I like your 100W version. If you mount a remote battery canister to your tank, you could have a much longer run time @100% output while lightening the head and moving some weight closer to your CG. Then you wont have to carry as much lead… I assume you SCUBA. There are dozens of DIY threads online for remote canister packs. Thanks for the great vid. Your switching solution is simple and very effective. Be aware that you’re probably pulling considerably more amps through the KK ICR cells than they were designed for, which could potentially be very dangerous. There is a safer INR version of the KK available.
I’m curious - and I ask because I am not a flashlight DIYer - what’s the benefit to using a 100W LED panel, as opposed to, say 10 XML emitters (you could even run them in series, and use the same driver setup) ?
Yes they might be but as I said I use 100W led only for cost reasons
You have to pay for each t6 from 5 to 10$ and you will need more space for them (the Cree XML XM-L T6 100W emitter cost about 50:money_mouth_face: and for one 100W led I paid 10$, I really don’t know which one is the best but I know which one is the cheaper
You are right for batteries canister solution and you can see in my video that when I was testing my 50W one into sea water the batteries were in my arm with a DIY canister but I decide that I prefer to hold everything in one “box” especially for the 50W because as you can see is very small and inside water weights about 150 grams
For batteries I decide to use the KING KONG ones from a review that saws they can give 10A for almost half hour with no problems at all , but because the enclosure is big enough for the 100W driver I also use some times a LIPO 3 cell 5000 mah 20S, of course for 50W one there is no problem
Thanks again
Awesome project and great video for demonstration! Really impressive flood. It looks like someone just turned on a few porch lights behind you. Amazing!
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I like this photo , it shows the amount of light that 100W one can give - after all they use this kind of lights for lighting gardens and buildings
Yes, sorry, this thread is about your custom lights, and I forgot to say they are excellent, would like to see a video of the beam during actual diving, if you ever record one
Believe me after the tests with my 50W last summer I am very curious to see the 100W one this summer
I already have my DYI underwater case (cost ! euro ) for my 808#16 spy camera
You can check my other 6 youtube videos I believe you will find a lot of interest ideas and patents there and one underwater video (day time)
Nice! You could unsolder the FET's on the board, run some heavy gauge wire to the aluminum body and thermal glue them to the side (just make sure they stay electrically insulated and the wires too)
Can't wait for the underwater video's! :D
You might get better space and aH per volume if you used some of those LiPo square cells vs the big honkering round ones, still...wow...just wow!
Out of stock, but 36V NiMH battery pack (if it would fit)
I must say to you the same that I said to another friend 2 comments before (why I choose one 100W led)
Its all about cost - these KING KONG batteries cost me 8$ each from CNQualityGoods (free shipping)
I also have one more 50W flashlight (my first attempt) with a 3 cell lipo 4000mah Turnigy battery , the battery cost about 35$ with shipping
The reason that I didn’t like lipo batteries for this project is that they need 2 different kind of wires for charging (balance) also is much easier to fit 3 or more cylinder batteries connected with wires into the main body than one pack battery
I am aware that cost is very important to you but changing those generic chinese “100W” led arrays with something more decent (Bridgelux, Cree, Lustrous…) would give you much more improvement regarding lumen output.
Yes I believe they do , but already I decide that 50W is more than enough for almost any kind of underwater light (diving or just fun -like me)
The 100W one I just make it for fun and impress my friends , if you don’t want something very strong for specific reason the 50W one with this amount of light is perfect
If I had to choose something better I believe that cree-t6 (100W emitter) even working with 50W driver will be better
I already made a 50W flashlight for a friend of mine (photographer) that dives to 30 meters and he is very happy with it , until now he had to pay about 100 to 200$ for a decent diving flashlight around 1500 lumen