The OptoFire Searchlight | BEAMSHOTS on page 3 | record-breaking aspheric LED thrower

:smiley: thanks!
I’m surprised I haven’t been stopped at an airport yet for the bomb-looking flashlights I always take with me xD

:smiling_imp:

Some stuff that I realized during this build that is a good learning experience and will be applied to future builds:



  • a parabolic reflector will be used in the next build, too many down sides to lenses such as chromatic aberration, imperfect aspheres, clear apertures that are smaller than the lens diameter, etc…

- temperature meter needs to be tested outside the flashlight at all LED brightness levels, and it needs to have better electrical insulation from the heatsink
I will also not glue it down next time :smiley:

- some felt or foam needs to be added between the heatsink and the PVC tube to help it slide easily when focusing

- the LUW Q8WP will theoretically have higher intensity than the Oslon Black Flat LED, when it becomes available

- a larger heatsink or liquid cooling will be used next time inn order to achieve even higher current and intensity. TEC/peltier cooling will also be considered

- a custom hemispherical collar might be used in the next build to increase intensity further by using a smaller aperture, and wasting less light that doesn’t hit the optic

- non-LED light sources will be tested, potentially achieving close to short-arc lamp performance without any bulbs (very early experimental research)

- next build will hopefully have a larger optic to make a thicker - and more visible - beam while also increasing lux. Hopefully between 6 and 12”

- a more powerful fan(s) will be used in the next build, rather than a quiet fan, in order to obtain the best cooling possible regardless of noise

My Braun shaver uses this principle (to cool skin, to avoid irritation); it’s a bit of a surreal experience. Pretty cool.

I use various sticky back felt for stuff like that

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flannel-Car-Auto-Black-Wiring-Harness-Anti-Rattle-Self-Adhesive-Felt-Tape-15M-/282489008517?epid=903279783&hash=item41c5a83185:g:v20AAOSwBt5ZIqXg

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Self-Adhesive-Craft-Felt-Rolls-from-1-95-Free-Postage-/172772572619?var=&hash=item283a0c3dcb:m:mxcQGOwhcsczgkCrhgXikdg

Nice build!

And nice how-to as well as beamshots.

Yeah, it used to be pretty popular like a decade ago for PC cooling, but CPUs output too much heat for it to make any difference.
For a sub-30W LED it will probably work great, maybe like sub-0 degrees :smiley:

Thanks :slight_smile:

Thank you!
I always try to document the whole process for other people who want to learn or build the same, since that’s how I learnt to start building flashlights from old BLF/CPF threads.

*WOW!!!* Very impressive. You engineered that build like a professional scientist. Man you did very well. You should be working for a big flashlight or led manufacturers. By the way, if that is your home you took the picture from, you have a lovely home. Where is it that you live? Very nice place. I'm very impressed with everything you did here. As we say in the US Navy submarine service " Bravo Zulu"!! :THUMBS-UP:

Thanks :stuck_out_tongue: I don’t think most normal flashlight manufacturers are interested in extreme stuff like this, but maybe for military or search and rescue applications :slight_smile:
Maybe that’s what I might do as a job when I finish university, who knows.

Also, unfortunately that isn’t my home, just a place in Spain I’m on vacation at. It is very nice.

I love this build. It is very well engineered and executed. Great job, and thanks for sharing! I’ve also had good luck using hot glue to affix a wavien collar.

Thank you! :slight_smile:
Yeah, hot glue works excellent as long as it doesn’t get hot enough to soften.
With that huge heatsink and lots of airflow it is very solid even when on max power :smiley:

I love this build. Excellent job. I zoomed in on the boat pics expecting some guy to be holding up the middle finger at you :smiley:

Hahaha thanks :smiley:
I do my best to not shine my lights at buildings or people :stuck_out_tongue: or else I will get in trouble fast that way.

The other day when I went out for another night test there was a police officer watching me for a while, but he never came to say anything to me.
I guess he saw I wasn’t pointing it at people, just the sky and ocean, so it was fine.

A few more pictures…

And the standard 1000m beamshsots I do to the antenna at the top of a mountain:

:slight_smile:

Shouldn’t you put some kind of light shield in the front side of the tube?

So that the PVC tube doesn’t get lit up from the inside?
Yeah I could, but that would prevent me from sliding the LED assembly up and down the tube for focusing.
There are also the holes on the bottom side of the front for air exhaust, which I can’t cover up.

I didn’t really feel it was a problem, so I just left it as is.
This is the stray light that passes through the wavien collar without getting reflected back to the LED.
If it was light coming directly from the LED it would be much brighter.
I did line the inside of the head section with blackout paper, since some LED light does hit there directly with this longer focal length lens.

Nice pics! :+1: :beer:

Thanks :slight_smile:

Wow, great pictures and a fun read. Great job on the build!

thanks for sharing this project, very nice build

Thank you! :slight_smile: