Hi. I’m new to the forum but have been lurking here for a while. I am wanting to build myself a new hunting headlamp. I am looking to use 2 xpl’s and another red led or possibly a xhp50 xpl combo. I plan on 3 singles each with seperate optics for best performance. One flood one very narrow spot and a flood on the red. The question I have is on drivers. I want to be able to switch either or or both on the spot and flood but the red will always be used alone. I also need a high and low power mode. To be able to do this do I need to use 3 seperate drivers? I plan to use 3s lipo packs for power because I have plenty of the for my rc planes. I am looking at something like the buck block from led supply but can’t figure out the switching. The battery pack and driver(s) will be on my belt with the light head cap mounted. Better options?
The XHP50 is a 6 or 12v emitter, so you’ll have to have a Zener modded driver like a quite 105c to run a 12v variant, or a buck driver for the 6v. The XP-L is a 3v led so there is no way around a buck driver for it. From that standpoint, you have to have at least 2 separate drivers, and then one for the red LED. Are you planning on a red XP-E2? Or just a plain old 1W power led?
Figuring on the xp-e2. If I go with 2 xpl’s is there a programmable driver commercially available that could switch them like I’m wanting to do? I have spent a bit of time searching but I don’t know exactly what to search for.
Would you consider using a zoomable host with an aspheric lens? Will give you the abiltity to widen and narrow your beams. I plan on trying one myself. I built a few headlamps myself, but none with zoomable capabilties. XP-E2’s are definietly the way to go.
You could use an old XM-L color driver, and use the pads for 2 of dies for the XP-Ls and then the red pads for the XP-E2, but it would be a little bit anemic in the current department. In my opinion, it would be best to just use 3 seperate drivers, then you can vary the current as you pleas
Those 18650s are high-drain cells, you won’t need it for what your doing. Look for something with a higher mAh rating (but stay at MTN to avoid bloated Chinese advertising).
With everything running at max output, you should get about an hour and a half with a 3p 3400 mAh 18650 pack. If you need more, look at the 26650s, or add more in parallel.
For the XP-E2, you’ll need to remove 4 of the 7135s from the qlite driver, to avoid the magic blue smoke :). I’d suggest getting it predone unless you feel confident in your small soldering skills.
Let me think about switching….those clickies can’t handle this much power
I don’t know if kyfishguy came up with it but that’s where I saw it. I think of it as using the switch in a similar way to how an automotive relay works. All the current is kept isolated from the switch. Neato
Probably custom aluminum heat sink. Carving on aluminum is something I am way more familiar with. I would probably have the heat sink open to the air. The light I am using now is a stream light hand held spotlight modded to mount on my hat with driver and batteries on my belt. It is just bare reflector and heat sink. Pretty much how I’m thinking of this new one.
If I were you, I’d look at rocker switches, like automotive type things. One for each of the drivers, and then a momentary button or toggle over the XP-Ls so you can just briefly turn them on if you so need.
So I think with every body’s help I have everything sorted out but optics. For my spot I’m leaning toward a reflector. For the white and red floods maybe tir’s? Any recommendations?
