Ive just been using first post of your BLF17 thread as reference for how to put these drivers together.
Yeah. Back when I did my 7K+ (never measured, just assumed) tint mixed 9 XM-L light I had to rely on 3x Sony 50A cells in order to get the amps high.
Would only get up towards 7500mAh.
With this light. I can use 6x NCR18650BD (3200mAh) and get close to 19200mAh and still have insane performance.
No doubt these flooder throws. Although, It has to be said for those (not you Tom E) who just read the numbers and are not familiar with such lights. Its not a thrower compared to a thrower. Meaning, due to all the flood light, lots of moisture, dust, etc thats in the air gets lit up. The ground in front of you also gets lit up a lot. These things makes it harder to see light far into the distance. No doubt, its extremely impressive. But its still a flooder, just with very good range.
My 9 XM-L light was included in this beamshot comparison for those who want to get an idea of how the beam on a hot rodded multi emitter lights with some de-domed emitters look.
Yupp! :)
Three of my ground wires from the contact board goes directly to the FET (Two 22awg and one 18awg). Then I thought, why not add another one (22 awg) that goes to the driver board as well since its so easy to solder there. I don't like soldering too many thick wires to the FETs, I end up soldering wire on top of wire. Do you think its bad to have one of those wires to the board and not directly on the FET?
I also consider all those copper wires to the FETs to work as a "heatsink" to some extend.
Post #55: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/27485?page=1#comment-609956
I haven't tried it myself, but we don't think any fix is needed for the zener-modded drivers, since the original polarity protection diode gets eliminated.
I only get one mode on my last FET driver. I’m pretty sure it’s because I initially attached the Zener in reverse and cooked the MCU. Maybe your Zener is not making contact properly. Just a thought…I’m over my head here.
Nice, 15000 lumen, that is what the once amazing Foursevens Maelstrom XM18 puts out, but in a way less bulky package, I guess this mod did not cost you $2,400 dollars :-)
Well done! I love those insane stunts you pull. Now tell me, did you turn it on last night around 23.30 in a southern direction? I was thinking it may have been you or aurora borealis lighting up the northern sky :-)
hehe.. Compared to "rivals", its extremely cheap. I don't think this light have any direct rivals though. No manufacturer would be stupid enough to make something like it. :D
[quote=Werner]
you should solder GND wire also direct on the FET because I wouldn't trust the copper paths with this currents...
[/quote]
Three of my ground wires from the contact board goes directly to the FET (Two 22awg and one 18awg). Then I thought, why not add another one (22 awg) that goes to the driver board as well since its so easy to solder there. I don't like soldering too many thick wires to the FETs, I end up soldering wire on top of wire. Do you think its bad to have one of those wires to the board and not directly on the FET?
I also consider all those copper wires to the FETs to work as a "heatsink" to some extend.
[/quote]
some wires to the FET are good it's just that the main current can flow direct to the LEDs and doesn't need to flow through the small circuit paths. The consideration with a wire working as heatsink seems smart...
Here's one: fasttech-trustfire-tr-12t6 and here: dhgate-kinfire-k1200s-12-xm-l2. I know KD has one (one of the 1st places), plus eBay, AliExpress, etc., I'm sure. The farfarled guy lists it as XM-L2, but think the pic is XML's.
I got mine from DX. There’s a BLF coupon code. I also had some points to cash in. They shipped it right away and it was delivered without delay. It says XM-L2, but it’s not, and I didn’t expect it to be. Probably XM-L U2.
Wish I had a flashlight like that to compare to the 15 led supernight… That thing puts out so much light… Actually so much it lights up an entire room like it’s daytime pointing it strait up at the ceiling. The problem is it heats up like crazy and the lumens drop. It’s way brighter than the 5 led I have, dwarfs that light.
Anyways I’m happy with the 15, it’s just basically a toilet plunger club. It doesn’t bother me to hold it for long periods of time, and the next mode memory is just a minor inconvenience really. Just cycle it quick with taps on the end- don’t push the button in all the way. I might mod it with better wiring and copper braid the springs, but if I was in a haunted house- just sayin xd. You can see everything in front, behind you, it’s pretty slick. You can always extend it with another tube too like 4 batteries isn’t enough. It just gets too hot with 15 crees… Wonder if it affects longevity. I’ve brought it out on the farm and it lights up the area your working in nicely.
I’d really like to see a monster light though because I can just imagine if it’s really twice as bright. If mine gets too hot to touch, I can just imagine the sink on this thing turning into a stove. That can’t be good on the batteries either!
