Oh yeah, just remembered, I don’t think you should have any trouble with the driver heating up at 1A. I don’t remember hearing of problems at that A, and I don’t think I’ve had any.
Thanks mike, due to the width of the opening in the torch, 17mm is about as much as i can go, so i doubt i will manage to put in a wider heatsink, thinking about something custom out of but copper sheeting if it is needed.
Yeah i think the charger will provide up to 3a of current, and the 4056 will draw whats needed. I have used a few sealed units, such as the one below, for some usb charging in cars, that can be hidden away, rather than use the 12v aux socket chargers. The step-down charger i have pictured on the torch, has already been stripped of its usb socket, but is about as big as my thumbnail. The sealed units i linked are nicer for a permenant install, maybe i’ve given you something back!
yeah i am not so stressed about leaving the 4056 in the car, as it will only be powered when the car is on, so i will be driving. I will look at multipacks of bulbs, i like getting spares for other future projects, i will see what there is, but i do have 2 cars with these torches so i am doubling up on everything, in the hope that this project will work!
I don’t even know how many times I have answered stuff on forums and wound up finding something new! Learning new stuff.
Ok, so this is the brains of a car charger for a phone? I should be able to get a cigarette lighter plug in, might have to cut off an old one. Where else could I get the power from, any ideas, other than the cigarette lighter?
How can you test these? I already had an 18650-powered miller ml-102v6 (I think? ) fry a droid RAZR. At least I think that’s how it stopped working. I think if you hooked up a multimeter to the step down charger, you’d get 3A, which is a bit high.
I tried the miller charger on my new smartphone. Ampere app was at like 1.6A, after it settled down. No idea how high it went. I think micro usb is only 1.5A. So, I’d like to be able to test.
Well you have helped me with a little education on this subject too, thanks.
The step down charger i am using in the torch, and the one i listed, is the brains of a charger for a phone or any other usb 5v device that draws under 3a. I use one of the ones i listed on ebay to run a bluetooth call/music streaming unit in my work van, and also a digital radio. As i prefer the units with as little on show as possible, all the wires and charger are behind the dashboard. i don’t like the mess of cabling from the cigarette lighter, and have had issues with the connection blowing fuses on them before.
As for powering your charger, i usually run the wiring to a ground, and a switched positive with an inline fuse. Switched power usually comes from things such as the back of the radio, or the back of the cigarette lighter, but you have to check as some will be constant 12v, and won’t switch off with the ignition. Things get a little harder on more modern vehicles with canbus systems, which usually share wiring looms throughout the car, and it can be a little more complex to find a switched positive 12v.
I am not sure how you test these, I dont always test components, my lack of electrical knowledge comes in here, but the only time i have tested current is searching for parasytic draws on the battery with the ignition off. Again my thoughts on current was it has to be tested in line as a draw, so unless you take the usb socket off the charging board or break into the charging cable it will be difficult to measure the current draw. My thoughts were the charger will only provide what is being asked of it, up to a maximum, and asking the charger to provide more current will fry it. I don’t think you’d be able to just hook up a multimeter to the 3a charger without a load being shown to it, it may possibly max out and just show 3a befor switching off/frying itself/frying your multimeter as you are effictively shorting the circuit. Correct me if i am wrong!
Just a quick update, for anyone else looking to do this project, if you use the following drivers, with a new led emitter, you should be able to uprate just the bulb and keep the original batteries, a far simpler modification!
It will take the stndard input voltage and boost it to run the led.
https://www.fasttech.com/products/1612/10001750/1127402-12-aaaaa-1-mode-800ma-linear-booster-led-flashligh
https://www.fasttech.com/products/1612/10001924/1138201-aaaaltihium-5-mode-3a-led-flashlight-driver-circui