OK I don’t know if it’s a problem with this buck converter or me, but I cannot seem to get more than 3V to the LED. My 3s LiPo is fully charged and I’m reading over 12V at 8A input, but only getting 3V at 8.5A. Methinks something’s amiss.
Regardless, I’m not sure how much more output I’d get from this setup. That said I have some updates and results.
First I cut vents in the head to allow airflow through the heatsink fins through the back of the light. This is so the cool air hits the heatsink first and does not have to get pulled through the light then have no easy escape out.
Reading of the output voltage and current:
Lux meter reading at X100 setting:
And some requisite beam shots. There seemed to be a bit of air traffic activity overhead, and I live about 10 miles from LaGuardia Airport, so I did not want to take too many chances…
So plugging in 9000 lux and 46ft into RapidTables gave me 1,769,245 candela! A tad bit off what I’d hope to achieve (2 million) and a little less than with the 1mm^2 White Flat, but the beam is so much more impressive. And the hot spot is a nice, well defined rectangle! Working this out equates to 2,660m throw, or 8,778ft, or 1.65 miles. I still am puzzled as to why this reading is lower than with the 2s LiPo I previously used. Being it’s 20 degrees outside, I’ll hold off till tomorrow to re-test with the 2s LiPo battery. Maybe some here has an idea as to why I cannot get this buck driver set at 5V output. I can adjust the juice, butaccording to djozz’s review and charts I’m pretty close to the current threshold, so any slight gains will come from getting more voltage to the LED - I think…
What I did change was use the LiPo for both fan and LED. So the leads from the battery go to the DPDT switch, which then feed separately the fan and buck driver. The buck driver has its own on/off button, so I can shut off the LED and have the fan still cool off the unit. A thermostat would be nice.
In any case, I think I made Enderman’s list… hope to get included at some point.