Done! - Started making my first P60

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

It’s about time I try putting together my first P60ish drop in for use in some Match-mod mini mags and could use some advice on components.

I’m thinking about this 3-Up XP-E

With this optic
http://www.ledsupply.com/10507.php

And this driver
http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S020073

Sitting in the pill from one of these
http://www.kaidomain.com/product/details.S005406

Does this combination sound feasable? Are there better options? If I meet with success I’d like to follow it up with a triple XP-G P60 for one of my L2s.

Thanks for any advice offered.

2

I'm a big fan of the neutral XP-Gs available on that board, with the same optics and driver.

Either way, you should be all set.

3

The KD driver is a single li-ion driver and the Match mini mag is a 2x14500 or 2xAA setup. Either way, the voltage won't match.

The other problem is heat. Quoting Match's mod thread, "There is sufficient surface contact between the pill/head that there are no thermal concerns as long as output remains at 2xAA power levels." The best 2xAA drivers push about 1A. 3A could be too much.

Triple for a Mini mag probably isn't the best option unless you can make a custom pill like Match does for his Mini mag triples.

4

Chicago,
I would prefer using XP-Gs, neutral being at the top of my list. The reason I was considering the XP-E is the spec sheet on the driver states it can be used with 3*XP-E, 2*XP-G, looking at it now I may have mis-interpeted the specs.
I assume you’ve used this driver with the tripple XP-G, wired in parrellel correct?

Rojos,
I have quite a few Match mods cut down to single 14500 size, I figured I would use one of those or a 2AA mag with a single 14500 and a dummy cell.
Thanks for pointing out the heat issue, I had overlooked that. I’ve been wanting to make a triple mini mag since reading about the mini-Match.

I’ll take a look around and see what I can find for a heat sink.

Thanks

5

I don’t think a driver with bottom components will work because the tube has to make contact with the negative ring. I run a mini mag direct drive and it runs just fine. Has not self immolated yet and I’m sure it never will either. EDIT: a dummy battery will solve your voltage problem easy enough.

6

Itinifni I have a half dozen P-60 pills with no reflectors if you need me to send you a couple let me know by PM.

7

Yes sir.

8

Thanks Langcjl for pointing out the obvious…that I missed. My plans dashed yet again.

I’ve decided I need to have a few parts in my hand to figure out what I will try to do. I’ve got those driver’s on the way as well as several 3up XP-Gs and 12” of 0.75” C145 Copper rod stock.

If I meet with any success I’ll post my results.

9

I’m almost done with the copper pill but realized that the triple XP-Gs I have appear to be pre-wired in series. Two of the three sets of + and - pads are bridged http://www.ledsupply.com/indusstar-3up.php

Can I remove those components to access the pads so I can wire in parrellel or do I need to order different LEDs?

10

Yes, just remove them.

11

Excellent, thanks NightCrawl.

12

Made a little progress today so I thought I’d post some pictures, sorry in advance for my photography skills.

This is what I started with.

3/4 OD copper rod, 3/4 ID copper pipe, a couple of triple XP-Gs (one cool white one neutral), a couple of brass pills (compliments of E-1320, thank you), some Carlco optics and various left over reflectors and springs.

I used a 3/4”, spring steel hose clamp as a guide for getting my cuts square, it also worked well when filing the copper rod.

After cutting the rod to length I filed one end down to fit the brass pill and clamped them together with AA epoxy.

Once the AA set up I drilled a hole through the center and cut two lengths of pipe to go over the whole thing.

I soldered the pipe over the copper/brass leaving the pill recessed about 1-2mm below the pipe. The space between the pipe and rod is filled with solder so I think it should transfer heat well.
If you’re wondering why there’s only one pill in the next few pictures it’s because the second one didn’t work out the first time. I heated the rod first then dropped the pipe over it and applies solder, worked great the first time. On the second one the AA gave up the ghost just as I started applying the solder. I must have overheated the rod. I cleaned everything up and will try again tonight.
At any rate, one came out good.

This photo shows how nicely 3/4 copper pipe fits in an L2, in this case my L2I though that’s not where it will eventually end up. It fits with less clearance than a standard P60.

File down the star and it sits on the pill flush with the edge of the pipe, snaps in like it was made to be there.

I’m waiting on the drivers and still need to pick up some teflon wire (anyone want to advise me on what gage wire I should use for a 3A driver?).

I couldn’t resist seeing what it will look like when done. Since the optic is only 20mm I needed something to fill the space in the 26mm L2 head. I cut off the end of couple of unused P60 reflectors and filed them down to the correct height. They rest on the pipe and don’t even come in contact with the optic. If they seem to effect the beam I’ll scuff them up and paint flat black. Photo below is next to a S/F single SP-G drop in.

And one more of what it looks like in the light.

I’ll update once I have them all together, the only part I’m worried about now is the soldering. I’ve done quite a bit in my time but this stuff is tiny!

13

Nice work!

14

I got most of my ramaining parts in early this week, 5 KD 8x7135 V2 drivers, 8 380ma 7135 chips, silicone wire, etc. I purchased extra parts figuring I’ll fry a few along the way, I hope to end up with at least two drivers at 4.18 amps, or just under 1.4 amps per LED.

I decided to practice with my first driver using a dead S/F XM-L drop in. I didn’t bridge any of the modes, just installed the driver in the pill and dropped it into an L2M. Hit the switch and…it’s a single mode! Took it apard and found my lame attempt at soldering shorted the LED - to the ground. No time to fix but I found a thread here on BLF where someone else had just done the same thing.

I picked up a better tip for my soldering iron today and went back for round 2. Corrected the LED- lead and tried again. Success, multi-mode and drawing 3.02a at the tail cap on high. I then tried bridging for 3 modes and memory and had one heck of a time. This stuff is just too small and my eyes just don’t work like they used to. Eventually I got it but it wasn’t pretty. Another test and on to stacking chips. I found that to be very easy, I don’t know why but installing one chip took only a couple of minutes. Back in the light again and measured 3.39a at the tail cap, I couldn’t stop smiling! I didn’t want to waste more chips on the test driver so I moved onto wiring the 3 up LEDs.

Wiring the - pads together was a little tough but not bad, then I hit a wall. For the life of me I couldn’t get the + pads wired in the limited space available. I did the first drop in but couldn’t get the Carlco optic to fit. After fussing with it for a bit I gave up and removed the wiring from the + pads, I’ll go back to it tomorrow.

I went back to prepping the other two drivers. Bridging modes was no problem on either driver, I guess all I needed was a little practice. I then added 3 7135 chips to each driver, again much easier than I expected. I hope to have these done this weekend, now I’m going to need to buy more hosts. And if I succeed without destroying my extra drivers I’ll need to get more LEDs, in which case I will again need more hosts. I see this becoming a problem.

One question if anyone would care to offer an opinion, I used 24ga silicone wire to run the LEDs in parrallel. I’m thinking I may use 20ga from the driver to the star, the reason being wires from the driver will carry a full 4 amps. Thoughts?

15

Gorgeous; strong work!

16

Greta job I use 22AWG wire, 20 will be fine if you have room to work with it.

17

That is some gorgeous drop ins you are making there. And I like the look of the filed down reflector you have used to center the drop in and visually fill out the gap around the optic. Great idea and well executed too. In general I am very impressed and really hope everything comes together good for you. Keeping my fingers crossed here ;-)

18

Is it possible to file down a star?
Can I file down from 20 to 17 mm?

19

@Kwak: Depens on the star, but usually its possible. I use a dremel with sand paper.

20

I completed the drop ins this weekend but first my failings. When first wired the NW drop in was dim, the CW seemed fine. I measured the current and got only 500ma on high on the NW, checked the CW and had about 2600ma, not exactly the 4 amps I was hoping for.
I checked my soldering and there was no sign of solder bridging anything it shouldn’t be, I must have overheated the chips or driver itself. Good thing I still had two drivers left.
I installed the drivers without trying to improve them and it was smooth sailing from there.

Here are the drop ins prior to driver install, virtually just a hunk of solid copper.

The only good thing about the wire routing and soldering is that it works, hopefully I’ll get better at it with time.

Here they are with drivers and optics installed. I used a dab of AA to secure the reflectors to the copper.

And installed in hosts.

Second photo is on low. The lights are nice and bright, typical wall of light. Both are drawing 3A at the tail cap and seem to handle the heat just fine. The extra weight of the copper adds some nice heft to the L2s.

Overall I’m very happy with the results, particularly with this being my first attempt. Though there’s still that voice in the back of my head saying “XP-Gs should have 1.5 amps each” to which I reply “next time”.

I think I’m going to order some more V2 drivers and chips along with a better soldering iron. Not an excuse for my poor soldering mind you but I don’t think the $10 Radio Shack iron helped much. I’ll bide my time practicing while waiting for XP-G2 3up stars to show up.

If I get my camera figured out maybe I’ll try some beam-shots next weekend.