[Closed] DIy 700 lumen batteries inside light

Hammond cases back in stock at Maplin for all those waiting.

BCT....These lights are my first attempt at DIY, so I can't think of anything else I'd like to see added to the spec list. I like the sound of the push button and the volts monitoring though.

Hey Troutie i sent an e-mail to your blueyonder address on monday mythering you about sourcing some XPGs mounted on stars, I know you've probably got a whole heap of similar messages in your inbox but i was wondering if you'd had a chance to look at it yet?

Troutie - 32 x 22 sound too big? Not sure I can get it much smaller and keep 3A future capability...

Hey, I'm thinking of building one of these lights and was wondering about a couple of things:

Troutie – Would you please be able to supply me with 2 of the XPGs, a couple of reflectors and one of the silver Hammond boxes?

BCT – Do you have any of the drivers, switches and power leads for sale currently (I’d be after two female ended leads and one male ended one)? I’ve had a scout around Ebay but can’t seem to find any at present (though it may just be me being blind.)

I don’t know how it works with posting price info on here but if you could both get me prices for everything if you have the bits in stock, it would be greatly appreciated.

Troutie – I’m probably asking a silly question but I’m thinking of using either a 7.4v or 14.8v Lipo pack for the battery but I was wondering which voltage you would advise I go for and what Mah rating should I be looking for?

Any help given would help me out and I would be very grateful as although I’ve completed DIY projects in the past, this is my first time dabbling with electronics (although I doubt it’ll be my last!)

Thanks,
Bwoolymbr

Troutie - I've just noticed an earlier post from you that has the whole kit i.e. the LEDs, reflectors, alu plate for the driver, bracket mount, alu L plate etc and so if you've got the whole lot and the hammond case, could you put me down for one and let me know how much to send you through Paypal?

Thanks again!

bwooly, i dont think troutie does the hammond boxes, you have to get them from maplins: part number 1455C802 or 1455C802BK for the black one.

his kit is £20 but i'm not entirely sure what that includes, it is at least the LED's and the optics (ill report when mine turns up)
The driver, switch and power cable from BCT is £9 but you can also order a 18650 battery holder for an additional 2.25 + 50p extra postage on top of the kit. (you may not want this if you are using a different pack)

Sam42 Yes i have had your mail I think will reply tonight

Bwooly hers what I send out

[IMG] [/IMG]

I have a few of the boxes in siver with the metal end plates £8
but they are cheaper at maplins

You would be better with the larger battery I am not sure now where we are at with the drivers and batteries in the confusion

BCT yes those sizes seem doable is that single sided

Reflectors arrived today so can get on and ship back orders
but might be a good idea if you have mailed with an interest re mailing

Troutie

troutie did you get my email re purchasing the whole bar mount instead of just the top half? If thats going to be ok let me know how much extra I owe you.

J

Hi Troutie,

I would like two of your Hammond kits but am unsure where to send the money and how much money you want. I remember seeing that paypal gift was OK but can not find the maill address to contact you directly (probably my stupidity)

My email is dt(at)acw(dot)co(dot)uk

Dave

Troutie,

That's great, well for ease I'd like to get the kit and one of the boxes from you if that's ok? If so, should I send £28 as a Paypal gift to the email address in your profile, including my name and address with the order details in the notes section so you know that the payment came from me?

Thanks,
Bwoolymbr

Just had my first ride with the light!

Couple of teething issues - the connection between plug and socket, which I have at the battery end, isn't great and breaks quite easily, though once I had it good it lasted the ride. Its not a very tight fit twixt plug and socket. Also the width of the box and low profile of the mount from troutie doesn't fit with my Syncros stem - I had to put it far enough from the stem that it ended up on the curve of the bar so I'll need to find another mount solution.

Apart from that its great. Box was freezing cold to the touch all ride, though it is -12 here tonight.

Beam is quite tight but very usable. I would be interested in adding a bit more flood somehow, perhaps a different reflector or lens on one of the LEDs. I've been thinking about adding a reflector to the top of the box to reflect all the wasted light spilling upward down to the ground. I think it might be brighter than my modded DX P7 torch but will do beamshots when the snow is gone. There is quite a weird green tint around the central spot of the beam, probably only noticeable because its snowy, but its much stronger on the dip beam.

Just need to sort the mount and either buy a magicshine battery bag or make my own and its done.

Quite tempted to build a v2 even though I don't need another light... 😀

Troutie - Yup, single sided. The current crop of SMDs are hard enough to solder by hand as it is (0.65mm pitch pins) without adding the complication of components on both sides!

Currently considering offering both analogue and PWM dimming on the buck version. Found an inductor that can handle the current for 3A drivers and am putting the other bits in place to allow this. (The current setting resistors will dissipate nearly 0.75W at 3A!) Prototype unlikely to be good for 3A though as I'm having to tack it on to another order of standard PCBs. Will go for heavier copper boards for production to allow better thermal management.

Batteries - Two lithium is really too tight with my drivers, you end up in dropout pretty much straight away. You need 8V minimum for the driver to be happy with 2x XPG, you can get away with slightly less but it is pushing it harder than it is designed to go. Three lithium or 8 NiMH is a good starting point, anything up to a maximum of 25V fresh off the charger is fine.

This has been covered before but to work out battery life you calculate the Wh rating of your pack, voltage x capacity in Ah, and divide by 7 for run time in hours on full power. So 14.8V 2Ah pack would be 29.6 so divide by 7 and round gives about 4 hours on full power.

Next batch of PCBs I do will include a prototype of a driver suitable for running 2x XPG at 1A from 2x lithium. I won't get these before the holidays though so probably a little late for this winter.

Bwooly

Yes that sounds good Cheers

Steven

I am losing track of your drivers at the moment .
but the new ones are sounding good any idea on selling price yet .

Hopefully am have now caught up with stuff ordered and will be
posting the last orders today .

I have started drilling the stars for the Reflector but the ali is so soft it leaves it like this on the back
[IMG] [/IMG]

Sorry I have left it like that as too cold and too lazy to file it off a hundred leds.

Driver line-up is starting to sound complicated....

Current products: Buck driver with various output currents up to 1A as used in this DIY build, new-type PCB with dimming resistor built in.

PCB ready, needing building and testing: Twin 1.5A driver

PCBs in design: Low drop-out linear driver for 2x XPG from 2x lithium at 1A, microcontroller on board for thermal control and push-button control.

High-power buck driver with potential for 3A output. Micro on board for thermal / battery sensing and push button control. Option for USB interface for improved setup flexibility.

Boost version of above with 1.5A limit, 3 to 18V supply but output limited to about twice supply at 1.5A.

No idea on prices yet for the last three, not even signed off the PCB design yet...

cheers

Whats the twin 1.5 amp driver?

We discussed it a while back, it's way to get around the dropout issue with the standard driver. Rather than running two LEDs from a single channel I've found a chip that has twin 1.5A outputs so you could run two single LEDs from twin lithiums. Got a few prototypes, just need to built it up and see how well it works.

By the way, do you have any spare XPGs? Could do with 4 or 5 as I'll need to build a new test rig for these higher power drivers, the LEDs I am using at the moment are only good to 1A.

That's going to be a cracking choice of drivers Stephen, when they all come through to the sales desk! It's great to have such a keen and helpful electronic designer/producer on board. Worth so much more than saving a shilling or two by going to far-east sellers. Thanks.

Troutie,

Just letting you know that payment has been sent to you by Paypal and I've included the details and my address in the notes.

Thanks,

Bwoolymbr

What affect on the beam would removing approx 5mm from the end of the Regina Reflectors have, as putting my batteries inside the Hammond box is going to be very tight, and this would give me a bit of extra clearance. I assume it would mean that the beam is not as focused and would be wider.
I also have a problem with the 2.1mm DC connector not being tight enough, and have had the connections come loose while riding. I have tried bending the centre pin on the socket, and squashing the plug to try and improve the interference between the connectors. I seem to remember having a light in the past that had DC Power Connectors that had a lock ring to screw them together?

Not sure about reducing the length of the reginas but what you say sounds logical as some light that should be reflected will now escape. Could always try it with one and see - they are cheap enough.

I have seem the locking power connectors as well, not something I've found in Rapid though. As others have pointed out though a 'quick release' can be a benefit, especially for a helmet light.

BCT is it a 2.1mm power lead you supplied? That would explain the loose fit in my 2.5mm connector....!

The leads and sockets should be 2.5mm.

Ah yes I thought so. I bought some plastic barreled maplin 2.5 sockets as I went with an external connection, they don't fit as tightly as the one you provide though. I managed to melt the plastic inner trying to solder the first one too, doh.

Yeah, all these power plugs / phono / din / jack plugs seem to be made of some metal that won't wet and plastic that melts if you as much as breathe on it...

Dynamo version finished, installed on the cheapy Apollo and taken for a test run ........ what can I say about it ............

[IMG] [/IMG]

................. WOW! 😆

Absolutely no comparison with the 2.4W halogen light it replaced. If you've tried the battery light at 500mA .... then that will give you an idea of the amount of light produced ............ did I say ........... WOW? 😆

Controlled by the same Judco switch that used to control the high beam of the twin Smart halogen that I used to have on this old hack bike before I acquired a hub dynamo.

[IMG] [/IMG]

The old reflector bracket when flipped horizontal instead of vertical was perfect to mount the case via a small bolt tapped through the case and L shaped Led board. This bracket also allowed a little down angle via the notches that these brackets have built into them. It points the main part of the beam at approx 20ft in front of the wheel and the hot spot seems to stretch for a pretty far distance ...... it's near perfect! An added bonus is that it puts a few inches of bright spill on to the top of the silver plastic mudguard to can only act as an additional "see me" from a side angle, because of the shape of the mudguard ..... all helps in traffic!

I took the bike off to an unlit Country Park bike path for some tests. It starts producing light right from the first turn of the wheel when pushing the bike. It's almost as bright at a walking pace as the old 2.4W halogen was at a dawdling cycling pace, but it does flicker! It flickers up to about 4.5mph and smoothes out around that point to produce a cracking amount of steady light .......... plenty to be seen by in traffic and more than enough to ride at a far faster pace than the 4-5 mph I was testing it at!

As I increased the speed up to around 10mph the light just got brighter and I think I could just detect that it was starting to flatten off a little, only a little. Due to doing a nice rear-end slide at a turn on the black ice I spotted too late 😳 and having just managed to get a foot down and kick myself back upright from the slide ... I decided that even with the excellent amount of light available, I would have to be careful with trying a bit more speed.

I got it up to about 19mph (my little helmet light allows quick glances at the speedo) before decided that was enough for the patchy ice conditions in the Park and the light got brighter than at 10mph .... but I suspect that with the Cap values I'm using I'm getting near the peak at 13-15mph .... hard to say for sure on an initial test like this. Suffice to say there was plenty of light.

Distant reflective direction signs lit up nicely from the spill and main centre spot and on the turns I could see that the beam was lighting up trees several 10's of yards away, showing the throw was just like the battery model. The main beam produces a nice enough bright pool that's an ideal width for unlit cycle tracks and canal paths.

I happened across a couple of doggy walkers coming towards me who were attracted to the bike light ...... there was a noticeable synchronised head-turning as I passed by. I decided to turn round and ask them for their opinion if they thought the light was annoyingly bright. They said they definitely noticed it and said that they weren't bothered by it .... and they asked me to do another run passed them .... I happily obliged. They said it was very bright but not annoying .... Perfect!

On the return run from the Park to home, a little five(ish) year old lad spotted me and was hypnotised by the light .... he was heard to utter .... "Cooooooolll" as I passed by ...... great to know it got the approval of the youngster too! 8)

Before I put the bike away, I roped in SWMBO to give her opinion .... she stood in the middle of our averagely lit street as I pedalled off and swung around to aim straight for her on the return run! The result ...... "You just look like a motorbike …. very bright ...only a bit more sparkly than a motorbike!" .... and .... "Not particularly annoying." Job done ... I think! Her parting comment before she scuttled in out of the cold was ........ "The only thing is that the blinkie on the bars is hardly noticeable now, but your helmet light is fine!" Hmmmmm! Another job to think about now!

I’m very happy with this dynamo light! Let me know if I've bored everyone!

nice job and write up bobblehat! 🙂

*wanders off to investigate dynamos*

Was just about to order an exposure light when my mate pointed this diy build out to me,are there any kits left troutie.
Now building the lamp and following the wiring diagrams i have no problems with but all the different drivers and battery options do confuse me,can anyone explain it in a simple way.The more i read the pages of this thread the more my head hurts.

Poo!

Managed to knock the nipple off one of my LEDs 🙁 .... I'm a clumsy oaf.

Mr T, I've emailed you about costs for a replacement LED. Anyone worried about using AAA to fix your LEDs in place, don't worry, I needed a hammer and drift to knock it off the aluminium angle.

Brilliant write up Bobblehat. I just hope Dynamos dont catch on though ! 😆

BigJim, the connectors vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer even if they are both 2.5mm some will be a loose fit to an others unless they are really from the same company or high quality.

Hi Piker

Yes I confess the thread and product has morphed a little and I am some what confused with developments .

to try and simplyfy
you will get the right driver from BCT and can use any battery as long as it is over 8 volts and under 24 volts

the case size can handle the full 1 amp drive unless you are stood still on a normal night then you may need to dim it if it gets hot .

Yes I have plenty of all the bits in my side of the light just mail me its in my profile .

Steven yes have plenty of XPGs either on 20 mm stars or 10 mm square boards available .

Flicker You muppet :oops:done the same though .

will pop one in the post tomorrow .

if you want to remove one that is stuck with AAA then heat it up with a hot air gun to ouch temp but not melting solder temps and the star will lift off easyly with out hammers and chisels

Nice one BH see you finally managed to build the dynamo light 😀
I'm amazed that this thread is still going, some great builds out there, just need troutie to start another on how to build the cuboide ( think that's spent right?) Reckon this post need it's own sever/website soon keep up the good work! Feel like building another now! 😉

Just spent an enlivening day looking at synchronous rectifiers and ways of extracting maximum power from a dynamo with minimal loss. Let's just say it isn't as simple as it sounds! The system Bobble uses isn't ideal but it is a heck of a lot simpler than the circuit you'd need to get rid of low speed flicker and optimise the output...

Still, at least between this and looking at the high power drivers I've learned a fairly easy way to implement reverse polarity protection on the input with fairly minimal losses. Only problem there is that I've just bought a few hundred PCBs so that may have to wait until they are all gone.

I think to summarise the build we have pretty much worked out that the 'batteries inside' idea isn't ideal with my drivers as two lithiums give a bit too low a voltage for the LEDs. Most people seem to be cutting the box down and building a lights + driver unit which is connected to an external battery. This battery needs to be 8 NiMH cells or 3 lithiums as a minimum. The driver allows you to switch between full power, 40% power and off without having to disconnect the battery.

Troutie - will be in touch over LED costs.

Wonder if it's worth starting a new thread with a summary of what you need, where to buy it and how to do it but point anyone here for discussions?

Troutie paypal gift sent,now for a suitable driver.New thread is a good idea.BCT what do i need from you a driver switch and resister or is the resister built in now.

Resistor built in on all drivers now giving 40% dim mode. You can alter this with your own resistor though. I have switches with a waterproof boot and also do power socket / plug with lead. Kits of the lot are £8 each plus £1 postage. Also have a few 2, 3 and 4 way 18650 holders left.

been a bit of a discusion here on dyno circuits http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?179805-Dynamo-LED-Driver-Circuit-PCB-available

all gobbledygook to me

Lipseal .

the cuboid is dead easy and I will if needed supply the basic bits of aluminium rough machined for finishing am building another so will document it better and could use BCTs upcoming boost driver and a 4 cell 7.4 volt battery pack

BCT is it a gift to the email in your profile for paypal.

The basics are easy, getting that bit extra is the hard part. Dynamos output AC at a frequency which varies with speed. The simple way to convert AC to DC is to use a bridge rectifier but you then lose around 1.5V which on a 6V supply is significant. You can reduce this by using better diodes but you can't get it much below 1V. You can replace the diodes in the bridge with mosfet transistors but the tricky part then comes with turning them on in at the correct time to prevent current flowing the wrong way and creating smoke.

The next stage beyond what they are doing in that thread is being able to store some of the generated power when it isn't needed and use that to supplement the dynamo at low speed and when there isn't any stored to eeke out what you can get from the dynamo to give a steady albeit dim light. This involves all sorts of fun stuff like monitoring how much charge is stored, how much is being generated and working out how to balance to two, plus things like reducing the load on the dynamo when you don't need it generating power. Something I'd love to get my teeth in to but I suspect it would be too much to take on at the moment! Maybe for next winter...

(Piker - Yes, payment to the address in the email)

Got me thinking now, I wonder if say 4 of these:
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?id=1778025&Ntt=1778025
could be wangled in to something like a P7 reflector... I think two may go in a regina with a bit of modification... Run at 50mA you get about 15 lumens each, not a massive amount but may be enough for basic visibility (including being seen) then have a single XPG as a 'boost' light depending on enough power being stored or generated.

Supercaps would be an option for storage but I suspect something like a CR123 would be more economical, not sure how fast it could be charged though. Those little NiMH cells (3.6V few hundred mAh) would be ideal but they can't take or give much current.

Keep me in the loop regarding the cuboid, if you don't mind. My build is still going strong and it's been on a few wet and muddy/icey rides well impressed.

Sorry Smudge 😳 ..... Dynamos are not for everyone, so I think you are safe supplying MTB batteries for some time to come! 😆

I'm lucky in that I have a bike with a dynohub and another without. After building the battery lights, I realised just how easy it was to adapt the design to a dynamo. Not trying to do BCT out of business either! Swap constant current driver board for 8 discreet components and away you go!

I've got over 80 night miles now on the twin lights - battery version, on road and track and the versatility of a dip and main beam, both with switchable levels is sheer luxury. I’m keeping the dip on low (25%ish) or medium(50%ish) when I’m on the road and have not had any negative reactions .... yet! The dynamo version on the hack bike is set like the dip beam on medium on the Kraken .... nominal 500mA, and will be used mainly on the road. On the tracks with the twin lights, the dip on full power is excellent and picks up all the crap you want to avoid well in advance of running over it. The spill is great to show detail at the sides .... but as someone else pointed out, would be great to direct the upward spill to a more useful place .... downward. OK can’t have everything!

Main beam is just like the dip beam ... only it shows stuff up well in advance in the distance, cos’ that’s where it’s pointing! Great throw.

Hope the dynamo stuff hasn’t clouded the build for those only interested in battery builds. Troutie’s latest post sums it up simply to get it back on track.

BCT – yep! It’s a very simple dynamo circuit .... and fairly cheap too. The low speed flicker is really not a problem unless your riding style means you stay below 5mph a lot! Even my old legs manage a tad more than that!

As for optimisation of the dynamo output issues, they seem to be from an age when we tried to eek out every last lumen from incandescents or early low output LED .... there really is loads of output using that simple circuit and just 2 * xp-gs/reginas. You can go mad and add more xp-gs/reginas with the same basic circuit and, assuming you are happy with the extra leg power needed, produce “Baby Trout” type levels.

I know it goes against the grain slightly, but with cheap blinkies running for 50 - 100 or more hours on a couple of triple A’s or AA’s, I went along with the suggestions of several veterans of the dynamo led brigade and decided that the complications of a standlight (especially for my first dynamo build) outweigh the benefits. You don’t need a standlight off-road (do you?) and on the road, a second of darkness or flicker before you get loads of light when taking off from traffic lights/Junctions is taken care of by the blinkie. Check it yourself to see how short a time it takes to pass the 5mph mark from a standing start!

Hi Lipseal ..... if you're down this way again anytime, I'll show you the dynamo build output.

BCT gift sent for driver kit.

Done the same as Flicker here and blown one of my LEDs!

Troutie can I buy one of the LED on 20mm stars off you. I was playing with the reginas and must have shorted one of them out- have checked the other one is still working.

my bits from BCT arrived today and its time for some more questions.

Firstly how weatherproof is the power connection going to be? Will it need some extra stuff doing to it?:
[IMG] [/IMG]

Secondly, which of these 3 pins is which? I was expecting only two:
[IMG] [/IMG]

Connector not likely to be massively weather-proof to be honest. If you want something that will take all-seasons riding then you really need a properly waterproofed connector.

The bigger pin, the one to the right on your photo, connects to the striped wire on the power lead. The one to the left connects to the plain lead. The one on the top is not used here - it connects to the left-hand one when there isn't a plug in the socket as a sort of bypass switch for mains / battery operation.

Not sure what others think but my feeling is that really a basic multimeter is a pretty much essential piece of kit for a build like this just to check things out and test the correct voltages are in the correct place and no shorts are present.

cheers BCT, will look into a multimeter. Any recommendations on where i can get a decent weatherproof connector from? I had intially thought about having a short ~10cm stretch of cable coming out of the box and then having the connection from the battery there if that makes any sense?

Actually scratch that idea, i'm guessing just squirting some silicone round the gap will do the trick. If water did manage to find a way in what damage would it do and to what?

Not sure I follow - are you meaning the gap between the plug and socket? If so, surely that means you'll have to re-silicone each time you unplug it?

Water and electronics are generally not a good idea, at best it could cause the circuit to malfunction as water is a conductor (albeit a poor one). There are also corrosion issues - although PCBs are cleaned with water after soldering they are then dried thoroughly.

yes between the plug and socket, i doubt i'd be unplugging it all that often so I think this would work.

Another option, would be to have a cable going directly into the light then some sort of connection from the battery to said cable. A bit like CK's build on page 13, the only problem is I have no idea what i'm searching for on the internet. He calls it a cable entry, but this is fruitless on google etc. Any ideas?

so im thinking chop [url= http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32751 ]THIS[/url] cable in two bits, one end connects directly to the battery, the other to the light. Have the socket and plug connect about 20cm away from the light. Faesible? If so i'd just need a cable entry for the light housing as mentioned previously.

Dont forget a small cable gromet and some ods and sods bits of surplus cable comes from me posted yesterday

Jammy - that looks a good cable, someone should probably do a group buy of them. You either need a grommet or better would be a cable gland but they are fairly chunky. The other option is to use the plug / cable on the light and mount the socket somewhere with the battery out of the weather.

cool ill give that a go then using the grommet that troutie supplies and the cable from DX. does anyone else want one ordering? Ill order on tuesday so if people add their names to a list ill get that sorted then shipped out to people (should be about £2 in total).

Next question is about how to wire battery holders together 🙂 Ive hacked one of BCT's 18650 4 cell holders in half to create 2x2 cell holders that will fit together inside a water bottle; but i've not a clue about which terminal needs wiring to which. I've found this diagram on the net, but dont know which I want: http://www.electricfence-online.co.uk/shop/renewable-energy/renewable-energy-advice-faqs/battery-bank-wiring.html

If you are stuck for weather/water proof connector, then have a look here:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/connectors/multiconnectors.php

Lots of other useful bits and pieces listed as well.
Hth
Marko

You're best wiring them as a 4S pack, in other words all 4 in series so +ve from one battery goes to -ve on the next and so on until you are left with a + from one battery and a - from another.

Hope you realised how slow DX are.... Unless you are fortunate you'll be lucky to see anything from them within a month.

brilliant cheers, i managed to steal a mates cable he has for his magicshine on the proviso that I get him a replacement, so its him that will be lumped with the wait 🙂

A further question (i promise the guide i write will be worth it) is it necessary to bond the new driver (BCL01D)/ali combo to an ali end plate? Will it be ok if it is glued to a plastic end cap?

If it does need an eli end plate anyone want to swap one for a plastic one?

The new driver runs 5-10 degrees cooler. Not sure what temperatures inside the box are like, you may get away without the extra cooling. Another option, if you have enough case length you could bond it to the top or bottom of the main case.

Thanks to Troutie and BCT for their help with these bits. Here's my attempt - a bit "Jonny 5" but they then match the bar lights!

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

BCT and Troutie, you should have Paypal's shortly for two more sets if that is ok.

Cheers,
Keef2.

Another option, would be to have a cable going directly into the light then some sort of connection from the battery to said cable. A bit like CK's build on page 13, the only problem is I have no idea what i'm searching for on the internet. He calls it a cable entry, but this is fruitless on google etc. Any ideas?

My cable entry is a 4mm bannana plug socket with the internals drilled out to take this cable http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=23087&OrderCode=XS91Y. The cable is bonded in with epoxy, this is my main mechanical restraint the boot over the top is a strain relief from a BNC cable but a bit of shrink sleeve will do. I use these connectors http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-way-Weatherproof-Superseal-wiring-connector-/380292047586?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM

Jammy111 have a look at the pictures I posted a couple of pages back, the magicshine extension cable is what I have used. It's water tight and works perfectly with the cable grommet that Troutie supplies. You can pick them up off eBay for £5-£6, so you don't need to wait weeks for DX to ship it to you.

looks good flicker! where have you attached the driver in your build? Do you reckon it will be ok to attach the driver/ali combo to the plastic end plate with some silicone adhesive?

Also how have you weatherproofed the case? Silicone around the screws on the bottom i presume but what about the end caps in particular, that is pretty much the last thing i need to know then i should be good to get the soldering iron out!

Woah keef2, what are those light bodies made from?

Jammy111, I ran a bead of silicone sealer around the inside of the plastic end plates and a little blob in the screw holes.

I used AAA to stick the PCB heatsink to the top of the case, after I'd finished wiring it up and testing it.

The leds are housed in 24mm Aluminium Bar, bored out to 21mmx23mm on a little hobby lathe (C2). They're about 50mm long. Looking at Chelboed from MTBR has done I could probably afford to go smaller and lighter. The driver sits in the litle black box which was a maplins miniture hamond special. Just been out for an hour with them round a bit of the Quantocks and they work great.

Hi Keef2 ... got a linky for that Maplin box? Looks useful.

Also, where did you source the lens cover and o ring ... did you groove the tube for the o ring or just silcone it?

next question 🙂 When sorting out my 18650 battery pack is there going to be any reason to connect 4 rather than just 3 cells. The run time should be the same, just the voltage should be higher, correct? 3 batteries will churn out 11.1V which should be enough, is there any reason to have 14.8V instead?

Cheers,
J

EDIT: apologies if this is a really stupid question, it has the potential to be...

i`m liking the pipe bomb lights. how do you fix the led in place?

this leads me to think about if there is a way of using hte led without hte bulky driver - ie mini head torches?

this leads me to think about if there is a way of using hte led without hte bulky driver - ie mini head torches?

This is exactly what I want to do - a joystick style single xpg unit with a single 18650 in it, but I've not looked to see if anyone else has done it yet. Its obviously possible as thats what the new Joystick is, just not sure about the driver options. I'd also like to upgrade my old P4 Joystick to an XPG though I'm not sure if the driver or optics would be any good. I can't even find any sites where someone has dismantled their joystick, maybe I'll be the first!

Answer is yes should be a straight swop if the new stuff fits in the joystick

should use the driver in there too .

failing that then a 1 ohm resister will let you use it at 1 level 1000ma drive

or a 1.2 ohm for 700 ma drive .

Jammy you can use 3 cells no problemo

in my tesco cree torch there is a circular circuitboard attacehd to the led i presume is the driver.

I think Trout, earlier in this thread, was messing with using just resistors? lord only knows what page that was mind... or how you would go about doing this.

(edit) beaten to it by the man himself - thats service!

that said if the stars are circa 25mm you should be able to get a driver in you are just makinghte light longer to accomodate all the gubbins.

A single 18650 will give crap run times though?

trout,

when you say:

failing that then a 1 ohm resister will let you use it at 1 level 1000ma drive

do you mean if a 1ohm resistor was wired on the power supply the led would run ok?

i`m guessing the higher the 'drive' the brighter the led?

The LEDs are Thermal Adhesived in place, the the reflector is silicon squadged on to the star. The plastic cover is cut from a EN166B full face cutting visor, held into place by a 3/32" o-ring that is half seated in to a groove lightly greased with more squadge.

Nothing seems to rattle, and they survived it when SWMBO knocked them off the top of the wheelie bin on to the tarmac last night, although I did have to buff out some scratches.

The bit in the middle is one of these:
[url= http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=43710 ]Miniature General Purpose ABS Box 1551 Series[/url].
The driver is on an ali block AAA'd to the case. Nothing seems get warm... yet.

Van Halen

Yes if you have 1 18650 cell and wire the 1 ohm resistor in series with the led you will get 1000 ma drive current from the 4 volts the cell will be at fresh off the charger now as the voltage drops so will the drive current so the led will slowly dim as the battery depletes

You would need a 1 or 2 watt resistor as it needs to disipate some heat .

a 1.2 ohm resistor will give you 700 ma drive and as the resistors go up in value so your drive current goes down .

this is a nice little programme
http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

I have a dual Hammond running like this for a while now .

its how Ayups are working .

so there is no difference in run times/brightness etc between using 3 or 4 18650s??

Of course there will be a difference in run time 4 cells will go further than 3 cells .

but with a constant current driver like what BCTs is the brightness will be the same whether 11 volts or 14 volts

cool, thanks (told you it had the potential to be a stupid question)

Hi Jammy ..... same brightness for 3 or 4 times 3.7V cells because of BCT's constant current driver ... it works with any volts between approx 8 and 24 volts.

However, due to electronictrickery, the higher the voltage with the same capacity cells (mAH milliamphour) give longer run-time.

If you have 3 x 3.7V 2400mAH cells and run the light at full power you should get about 3 & 3/4 hours.

With 4 x 3.7V 2400mAH cells and run the light at full power you should get around 5 hours.

so with 4x3.7 3000mAh batteries it will last a lifetime on full power, sweet 😀

Well ..... I'd want (and have had!) more than 6 and a bit hours for my lifetime! 😮

Do they really make 3000mAH 18650 li-ions? Or is it one of those 900 lumens out of a P7 marketing hype jobbies? I thought you bought [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 ]these?[/url]

If they did make genuine 3000 mah cells then I am sure Smudge would be stocking them and certainly I would be wanting them for the Libs

I will give him a poke and see what his reply is .