**** I get the 601 post too bugger missed out .

So is my maths here good I get 32 leds/reginas and assorted bits from troutie.

You mean these ?

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=BK-18650-PC8-ND

I think I’d be interested.
Doesn’t say if they are parallel or serial, or if you solder each cell, doesn’t really make it clear from the data sheet

Cheers chris, will get one of the electronics guys at work to have a look, if he can’t see anything i’ll be in touch. Cheers fella.

I have just found this as a viable power lead option for around £2 delivered. I think this is the same connectors as used on the bastid lights.

Link jazid please

Sorry just seen it.

Hi folks …. hope I get this right …. just trying to help everyone get what they want … so don’t shoot me down in flames!

In post #601 Troutie mentions that 32 LEDs/Reginas are required … and being the kind of guy that I am …. I just had to check!

I used post #600 from runswithscissors’ update as a basis and did a quick spreadsheet … (Huh! how do you post a spreadsheet on here?) …OK I’ll post an image of it instead and I get these figures …..

If each kit has two LEDs and two Reginas, it looks like 34 of each to me?

Also, runswithscissors …if you are ordering 2 LED kits, don’t you want 2 driver kits too? Just asking for Troutie’s/Teapot’s sake!

Feel free to call me a buffoon if I got this wrong!

OK …. I’m a buffoon …. any one spot the mistake …

Yup! 34 Leds and 28 Reginas ….

Check twice … post once! Doh!

If anyone wants some of the 18650 holders from Digikey I’ll be placing an order with them probably Friday for some parts for the reef aquarium system I’m also working on. The holders look like they have connections for each cell available separately so you can wire parallel or serial. I may get a few myself to play with – I’m wondering if I can devise something where the driver is integrated with the battery pack.

Kits: Rapid have the double-pole version of the switch in stock, not that much more expensive and you can just ignore the pole you don’t use so I can order a batch of those while I wait for the single pole switches to arrive.

Jazid – Looks OK but I’d be wary of DealExtreme. I’ve ordered from them twice, both times the items took ages to arrive and the second time they sent me 30 gas lighters rather than 30 Seoul P4s. They will only refund if I return them at my expense! Last time I looked it was illegal to send flammable liquids through the post anyway… Still no resolution and it’s a year since I placed the order…

Trout – you’ve lost me slightly, do you mean the drivers with built in half-power mode? I’ve only got two built up but can do a load more no problem.

DISASTER…

Making up second light tonight, decided to make it as small as possible, electrics running nicely out of the box, insert into box and after 10 secs, only one LED operative and it is dim… Position of switch does nothing, no off or dimming….

Take electrics out of box, still knackered… WTF have I done, blown driver, blown LED??? Could I have shorted something in the box? It all looks wired correctly still…

Please help… I’ve no idea what has happened…

How small Clobber it sounds like something has shorted or you have a faulty solder connection somr where .

can you post up some pics as close up as poss .

Yes thems the ones Steven could do with half a dozen at the moment.

Clobber it could be a blown led if the other one is lighting up .
but dim
If you want post it to me the whole light and I will test the leds and replace it if dead.

Steven I will have a few (6) of those double poles and boots if you are ordering please

went out for a wee tester ride last night. tight beam. very very bright.

im not sure if you get the best out of it bar mounted. will try it head mounted and see if i actually need a bar light at all. im not sure how im going to strap the bugger to my hat but im sure i`ve some gaffa tape somewhere for a temporary mount!

ideally i would like it a bit more floody but thats just me and the general mega brightness might mean its fine – i`ve not been in the trees yet – thats tonight weather permitting.

not sure on the bar mount – ok for ‘wheels on the ground’ xc but for my usual ‘woodsy jumpy fun’ rides i think it will move – we shall see.

one thing i did find out is the mount is for oversized bars and being a luddite (25.4 bars, gripshift and 8 speed no less!) i had to add a few wraps of innertube to get it to sit nicely.

overall very chuffed.

if you have 2 of these (one on bars one on hat) i think the term ‘night riding’ will be totally wrong as it might as well be daytime with the amount of light you’ll have.

bobblehat, thanks for checking up on me but I do only need one more driver from BCT as I got a spare one off him a few days ago.

Trout is it £20 per kit this time that we owe you? Does that include some profit for you this time?

Trout, in the cold light of day I can see where one LED has shorted on the case… Do you think the dim one will be ok?

We’ve all put our requirements on a list expecting you to be able to supply, is it possible for you to supply this list? if so I’ll add the cost of another LED to my next batch and get it all paid in one. Is that OK or would you rather me buy one seperately?

Lightbuilding lesson 01 for me, “Don’t build lights at midnight with too much Stella within easy reach…”

BlackCatTech – it would be fantastic if you could order me some of the 18650 holders ontop of your order. I’ll just figure out exactly what I want and get back shortly. reef aquarium sounds amazing, would love one one day.

Re connectors, I was thinking of having the longer length of cable coming out of the light unit through a grommit, and housing the connection in with the battery pack to make sure it is waterproof. Learnt to use a sewing machine to make a power kite a few years ago so might fire that up and turn some cheapo waterproof trousers into a battery bag.

I will know what I can supply hopefully soon .

tracking the leds from OZ they had a stopover in GUANGZHOU China yesterday and have landed in ALMATY Khazakstan .be interesting to see where they visit next.

Light built; check 🙂
Wired & soldered; check 🙂
Connected to battery; check 🙂
Strobing like a rubberducker; check 😯

Now wait a minute, thats not right. What have I done wrong ❓

stayhigh how come you get a flashing mode on yours.. 😆

I honestly have no idea at all. When I turn it on the beam is constant for around and second and then its full blown strobe tastic. Maybe a loose connection? I think I must have wired something the wrong way round as the switch works off-on-on.

My switch works off(bottom)/on high(middle)/on lowish(top), you might have a dry joint? 8)

BCT Yes please on the 4 way digikey holder, 2 please !

Let me know my cost + postage and I’ll paypal that + your postage cost.

Reef project eh, something else I fancy trying quite soon 🙂

Hmmm my off is top and not sure if its high middle or top as it just goes mental. I just had it on in all switch positions which was interesting. Whats a dry joint?

A joint thats not quite enough solder on it. Sure you haven’t got a short?

Dis connect the switch and see if works just on hi .
could be a faulty something on the driver .

Stayhigh – a dry joint is one where the solder hasn’t ‘taken’ properly and the connection is only intermittent. The centre position is on full – in this position the switch isn’t connected to anything which is the full power mode of the driver. The center terminal of the switch should be connected to the ‘A’ terminal on the driver, the resistor is wired across the outer terminals and one of these is connected to PWR-.

Check there aren’t any shorts, especially between PWR+ and LED+ as this basically bypasses the control circuity and pumps as much current though the LED as your batteries can supply!

Should add that dry joints aren’t always obvious and I’m afraid Lipseal is wrong – it isn’t the amount of solder, it is how well the joint has ‘wetted’ and the solder adhered to the wire and PCB. A good joint doesn’t need much solder.

Off will be the switch position where the toggle is point away from the side of the switch you have connected to PWR-.

Thats what I ment just worded it wong 😕

Put me down for 3 led’s and 3 relectors so I can upgrade some old lights. No idea what I’m going to do with them but can stop myself.

I shall get checking tomorrow and see what I can see. I’m guessing I’ve bodged something somewhere as this is my first attempt at soldering since I was at school 😳

Trout, is it too late to put myself down for a kit?

BlackCatTech – if you are still ordering from digikey, can I piggyback the following 18650 holders onto your order please? If not no worries at all. If you do provide more drivers for sale, then add on what I owe onto that when I paypal you perhaps?

1x 4×18650 holder – BK-18650-PC8-ND
4x 2×18650 holder – BK-18650-PC4-ND

hope thats not too much, they’re bulky but light.

Much appreciated! thanks.

chinochio. yep I think there will be enough for you also.

When will the next batch of LED’s be ready for dispatch? Thanks

The buggers have been in Stanstead since 7.40 this morning
so I am hoping the carrier pidgeon is refreshed for a night trip to yorkshire.

Can I have 4 LED’s and reflectors but none of the rest of the bits please?

I am trying to get my head around the logic of specifying components and thinking back to my electronics days in college.

For example:

I want to run 2 XP-G’s in series (Rated at 1000mAh for 350lm) from 1 of BCT’s drivers which are rated at 1000mA.

1. I am presuming the 2 LED’s in total will only draw 1000mA max? It is not the current draw of each added together (2000mAh)? I want to play with this run time calculator (http://www.jtice.com/led_pro/led_pro.htm) and was trying to work out what I would put in for the Desired LED Current. 1000mAh or 2000mAh?

2. Does the rating of the driver relates to the highest Amp rating LED you can run from it?

Do you guys know any good websites to explain all this stuff in basic terms?

Sorry to sound stupid but I am just getting my head around the maths again.

Thanks

Elliot

Here you go a fair bit of info here
http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

Blackcats driver is not quite 1000 Ma but yes if your leds are connected in series then both leds will get the nearly 1 amp current .

the rating of the driver is the maximum the leds will get . the XPGs are rated at 1500 ha drive current but that means lots of heat to dispose of

Put me down for 1x 4×18650 holder please if possible?

Hi Ells … wordy response warning!

1) 2 Leds in series get the same current through them. So 2 xp-g’s in series driven from a Teapot 970mA driver get 970ma through each Led. If you were to put the 2 Leds in parallel than they would share the current available (from any constant current driver), so in the case of a 1 amp driver, each Led in parallel gets 500mA (half amp) each.

2) Quote: “Does the rating of the driver relates to the highest Amp rating LED you can run from it?”

Sort of! You can run a Led with a higher current rating than the current rating of a driver … no problem (other than getting rid of the heat from the Led!) E.g. As Troutie says, you can run an xp-g which is capable of going up to 1.5 amp from a 1 amp driver. You can run an xp-g from a 350mA driver … you’re just letting the Led tick over then!

You can’t directly run a Led with a lower rating than the rating of the driver (constant current), you’d need to use one of a few tricks to do that. E.g. the old Luxeon I Led ran at about 350mA (1/3rd amp) maximum, so a 1 amp driver would fry the Led if you connected it directly.

Ok so far? Read on ….

One trick to use a driver with a higher rating than the Led is to use more than one Led in parallel. E.g. 3 or 4 old Luxeon I Leds in parallel would see 333mA (3 Leds) and 250mA (4 Leds) running through each Led respectively. The Luxeon I’s would not burn out.

Also, many drivers can be set to a lower output than their maximum. E.g. a Teapot 970mA can be set to 300mA and you could drive your old Luxeon I with that ….. or run a modern xp-g at a lower light output than at 970mA. But beware…. if you accidently reset the current to 970mA, the poor old Luxeon I will go …. Puff! (the xp-g will go brighter and get warm!)

Hope that helps!

Hi,

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. Is there any reason to use the XP-G LED’s compared to other models which seem to put out more lm per amp? Or does it just come down to price for this project?

All of what you have said has made perfect sense. My only other question is: when working out how much current will be used per hour by the LED’s, I presume that you add the two mAh ratings together to work out battery life?

If it is possible, can I add these to your list for DigiKey:

1x 4×18650 holder – BK-18650-PC8-ND
1x 3×18650 holder – BK-18650-PC6-ND
2x 2×18650 holder – BK-18650-PC4-ND
1x 1×18650 holder – BK-18650-PC2-ND

Absolutely no problem if it is not ok, just thought I’d ask! Can pay through through paypal gift no problem.

Thanks

Elliot

been following this thread intensely waiting to hear of news of the next order. any chance of one more on the list or is it too late? going with the update order i think it would now be:

so next update
Jazid – xpg LED Kit (incl. lexan + angle) + Driver Kit (3way + 2way)
runswithscissors 2x LED kit + Driver kit
bobblehat 4 * 20mm xp-g + 2 pieces of lexan please!
john_walker74 2* LEDs and bits & 2 * Driver
bigjim LED kit + driver kit
mau00149 led kit + driver kit
norcbot led kit + driver kit
landy813 – driver
Clobber, 4xLED kit + 4xDriver kit + 2*20mm xp-g (these are for friends so I’ll make sure there is a profit for you Troutie!)
Damo2576 – LED & Driver Kit)
Steelrider – LED kit + driver kit
Citizen Kane- 3 LEDs and 3 Reflectors
chinochio- LED kit (unsure on if driver was needed?)
Ells- 4 LEDs and 4 Reflectors
defaultslipper- LED kit and Driver kit

The list was taken off the bottom of the previous page and added those interested on this page (sorry if i missed anyone). I may have missed it but what is happening with the payment for the second batch, are we waiting on parts to arrive at troute’s shed and BCT’s garage before sending payment or should payment be made ASAP?

Looks like a cracking little light, I have been playing with some drawings on CAD in excitement for playing around with this project. I just hope I am not too late!?