DBC-05 Triple XHP-50.2 Scratch Build !NOW XHP-70.2!

Wow!! Truly impressive!!

Dale how do you keep the switch from liquidizing? Not that your madness needs coaching. You still have that Trustfire TR-J20? Think triple 20700 stacked 4 high, 3x4. Twelve XHP50.2 42000 lumen. Just idle thinking.

nice.

you making some for sale Dale?

Fantastic work Dale. I’m a little jealous as my lathe is in the middle of upgrades. I bought a bicycle sprocket to use as an indexing plate but the centre hole is not quite as centre as I’d like. So I need to fit a 4 jaw chuck to hold it and work it a bit, that in turn requires the backplate to be machined to fit. I keep thinking to myself this would be much easier if everything was already set up on the lathe :person_facepalming: :person_facepalming:

Anyway love your light :+1:

Thats very nice work.
Did you build it as something in between a flooder and a thrower? Like a general purpose light?

I’m thinking all that copper would be good for some xhp70’s, but you probably already have a triple xhp70, right? Lol

Yeah, when Dale said the 20700’s weren’t performing like he thought they should, so he made it a 26650 light, I immediately thought of this review, where HKJ said these 21700’s outperform a 26650 for high amps. Dale, you were so close. You already said your first tube could fit the 21700’s. Now, you’ve got a regression it seems! Well, at least 21700’s will fit in the 26650 tube using a sleeve, as long as you made the tube long enough. You did make it long enough, right?

Scott, it does 12A in a lower mode… Turbo is around 20A.

I’m actually using a mini Omten, the spring is bypassed but it’s not a through board bypass which I should probably do and that might get me a wee bit more.

My TR-J20 has a massive heat sink in it and has 4 of the 9V MT-G2 on it, making 15,000 lumens as well. Of course, I could acquire another… :wink: (This heat sink is what let RMM’s TR-J20 with 12 XHP-50’s work at 39,000 lumens, I’ve got an additional 1/4” thick plate up top. RMM’s had an extension tube I made to carry a 4th 32650 cell. Pretty sure Slow2Go has RMM’s TR-J20 now.)

I didn’t know if it would be more flood than throw or what to expect. This is a new reflector to me and of course the emitters are brand new as well. That said, the hot spot is quite surprising and it manages to show black on dark green in the absolute dark of night (no moon) to 225 yds or so which is sufficient. I looked at the red oil drum from about 75 yds last night and the overall results are very satisfying. Had been rainy, was threatening and lightning abounded so I didn’t set up the tripod for beamshots. I did have a triple XHP-70 in an BTU Shocker. I had to tame the donut hole with large TIR’s in each reflector cup but it worked out really nicely and made 11,000 lumens on a pair of 18650’s and 14,448 lumens on 6 18350’s. I had modified a carrier to take the small cells, had both carriers. This light also hit 20,000 lumens with 3 18650’s for a very brief test. Copper traces on the carries vaporized, I repaired the damage with fairly heavy copper plate but never tried 3 cells again. I sold that one having also a Shocker with 3 of the 9V MT-G2’s at ~10,000 lumens that I’m very fond of.

And yes, I built it originally for the 21700 cell that wasn’t available and still isn’t available. Then I realized that while this cell might be wonderful and all that it’s still only a 3000mAh cell and even IF it could deliver 30A then it’s only about 6 minutes worth at a 10C discharge. While that hasn’t stopped me before, the 26650 tube can easily take the smaller cell. And yes, it’s long enough. I have put Molli 26700’s in it. They just kinda suck.

PinkPanda, get that thing back together and get busy man! :smiley:

Thanks guys, appreciate it. For me, still new to the lathe, it is quite a labor of love to get something like this done. I still have a couple of tweaks to go to enable the o-rings to fit and have it in finished shape but those should be minor. (hopefully not famous last words) You can see a shiny silver ring where the battery tube meets the copper, this is because it’s not seating that last couple of mm due to me not being able to cut the threads all the way to the bottom of the driver bay. I need to either cut a relief down inside that copper or remove a couple of threads from the end of the tube. Similarly, where the bezel slips over the head in an almost press fit I need to continue that “landing” for the o-ring up there to be able to fit in. Essentially simple, with plenty of room for major catastrophic failure. lol

Also the 20700B are not high performance, more like the SANYO GA's, but little better. The 20700A's are the high performance ones, but the 21700-30T I believe is even better than the 20700A.

Well yes, of course, but all that is pretty redundant when the 20700A and the 21700 are not available for purchase. :wink:

Ohh - I got a pair, bought when IMRBatteries had them - now out of stock . Shame because I'm still trying to find a light that won't crush the tops. One is already damaged. 26650 lights that fit 26700 cells don't fit the 20700A cell well, and the tops are really thin metal.

Have you inset the switch on a 26650 light so the extra length will be accommodated? I’ve done that before to allow that little bit of extra space on single 18650’s that I was using a pair of 18350’s in. Just a thought.

Inset the switch? Hhmm, not sure what you mean, so probably not?

How did i miss this thread ?

Impressive work Dale , and thanks for posting the process :slight_smile: You’re one of the people that makes me want to get a lathe ! Thanks!

Actually I've been looking for ways to get more battery space via the switch, I don't think I could find any way of doing it. So very much interested in what this method is.

I used to do it with a rotary tool and straight shanked carbide bit. There is usually a couple of mm excess metal above the rubber boot, the retaining ring is usually too thick, the switch assembly is more often than not at least several mm too high, so by tweaking every parameter it’s sometimes possible to gain enough space to make the difference. Adding a copper or brass spacer to the top of the driver retaining ring, another to the top or battery side of the switch retaining ring, 10mm can be found… not in all lights maybe but in a great many.

You can change the 1.5mm aluminum switch spacer to .5mm brass and shave the button. Also, RMM has shorter springs you can use. Probably pick up ~6mm with just those changes.

That’s a great looking light Dale :heart_eyes: , I think the XHP50.2 is a great emitter, I like the one I have in my Jaxman M2 and Eagle Eye X7 can’t imagine the output from three :sunglasses:

I've repeatedly failed with swapping springs - the springs fully collapsed is still a problem in the lights I've looked at. Of course you need a light with a tail switch in order to mod it - I got a lot of e-switch lights, many without tail switches, but i still got a bunch of lights with both, or regular clicky lights. Hhmmm. I'm not following it all, but I'll have to take a look at what I got again. I usually get stuck on dims that are critical to maintain, either for ground contact or switch/rubber spacing.

Adding a ring over the driver retaining ring might work well on some e-switch lights, depending on the threaded joint there.

The 20700A's have the thinnest tops I've seen, so a good amt of space has to be made up.

Do away with the switch spring and put a brass or copper button it. Just barely enough to clear the retaining ring. Make sure the spring on the driver is a good thick one and you’re good to go.

I’ve even drilled a small hole in a bit of copper that I was using for the contact, reflowed the end of a wire into the hole so I could still run a through board bypass to eliminate the traces as a weak service point. :wink:

This morning I got busy and fine tuned the battery tube so it seats fully, it now has an o-ring on it. Also reworked the switch assembly for an 18ga through board bypass. When I get cells that will deliver the oomph I’ll be ready for em. :slight_smile:

That is an incredible build! I want one. lol