Need a new driver for j-18

[TheFlasher]

Looking for a way to drive my light after my 9x beast driver died on me, not surprising, but I had high hopes for it handling it.

So now I’m trying to figure a new driver out, thinking of running a blf-dd driver xener mod with 2s3p xpl’s. Or maybe 3s2p, not sure which form factor of the light works better for me.

Is there really any other options out there?

Also considering instead of taking an led out, adding an mtg2 to the center and then running the blf-dd driver. Load might be too high on this one though.

Would direct drive for 30 second turbo timer even survive? Using king kong’s with braided springs.

I also can’t figure out how to center the xpl’s in the large size holes for the reflector.

Sorry if it’s a lot, I’ve been putting this off for a while after a 15 second wall of light then poof. Maybe I can inspect the driver and see what failed.

Thanks for reading.

[hideehoo]

Here’s what I’m doing to mine (one 6x and one 9x)

17mm & 20/26/27mm single-sided DD/FET driver release: A17DD-SO8 / A20DD-SO8 / etc

Watch out for Zener build compatitibility issues in this version. There is a simple workaround for the current version (v024), see post #319 here for details. Also in post #319 and 320 you’ll find two different revised WIP board layouts which should both remove the need for any workarounds. Here is a high power single sided FET driver. From my limited testing, fresh battery performance is similar to a regular BLF17DD. The driver is Zener ready. Note that this driver is not intended for a …

Still waiting for the boards and parts, so no idea how well it works, but stock they are both seriously under driven.

[TheFlasher]

Those look great, definitely a better solution.

Does this require you to flash your own firmware? Or can I pull an attiny off of another driver I have?

I’m very new to building a driver, so this would be my first foray into it.

[RMM]

@TheFlasher

Looking for a way to drive my light after my 9x beast driver died on me, not surprising, but I had high hopes for it handling it. So now I’m trying to figure a new driver out, thinking of running a blf-dd driver xener mod with 2s3p xpl’s. Or maybe 3s2p, not sure which form factor of the light works better for me. Is there really any other options out there? Also considering instead of taking an led out, adding an mtg2 to the center and then running the blf-dd driver. Load might be too high on this one though. Would direct drive for 30 second turbo timer even survive? Using king kong’s with braided springs. I also can’t figure out how to center the xpl’s in the large size holes for the reflector. Sorry if it’s a lot, I’ve been putting this off for a while after a 15 second wall of light then poof. Maybe I can inspect the driver and see what failed. Thanks for reading.

Another one bites the dust! Bada bum bum bum....another one bites the dust! And another one down and another one down... (All lights with the "beast" driver eventually die, even if babied)

You can run a zener modded DD driver in these, and even keep the center emitter. I have done a few of them now like this, wired 3S2.somethingP. I wired the LEDs in 3S, then paralleled the center emitter in with one of the three groups. It is unbalanced, but it works. I was running them with 3S King Kongs and it pulled a lot of amps.

I would stick with XM-Ls or XM-L2s in this light to avoid having to mess with the centering rings. The XP-L isn't a real upgrade and is more expensive, so why switch in this light?

[TheFlasher]

Hope was not enough to keep it together.

Very nice, that simplifies my decision on which led to exclude. Does the unbalancing carry any possible concerns?

The only thing I now need to figure out is how to adapt one to fit the ~26mm shelf.

I already bought some xpl’s since they were on discount and were a higher bin, since I was buying 8 of them. I though I could just use an xpg to xml adapter but the j18 reflector hole is too large, and I can’t use the original rings and the xpg-xml ones since those are circular.

[ImA4Wheelr]

TheFlasher wrote:

Does this require you to flash your own firmware? Or can I pull an attiny off of another driver I have?

You can pull an Attiny off another driver as long as it has the FW on it has the same pin out set of of a Nanjg 105c. I think pretty much everything out there does. So you should be safe.

I hot air gun will help tremendously with reflowing the components to a driver board. Also some solder paste (has solder and flux mixed together) would be extremely helpful.

The driver board is set up to easily cut down to 26mm.

[RMM]

@TheFlasher

Hope was not enough to keep it together. Very nice, that simplifies my decision on which led to exclude. Does the unbalancing carry any possible concerns? The only thing I now need to figure out is how to adapt one to fit the ~26mm shelf. I already bought some xpl’s since they were on discount and were a higher bin, since I was buying 8 of them. I though I could just use an xpg to xml adapter but the j18 reflector hole is too large, and I can’t use the original rings and the xpg-xml ones since those are circular.

Just strip that stupid beast driver and use it as a contact board--at least then it will be at least a little bit useful. There is plenty of depth in there.

You can use any attiny, but don't expect a low moonlight mode with 7135 programming.