I'm starting to feel like it's more fun making these "from scratch" lights than modifying other production lights.
I bought a P60 Drop-in from Illumination Supply and since it's my first one ever, I had no light to put it into, so I took a piece of 1" copper pipe and waddya know? It looked like a perfect fit (almost)...
The parts in the photo are a section of 1" copper pipe, various copper fittings, the modified drop in, a McClicky switch, 6AAA battery holder (3series/2parallel), a 2.8A - 8*7135 driver and a glass UV filter.
The story is best told in the video shown below.
The LED will be an XM-L T6 and should come the first of this week. I will do some beam shots when it's finished.
The battery holder is 24.5mm x 110mm. The pipe is 26.2mm ID, so a 26650 would fit in the pipe, but you would have to make a spacer because of the 110mm length. Or if you made one of these lights yourself, just make it to length. The last one I did held 3 "C" NiMHs.
Well, the light is done. Not working as I planned, but working. It's the McClicky that seems to be acting up, or maybe it's made that way, but when I first touch the switch (just barely touch it), that's when I have to "mode change". If I just "turn it on" it doesn't mode change after it has been turned on. In other words if you just click it it's on and if you try to change modes after that......... Oh never mind, it's just a really strange switch probably designed for some oddball light. I can't figure it out. Too hard to describe, but I don't know why it does that. Very disconcerting... Having to mode change by barely depressing the switch (before the click) and then when you got the mode you want, you have to continue depress completely and quickly in that moment, or it changes modes.
Well, I guess I could do something else with it, but you know? I'm done.
After a while it sinks in that (for me), what works is "Maglite & Direct Drive" or making my own simple switch, like the first copper light was. I cannot be trying to wire all these circuit boards. It does not work and these fancy switches just don't seem to work for me either. I just like simple on/off. Just like a flashlight used to be and that's what I'm going back to. Of course that limits me, as these cree emitters can't take direct drive nearly as well as the old "D" bin P7s did, but that's life too. A "D" bin P7 on four NiMHs direct is every bit as bright as these XML are and it doesn't fry like these XML do... Progress...
Oh Well, life is what it is. Here's a couple of final photos of it and it's history...
I ended up using the rotary tool to grind down the reflector some, to clear the wires and sink the reflector farther down onto the pill and I made an isolator from a plastic washer, by sanding it very thin.
The lens is held on with a bead of epoxy between the lens and reflector.
I have yellow (cream) colored walls in the garage. Every beam always looks funky with cream colored walls.
Edit: The McClicky is ok, it's just a forward clicky. Modern technology will be the death of me...
LOL! I read the first paragraph in the last post and was wondering how long it would take you to realize your switch was fine…just back asswards. I personally don’t like forward clicky switches either.
I think that's the one you were thinking of. Still in the works. Now I'm probably putting an SST-90 in it and "it" will be a 3D instead of the 2D, with the adapted head.