembered to include my STW name this time 😀 .

Been having a blast this evening on my way home from work. Couple of inches on the ground, snowing like crazy, pitch black, great fun. It's taking me longer and longer to get home, I keep exploring more and more. Helmet lamp definitely required.

Spacehopper post up a pic of the damaged driver, you might be lucky and be able to attach the wire elsewhere on the board.

Yep got your mail Ta .
will be posted tomorrow snow permitting .

Has anyone done a batteries inside as per the original post then ?

i'd like to do 'batteries inside', but i want to use 4 18650's.

still need to get a hammond case, the local maplins was out of stock.

Hi there, I'd like to build a couple of these lights with my son. I've read through the thread as best I can, and I think I've got my shopping list down to the following:-
Toutie
4 regina reflectors
4 XPG R5 20mm Star LEDS
2 ally angles
2 ally slugs for driver to endplate
2 welding glass lenses

BlackCat
2 1A drivers
2 switches, boots and resistors

Is that about right? Would I be able to get the Bastid connectors from Deal Extreme or Geoman?

Great thread, I've really enjoyed following it, or trying to.

Sorry chaps, let my attention wander a bit there and haven't checked the forum for a few days...

The new driver does have the resistor shown on the diagram built in. The 1,C,2 terminals now replace the 'A' terminal. New C = Old A and it goes to the common terminal on the switch. 1 and 2 go to NO and NC on the switch. 1>C turns the driver off, 2>C enables low power mode, about 40% on the new drivers as many people were commenting that 50% was too high.

spacehopper - what sort of soldering iron are you using?!? PTH pads are pretty hard to destroy.. As has been posted earlier, put a picture up and it may be possible to suggest an alternative soldering point. Which pad did you damage by the way?

If anyone is still after a kit the single-pole switches turned up last week to I can go back to supplying them, only got 14 left though and apparently they only got a few in so they are now on back order until something daft like the middle of next year.

I've also changed the power socket I buy. The new one has a plastic body which will eliminate any problems with the back plate being live. It's slightly bigger though, I think about 1mm greater OD.

Kit sales have nearly stalled so I'm considering listing the kit on eBay as well. Still available direct to you lot at the bargain price of £8 per kit plus £1 P&P. Also got the 18650 holders still, again I'll be putting them on eBay soon as I need to recover the purchase cost so if anyone wants to secure them let me know before I open the market up.

Regarding clips, this is a big hassle with AA holders. The pre-wired ones use fairly thin wire, those with solder tabs generally end up as a mass of melted plastic and PP3 clips fall off... Rapid do sell this:
http://www.rapidonline.com/Electrical-Power/Batteries/Contacts-Clips/PP3-Battery-clip-ndash-no-leads/82072
but there is no obvious solder point, you seem to have to solder to the tabs themselves.
They'd be a hassle to wire up but the best solution would be these clips:
http://www.rapidonline.com/Electrical-Power/Batteries/Contacts-Clips/Snap-In-battery-clips-Keystone/62287

Greasy Rider
Looks about right though I also chuck in a cable gromet and half a bar mount per light .

Drop me a mail if its all systems go

greasyrider - and you'll need a couple of Hammond cases to put it all in! 😆 What you thinking of powering them with?

BCT - I take it you can still use the "C" terminal with an external resistor to PWR- to choose any other level? Is the range of available input voltages the same ..... or did you manage to lower the minimum? What did the new board size end up as?

BCT is right in saying the pre-wired PP3 clips are not up to this job .... but honestly, if you can make one of these lights you can easily make a darn fine clip yourself as I described in an earlier post, for next to nothing. I used this type of DIY clip for my earlier halogen lights (as the back-up battery) and have had no problems with it on these new lights.

Yup, the C terminal is as good as the same as the old A terminal. You could also add an extra resistor from the 2 terminal to add to the 110k fitted as standard if you wanted to increase the dim setting current.

The 1A version is still 7V minimum as even with the bigger PCB the cheaper chip wasn't good enough. At least the chip will run cooler now! The lower current ones are 8V minimum but I could build them with the original chip if necessary.

830/980mA ones are 24 x 19.7, 670 and lower are 20.5 x 19.5.

Oh, and as a cheeky way to grab 1000 I'll just remind people that if anyone has sent payment and not received anything to let me know as occasional emails still appear to be going adrift.

Did I get it?

NaaaaaaaaaaaaH! BCT beat me! 😥

(p.s. ... thanks for the info Stephen)

Whoo Whoo
that 2 Troutie threads to go over the 1000 mark
is that a STW record

Well done Troutie .....and so worthy of it's high post count too. Still pulling in new builders!

As a new boy on the block .... what was the 1st 1000+ thread? I can't find a way of sorting or searching by post count.

I'm half way through my dynamo version build .... anyone else done one yet?

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Dont know about the dynamo version but quite a few on here may be interested as have had a few enquiries for dyno lights .

my other big thread
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/trouties-new-light-is-on-the-way-update-to-all-interested-folks-who-emailed-me

What is the output range of a typical dynamo and what sort of power can they put out? You can get very high capacity 'supercaps' but they are usually 5.5V maximum and fairly low current output capability. Of course you can put two in series to get 10V but you'd then only get half the capacity, still using something like 1F ones you'd have 0.5F so far more than your 2200uF one.

I'm guessing that you only need a fairly low output running from the storage capacitor? Should be possible to have it sensing when the power input stops and have it switch down to a much lower power to give decent run-time.

That said, I'm messing with supercaps for carriage lighting on model railways and they only last a few minutes there once power is removed and that is only pushing a few mA through 5 or 6 standard LEDs.

Thanks Troutie. Do you think I should start a new topic, so as not to clutter up this one with Dynamospeak? I'm happy to stay here or go for a new one, as I think it only fair to ask as you are the OP.

I'll wait for a reply before answering BCT either here or on a new topic.

I would say keep it here so easy to find all the other bits .
and I am curious too .

and boosts the post count 😉

Thanks again Troutie .... appreciate it!

BCT - I'm going for a simple circuit at first .... with no attempt to have any sort of standlight function (your query seemed to suggest that it might have). I intend to run blinkies as well, front and rear, the front acting as back-up when switched to steady .... and as a work light if needed. If all goes well, I might add a rear dynamo driven light later.

The 2200uF is across both leds and is for smoothing purposes only, it reduces flicker at low speed.

I'll provide links lower down for those who are interested, but the main inspiration for the circuit is Martin's excellent website and a couple of CPF threads from Znomit and Ktronic ...... well worth a read.

Basically, you can get over 500mA at varying voltage from modern dynamos, and the beauty is that it's like a constant current source. At normal speeds you can rectify the output of the dynamo and feed it to the leds. As you all know ... you can get a lot of lumens out of a couple of xp-g's at 500mA. The basic stated output is 6V @ 500mA i.e. 3W ..... but don't let that fool you .... there's far more to it than that. If I remember correctly, Znomit or Ktronic got around 11W out.

Now, using Martin's Circuit number 7, and Ktronic and Znomit's experiments, you can boost this output to up to nearly 1 amp ..... all with simple passive components. That's what I am building.

Have a read here for some excellent facts and circuits.

[url= http://www.pilom.com/BicycleElectronics/DynamoCircuits.htm ]Martin's page.[/url]

and here .....

[url= http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?186066-Dyno-powered-triple-cutter-R2 ]Znomit's thread on CPF[/url]

and here for .....

[url= http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?202121-3-Cree-R2-dyno-light-circuit-re-drawn-for-newbies ]Ktronic's thread[/url]

Reading all that makes me think I need to read up on how dynamos work! Forgotten they were AC to be honest, caps make more sense then but why 50V? They are far smaller in lower voltages.

I'd assumed you were storing some of the output to keep the light going when you stopped cycling and to keep the output up when you slowed down.

(Anyone do hybrid bike lights by the way? Although I guess your rear wheel locking up when you brake may be a big difficult to get used to)

Wonder if anyone has tried 2x XPG in inverse parallel from a dynamo. You'd save on the losses through the bridge then. Only problem could be flicker, you'd have to add two diodes and two capacitors to avoid that if it was a problem.

A fairly simple way to add low-power head and tail lights from this circuit would be to charge a supercap via a zener then attach your LEDs to that. I've been messing with charging supercaps using On Semi NCP45xxx LED drivers, these put a constant current in to the cap rather than being limited using a resistor. Use a zener across the cap to regulate the voltage. Rapid do a flasher IC that I use in various products I sell on eBay which could be used for the flash mode, a switch to bypass it would be an option for steady head lights. I'm actually doing something like this on a batch of PCBs I've just put on order.

I think I've read somewhere about maximising power out of a dynamo by electronic means, will have a look up when I get the chance. The passive approach is simple but it seems to be difficult to optimise for the best combination of output power vs speed.

You're pushing the boundaries of my knowledge (and memory 😳 ) here Stephen!

I think the high temp (105C) high value caps recommended are only available in relatively high volt versions from Maplin (my easiest source) and I'm sure I read somewhere in a related thread (maybe not the 3 pages I mentioned) that the higher voltage versions have better ac ripple somethingorother and prove more reliable than lower voltage versions. Does that make sense?

You can use any value smoothing cap you like, the larger the more smoothing it does at low speed, but requires a few more turns of the wheel before you get any light out, compared with lower value ones. Usually, this is not a problem.

The two electrolytics that make up (replace) the bipolar need to be high voltage too, I think ...... apparently they warm up. To quote from Martin ....

Using low-ESR parts, high DC voltage rating (470uF 63V, 220uF 100V, 100uF 160V as a guideline), high temperature rating (125 degC) is the way to go. If the caps heat up noticeably, something is not right (and precious energy is being wasted). I'd stay away from using underrated caps with active cooling.

One other thing to note. If your leds get accidently disconnected from the circuit, your dynamo can generate quite high voltage on an open circuit and is stored nicely in the smoothing cap ...... ouch! So Martin strongly advises that you keep the smoothing cap very well connected to the leds and physically near the leds ... in the same housing and mechanically secure. You can switch off the dynamo output with no problem to provide an on/off function for hub dynamos .... just put a switch before your light circuit. (Bottle tyre driven dynamos don't need one because you can disengage the bottle from the tyre!)

Znomit recommends [url= http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?210602-Standlight-circuits-(Will-this-circuit-work-)&p=2700461#post2700461 ]this[/url] circuit for a standlight function.

I think this is all tried and tested stuff .... so that's what I'll go for on the first build.

I can post up a schematic and circuit diagram with component values if there is enough interest ... but I'm only borrowing from the great work done elsewhere!

p.s. I'm using an older shimano NX-30 hub dynamo on a mavic hoop, attached to my old apollo hack bike that I take to college ..... not something that has a high "steal me" factor! So this light will bolt permanently (I hope!) on that bike! Yep! The mavic rim and dynohub is worth more than the rest of the bike! 😆

wow i cant believe i haven't seen this thread before. Im really interested in making one. Am i right in thinking what you need it the kits from troutie and BCT, one of the boxes from maplin and then someway of powering the thing?

Are troutie and BCT still doing the kits for people, if not is it possible to source the parts from elsewhere?

I was previously thinking of buying from DX but this looks like it will be better, am i correct?

Is there a step-by-step guide for building it anywhere as i'm a bit of a novice when it comes to electronics but would like to learn.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, and sorry for being a numpty. (if you dont want to clog up the thread you can email me direct at jammy111@gmail.com)

Looking at low ESR caps in Rapid, 1000uF 10V is about twice the ESR of 1000uF 50V so you would get higher losses with the lower voltage cap. Much small physically though so you could use a higher value capacitor. 50V 1000uF is 16 x 31.5mm and 32mR. 10V 3300uF is 12.5 x 35 and 28mR.

I see the point about potential for damage if the LEDs go open circuit - this is quite a common issue, especially for boost drivers. I'd suggest connecting a tranzorb across the dynamo output to clamp overvoltages as an extra layer of protection.

It would be interesting to compare an inductive LED driver with the capacitive solution - inductors are usually better at storing charge but for driving more than one LED you'd need a boost driver. Worse, for two you'd likely need a buck-boost.

Flicker, nice job 🙂 Was the power lead included in the Trout-kit, or a Maplins job?

Cheers.

Hi Jammy ... Yep 1 kit from Troutie, 1 Kit from BCT, case from Maplin (or elsewhere) and a battery and lead. Troutie and BCT reported kits available a page or two back .... so should be no prob.

Depends what you wanted to buy from DX ..... but if you take the bastid light (to quote Troutie!) as a comparison .... see here - [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/diy-700-lumen-batteries-inside-light/page/14 ]page 14[/url] ..... there are better P7 lights though. This light build is renowned for its good throw and good output ... so if that's what you need ...... ?

Apart from Troutie's initial few pages showing the battery inside build which will get you going, there is Citizen Kane's photo build on [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/diy-700-lumen-batteries-inside-light/page/13 ]page 13[/url] which is very good ... and other bits of info in the rest of the 1000+ posts ( He! He! 😈 )

BCT - thanks for the info.

I think you are operating a couple of levels above my electronic knowledge .... but I always look forward to seeing alternatives!

Troutie ... Just finished reading your other big thread ... wow!

Darn glad certain characters haven't posted on this one ..... Jeez!

Ha Ha I hope ypu had a beer or two whilst reading it .
Yes it had its moments but it did help develop the Liberators .

OK finaly got hold of a bastid sent in for repair whilst i did have one of the first to disect it would nhave been not right to use those beam shots .

so got to go to my beamshot woods now some of the snow has gone

some comparison shots now

Magic shine all shots on high .

[IMG] [/IMG]

Hammond CK like the ones we have all been building on here

[IMG] [/IMG]

now the cuboid I built with 4 Reginas and XPGs running at 1.5 amps
paper lumens 1800 .

[IMG] [/IMG]

finaly a liberator mk3 with a measured 1700 lumens .

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Slide show

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Brilliant Troutie ...... just what I wanted to see! Bet Jammy will like it too!

That's made my mind up on something I've been pondering! Should I make an adjustable mount for my twin Hammond CK lights (high beam and dip beam) ..... Yep! I'd almost have a Cuboid (but at 970mA) if I could realign the dip beam upwards to match the high beam, for those special occasions! 😈

cheers for the advice bobbiehat, ive sent troutie and BCT and email to see if they have any kits left. Does anyone have any advice on a battery solution?

I was going to buy one of the magic shine lights with the external battery pack but much prefer the sound of making my own for a similar price. Is there a rechargable external battery like this available? Also where do the bar mounts come from?

Sorry for all the questions but i've read through the posts and cant find any answers,

J

Battery depends on your wanted runtimes! Anything from my cheapy 8x Eneloop AA's (or even cheaper "GOOD TO GO's") ... to SubC NiMH packs .... to 18650's. Got any AA NiMH's laying around the house ..... just to try it before spending big(ger) money? Get an 8 cell AA holder from Maplin ... cheap starter.

If in UK and you want the good stuff, not cheapy magicshine stuff .... mtb batteries are recommended .... [url= http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/ ]here[/url]

Troutie supplies the mount in the kit ... I think you just find an O-ring of the right size .... dig back through the thread ... you'll find it.

p.s. You should get around 2.5 hours on full out of 8 AA eneloops/Good-to-go's ... I got exactly that, running 2 lights together at 1/2 power.

Battery depends on your wanted runtimes! Anything from my cheapy 8x Eneloop AA's (or even cheaper "GOOD TO GO's") ... to SubC NiMH packs .... to 18650's. Got any AA NiMH's laying around the house ..... just to try it before spending big(ger) money? Get an 8 cell AA holder from Maplin ... cheap starter

That is gibberish to me 😀

I think what you are saying is I can link up some cheap AA's or buy a more expensive battery pack thing from mb batteries?

About 2.5 hours on full would be fine for my needs, so I presume I can get away with some AA's linked up somehow. Ill have a scout around on maplin and see what I can find..

EDIT: I found [url= http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31427&OrderCode=RK44X ]this[/url], so 8 rechargeable AA's whacked in there would do the trick? How do i then connect said 'battery pack' to the light? Also how easy are these to weatherproof?

Troutie - I am in the middle of building a battery inside light (my 3rd hammond light), but still waiting on the XPG's I ordered from you on the 17th November, are you still waiting for the Reginas? or more than likely my order is stuck in a snow drift.

Love tubs....thanks, I'm pleased with how the lamp finished up. The lead I used is a magicshine extension lead, approx. £6 off eBay. Chooped it up and fitted one end to the lamp and the other to the battery.

Jammy111....you can go for pretty much any battery you want, as long as it supplies more than 8v (if you're using 2xXPG) and less than 24v. I'm still undecided on what to use (I've currently got a 10S1P 18670 12v 4000maH NimH pack duct taped to my stem, weighs in at a chunky 650g 😀 ). I'm either going to go for a 4S1P 18650 14.8v 2400maH LiIon pack (approx. 200g to 250g) or possibly a 3S1P 11.1v 2200maH LiPo pack (approx. 175g).

I'd originally ruled out the LiPo option, as I was concerned about running the packs too low whilst I'm out, but I've found a little module that plugs into the balance port and sounds an alarm when the cell/cells drop to a preset level (user configurable). A decent balance charger is about £25, warning sounder was £6 ish and a Zippy flightmax battery £12-£13 ish. It'll be cheaper to go for the LiIon, but not by a great deal. Decisions decisions.....

decided to go for the 18650's and bought a 3 battery holder from BCT with all the other gubbins. Next step is getting some batteries and a charger, any recommendations?

I ordered batteries from DX, but expect a 6 week wait or more at this time of year. mtbbatteries do sell them but more expensive, you pays your moneys etc.

Probably mentioned elsewhere on this thread but the other power option is to salvage some 18650s from old laptop batteries. I pick the odd one out of the recycle bins at work. You could maybe ask at the local dump if they've collected any? Often there's only one or two cells out of the six inside a pack that have failed so you can drop them into one of BCT's holders.

Here's some links I found handy

[url= http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=246699 ]extraction[/url]

[url= http://laserpointerforums.com/f67/how-healthy-your-batteries-how-measure-internal-resistance-57576.html ]testing[/url]

You'll need a multimeter to test, and they'll be unprotected so you'll have to watch out not to discharge to death. Even if you do though, they were gratis in the first place.

TSB

Will have a trawl through the mail as I dont recall your order

right then, its time for more questions 🙂

I found some batteries which should fit the bill and are pretty darn cheap:[url= http://bestofferbuy.com/UltraFire-Protected-18650-3.7V-2400mAh-Lithium-Batteries-(2-Pack-Grey)-p-16054.html?currency=GBP&utm_source=gbase&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=gbase ]HERE[/url]

I've asked BCT to include one of his 3 cell holders with my order and I was wondering if it was possible to charge all of the batteries from one device whilst still connected to the holder. The reason for asking this is I was thinking of trying to weather proof the holder/batteries with maybe some shrink wrap...
Are there any other novel ideas out there for weatherproofing that I am unaware of?

Lastly how do I go about connecting the batter holder to the light box?

In return for all of these questions I think i will write a bit of a walkthrough/step-by-step guide for morons (like myself) which I think should be quite a valuable resource.

Cheers,
J

Given that BCT is now supplying the new style driver and its been a while since I did A level Physics can someone who knows more just check the wiring diagram below to see if I have things correct.

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I bought these [url= http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110576073884&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT ]Batteries[/url] they will sell them for £7.50 the pair posted, UK as well.

cheers TSB ill give those a go instead! An extra hour runtime or so.

I've been doing yet more reading and it looks like a water bottle method of housing the battery is going to be best/easiest. Should just be a case of waterproofing the cable exit through the mouthpiece and then packing the batteries in with something to stop them rattling around aka foam or bubblewrap.

Can i double check it is the 1455C802 hammond box that I need i.e. the small one with the plastic end caps.

For anyone interested in buying batteries the the ebay seller that TSB linked me to accepted an offer of £12 posted for [url= http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110576073884&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT ]3x 18650 3000mAh 3.7V protected cells[/url] which seems like a bit of a bargain!!

I think im going to have another go but make it with the batteries inside. May go with the bigger hammond box to get in more than batts though. Time to get some more LED's and stuff. Trout and BCT YGM.

Hi Trout- light was working perfectly until i decided to try and play with the LEDs with the battery still connected. Think I have blown one of the LEDs. Could you let me know how much a replacement would be to post out? Think I might be able to salvage the optic (it's only attached with the sealant).
Lesson learned- if it ain't broke don't fix it!

Apologies to Troutie for a slight thread-hijack here but I'm after some advice from the DIY brigade.

I'm looking at the possibilities of designing a driver with microcontroller built in but I'm not sure just what is needed and what is a pointless extra. The basic spec will be 1.5A output, control from a push-button, thermal limiting and battery monitoring. I'm also intending to have reverse input protection and a PC interface as an 'extra' to make setting up easier.

Are there any suggestions for other things to add?

What input voltage range is desirable? Would, for example, 20V be sufficient or is 24V a must-have? (20V would simplify quite a few things and allow performance improvements)

What is the preferred shape / size? I've been considering a 1" circle similar to the bflex but this is making things awkward. Rectangular boards are much easier to lay out so would there be any major problems with going that way and if so what maximum sizes could people live with?

I'm looking at two versions, one a boost reg, one buck. It may be possible to scale the buck reg up to higher currents at a later stage, the boost is probably limited to 1.5A for most applications.

Reduced current modes will of course be present but I'm wondering if anyone knows if the bflex-type drivers actually reduce the current or just pulse full-current at a limited duty cycle. My idea was to have a 1.5A limit and for say 350mA to limit the duty cycle to 23%. The problem is if you are using it with a 1.5A capable LED this is no problem but lower current LEDs often can't take such high currents even as short pulses so although the mean current is OK the peaks are too high. Actually reducing the current is a PITA though but if necessary can be done.

Bear in mind that I'm only considering hardware capabilities here - this is going to be a collaboration with the software being designed by someone else. (I'll let that person add their own stuff if they want to, won't mention names at this point as I've not asked if it is OK to)

No Worries at all if it means we get some good stuff to play with .

20 volts is a bit limiting as it falls just outside a 5 cell Li Ion
so 24 would be better .as quite a few folks use 18 volt drill batteries which come of the charger at 21 volts .

With the XM-L`s coming along then 2 amps or even 3 amps would be desirable .

All the Taskled drivers Bflex Maxflex ect are true constant current drivers and lower the drive current for dimming

no pwm in them . there seems to be an aversion to pwm drivers in the diy mob

Single sided is easier to mount in a case .

re the modes then there may be trouble ahead .

one mans ideal mode ie hi med low is not ideal for the next man .

but if you have the memory to put in a few differing modes then great .

size as small as poss but probably rectangle not square

Trout are you able to confirm you received payment OK for my order?

Just want to be sure as have had a few problems with local post recently.

BCT your bits arrived yesterday, many thanks. If you get a moment could you check the wiring diagram I posted a few posts back and make sure I understand the new driver wiring.

Thanks

Paul

hi Paul

posted yesterday first class so you should have had it today

but I guess the PO is pretty busy

Troutie

MK - diagram looks fine, just check the polarity of your power socket. You are showing it as barrel negative, lumicycle packs are barrel positive. (I don't know what battery you are using though, it is likely it is correct, just thought I'd best point this out for completeness)

Troutie - ok, 24V it is then. Main hassle is finding PFETs that can take more than 20V on the gate - this is the reverse voltage protection. They are out there but are expensive compared to lower voltage ones. (Hmm... Wonder if I can use a Zener to clamp the gate voltage...)

I'll look in to reduced current modes, the older Zetex drivers could be made to do this by PWMing at a very high rate - they ended up integrating the PWM waveform to produce an analogue voltage. The new driver has a dedicated PWM input so I'd need to check if the same effect could be achieved. The boost driver will be OK, this uses analogue dimming anyway. While it goes away from the 'one size fits all' approach I could supply them in various 'maximum output' grades as per my existing drivers.

I wonder how well the bflex regulates at the lower currents - working back from the components they seem to use it appears they are optimised for higher currents. 350mA for example needs a higher value inductor to get good regulation - in general the higher the current the lower the inductor value.

The buck driver will use a controller which drives an external FET. The current limit is mainly set by this FET but also by the current carrying capacity of the inductor. To use an inductor with a high enough value to work at 24V 350mA as well as 12V 3A I'd need to go for a very big package. It may be that I do a 1.5A version with full analogue reduction and a separate 3A version that needs to PWM for significantly lower currents. You're only going to buy the 3A version if your LEDs can take it so that shouldn't be an issue.

As for the modes, that won't be my area as while I can do software I never seem able to find the time. I'd imagine a few basic modes would be built in and then anything more complex could be set up via the USB interface. I've never used a bflex but reading the manual it seems it must take a while to set it up properly. If we can do something where the basics can be set up fairly easily from the switch and anything more complex can be done easily from a GUI then that should be a good solution.