Recently got one of these and on testing, found it's only drawing a pathetic 1.45a (tailcap) with 2 18650s I know will do +4a each in another light.
Anybody got recommendations for a (preferably assembled) driver to wake this thing up?
TaskLED Hyperboost, perhaps? Not sure if it’ll fit this thing.
Best I can measure with it still assembled, looks like a 26mm driver board (1.040"). I have no idea what kind of depth is available underneath though.
Pffft, series wiring is for gurls. Parallel direct drive FTW.
I somehow broke the original driver removing it, had a dead short afterwards. Not much of a loss I guess. Going to pot the whole mess with JB Weld, with some combo of big fat resistors (maybe...)
Tested it as in the pic with 1 18650, and my head still hurts something like 15 minutes later... this thing will be evil if I don't kill it before it's finished.
So... if anybody's curious, a TR-1200 tailcap switch melts somewhere right around 11.8-12 amps. lol
Lol, that’s good to know.
XR-E Q4s wired in parallel -- Emitter base potted with JB Weld -- .025" thick stick-on paper insulators replaced with .015" one-piece shim cut from some mystery material scavenged from dead computer PSU -- Thinner insulator pokes the emitters a tiny bit farther up into the reflectors, tightens up the beam a bit (as if it needed a tighter beam to start with...) -- Just the right amount (very very very little) white thermal compound on the reflector base, any areas that don't make contact with a thin layer won't transfer heat through a thicker layer of compound anyway, so more would only make it messier:
I was originally planning to run it on just one 18650, but being one to never pass up an opportunity to destroy stuff, decided to try it with two cells... and nothing exploded. I haven't checked the voltage under load yet, only amperage, but with two healthy LG 2200mAh cells I just can't see how it could sag enough to not pop the domes off. Remember, all LEDs in parallel now. And current draw settles in at around 11.7-11.8 amps (with some junky ex-laptop cells of unknown specs, only pulls 7.8-8.0 amps, so I'll probably dedicate all those junky cells to this one light, as they aren't hot enough for the single cell lights). What the heck is going on here?! Why are the LEDs not fried running from two cells?
I don’t know much, but I thought the LEDs would die at 6-7 volts.
Voltage stabilizes at around 3.65v after ~10sec, and the blisters on my fingers explain why... the springs at the head end are acting as resistors. Also explains the melty tailcap. The switch itself didn't melt, but the spring melted the little plastic insulator between the spring and the screw-in switch retainer. That spring's been replaced with a much beefier one now and the switch still works fine.
I think I would be a lot happier with the light if there were a way to run two cells in parallel, instead of in series. This has got to be pretty brutal on the cells, though I'm not intending to use the light for any long term runtimes. It's very nearly just as bright with two cells in parallel as it is with two in series, but that won't be possible without switching to another host with a side-by-side format. ;[
Parallel is possible with some creative wiring, have a look at the Nitecore NL1427. It’s 2 14500s in a 141000 configuration.
Well, no, not impossible, but not a 5-minute mod, either. Would have to make a permanent divider in the tube between the cells to dump both -'s to the body, and cut a groove for a wire to connect the rear cell's + up to the head... or maybe a flat ribbon conductor? That wouldn't require any cutting, as the cells are a pretty loose fit in the tube. Hrm...
I’ve thought about trying flat wires and running the cells to or to… Need a disc or two that are conductive on one side.
EDIT
Darn…
positive to positive or negative to negative
Battery tube I.D. = .748", cell O.D. = .712"
And I just happen to have some .012" thick x .800" wide copper sheet, just need something to use as the center divider contact plate, preferably thick enough to lock in place with an angled setscrew...
Now pulls 5a, still lots of light and a lot less melting!
Nice job on the parallel rig, looks like it turned out good.
+1, just be careful with that top cell. It looks like it could quite easily short out.
May not be visible in the pic, but the two long sections of the adapter are covered with clear packing tape, though that stuff is a major pain to work with, and as long as it stays in place it can't short anything. If the rear section shorts to the battery tube the light will turn on, bypassing the tailcap switch, and if the front shorts to the tube it won't complete a circuit until the light's switched on - and if I hit the switch and nothing comes out the front, I know to switch off ASAP and see what's going on.
I'd prefer a paint-on insulator (varnish? epoxy paint?), if there's something that's both more durable and also not too thick.
Cool, thanks! Actually I'm already making a list for a Fasttech order.