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I'm planning on implementing this using two switches as when racing its the only option and you don't want to turn it off accidentally!
Sorry flicker ... but even with 2 switches, I can't think of a way of doing high/med/low using the 3 way on/off/on switch! You can do med/high/low (or low/high/med) easy enough and have a separate switch on the battery lead somewhere to do the "off".
If you look at the schematic I posted [url= http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=657480 ]here[/url], well one half of it anyway, you can see the med/full/low set up (I called it low/full/dim - same thing!)
With the switch we are using (Maplin or Rapid or Farnell etc) the centre position can not be connected to anything, there is no connector that connects to the "common" when the actuator is in the centered position.
If you have figured a way around this then please post as it would make a lot of people happy on this thread!
You could easily do it with a 3 way rotary switch ...... or with a 4 way rotary switch of suitable power rating, you can do the on/off as well as high/med/low (or low/med/high!)
Trout + BCT, emails sent.
Might have to call into maplins tomorrow for a hammond case, although i'm tempted to dig though the scrap box at work for some billet to mill into a case 😀
Finally gave my light a test on thursday night and it worked a treat. It ran for over an hour on 8x old 2000mah batteries i had kicking around, right up until i ran out of talent on some steps 🙂
I fell forward and managed to bend the 2.1mm power connector and broke it, maybe flying leads would be better.
Oh, and my 4 way 18650 holder has arrived so cheers for that.
I bought the wrong case, it's slightly too small for the heatsink, so I either chop it or return it, but feeling lazy....so most likely will chop 2mm off the heat sink and do my best with that.
Trout and BCT, just wanted to thank you guys for the effort you've put in. I finally managed to get out and use mine Friday night. Compared to the Niteflux Photon 4 I've been using it's a whole world of difference!
Cheers 🙂
What case did you buy, Quirrel?
While waiting for silicone to dry on the dip/main pair of lights, I started on the Dynamo light .... Boy! It's so much quicker doing it again once you've done one before!
+1 filtertips ... big thanks to Troutie and BCT(Stephen). 😀
Anyone got a plastic end cap either open or closed one off a Hammond case going spare? Cash waiting 😉
Hi,
Been keeping an eye on this thread for a while now as quite fancy giving this a go.
Trout could I please get a LED kit and BCT could I please get one of your kits and a 3 way holder (4 way if that's all that is left).
I'll send emails to back this up, but if you could let me know how much I owe both of you and I'll get the payments sent to your paypal accounts.
Many Thanks
Kev
My case has two plastic ends, quite small and the two reflectors fit in ok, might just use it.
Will the two LED stars fit in it ... side by side .... they are just a little bigger than the reflectors?
bobblehat - Member
Anyone got a plastic end cap either open or closed one off a Hammond case going spare? Cash waiting
You can get the end bezels from Farnells, the link below is for solid black bezels
http://uk.farnell.com/hammond/1455cplbk/enclosure-1455-bezels-black/dp/1415009
Guys my experience with having two switches on the end of the can for power/mode is that if you use the same type of switch, it can be confusing!!
Thanks nm .... looks like they don't keep stock, but can get them in with a 14 day lead time ...... best offer I've had yet! I'll see if I know anyone that orders from Farnell .... I think the postage/minimum order would kill the deal for 2/4 end caps from a punter like me!
No switches on my cans (cases), just one pigtail coming out of each light. Switches go the bars next to my thumbs. The on/off for battery will go near the battery probably ..... if I use one. The thumb switches can be configured for off/high/mid (without battery switch) or dim/high/mid (with battery switch). I might go for off/high/mid initially ..... because ......
..... I'm working on an option to give off/mid/high ... from one toggle switch! Or ... if you don't mind a separate power switch, you could go dim/mid/high. More on this when I've confirm it's feasible, waiting for a guy to get back to me.
Bit puzzled here Quirrel the heatsinks I sent out were a little over sized as just rough cut and would need finetuning to fit in the hammond box .
😆 This thread just keeps going 😆
yes just trim the ali angle. i also had to file my leds a tiny bit to fit.
Quirrel you have the right box, you just need to file the heatsink down a bit to take account of the bits inside the box the screws go into. I've also had to file the stars down. Didn't quite get the holes mm perfect as I was rushing with a borrowed drill. Getting there though! Just waiting for the driver kit and then the batteries from dx and we are away.
Assuming all requests result in payment I'm now out of 4-way holders so only have 2-way and single holders left. Only got 2 of the single holders, still plenty of the two-way ones though.
For those who don't want to scroll a few pages back, the single holders are £2.25, twin are £1.75. Drivers are £5.20, the full kit including switch and power leads is £8.
Postage is £1 for drivers or the kit alone, £1.50 for holders and £2 for holders and the kit.
For those wondering about alternatives to the 2.5mm power plug, how about something like:
http://www.rapidonline.com/Cables-Connectors/Connectors-Audio-Video/DIN/Plastic-locking-DIN-connectors/74883
Only problem is that they only have the 4-way readily available. I'd suspect these aren't water proof but should stand a few splashes.
BCT any news on the Drivers for the Lumi can conversion?
Speshpaul - it's not the drivers that are the problem, I have plenty of those, it's getting heatsinks made that I'm struggling at! It is looking like I can't get them done at work so I need to find another way to get them machined.
Ok BCT, but might want to comment on the Lumi thread.
Whats the brief for the heat sink, as an alternative is it something that could be turned up easily?
Mine was a very tight fit, I had to file the stars, and the bolt heads connecting them to the heatsink - and herein lay my problem. once fitted and tightened up i had to take a tiny bit off the bolt head, and also trimed the insulating washer and i think I must have nicked the edge of the washer and created the smallest bridge across there, but it was enough!
Everything else worked fine, I had properly fitted the led end, but loosllely fitted the driver components, and they all tested fine. Only when I screwed it all together - it didnt work properly (lights dim and switch not doing anything). Turns out, as Blackcat mentioned, that I was shorting out as soon as I screwed on the backplate, it created a circuit between the power socket outer and the case which was now connected to the LEDs. I didnt have a mulimeter at the time of assembly, just trusted to close inspection of everything, so inevitably failed. Definately worth borrowing one to do this build! Anyway, Im going to re-build this week, so hopefully it will finally get to see the dark of a night ride by the weekend. Thanks to Blackcat for all the help on this one!
And how about a roll-call of all those finished, how many are out there now? Look forward to joining you.
See the rains finally arrived and it's time to check how sealed my light is now. I was going to do the jug of water test but bottled it. I will try and get out this week in the rain but it will depend on my toe getting a wee bit better.
BCT
Parts arrived today. Thank you 🙂
Just found a problem where not all Paypal notifications are making it to my email account - they aren't even making it to my spam folder so no idea what is going on. I was relying on the emails for addresses etc. I've tried to check back through my Paypal history to make sure I've not missed anyone but as this contains all my eBay orders as well it is possible I have overlooked someone.
If you've not received your stuff (bearing in mind the last time I posted anything before tonight was Friday) then please let me know and I'll look in to it.
trout do you have any extra reflectors that i can buy as i have damaged one of mine (melted it a little with a soldering iron) . I will also have another kit off you if you have one. As i would like another go and try to not make it look like a five year old had made it.
Blackcat - not received mine but if you posted it on friday I wouldn't expect it before today.
My top tip to anyone yet to commence building is to take time to accurately drill the holes for the stars in the alu L piece. Mine were about a mm out but thats enough to cause a few headaches!
Tell us more bigjim?
I drilled one of the outer holes too far inboard by a mm or so, so had to file the stars a bit where they meet, and do a bit of cunning redrilling of the dodgy hole with the star in place which was a bit scary. I would have flipped the L piece over and started again, but I'd already done a worse job on that side 😆
Just doing it in a rush without thinking it through properly as i had borrowed a drill for the weekend, I should have used a centrepunch to help guide the drill bit but I don't have one. If I was to do it again I'd get it right though. Its OK, just slightly asymetrical.
Yeah! I see!
I'm using 20mm ali channel that is a very tight fit in the case and the LEDs needed trimming top and bottom slightly to stop them catching on the edge of the case when I slid the channel in. Also, to stop the screw holes being too close to the edge of the ali, I trimmed the points off the stars where the two touch over the centre hole. No problem centering the reflectors and there is still enough spacing between them after trimming the stars.
I wonder if it would be a good idea to spin the star around 30 deg and mount them flat to flat in the middle instead of point to point? It would mean drilling 4 holes instead of 3, but would keep the holes well away from the edges? Still have to trim the top and bottom a tad (the little points near the screw indentations that would stick over the edges) in this 20 mm height case.
They aren't load bearing holes so I was comfortable with the couple of mm of alu left outside the screw hole, its enough to allow the screw to hold the star in place. If I decide to make another I'd probably either be more careful or think of something more cunning like you suggest.
I also had a brain meltdown and marked & drilled the holes in the case in the wrong place first time round, so I'll need to araldite them closed, in the mean time I shall refer to them as case ventilation aperatures , or CVAs, and make them a feature of the light and charge more accordingly 😆
Well I finished all the electrical bits at the weekend, just in time for a quick ride on the Sunday evening. It's a great little light, thanks to troutie and BCT for taking the time to put the kits together and letting us mortal lightbuilders have a go at building a cracking little light for not much money!
Some obligatory build pics:
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The full kit I used (minus a few Tamiya electrical connections and the 5Amp cable I used). Silicone was the Maplin stuff, a bit expensive but saved me searching around elsewhere for it. Didn't use any of the AAA thermal stuff, just copper slip.
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I decided to cut down the L-shaped heatsink from troutie to make it a tight fit to reduce the need for the extra screws on the bottom, adn therefore hopefully improve weather-proofness. Had to file off a little of the metal tabs inside the hammond box and a little more off the side of the heatsink to allow the wires going to the LED some space.
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Had the same problems as mentioned on this page in that the holes for the LED screws were slightly off so had to file a mm off the LED stars, but no hassle. Used some offcuts from RC car spares i had lying around for the little screws and then cut a bit of plastic for the larger centre screw- not exactly pretty but does the job perfectly for me, and the uglyness is hidden behind the reflectors!
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Going to use it as a headtorch to start with, so just a simple inner tube between the helmet and box so that I don't melt my helmet, and then 2 zip ties around the top. Feels pretty solid, but obviously not good if you need to take it on and off, or to find the right position to start with. Using it this way also means I don't need to cut the box down so it is more stable on the helmet. Another plus is that the heatsink is not attached to anything currently so there is a bit of space inside the box for it to dissipate the heat.
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The backplate. I didn't take a picture of the inside of this but because i got one of the larger switches off BCT, I didn't think there would be enough space to attach the heatsink, switch and power plug to the same plate.
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The full build as it stands. I am testing all my old batteries to see if they will provide a long enough run time. Inside the makeshift inner tube bag here is a 6 cell 2000mA Ni-Cd battery which gives about 8.4V hot off the charger, although it is only rated at 7.2V, so I am expecting it to cut off before it is anywhere near fully discharged. Fortunately I have a 7 cell Ni-Cd which gives 8.4V (9.6V off charger), with an expected runtime of 2 1/2 hours on high I think, which is plenty of time.
And finally some beamshots. Only taken with a point and shoot in manual mode so isn't exact but gives a fairly good visualisation of the beam. both taken in the dark with no other background light/ moonlight. Because I used a garden chair they are also not straight, but you get the idea!:
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High setting
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Low setting (using the larger resistor)
It gives a pretty good wide beam, and a concentrated spot without being too bright, and definitely enough light to be used on its own. Unfortunately when i went to test it on Sunday it was raining- I havn't finished sealing it up yet so tried to keep it covered. But when it was used in the rain it worked perfectly, with no issues. Once I have finished off the last few little things it looks to be a great cheap, bright, weatherproof light.
Thanks to everyone on here who has contributed their knowledge, time and patience. And for those who havn't finished it, or started it, get on with it. It's good fun and feels great using a light you have put together yourself, and highly addictive- I have already begun plans for another project!!!
Good write up ds!
Can't add my name to the finished list yet. Slow progress .... that's me really to a T. 😳
Not fully built but tested and working, checked for short circuits, joining these two sections together temporarily and powered them up with a bench supply. Heat not too bad even on the bench at 970mA.
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Next step .... put them into the cases with some cpu heat sink paste and some silicone for the front and rear and screw the lot up (if you get my meaning .... nervous ha! ha!).
I have to admire the guys like Troutie and CK and lipseal that can do this all in one night (or nearly!) 😯
Just got to get the mounting and the remote switches sorted and I'll have a high/dip/high+dip beam bike light system!
Dynamo light is progressing well in the meanwhile.
you wiring yours to the mains bobblehat? 😛
😛 ... gotta get those extra lumens out ... if only for a short while! 😆
Edit: ... I intend to ride in a circle of approx 30m radius ... .that's the length of my longest mains extension lead! 
lol
postman left me a note today so can't pick up the package till tomorrow 🙁
This thread is great, there's so much info on it! The finished lights look awesome.
[b]Trout[/b]: Do you have any leds/reflectors left. You mentioned you might on the last page.
Cheers in advance
Hey bobblehat, have you got a pic of the back of your back panels if you did your cut out plastic for heatsink thing?
Troutie, BCT.....
kits received, many thanks for your efforts.
now to sort a case, hammond or do i mill something out of the scrap box at work..... hmmmm
Webbo
Yep got plenty of leds and reflectors if you want some .
By my reckoning there are between 50 and 60 of these lights being constructed with the amount of leds I have sent out .
Cool 8)
Not much to show bigjim ... I took no photo of the rectangular hole in the solid plastic end cap. Here's the assembled back. I've indicated the area of plastic cut out.
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If I'd have had more skeleton bezels like I used on the front, I'd have no need to cut the rectangle out the end cap to AAA the ali piece Troutie supplied to the ali back plate. As you can see, it's a neat arrangement. The ali back plate (seen on the right) is AAA'd to the black plastic end cap.
As I said before, if anyone is going to do this, I suggest cuting Trouties piece of ali down a bit so that its about 13mm - 15mm from top to bottom .... it means the hole you cut out is just 13mm+ to 15mm+ and leaves a nice little plastic edge top and bottom to put some AAA around ... keeping things watertight.
Trout,
Sweet, nice one chap. Would you prefer direct mail about the purchase rather than on here? You must be snowed under with requests for your knowledge, what with being a resident light expert on here and the MTBR forum and the number of DIY lights popping up. Thinking of that.....is there a danger we'll contribute to light pollution? (The last comment was only joking, this thread is argument free so far!)
By the way what external batteries are people using? Is a mail to smudge required?
Drop me a mail if you want the troutie part of the kit Webbo .
I purchased a few more leds and reflectors from Trout to upgrade some old lights, same as before just a slightly different way of fixing the reflectors by glueing them into holders instead of the stars. I'll let the pictures tell the story.
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