I’ve got XHP50 and XHP70 copper boards from the Free XHP Sinkpads thread, and want to “Lego” my first light.
I’ve been hunting down some of the other “first mod” threads for inspiration, but i keep falling short in knowledge.
So any help or recommendations would be appreciated.
…
Host:
I really like the price/quality of the Convoy’s but find it hard to pinpoint what size board and driver the different hosts can take. Been browsing the forum and http://flashlightwiki.com but haven’t been able to find a board/driver/host compatibility chart. As it’s my first build, my first priority is choosing a host which is easy to mod. And of course one with room for the 20mm XHP board.
Driver:
- I’m trying to narrow down the list of drivers by looking here but the list is still overwhelming.
No requirements for modes. Off and On is ok for a start. Off, 50, 100 would be nice, but not a must-have.
Any recommendations?
Batteries:
As I might give the flashlight away as a gift for some non-flashaholic family/friends, it would be nice to choose “safe batteries”. Preferably a host which can take long-lasting primaries ( or rechargeables if I choose to keep the flashlight myself ).
Led:
I have no idea. Will only XHP50 and XHP70 LED’s fit the (unmodified) boards?
Reflectors and Lens:
No preferences
The Switch:
No preferences
…
I am eager to try:
- Reflowing (have no idea of how to center the LED on the board)
Those copper boards are only about $2 a piece, so I wouldn’t base my whole build around them. If you actually want to build something with an XHP emitter, great! But be aware it will probably more difficult and expensive than other builds, and it would be very difficult to run it on primaries.
Using an XM-L2 emitter or similar will open up a lot of battery and host options for you.
What do you want to get out of this light?
Do you want long throw? Wide flood? Long battery life? Compact size?
Only thing i want to get out of it is to say “I just build my first flashlight”. And maybe giving it away as a gift. :) and as the XHP boards are the only ones I have i thought I’d use that as a starting point.
If another board opens up a lot of better/cheaper options I’ll do that.
So I’m completely open to suggestions. Flood, throw, color, size doesn’t matter. Just want to make a good budget flashlight, to get some skills before jumping in to more expensive builds.
Would be fun to make a small keychain EDC light. But as it’s my first build i guess smaller is more difficult.
A C8 sized light (or smaller) to keep in my car or at work would be nice. Or a light with an option of adding a diffuser (don’t know what its’ called - an opaque white cone on top of the light), so I can use it when traveling or sleeping in tent.
The XHP is different than most mods here because they require at least 6v, instead of the more common 3v. That means that most of the popular drivers won’t work without modification, and you will need at least 2 batteries, which disqualifies a lot of popluar hosts. Search of MTG2 mods on this forum, they require the same special setups as the XHP emitters. Also, a bare XHP50 starts at about $13 right now, whereas an XML2 can be had for less than half that.
A lot of people start with a Convoy C8 or M1 because they are great quality and very easy to work with. They both take a 20mm LED star and a 17mm driver (the Qlite driver is VERY popular).
Since you are not in the USA, intl-outdoor.com and fasttech.com will be your friends. Intl-outdoor is a great source for quality LED’s and drivers, and fasttech has great prices on the little things. Mtnelectronics.com is another great source, but I beleive international shipping makes them less ideal.
Just want to point out that the XHP50 sinkpad boards will also fit an XM-L/2 (just set it up for 6v using the jumper pads) so your options are pretty open in that regard.
I’d keep it simple and build something with a 3v emitter/driver first.
another vote for using an XM-L2 led, and you can just use the XHP50 board for that. Hosts for inherently safe batteries like alkalines or NiMh's are scarse. You can opt for single AA with a boost driver but the output of the led will be extremely underwhelming like that (that is why we like to use li-ions so much). The only way to get decent output with low-voltage batteries is with a host that carries 3 or 4xAA in series, but there are no budget options for that.
But the “just set it up for 6v using the jumper pads” part … After 2 hours of googling and BLF-searching. I give up :Sp - Could someone give me a hint on what to search for? My guess is I have to connect some parts with solder?
on your XHP50 board, there is a little line that says “J = 6v” and there are 2 open copper places with the letter “J” next to them. Just cover those little copper pads with solder and that’s it!
If you study the pcb you simply want to get + to one side of the led pad and - to the other.
Incidentally the standard traces already do this so you could just use the pcb as it is and it will work just fine. Just with slightly higher resistance loses from the longer traces. The 6v jumpers really don’t do anything but shorten the traces a bit when used with a 3v led
Thanks guys! Makes sense trying to limit the resistance loses - even for me
“Sorry, yes I can see how that wasn’t clear.”
No problem Linus. Love to learn, and hunt down new information. Especially on a subject totally new to me.
Really appreciate all the help I get inhere. Normally I’m more of a hands on guy. Learning technical things via theory is not one of my best skills. Especially since I’ve been burned out from chronic stress a couple of times. Neurons not firing as fast as before
