DIY Headlamp - XHP70.2 overdrive monster

Other Types of Lights LED Headlamps
1

Hi,

After using some nice cheap headlamps from china I was looking several hours to search a more powerfull one.
Sadly I couldn’t find anything that fits my needs.
So I tought why not go DIY?

I want to use a Cree XHP70.2 led chip that I want to drive above specs.
I’m thinking of going to use it with 12v to keep the amps lower.

I want to design and cnc cut a headlamp body with large cooling area for the led and driver.

Sadly I couldn’t really find a driver suitable for my needs. Does anyone know a very powerful 12v led driver?
I’m thinking of making DIY electronics for this build. Maybe on a TPS61500 base.

For the reflector I still have to decide what I’m going to use?
Any recomendations? I just found some aliexpress xhp70.2 reflectors but don’t know if they are any good?

What glass should I use? Want to “waterproof” it using some o-rings.

Maybe I’m going to use 4s LiPo’s or doing a custom LiIon pack.

I found a good review / test of the led chip here —> [LED-Test / Review] Cree XLamp XHP70.2 P2 40E (≈ 4000 K) | Taschenlampen Forum
I hope links are allowed…
I think of driving the xhp70.2 at 12v with 6-7 amps, or 6v 12-14 amps.

2

Your headlamp might just have to be the size of your head if you want to maintain 6-7 amps at 12v. To put it into perspective, I don’t think my MF04S can even maintain 7 amps at 12v and you’d need a lot of batteries.

I bought a 12v 7A, 4S driver from lexel on the forum here.

3

Taskled H6CC

4

Yes I think my numbers are a bit to high. But I wanna cnc a big heatsink for the led & driver. And also I want to use the headlamp for freeride skiing.
So the outside temps would be very low.

That looks nice thx!

5

I recommend Lexel when he gets back

6

so you are already using a helmet, that is even better, you do not need heavy chink of aluminum , you can cnc, or even use\modify existing heatsinks, or make one from off the shelf components, and incorporate into the helmet, distribute the weight, there will be always plenty of cold air flowing around, it sounds like a very doable idea,

7

For budget project you can use Chinese 3V xhp110 and simple direct drive :slight_smile:

8

Hmm the XHP110 is rated at 24A @ 3v! I think thats a bit too much or else I need a big battery.

So what reflectors can you recomend? I think I have to start drawing from the choosen reflector size…

Edit:
So currently I think I’ll go with this setup:
XHP70.2 @ 12v ~5A (don’t know if I should dedome or not)
Taskled H6CC
Arduino or ESP32 for PWM
Reflector?
DIY battery pack

Also can I hardmount the H6CC to my heatsink? Or do I have to use the provided thermal pads?

9

That is going to heat your head.
You may have a look at some caving headlamp to get some ideas on how to make the body for good heat dissipation:
Scurion
Rude Nora
Pulsar
Phaethon
Manley

And of course my DIY caving lights for O/L challenge :) (see below)
Maybe consider using 4 XM-L2s XPGs in order to better cool the emitters and also 3535/5050 TIRs are widely available (quads and singles)

10

Thanks for your reply and the provided links.
I will take some ideas from existing lamps as reference for my design.
I think a solid alu block where the led and driver are connected with thermal paste and using in cold conditions will hopefully solve my heat problems.
Else I have to drop the amperes.

I think even with 4 seperate led the aluminium will reach high temps and I don’t know if it makes a huge difference because aluminium transfers heat very fast.

Is it common to have a seperate heatsink for the led and driver or should I connect them to the same piece of aluminium?

11

you do not have to limit yourself to designs that are already done, you can make a wrap around heatsink, around your helmet from thin aluminum, you get huge area, little weight, you got room,

12

What buttons do you use for your flashlights? Cant find a decent waterproof one…

13

Depends on your driver if you need clicky or momentary.
I am using my own FW and choose momentary switch.
Best one is Apem IS series it is waterproof but not so great with mud so requires a silicone boot. IX series is also good but more expensive.
For momentary you can also try hall effect switch which is completely water and mud proof
On the budget side many waterproof switches are available on aliexpress some are plastic made similar to IS and some metalic, both options are yet to fail on my lights but i do recommend a good quality switch for your main light

14

a small water pump, some tubing, wrapped around the helmet, a sponge collector that drips the sweat into a tray, the pump pumps the sweat around and helps cool the helmet thats cooking your head lol.(sorry lol).

15

Hey long time no hear.
I finaly managed to get some time in this project again.
So now I ordered most of the parts.

- XHP70.2 LED mounted on star

- H6CC Driver

- Adafruit GEMMA M0

  • 60x45mm Reflector

I bought some spares in case I burn some parts down.
The H6CC will come at 2.8A preconfigured, so I think thats a good number to start with.

I made some sketches of my housing, but I think I first have to “dry” test the led to see how big the heatsink has to be.

16

This is very interesting. Looks great for building a light around a power tool pack.

17

Now Convoy have not bad boost drivers.
FC40 kit

18

Guys I need a source for a good quality reflector for the XHP70.2

I also want to build a little remote control like the lupine alpha has, but with a status screen.
So I ordered even more parts and started drawing in cad.

First I wanted to make a copper heatsink, but then I realized that it will be to heavy. So I think I’ll go with a alu monoblock design.