Yeah looks like that battery is a scam
only about 2800mah… only get about 10-15 minutes run time. But it should still be fun to try.
I need to find something else then… but not much will fit unless I drastically alter the torch…
I think this is more realistic… but no way it will fit:
A host like this will make your mod easier. The stock light already uses that Lead Acid Battery you linked. This stock light draws 10A so you know it will work.
Here is the host, battery and charger at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Cyclops-C18MIL-Colossus-Rechargable-Spotlight/dp/B0018F1CJ4
Have you though about using rc lipo’s? They come in a range of shapes and sizes. Also likely to keep the current up, unlike the one you first posted.
That is awesome but unfortunately they don’t ship to Australia… That would be perfect!
It’s turning into a very expensive project if I look at those… but I could get two of these:
and get 10amp hours.
If I wired there in parallel would a charger be smart enough to detect them as such? I just wouldn’t want those battery packs blowing up in my face.
Can anyone suggest a good/cheap charger?
Scratch that… thank god for cheap re branded chinese crap!
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/121259678886?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&\_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
It even comes with a 7ah battery… so I might cancel that 9ah battery, not worth 30 bucks for 2ah… or is it? This is really perfect, already has charging built in, so it won’t be a total hackjob. Just need to find room inside for power converter and heatsink…
So the project has changed slightly, I will use the “cyclops” lead acid battery for the 100W LED monster. It’s also a much bigger reflector so it will be very interesting to see beam shots from it once complete.
Incidentally the Dolphin upgrade is not entirely dead… last night I took apart an old “Cree LED TL6” ultrafire. It’s probably one of the nicer ultrafire models, it takes an 18650 and has what looks like a real XML LED. It’s proper bright. So I got a 12v to 3.7v stepper, and I plan on modding the LED into the Dolphin.
That voltage stepper is rated for 150 watts, the amp rating is usually referencing amps at maximum output voltage.
Yes, that is a little pricey. Looks like you got the battery sorted now but if you ever need a lipo go to hobbyking, same battery is $25
Im following your thread with interest and it looks like a cool project. If you want true high lumens that last, high quality and high color rendering, you cant beat a Bridgelux Décor Ultra High CRI series array. I just picked up 11 of their 100 watt 97 CRI emitters (BXRA-30H7000-J) and cant believe the sheer output and color rendering they provide. Those 100W Chinese arrays are truly poorly made junk that have production inconsistencies, lousy color rendering, poor efficiency and dont last long when driven to spec. With the investment you’re looking at to complete this project, you might want to consider a Bridgelux ultra high CRI. Its the only one Ive found that does it all… the light output and color rendition is absolutely phenomenal.
:bigsmile:
Chinese, poorly made? Never! Haha.
Do you have a link to where to buy those LED’s? That ship to Australia? I can’t seen to find any…
Haha! Yeah, I almost bought into a bunch of those Chinese 100 watters till I did some research. The 50 and 100W arrays have a lot of complaints. They seem to be fun to experiment with but not so good for builds.
A few thoughts:
Whichever way you go, you’re going to need to screw the emitter directly to a heat sink and use a thermal paste between them. And in your case, will need to cool it with a CPU fan and cut large ports for a good amount of fresh air exchange. Certainly all do-able. Just remember that heat is the enemy of the emitter, and this one is a mega-giant. You’ll probably want the fan to blow through the sink as it was designed… not across it (as several others have chosen in similar builds). Your idea of a smaller fan should do the trick… but I wouldnt go any smaller than 50 or 60mm if possible. The larger the better up to 80mm. The one you linked is 1.8 cfm on a good day… which is about as useful as a bullfrog fart. 
Id cut large air holes before the fan to draw air in and more holes after the sink to exhaust the air out. Fans typically push air far better than they can pull it. Make sure there is no space between the font and rear of the sink for air to sneak past… you’ll want all the air to go through the sink, not around it. Any leak will sacrifice its effectiveness. Silicon calking is your friend to seal your new plenum. After assembled and if you dont feel air coming out of the exhaust ports, its not going to work. Light an incests or cig and you should see it draw smoke in through the intake. The driver will get hot and also require fresh air exchange, so Id mount that directly in font of the fan so it can be cooled by the intake air. Build your sink, partition, ducting solution, switching and driver mounts first before selecting your batteries. Then you’ll know what space you have left to work with before cramming it full of cells. You could also hang a huge pack under your light without adding to much bulk. Its going to be large anyway, so a bit more wont matter… and they just look cool like that. Besides, if its bottom heavy it wont tip over and will balance better in your hand. 
In fact, if you had to use the entire host for proper air to air exchanger and mount the cell pack(s) underneath, that would be a far better solution that trying to cram it all into the same housing with compromises. The larger the cell capacity you chose… the longer the run time with your mega-light. I think Id be looking quite strongly at the external cell config for just that reason. The bridglux emitter can withstand a lot more thermal abuse than their chinese copies but you’ll still want to cool it the best you can. Concentrate on function and what will actually work without risking high operating temps. Without good reliable heat transfer, you’ve just built yourself another chinese light… anti-aussie style! If you leave the area behind the sink open, any heat produced by the driver/wires will be swept away by the fan and pushed out the front through the sink. Im sure your build will come along nicely as you go. Your idea of going with a large host will afford you plenty of space to work with as you make changes.
The high CRI bridgelux are a special order item that sell for $74 each + shipping and are typically ordered in large qty by luminary downlighting manufacturers. I might have a few left over after I finish out my home lighting projects. If you get stuck and are still interested, PM me and maybe we can work out a good deal to get you through this.
With moderate airflow using a decent aftermarket aluminum i7 sink and fan kit (or similar), the sink shouldnt get more than about 30-35 degrees F above ambient temp.
Anyhoo… those were just a few thoughts off the top of my head. Im looking forward to watching your new monster come together. Sorry, I didnt mean to make that post so long… ah well.
Looking again, Id use the fan that came with the sink you linked: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/290681579846?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&\_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
Hi yes I will be using the original fan, I just got the little fan to use as an way to bring air into the torch. As for runtime, I’ve got a 9AH SLA coming from ebay… hopefully I can make the heatsink/fan/boost converter fit in front of the battery. It’s hard to plan until you actually have the torch.
I’ll just have to see how those 100W LED’s go… I bought 3 just in case so if I kill one or two no big deal. I will not be running them at max volts anyway.
The Dolphin will be an easier build, cooling won’t be so important, although I will still use a decent heat sink since I’ll have so much room inside it’s case.
Honestly don’t expect too much… I’m a hobbyist hacker by night, by day I am a sysadmin… I only have a mediocre understanding of electronics and I’m not skilled at all at fabrication. Anything I make is usually just bits stuck together. I just can’t wait for the day I can buy a really high quality, low cost, reliable 3D printer…
I’m not sure if I should start a new thread for the other torch… this was meant to be a project thread but it’s a bit of a mess.
What about using a better CPU cooler like the ones from Scythe?
I was also thinking about direct water cooling. There were some mods were people cooled theiy CPU directly with water.
Its always fun hacking stuff apart and forcing it to do what you want it to. :bigsmile: When the lumen bug bites, it sure bites hard… like this monstrosity I threw together. Review: 150 Million Candlepower Militay Xenon Arc Battlefield Illuminator (AN/VSS-3A)
Sure, you can use this thread to gain ideas from others and start another one for the actual build thread… its done all the time. Just make sure you have a pair of DMM’s to set the voltage and amps before you blow out your new LED’s. You’ll want to leave the DMM’s connected for at least one complete discharge cycle to observe the readings as cell voltage drops and emitter vF drops as it heats up. The driver you linked appears to be CV (one pot) and not CC. Do you know which? If not, you might want to post a separate thread to ask others for opinions. A CV driver is generally not advisable to power LED’s, although some get away with it. There are several converters that have both voltage and current pots, and some are advertised as CC only.
3D printing… dont even get me started! Ive already got far to many gadgets that take up all of my time, and that one would keep me up for days and day.
The one he linked will be more than enough.
i moded somewhat similar light, with fans, and xml. for 100w array you’ll need a lot more airflow, not sure if you can even make enough holes in dolphins body to let enough air in out. but may be you’ll invent another way of cooling that is more efficient and needs smaller space.
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab324/alpg88/5mil/P1060667.jpg
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab324/alpg88/5mil/P1060686.jpg
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab324/alpg88/5mil/P1060688.jpg
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab324/alpg88/5mil/P1060696.jpg
actually now that i think of it, you may wanna google “lux rc fb1” he build 60w light with active cooling size of a coke can. may be you can get some ideas from there.
I’m actually going to use a bigger torch now than the Dolphin. I might close this thread and start separate project threads once parts arrive.
I’m going to use similar cooling to you. I’ve got a great heatsink so will have to see how hot it gets through testing. I will be undervolting at about 29v so it will be safer than running at 34v.
OK so I did actually end up making this. As above realistically the dolphin was too small, I have a smaller LED and all the components to make it an LED torch I just haven’t done it yet. But I did make the big 100W LED torch.
So this is the torch I got, some ebay special, it’s huge, about 2.5 times the size of a Dolphin. It comes with a big H4 car type incadescent bulb, and honestly, it worked really well. Great throw, quite bright. It had 2x6v rechargeable batteries inside wired in series to be 12v.
I pulled all of that out.
http://i.imgur.com/xZoblp4.jpg
Here you can see my 12v 9Ah battery fits in nicely.
http://i.imgur.com/2h8zuAg.jpg
Test fitting the heatsink
http://i.imgur.com/nQ3rtUC.jpg
This is the “Boost converter” I forget the actual specs, but it can easily drive this 100W LED @ approx 30volts. It takes in 12v and steps it up to whatever you specify using the little dial. I found the optimal voltage was around 30v approx. as measure by my multimeter. I didn’t check amp draw.
http://i.imgur.com/DqCKLrz.jpg
Here is the LENS test sitting on the LED. Really I don’t think the Lens does much to focus the LED… it’s going to be massively floody regardless.
http://i.imgur.com/oUjS8Zi.jpg
Test fitting components
http://i.imgur.com/nUOJPq5.jpg
You can see from this angle the reflector does reflect some of the actual LED itself, but again, it’s got so much flood you hardly notice it.
http://i.imgur.com/su8B2sV.jpg
I had to cut out a section to make the boost converter fit
http://i.imgur.com/tqVawkE.jpg
Testing the wiring setup before putting it all in. Basically 12v comes from the batt to the switch, when the switch is thrown, 12v goes to the boost converter which sends 30v to the LED, and 12v goes from the switch straight to the CPU fan.
http://i.imgur.com/7VxmDr2.jpg
All together now. The little toggle switch works really well. If you flip the lid down it turns off.
http://i.imgur.com/5t7YzT1.jpg
This is my backyard with no light, taken from Nexus 5.
http://i.imgur.com/pNJqdLK.jpg
And this is with the torch on
http://i.imgur.com/9Qu1qtl.jpg
It’s pretty bright… it lights up the entire backyard like daytime. Massive flood light, not too much throw, but still pretty decent really.
Would I do this again? With the money I spent I could have probably bought some really nice torches, but this was fun. I haven’t had many actual practical uses yet, except during one storm we had. And I plan on taking it camping. I haven’t done a full discharge test with it, but I remember I calculated about 1 or two hours? Can’t remember exactly.
As I mentioned I still have other parts to make a smaller 20w LED dolphin torch. I will make it eventually and then compare the two.
Thanks for looking!
I haven’t read the thread closely yet, but I did just take a look at all the pictures. Looks like fun. Thanks for posting the writeup and pics! It sure doesn’t hurt to have a “wow” light which you can use to outgun more or less anything a regular person might show up with.