Thrunite TN30 - 12x Nichia 219BT - FET Driver Build - Update 14/07/15 BEAMSHOTS!!

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Update - 14/07/15

SUCCESS!!!

It turns out the components in the tailcap switch weren’t coping with the current of the high drain batteries and the resistance was causing massive voltage sag and the driver was going into low voltage protection. So I pulled the switch out tonight and made a few tweaks to it including removing one of the little FETs, removing the switch, rotating it 90 degress and gluing it back down with some epoxy then I bypassed all the components with some 18awg wire.

Well it is working perfectly with all types of batteries now and this thing is a monster with plenty of heatsinking!

Now to make another one with some XP-L HI emitters!! J)

On another note, I’m pretty happy with the camera on my new Samsung Galaxy S6. My old S4 never took night time shots like that even with the bright lights.

UPDATE - 11/07/2015

Emitters arrived, 10507 optics arrived, driver arrived, new UCLp lens arrived, ordered a blue oring which is 1.8mm instead of the stock 2.5mm. Battery carrier has been beefed up by running a length of copper braid over all the traces and braiding the springs.

This morning I machined the copper heatsink and the pictures speak for themselves!!

Yes that is 417g (14.7Oz) of copper!!! and it is a slip fit into the head and fully contacts the original emitter shelf.

Update - 18/06/15

Well the project is officially going ahead!! I have spoken to a few people, emitters are ordered and I decided to go with 12x Nichia 219BT emitters mainly because I didn’t want the XP-G2s as I would only get the 3D emitters and then it would pretty much have the same beam as my M43, optics are ordered, I have organised a driver solution with Richard and today I picked up a big chunk of copper which will be made into the heatsink! There will be a little bit of a waiting game whilst everything is arriving, then I will need to machine the heatsink to suit. Whilst I am waiting for all that to happen I will be beefing up the battery carrier and I have already stripped the original driver which is becoming a contact board.

Hi All,

I have had my Thrunite TN30 for quite a while now and I resistor modded it a while ago and de-domed the emitters and it was fine for a while then one day it stopped working. Since I started modding lights this one stopped “wowing” me and it got me thinking that maybe I could do something with it. So getting the itch to do a decent sized mod again I have decided to do strip it out and go for it.

I haven’t got a full plan in place yet as I am not 100% on the circuitry side of things. However, I am going to get a 2” diameter copper bar and machine it into a big heatsink. I was planning to strip the original driver to use as a contact board and then use a FET driver if they can be used with a 3s battery configuration?This is where I get a little stuck as I am not sure what is required to wire up multiple emitters. I know the battery carrier is wired in series and as such puts out 12v but how does that translate into me running multiple triple boards? Is it possible? The heatsink will be 50mm in diameter which means I could fit up to 4x 20mm triple boards on it.

As soon as I can figure out how it will need to be wired up I can get stuck into collecting parts for it, so I am hoping to get some help from those of you who know this side of it better than I do.

I had also considered using multiple MT-G2s or XHP70s but I don’t want a mule set up.

2

Interesting project, I’ve thought about this too but never got through.

If you’re going for direct drive, you can have a 3SnP emitter configuration, such as 3S3P or 3S4P. Have you figured out a fitting reflector?

Since I like the magnetic ring switch, I initially thought of keeping the driver and tweaking the sense resistor to the right current, although I’m not sure what the components can handle.

3

I was going to go with Carclo 105XX series optics, essentially I am seeing a simplified M43 set up in my head, if that’s possible?? (I have an M43 FWIW).

The issue with the light not working is something to do with the driver so that’s why I haven’t considered using it.

4

Nice, let us know how it goes.

I haven’t looked too closely at FET drivers but I think I’m come across some that have been working with a 3S cell configuration. Copper braided springs are a must with the current draw, and and I’m sure high drain cells will help immensely too. Good luck with the project!

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Thanks to Ryan I now understand the wiring configuration.

Now I need to see what the capabilities of the FET drivers are!

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Update - 18/06/15

Well the project is officially going ahead!! I have spoken to a few people, emitters are ordered and I decided to go with 12x Nichia 219BT emitters mainly because I didn’t want the XP-G2s as I would only get the 3D emitters and then it would pretty much have the same beam as my M43, optics are ordered, I have organised a driver solution with Richard and today I picked up a big chunk of copper which will be made into the heatsink! There will be a little bit of a waiting game whilst everything is arriving, then I will need to machine the heatsink to suit. Whilst I am waiting for all that to happen I will be beefing up the battery carrier and I have already stripped the original driver which is becoming a contact board.

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Woohoo, that’s awesome!

Are you going with a FET driver? I’m not too familiar with driving Nichias.

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Yep I’m going with a FET driver. I don’t think the set up will be capable of delivering 36A and I know the Nichias will take 3A each no worries so am I right in assuming to deliver 3A per emitter the set up would need to deliver 36A total?

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Subscribed

10

Great, sounds good.

Looking forward to the build!

11

Keep lingering on till the 219C high CRI is available!

12

I was just reading your thread about the 219c. When do you think the high cri version will be available?

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djozz seems to think Dale said perhaps September.

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Ah I can’t wait that long! Haha I can always change them later.

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UPDATE - 11/07/2015

Emitters arrived, 10507 optics arrived, driver arrived, new UCLp lens arrived, ordered a blue oring which is 1.8mm instead of the stock 2.5mm. Battery carrier has been beefed up by running a length of copper braid over all the traces and braiding the springs.

This morning I machined the copper heatsink and the pictures speak for themselves!!

Yes that is 417g (14.7Oz) of copper!!! and it is a slip fit into the head and fully contacts the original emitter shelf.

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I also managed to score a very cheap TN30 from HKE which was brand new but had the emitters removed from it. It was a perfect situation for me as the light is discontinued, so it’s difficult to find them now. So I will be making two of these lights now, except the second one is going to have 12x XP-L HI emitters J)

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Alright now that is heavy piece of copper, 417g.

18

Looks great, thanks for the update.

What did you use to polish the face of the heatsink?

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I used 800 > 1200 > 2000 > 3000 grit sandpaper then polished it with some Autosol metal polish then washed it with wax and grease remover and isopropyl alcohol.

You can see there is some very fine machining marks in the middle, but it won’t make a difference

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Thanks for the info.

Nice score on the additional TN30, it’s perfect for your build.