Hey guys, my name is Tom and I am new to the forum. Great site!!! I need a little help and advice as to choosing a 26650 powered light that has a programmable driver. I want this to be a strobe only device. I am most likely if everything works out going to build a couple of these so if possible I would like to start with an off-the-shelf light and then modify the body to mount into my unit. Having the ability to remotely mount the on/off/mode switch and is also an important detail. Additionally if the option exists to add a second 26650 for added usage time that would be awesome. I look forward to everyone’s replies and advice.
Thank you
Tom
Anybody………… anybody……………. anybody ……………,.
Well, how much ability do you have? Can you replace the driver yourself? Or do you need something really off the shelf?
The remote switch could also be a a tough point. I don’t know of any 26650 lights that have that.
Are you saying that you want a ‘programmable’ driver as one that has a fancy user interface, or one that has a MCU that can be re-flashed to actually change the UI? If you just want one you can flash the MCU, there are definitely some around. For the driver, you could easily buy any light that looks nice to you, and then buy a replacement driver that can be programmed any way you want. But, in order to really give good advice, we might need a few more clues about what kind of specs you’re actually looking for in the light. You said remote mount switch. Does that mean a e-switch light, or a clicky-switch light that has a pressure-switch add-on available? How important is adding a second 26650? Some lights can be bought that have an extension tube already, so you can use either one or two 26650’s to power it. But, some other lights only have a long enough tube for one battery, and the extension tube is sold separately. Do you want a reflector light, or aspheric lens (and/or zoomie) or a TIR? Can you tell us a price range you’re looking for?
David,
Thank you very much for the reply. In the past I have purchased and off-the-shelf strobe unit and then mate it to a lithium ion battery pack. Kind of sloppy in the efficiency department.!
Whelen Vertex™ Super-LED® Single Lighthead - StrobesNMore.com!
!https://www.cordlessrenovations.com/?product=cr1600b-14-8v-2800mah-2x2-brick-lithium-ion-battery-pack!
The hideaway strobe unit is designed to run off of a car battery with an alternator connected to it. It’s always hungry. It also has no over discharge protection whatsoever.
I want to run three XPL emitters in parallel off 1 or 2 x 26650 LiIon cell mounted in a flashlight body and I would attach a remote switch to my housing. Does a driver that will maintain a flash pattern in memory require an electronic switch? A flashlight body has a ton of excellent machining already. Seems like a good jump start.
No, a strobe doesn’t require e-switch. I was just trying to clarify what you wanted. E-switches are inherently able to be located in remote locations, because the power circuit doesn’t flow through them. A remote power switch would require relatively thick wiring to reduce resistance and power loss. Plus, since it interrupts the flow of power, it must be connected in a particular way to do that. I haven’t really seen anybody make a remote power switch, but some lights have remote switch accessories that can be bought separately. Those are usually a replacement tail-cap with leads going out to a pressure switch, which can then be mounted away from the light. These are usually made with short leads, for mounting a flashlight on top of a gun and the switch near the trigger. I’ve never used one, but some of the guys on this forum use them. An e-switch cannot cut power to the driver, so if you need to be able to turn off power completely with a remote switch, then e-switch won’t work for you.
Another thing you can think about is using a light that has a strobe mode and has mode memory. With that, you could already have it come on in strobe mode every time, so you don’t need to change the driver.
David
Just thinking, after looking at the drivers and triple LED options available at Mtn Electronics that it would be practical to machine “a battery tube/ housing” for 2 x26650 cells and use my existing switches. Unless there’s an existing flashlight body/host that could serve the same purpose. The switch wireing would take some thought for sure.
Looked at these?
https://www.google.com/search?q=flashlight+remote+switch+26650
Flush your cache and restart your browser if the search bubble may be limiting what you see.
Choose ‘search tools’ verbatim, and/or limit the time span to recent items to narrow the results down further
Thank you Hank, those switches give me great insight as to what switches exist. Do most drivers use momentary switches? If I cut off the switch that comes with those tail caps and install my waterproof momentary switch I would be totally in business. The more I think about it if I had a driver with memory one momentary push would turn on the driver and go to the flash pattern in memory another push would turn it off. SWEEEEEEEET
Tom
Lemme see if I can be any further use here.
I don’t know offhand of a driver you can lock into strobe-only.
Someone here will know if it exists —- or more likely know how to build what you want .
The problem I think you’ll find with the usual driver with mode memory — nice as they are — is that when you bump the switch twice by mistake, or bump the light so the battery momentarily bounces off the contact spring, the light will change modes.
Using strobe as a pedestrian that’s no big deal, but it happens often enough, then I have to poke at the button to get it back to doing what I want — or run out of the crosswalk if some oblivious driver is bearing down in the dark without seeing me.
But there are expert firmware writers here who will know what to do.
You need to find the flashlight host you want — there are a lot of 2x26650 flashlights, some may be good enough, and have
— that kind of remote tailcap, OR an electronic switch (usually a side button).
Get advice about solid host flashlights that will take your 2x26650s; find out the diameter of the driver so someone can recommend/build one to go into it.
That’ll depend a lot on the other choices you make.
Someone can build you a tailcap using the button hole for a wire and a handheld switch at the other end of the wire.
Length and diameter of the wire will affect that since it’s carrying all the current — see “spring bypass” discussions.
OR, run the wire out the side hole for a driver with an electronic switch, where the side button/wire is only carrying a small current.
Be aware an electronic switch is always going to drain the battery slightly (“parasitic drain”) because it’s always watching for you to click the button
OR you have a tailcap you can partly unscrew, to “lock out” the current, which (unless the firmware is screwed up as happens) will isolate the battery so it doesn’t drain.
Complications …. beyond me, I’m just going to sit back and watch from here on I expect.
Tom E, there are firmwares available that have ‘strobe only’ as one of the mode groups. Surely you know this? 
Ah, following DavidEF’s clue:
http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=227
page down to the line that says:
Strobe Only
and below that
“To lock the mode groups: Solder Pin 5 to ground.”
Note the above is not for an electronic switch; page further down for that, and the choices are different.
It’ll take some study and perhaps correspondence with RMM or someone to get this all figured out.
Yes, I spent some time today looking at the different modes available on drivers at Mtn Electronics. My goal is simplicity for the user. It seems some are “buried a little deep in the UI. But I really need to read a lot more on whats out there.
Tom
Here is your electronic switch:
Source: 5 Pin Relay 12V DC 20A Coil Power Relay SRA-12VDC-CL
Small enough to fit on a 26650 flashlight tailcap, I believe.
Lossless… eer, I mean, pretty little loss.
As only little current is required to keep it on, cable lenght shouldn't be an issue.
Cheers ^:)
Posted on: Sat, 09/24/2016 - 02:18; little correction.
Checked out the SRA-12VDC-CL (Songle) datasheet. Coil is 180Ω, so even at about 100 feet distance to the coil load (relay) with AWG24 wire the voltage drop won't yet be significant.
With 5A load on the relay, switch resistance will still be below 40mΩ (less than 0'2V of drop).
Wondering, though, about the genuineness of the stuff I linked above. 
Cheaper on aliexpress, too.
Cheers ^:)
Thanks Barkuti.
How do you insert a pic into a message? I tried the buttons above but only web addresses seem to work.
You need a direct link to an image; you can usually get it by right clicking/hold-on tapping on an image and selecting “open image”/“open image in a new window”/etc. Some sites block this behaviour with JavaScript code, in such cases you'll need to reload the page (with JavaScript disabled, of course) in order to be able to attain the link: I had to do that on the Banggood link I posted before.
Of course, I'll refrain to comment on what is my opinion with regards to these moronic practices. Oops! Already said enough. 
Cheers ^:)
This the buoy and housing that the "strobe only" flashlight host will be threaded into. The top of the orange mast has a threaded aluminum insert molded in so I can fabricate any housing to receive the host body. I have 2-3 different Lexan domes or lenses that will keep the emitters 100% water proof. I hope these pictures help better describe my project.
Worked like a charm. Thank you 
Is your plan to substitute that threaded aluminum insert with a custom molded/cast piece designed to hold the host?
Why 3 XP-Ls? Floody type light?
If you'd like to fit 4x XP-Ls in a compact package, take a look at this:
Source: 4x quad XP footprint copper DTP stars my dears! :-)
Cheers ^:)