Mike C drivers: v8 series, ATtiny1634 based.

Aha, ok. I always cut the wire at the end of the via and do a separate spring bypass if I am using a spring. I never really though about doing it that way, just pulling the whole wire through.

If I can’t figure out how to shuffle the F-2’s components around enough I can just design a F-1 for those who want it that way. In any case I need to wait for these boards to show up from OSH Park before I make any changes to design.

Exciting. How many cells do you expect you could go up to in series, assuming the voltage divider and FW is appropriately adjusted? Looks like you are planning on only going up to 2S (based on text in the OP), but was wondering if the selected LDO above can go to 4S.

Do you plan on using one of your spare boards as a pin jig for flashing?

EDIT: I heard that 7135's can't go past 2S, but I've done it before with LDO's. Maybe I was lucky with emitter Vf's close to the battery voltage. I did beef up the 7135 heat sinking in those cases, but I really haven't used those lights much. So maybe they will soon die. Anyway, putting aside the 7135's, I'm wondering what the max number of cells you expect will work.

It looks like, for people who want a driver bypass on BAT+, they could just drill a hole through the middle instead of adding the second 7135 chip. I don’t see any critical traces there. Or they could do a normal spring bypass, or put the bypass on the outside of the spring.

4S. However, my attempts with 7135s on 4S where not successful, so for 4S I have shifted my attention to a 3 amp LDO (LT3083). I haven’t gotten around to testing them out yet though. I have all the parts, I just haven’t taken the time (been more interested in getting the ATtiny841 boards ready.

Do you have any more details on the LDO and design you used to get 7135s running on 4S? I’ve got everything working with 4S except the 7135s.

No. My plan is to have one dedicated development board with stiff pins soldered in place. Then when I want to upgrade firmware in flashlights that have the drivers I would perform some acupuncture like the photo in the OP.

Yeah, but designing a F-1 from the F-2 would be fairly easy. First I’ll see if I can achieve it with the F-2, after I have received and tested the latest version.

Anyone know the via drill size used in that MTN 17DD driver? The size I have used is probably too small as it isn’t designed to fit the whole wire with coating.

Chapeau Mike C
That looks nice
I really like the through-hole programming. :+1:
This might be handy for another driver

Useful for single sided drivers that might be getting firmware updates. Basically all my lights are eligible for firmware updates :slight_smile:

Done. I fiddled around a bit in Eagle and managed to move the BAT+ via almost dead center (it’s a little off). I also made it bigger with a 1.6mm drill size. I had to sacrifice one of the 0805 C2 caps in order to keep both 7135s but I’m pretty sure only one is needed. I’ll upload v5.3 to OSH Park and share it once v5.2 is tested.

You didn’t have to do that… it was already very good. :slight_smile:

My only concern of any substance is whether it’ll be able to fit in common 17mm hosts. But I’m guessing it could have ~0.4mm filed off the edges if necessary? I’d love to hear whether it fits into popular 18650 tube lights, since that size of driver gets used so widely.

To be honest I did it for myself. I hadn’t thought about wiring the LED that way, it’s pretty neat. I also needed a break from coding, so a bit of mucking about in Eagle was welcome.
I changed the via size down to 1.5, but there is enough clearance for a 2mm hole if one wanted to drill it out. I was thinking about putting a hole instead of via, but that would mean a little extra hassle for my lights where I don’t want a driver spring.

I’ve used this same 17.8mm diameter drivers in my S2, S3, M1 and M2s since a long time. I use that diameter so I can file down for a snug fit, although I haven’t had to file anything off but the fabrication panel tabs for the shelfless S3 and M2. Filing all the way down to 17mm would be no problem, there would still be some ground ring left, you would have just hit the holes in the ground ring vias.

Mike C wrote:

4S. However, my attempts with 7135s on 4S where not successful, so for 4S I have shifted my attention to a 3 amp LDO (LT3083). I haven’t gotten around to testing them out yet though. I have all the parts, I just haven’t taken the time (been more interested in getting the ATtiny841 boards ready.

Do you have any more details on the LDO and design you used to get 7135s running on 4S? I’ve got everything working with 4S except the 7135s.

When I get a chance, I'll dig up one of my lights that I did it in and double check that they do work properly. If it does, I'll report back.

Cool. Thanks.

Well, one thing led to another… now there is a F-4. It’s the same as the F-2 except with two additional 7135s that are on the back side, which in turn required a slightly smaller spring pad so they could fit. Of coarse the two new ones are on another pin, so any number of one to four 7135s can be turned on in constant current, and for any level between I will PWM the 7135 on PB2.

I’ll still keep the F2 available as it has a larger spring pad, otherwise there is no need for it if Nanjg sized springs are used. If only two 7135s are wanted, don’t populate the ones on the back (spring pad) side. I also put another 0805 cap on the back side since I removed one from the F-2. If the F-4 is made with four 7135s, then it’s a double sided board anyway, so two OTSM caps can be used for longer measurable off times if desired.

I also managed to squeeze in another switch via, so if a E-switch is soldered in place there is still an available via for acupuncture style flashing. This is for both the F-2 and F-4.

I want to test that the F-2 v5.2 works before making the v5.3 F-2 and F-4 available. As far as I can tell, no one has ordered the current F-2 so I’ve un-shared it for now because the new v5.3 (that the firmware will be working for) will have a pin change.

Work is getting the way though, I’m being sent of to Israel tomorrow, and then on to New Delhi, so this stuff will be on hold. I don’t want to take small electronics and development stuff will cells, buttons and wires with me because Israeli airport security is a lot tighter than most other countries.

You are a true jet setter Mike. :stuck_out_tongue:

It sounds really nice. I should probably get or make one after it’s known to work, for development purposes. It seems avr-gcc didn’t add support for the tiny841 until fairly recently though, which means I’ll have to upgrade some tools…

BTW, before you finalize anything, do you think there’s any chance of getting a trace from an ADC-capable pin to LED- ? This would allow the driver to sense the ambient light level while the LED is off, which means it could be configured by pointing it at a computer screen with binary code blinking in black and white. Or it could maybe sense whether to skip moon mode when the ambient light level is too high for moon.

I will do that on a next version. For testing in the meantime there is a via used for flashing that is otherwise unused. It’s on PA5 which has ADC capabilities.

TK, that really sounds wonderful. I love a true moonlight mode in almost every light and if it were there or not based on existing light… that would be awesome! The programming idea is interesting, thus having the extra space in the chip might be huge!

We seem to have new drivers showing up every day that have lots of potential right now. It is awesome! Just wish I could wrap my head around building them. I can see I will be ordering parts soon and testing this bad boy out!

Any news on this?

Updated OP with info on new v6 design.

Nice work Mike. Just wish I understood the workings a lot more than I do. :beer:

Holy super driver, batman! Great stuff, Mike!

Thanks!

I’ve just received the new v6 design for the F-2 and F-4, so I’ll build a few and make sure there aren’t any screw-ups.

The v6 component and pin design is already tested and working nicely though. I made a L4 dedicated version with 14 x 7135s which is the first of my v6 drivers to actually make it into a light: What did you mod today? - #2984 by Mike_C

I used a 22uF X7S rated OTSM cap on the L-14 which consistently gets over 10 measurable seconds at 4V and room temperature. I’ll have to lower the voltage and heat it up to test the margins.