D.I.Y. Illuminated tailcap

Really? I’m glad I didn’t order the 50k then. I ended up ordering 20k.

Wait, what resistor/diode do you have that paired with?

My washers are homemade from clear plexi-glass, I use a white switch in my latest one. A lot went wrong first with my tailboards, with leds not lighting up. I think I made every mistake possible at first, but now it works. I do use a simple led-tester to check the working during the build-up, it at least helps getting the polarity right.

This is the one I have, I just swapped the momentary switch for a small clicky switch, to have both hands available.

Good news: I have initial word that Simon/Convoy will try to source the 16mm clear boots

This would be awesome!!!

Simon! :party: :beer:

Maybe one or two of the clear insulation/spacer discs would work allowing more light through with less parasitic drain?

Maybe, I’m not sure if that would be sturdy enough though.

Just reporting that I have a more definite answer on this. Simon has found a source and ordered some for his store. The only thing that can stop us now is if that supplier backs out.

I HAVE LIGHT!!!!

I tried a couple different things, here are my results...

MTN17DD driver with guppydrv rev2 in a Sinner host.

560ohm driver bleeder between + spring and ground ring.

15k resistor on the diode pads

NO LIGHT!

560 ohm driver bleeder resistor

560 ohm resistor on diode pads

pot turned full left, no light

pot turned half, no light

pot turned full right, very very dim light!!!

so then I removed the resistor on the tailcap pcb and used half the strands from a piece of 20ga wire to bypass the resistor pads.

560 ohm driver bleeder

bypassed diode spot with wire

pot turned full left, no light

pot turned half, no light

pot turned 3/4 right, very very dim light

pot turned full right, decent but dim light!!! Not visible through switch boot.

so my modes don't switch at all not with guppydrv, I swapped the 15k driver bleeder resistor hoping to change that and have very very dim light that may charge the gitd switch boot, but even with the 15k driver bleeder the firmware still will not function right.

I'm going to have to try more experiments with the blf a6 firmware I have on order. For now I'm going to put the 560ohm resistor back on the driver and leave it at 30% so I can have some light and see if the dim light is enough to keep the boot charged. I am going to order brighter leds from lighthouse as well as more resistors from digikey and go from there.

For the record, normally you would need a lower resistance for the bleeder to help make the modes work better. I am not surprised at all that 15k on the driver didn’t fix it. That being said, I have never used guppy so I don’t know it does memory.

BLF A6 might cause you even more problems. It definitely takes playing with, there isn’t a 1-step solution to making these things work. Hang in there.

For reference I’m using 120 ohm bleeder resistor on driver and 10K POT on the tail

I’m thinking we can get the same brightness from a lot less battery drain by using XQ-E’s instead of the little 0805’s. They’re a bit more expensive, but maybe it’s worth it?

Possibly.
With the new option from OSHPark we can get thinner boards with double copper!!!

Hey guys, the 16mm clear boots are at Convoy now. Lot of 10 is $4.05, free shipping.

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Flashlight-tailcap-translucent/330416_32596868733.html

I ordered a batch. Hopefully they will arrive in decent time.

Thanks for the heads-up PD!

The only thing missing now is that beautiful glow. And I have to remind Simon that the clip goes one groove back! :bigsmile:

I ordered a couple batches of those :) thanks for the pot board!

I went to lowes yesterday and picked up a piece of plexiglass and a hole saw. Ended up making about 50 clear washers that let practically all the light through. Pretty much doubled the brightness in my sinner tailcap!

I got the sinner with mtn17DD/guppydrv rev2 working like it's supposed to. I didn't have the right resistors but I had 2 200ohm ones here, those in parallel make 100ohms, and after adjusting the potentiometer a few times everything is back to normal with the firmware.

I put in a couple rather large orders for everything. Hopefully I got the right diodes.

I’m beginning to think my nylon washers are blocking more light than I originally thought, even though the light diffusion is nice. I think I’ll do the same with the lexan and a hole saw. Maybe I’ll add some DC Fix too, we’ll see.

Also, my potentiometers came this week. I ordered the 20k range, and they work quite well. Thanks pyro for sharing the Eagle part, it fits perfectly.

Tight fit but looks pretty good nice job

Yep, it’s definitely tight. This is the little 16mm board, the 20mm is a bit more roomy.