Convoy L6... XHP70 Beast!

Nice! You could cut a crocodile eye like insert for under the cover.

I always thought it was kinda odd using something intended as a “wick” to carry current. I’ve never even had solder wick, for any use… been using the same Turnigy silicone wires for spring bypass as my LED leads since I first started. I usually use the same gauge wire for bypass as the leads, even up to 18ga. Figure what’s the point in putting heavy leads to the LED if the contact coming off the cell is smaller?

Sometimes, if a light feels special to me, I even cut a round piece of copper to solder on top of the spring for a larger battery contact, drill a via into it and solder the spring bypass into this copper disc, this way I have a much larger contact surface to the cell instead of a pinpoint like a soldered bead on top of the spring would make. Every little bit helps… :wink:

Have you ever worked with old cars? It’s very common for them to have ground cables made up of braided copper from the engine to the frame. Copper is a great conductor and when you put it in braided form it becomes very flexible and allows you to fully compress the springs which can be difficult or impossible with a normal spring bypass. On rare occasions I may use my extra long protected keep power cells in my L6 and I need to be able to fully compress the springs. So that’s why I tried it. I think the problem with the solder wick is that the strands are just too small in diameter and when any one of them gets a little too much current it will sever and transfer that load to some other strands which will cause them to sever and eventually the whole thing just melts in two.

LOL, that’s funny Jason! :laughing: My dad was in an Antique Car Club when I was young, he had a 28 Ford and a 37 Cadillac… at one point we had 43 cars here on the property… everything from Nash to DeSoto to Willys. Even a 58 Cadillac ElDorado Barritz Seville, one of 843 ever made. Ground breaking for 1958, it had a 365 ci V8 that made 356 HP from a triple deuce carb set-up. Auto headlight dimming even! Hurt me deep down when he let that one go…

I started out driving a 51 Chevy Custom Deluxe. (Dad actually suggested I use the 58 Caddy’s Alcoa produced turbine style aluminum wheels to customize my 51! Only ran em on the back, 15’s in back, 14’s up front. Geesh, forever ago!) Vacuum operated windshield wipers? Horrible idea! Tube style AM radio? 6V battery destroyer! Also quite familiar with the brake master cylinder under the floor matt…

Heavy braid from the battery ground? The 6V battery? That braid that very seldom if ever got flexed? The one that turned green and corroded up something fierce? Yes, familiar. The only way it’s similar to our discussion here is that it was braided copper, much different use and demands. This ground in the cars was a densely woven thick beast, the solder wick is a very loosely woven braid designed to pull solder off a pcb, plenty of room for the solder to flow, but not good physical properties to flow current, especially when flexed repeatedly. It was talked about here, some time ago, as to how electrical current in DC form uses the outside surface of the copper wire to flow, as such, this solder wick is really a lousy form for high current needs.

Not to say large car grounding cables of modern make don’t have their own problems… my brother’s late model pick-up is sitting parked in his driveway because he’s too lazy to replace the badly corroded ground to frame cable.

Edit: We still have a 1968 Renault 10 here, with the plastic coverings still on the door panels and 84 miles on the odometer. New car smell inside. Brand new, but non running, with the original gas from the dealer still in the tank… jellied and foul smelling. Just realized, it’s still sitting on blocks to keep the tires off the ground that I put it up on when I was 16 years old! That was 39 years ago! (3 lug wheels, by the way, never seen the like… 4 cyl in the rear, horizontal sliding rear windows)

No, that is not a typo… 84 original miles. My Aunt bought it new, didn’t drive.

As important as using the correct fuel in a car, use the correct cells for the flashlight. :wink:

I’ve heard it all my life, “If it don’t fit, don’t force it!”

Hi DB,
Do you have the .c file of the firmware? I can compile it later.
I would like to have ramping firmware with stock driver.
If you don’t mind, could you share with me? TIA.

DB is using a 17mm FET driver in his L6. There is no way to get the stock FX30 driver to do ramping.

My L6 received the resistor treatment long ago but never made a runtime graph for it until now, in short you get 3K+ lumens for 1/2 hour and then 2K+ lumens for another 1/2, followed by a slow drop to zero in the next 20 mins.

The hottest part was around the side switch and measured 62C, there was a very light breeze hitting the light but no dedicated fan cooling. The L6 and its driver can deal with the heat just fine, this had me worried for a while.

The output might be way off since my setup isn’t still calibrated for throwy lights, so this L6 is perhaps around 4,500-4,800 lumens.

Thanks for the confirmation, Jason. Appreciated.

Has anybody recently bought the Keepower batteries mentioned in the OP? Are they still the correct type (the older model)?

I would like to purchase one of these light soon. Can the extension tube be bought in raw form? If not, I may just order all black so it matches.

Also, I would like to use the H6Flex driver, but I’m not sure if I can make it fit. Are there any other drivers that can handle 11v input or 3 LifePO4 batteries?

Its a shame this lights only drawback for me are the damn batteries which needs to be very good from what i understand? sure i can buy the light but looking at some decent batteries 2 of those will more or less cost as much as the l6 light alone as shipping lithion batties is big problem today, that for me is a big no thanks which is a shame would like a big nasty thrower like this but since it needs beefy 26650 batteries to powerup i will have to wait before buying i guess…

Two Liitokalas for $10. Stick a magnet between them or make a solder blob.

TWN, this is the Zener modified FET variant to enable the 17mm FET driver to work with 2 cells.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/btgr9mmd5uo24eu/AVRGCC93.c?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8exj0nyctu28ui0/AVRGCC93.hex?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u920tz0a1rrwhyn/flashAVRGCC93.bat?dl=0

If I remember correctly, the e-switch has wires to ground and leg #3 of the MCU. It’s a 64 level ramping, click and hold (short hold) for moon from off, double click (not quickly) for turbo from off. Last mode memory is engaged. Reverses when the switch is pressed and held within 2 seconds. Single click when on turns it off.

Texas_Avenger drivers work well in there too. 3-channel with LDO so slightly more efficient than a Zener-FET. Flash with NarsilM and ramp away :slight_smile: Its been a bit since I built mine but I’m almost certain the 30mm driver is a drop-in replacement for stock. Either are fine choices though.

Pay attention to the version of the Texas Avenger driver, they’re not all LDO equipped. Have had em both ways.

Silly though, to think of having a flashlight that can pull 12A from the 5,000mAh cells and then worry about efficiency. Smaller lights work well when you don’t need much light, big lights, being not as easy to tote around, typically aren’t used for small jobs where duration of the weak light is a virtue. Just sayin… Obviously the large light CAN do the work of smaller lights, just not really where it’s design parameters lay.

As an update, I just found out that Richard at MTN Electronics is now offering the ramping software used on the D4 light as an option on his 30mm 2S fet driver for the L6. Other drivers as well, I think.

It’s not quite Narsil, but pretty close. It’s also 2 channel (fet+1) as compared to the 3 channel (fet+8+1) Texas Avenger that Lexel is building. It’s competition for Lexel, but I don’t think Lexel will make drivers forever. When he stops there will be an alternative.

And Richard can build them hundreds at a time… :wink:

I was just putting it out there as an option. Nothing wrong with a Zener+FET. I’ve got them too, in lots of lights. TA’s drivers are great too though…

The Zener modified FET driver is fine as long as you have it in a light with a mechanical clicky for power cut-off. On an e-switch light, the drain is rather high. With the L6 having both a tail mechanical switch and an e-switch, cutting power is easy and makes it safe to store with charged cells.

I personally have found TA’s driver’s to be rather intricate and difficult to build with a high rate of success. That’s just me though… I do use one of his in my Ti/Cu Quad EDC that I built from scratch. They’re doable, just harder than the typical 17mm FET.