Hi all,
I have this empty 3D Mag with custom 34mm bezel that screws right on. A flat heatsink too. I want to build a simple direct drive build. Wire the +/- wires to the LED and that’s it.
I emailed Mountain Electronics 2 weeks ago the same question but they never replied. I think since these 20mm triples already come wired with +/- wires that just may well be all I have to do.
Probably but it will get hot fast with no way to step the current down. If you still want the DD turbo option I suggest you look at some of the FET driver options at Mtnelectronics.
You said you have a 3D Mag for the host, but you then said that you want to “wire that off 4.2V input in DD” so, do you mean that you will only use one cell for all three emitters or somehow wire one cell to each emitter individually or something else? Since it is 3D, there is even the option to get nine AA Eneloops and three “D” sized 3xAA parallel adapters and power it with 4.2V that way (3S3P total). I’m just curious what you were thinking of doing. The MCPCB can be wired three ways: 3S or 3P or each emitter independently.
Whatever you do for power, the newer Cree emitters have been found to have higher forward voltage (Vf) than emitters from a while back. That will actually give you an advantage, because they also use less amperage and are overall more efficient and dissipate less heat. With that being the case, I’d think that you’ll have no problem running your triple with a DD setup. Just make sure you get the heat out of the head as quickly as you can through that heat-sink, and you’ll probably be alright.
The 3D mag off 3 NiMH Tenergy D cells is what I would power it with.
Fet Drivers at $13~$15 are added cost I am trying to avoid.
I thought these XPL Tripples already come wired in 3P so, that all they need is about 4.2V input to work. If they were wired in 3S I would need 12ish Volt input to make it work in DD mode right?
If you look at the pictures on the mtnelectronics page you linked, there are little jumper “buttons” to solder onto the MCPCB for either a 3S or 3P configuration. If you leave them off, you can solder wires on for each emitter individually. Yes, if they are configured in series, it will take Vf x 3 to light it up. I think you’re better off using the LED’s in parallel and going with 3S NimH like you said.
Ok…so wiring a total of 6 wires to the board (3- and 3) then linking them all to the corresponding/- of the stock Mag switch…. That’s all it would take right? Then it should work off just 3NiMH D cells.
Well, yeah, but if you’re gonna do parallel, I’d recommend you solder the appropriate jumpers on the MCPCB (you don’t even really need those little buttons) and then use just the two wires that are already there. Run one wire to the switch and the other wire to the battery terminal (the switch only switches one side of the battery).
My triple from Mtn came pre-jumpered, (pre-jumped?), (preemptively wired?), in parallel. You probably don't need the jumpers, but you might ask Richard first to be sure.
You can simply use wire to jumper those contacts. Just wire it in parallel. Fancy gold plated jumpers are great, but solder and wire does the same thing.
I never got your e-mail. In short, yes it will, but that will obviously produce an insane amount of heat. If there are no jumpers installed, you'll have to install jumpers or bridge the pads with solder for parallel configuration.
Ok…no worries. I am ready to order whichever of the Tripple XPE’s you have in stock. I will order dedomed and simply want to wire 2 wires direct to my Maglite switch for a DD build.
How do I purchase from your site to make this happen?