This hobby can be a time hog, especially for those like him that did design work the rest of us were able to enjoy and profit from. He designed the 16mm Sinkpads I’m still using as well as this board and any number of projects for others. As with Mattaus, Wight, and others that contribute heavily, it takes a toll. After awhile it seems as if everyone wants something and what you have to give isn’t enough. At least, that’s how it looked to me for some of those guys.
I'm sure that is what happened to many. People ask a lot and you do not want to let anyone of them down. But to keep this flashlight thing a hobby you will have to. In my job I can't afford to be like that, but over here I do the things that I like first, and often postpone or even cancel stuff that I'm not too fond doing.
Bigtoy, there are a bunch of people here that can help get your project back in line.
tterev3, ToyKeeper, Mattaus, djozz, wight and cereal killer come to mind. I’m sure there are more and I apologize for not remembering others before my morning coffee. But all those folks are wicked smart and if they can’t come up with a fix then I dare say the problem can’t be fixed.
If you think about getting rid of those housings, I might want some. I saw your original post of that from your other thread about your 6 XML flood light build. Nice work, a shame not to put it all together.
Bigtoy302, are you still determined to go with a switch mode power supply and the supertrex hv9919b regulator?
First time I saw an integrated driver cute –3 combo was from a site in Lithuania. That was 3-4 years ago.
Ok, here is my 2 cents on this. I would be all for collaborating on some new version of this. Not sure exactly what I have to bring to the table on it since I usually pay someone to do my layouts, but here is what I have at the moment.
I have been using a PCB for a couple different similar projects and I thought a while back I might just add traces for some simple circuitry.
Here is one example of the boards I use.
These are a very thin board like Pilots and the vias make it so that I can reflow the whole setup to a copper slug or disc to get an excellent thermal path. Perhaps not DTP copper, but certainly better than traditional aluminum boards.
The thin one is a stamped disc from etsy, the thick one I made.
The main advantage of these vs the ones Pilot made ( in my opinion) is that the emitters are wired in parallel. This means 3 XML can be powered off only 1 cell and 3 XHP-50 can be powered off 2.
So what I was thinking about doing was adding the traces from wights FET driver to this and call it good. One major change I would be for though is going to a bigger diameter PCB.
Plan maybe on using the 50mm optics mentioned above? I am just so tired of trying to cram piles of microscopic components on to itty bitty boards.
I was thinking probly a diode and zener pad with a larger foot print so I could leave the microscope in its box when I assemble these. Maybe even stick with Pilots idea of having solder pads large enough to hand solder the components on.
Any thoughts gang?
Plenty of real estate just need to fit the components and signal traces in around the LEDs, peg holes, and led traces while leaving the led traces thick enough. At least ground will be easy to connect. Definitely going to be easier on a 40-50mm board though.
That's an impressive project! I'd love to have a go at making something like that.
i fear I have broken my Pilot module, so, is there anyone out there who would like to sell theirs?
Pretty please! Because of a new arrival, my only chance to ride is early mornings in the dark, so if there is an unused and unwanted module sitting around, let me know.
Thanks