Yes, I know I bought few other things never wound up using.. But love my HC50 - nice wide coverage, use it on 3rd of 5 modes. Just wish it was more neutral tint than cool white -- looks like a bugger to take apart to mod. I really can't see as good without some sort of headlamp or extra light source, though I got 3 big flourescent fixtures in my small room - well lit. Before I used to use an 18650 tube light w/TIR optic in a NiteCore headband, but the headband would stretch out over time, and the light would end up drop'n right where I'm working...
How big host will you need to run DD? Will a Ultrafire/Convoy C8 be able to take the heat? Is there a chart somewhere that shows current and time with a good battery for this kind of driver?
Edit: Haha, Tom E is BLFs own little Sherlock Holmes with all his home made solutions. :bigsmile:
The host size for DD is pretty much personal opinions but there's also a lot of contributing factors:
- turbo timeout to run hi/turbo for only limited amt of time, or better yet, temp monitoring
- outside temp. - winter outdoors at 20F may be just fine for DD in a thin tube light
- battery dependent - don't want 6A? Ok, run a Pana PF that gives you only 5A max, or TrustFire Flame that gets you 4A max
- don't use high/turbo modes too often - only short bursts. Use the next mode down for most usages
- the max amps you will get is dependent on the LED/MCPCB - some are only capable of 4-5A max DD while others can go to 6.5A or so at the most (most I've seen)
- thermal path, mass, heat sink/fins for the critical areas can vary - the bigger light isn't always the best
- I'd recommend only an aluminum (not plastic) reflector lights for high amps for runtimes over 1 min. I've smoked plastic reflectors a little in a 16340 DD light (MXDL) doin bout 950 lumens in a neutral tint
- might be ok for the head to get toasty, but probably not so good if the high heat gets down to the cell or any length of time
- you don't have to have super high amps for all DD setups - keep LED wires small, don't bypass the springs and you'll reduce amps and heat
I got a 14500 size light, the G10 (dx.com/uniquefire-g10) doin bout 1,100 lumens with a 15DD driver, but actually it's a pretty chunky little light, big for AA size.
I got this for home use last year, and its the best 8 euros deal i had( bought it localy)
Modded the build in diodes with Nichias 5000k(5mm, 32k mcd)
That's a pretty darn nice setup, specially with Nichia's. Like it! Might be worth look'n around for.
Yeah TOm, the lens are glass ones( borosillicate, at least they stated so) the stand is high enough, has a build in 3xAA battery case, came with 220v adapter and a solder iron stand but i removed it
It has 6 emitters in that lamp but the default ones had a huge blue tint
For 8 euros its a great deal, prolly it could be found cheaper in the US( here we have massive taxes and VAT)…but even if it costed 15 i would buy it, i had several “third hands” bt this one is the best so far
Thanks to Tom E and his embossing gun idea this has been my set up for led reflows and one unsuccessful attempt at a driver build. It works like a dream for me reflowing leds. The helping hands are raised and lowered depending on how quick I want the item to heat up and how hot it gets.
The embossing guns wire clip stand just sits on the ally RHS and the gun removed without effort when not being used.
For anyone in Australia the gun came from Spotlight though compared to Chinese prices was not that cheap. The helping hands came from Jaycar at a real cheap price and have no issues with the magnifying glass that came with it. The small alligator clips are pretty flimsy though the way they are mounted in their holders but do the job. I also use the ally RHS as a spot to sit drivers etc when holding them in the helping hands to stop downward movement when soldering etc.
Oh crap! That's sooo much better than how I do it. Hhmmmm. Maybe I can use those helping hands... I gotta try it that way!
Why so complicated setup m8? I use the oven at 1( after approx 1 minute that plate is exacly at 200deg C) and a Cu plate from an old Athlon heatsink that has that thick Cu plate- never failed me so far, never! 
Ahh - nicer than my old beat up frying pan .
My latest FET+1 batch of drivers:
I'm still doing everything with a cheap soldering iron (fail).
Ahh - the soldering iron was bout the only thing I didn't do cheap. Love my Hakko... Still under $100 so you can spend more, but it's rock solid quality, not too many bells/whistles.
Was that a yes or no for a DD Convoy C8? 
So much to think about, but the battery sounds like a good idea to not go too high. Noctigon XM-L2 in a Convoy C8 should be able to take around 5A for some time I think. And on a related note, is it possible to run 105d firmware on the DD driver MTN is selling?
[quote=Tom E]
The host size for DD is pretty much personal opinions but there’s also a lot of contributing factors:
-
turbo timeout to run hi/turbo for only limited amt of time, or better yet, temp monitoring
-
outside temp. - winter outdoors at 20F may be just fine for DD in a thin tube light
-
battery dependent - don’t want 6A? Ok, run a Pana PF that gives you only 5A max, quote]
Tom is it possible that the panny 18650pf is actually 10A?
Hey guys, Calvin from Illumination Supply here. We’re a small company based in San Jose, CA who specialize in high powered LED flashlights. Recently since the e-cigarette and vaping scene started, there has been some crossover activity among our flashlight products.The product listed above is not an IMR but a hybrid chemistry: LiNiCoMnO2. It is the successor to the NCR18650PD battery and can sustain a 10A discharge. Battery purchases in pairs will receive free cases: http://i.imgur.com/n7q75Q9.png
Ronin, it looks like you need to do some reading about forward voltage.
Oops - didn't see these replies til now.
guardior - well if I would do the mod, I would definitely do DD in a UltraFire/Convoy C8. I used to be much more conservative in worrying about high amps, but now, I flipped nearly completely around. I find it hard to go back to 7135 based drivers now.
Here's my reasons:
- it's nearly impossible to burn out a CREE LED in a DD configuration when it's mounted on a copper DTP MCPCB (assuming avg/good heat junctions to the body) - you really don't have to worry about that at all - this I didn't know 1-2 years ago. The forward voltage (Vf) level of the CREE LED's will always keep the amps to moderate levels, plus as a cell drains, the amps will naturally drop because the voltage level continuously drops, again, it's a natural protection mechanism all based on the forward voltage (Vf) of the LED .
- you can set up any light for max output, then if you don't want that, use a standard cell like a Pana B to run at lower amps, or comprising will a 10A rated cell like a Pana PF or Pana BD, etc.
- implement a turbo timeout to keep the heat from getting excessive
- a light left on high/turbo til it gets too hot to even touch still causes no damage. Well I dunno if this is always the case, but it happened to me twice: once with a modded out SupFire M6, once with a 18650 EDC configured at 2.8A, and both times there was no perceived damage to any parts, including the cells.
Hope this helps. Again, it's all personal opinion/usgae, or subject to the target user. Certainly if I were to give/sell a modded high amps or DD light to someone not knowledgeable of the risks and has small kids that will have access to the light, I would be VERY concerned about putting that light in their hands that didn't have temperature monitoring based amp control.
Ronin42 - as RMM mentioned, amp max capabilities of the cell are not obtainable for a DD set up of one cell with one CREE XM-L2. The Vf requirement of the LED will limit the max amps. There's some really good data posted here on BLF showing the Vf levels compared to amps (for example, see post #51 here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/19546). The higher the amps, the higher the Vf is, so typical 3.7 Li-Ion cells can't deliver a high enough voltage level to drive a XM-L2 at 10A, or even 8A. Highest I've been able to achieve is ~6.5A.
The highest you're likely to achieve lately is ~5A-5.5A. The new ones usually won't handle much over 6A.
Well, it seems this one ended not that bad, it even has a bit higher max current using U2 1A/U2 than PSMN3R0-30YLD( like 100-200ma)
But it doesnt handle If<50ma
Testing Tom`s ramping firmware atm
As Richards said- like 5.5 amps
Simon`s T6 4C( Convoy electronics) could reach 6.5 though
I "think" the XM-L2 T6 4C's you sell today can go close to 6.5A. Haven't tried a U4 1C yet - have you, or know what they max out at?
I think that the 4C still might be from an older reel. All of the newer bins seem to be have higher forward voltages.