DST using 3 18650's (Finished)

LIKE! :)

MRsDNF, that is a copper star, Noctigon..

That is my super observant powers at work again. Yes you are 200% correct. Problem is it wont be the last dumb question I ask. Thanks.

Thanks guys. Added a few more pictures so that the end objective is clearer.

You could drive a 6V MT-G2 in the DST with this setup?

Ohaya wrote:

You could drive a 6V MT-G2 in the DST with this setup?

Should work. I haven't tried 3 cells with MT-G2 yet, but it works fine with 2 cells. I intend to do this to my MT-G2 DST too. I have really become attached to that light. I use it more than all of my other lights now when it comes to outside.

Great work! I like it!

-Garry

And I bought an extra Defiant 5C to do this in the future, Yours will be better!
So many leaves, so little time

+1 Super nice!

You did great! I like the way you solder the parts.

:bigsmile:

Thanks for the positive comment and encouragement guys.

I worked on it more tonight, but I ended up blowing 2 emitters. This driver can really deliver the juice. I just reflowed a new emitter and dialed back the trim pot a lot, but its late and I need to crash. Hopefully, it will be at some semi sane level of current next time as this project is starting to go from budget to not so budget now.

Got it running tonight. That trim pot is real accurate for dialing in current. Set it to about 6.75 amps. I say about because I measured current with the pill out of the light. There could be resistance in the light that brings in down. There could have been resistance with the DMM that could have under measured (doubtful though).

The hot spot is much smaller now. Measured a 237kcd. Hopefully, I can improve that. I will hopefully take some pictures this weekend.

Wow! Draw measured at the emitter? Sounds like unless that’s already perfectly focused, there could be more …

Yeah, that is amps at the emitter. Not sure if it is fully focused or not yet. Probably not far off.

I just took it for a walk last night. It's a light saber with some flood narrow faint spill. One has to be careful to not continually get dazzled by the concentrated beam/hot spot. Running it on low is about the only way to walk around with it on.

I will do this mod to my dedomed MT-G2 DST. Will only have about half the throw, but it will light up a big area. That is more my type of light for general usage. It won't run on Ni-mh, etc though.

Edit: Flood was the wrong word above.

Nice work!

Will there be some beamshots comparing it with one of your MT-G2 lights in the future?? ^^

What kind of current did you fry the emitters at?

I'll try. I still don't have the night time beam shot skill.

I don't know the current the emitters fried at. Here is what a happened. I'll admit ahead of time that I was not exercising the due care (from the emitters' perspectives). I was trying to dial in the trim pot. Started it at the mid point and got 4.3amps. That is pretty much the stock current. Expected that given the trim pot's specs. Started the process of turning a few turns and then reconnecting cells and testing current. After many iterations, I became concerned that I had a bad connection or bad trim pot. So, not wanting to unsolder the trim pot and test it, I decided to just short the trim pot, connect cells for a split second to see if current jumps. The emitter flashed the moment I connected (2 cells) and then the emitter no longer worked. No current flowed after the flash and I didn't see the current reading at the time of connection.

The second emitter. So I knew I had a good connection to the driver, but maybe the trim pot didn't work. So I turned the trim pot all the way up. Based on what I read about the lowest resistance the trimpot was capable of, I figured I was going to end up there anyway. Connected the cells and the same exact thing happened again. Flash, no longer worked, no current flowed after the flash, and didn't see the reading at the moment of connection. Probably didn't even register a reading as fast as it happened.

I know, I know. I knew better. Was tired and impatient. I need to not mod when I feel that way.

EDIT: I will add that this driver is deceptively beastly. I don't know how far the trim pot is from max, but it is further than I expected. Looking at the voltage sense resistors, they are physically large. Don't know the size spec, but they dwarf the typical sense resistor you see on drivers. I'll add this. I have a TN31 that I have to fight to get it in 6 amp territory. This driver gets there easy and is rock solid. The current doesn't fluctuate. I need to find a way to make this driver a slave to another MCU.

Thanks for the info! :)

Up to 309kcd. Fabbed a copper spring (actually a dome) and that really increased the out put. Guess the half-ass copper tabs were not putting enough pressure on the cells.

Dropping the emitter back has really brought the light near focus. Right now the top of the reflector centering ring is flush with the inside of the reflector. Charging up some cells and will work on fine tuning the focus.

How much did the draw change?

Sleeper! Amazing that this light could look so inexpensive and produce amazing results.

Could you give us a close-up of where you connected the pot, and a link to the exact pot please?

I guess what does looking so inexpensive have to do with flat-out raw size, big amps, and skilled determination ? :smiley:

You could take a .99 cent store flashlight with these same basic dimensions and turn it into one relative blasting beast if one were so determined.

Never necessarily judge any light’s potential just by the look of its tube. :bigsmile:

This light has always had the bones even at $22.98 much less $12. One just had to recognize what it already had compared to others way more expensive that didn’t have it.