How much wattage is this expected to be able to sustain? Regardless of burning skin. And are the optics easily modded to something throwy?
IIRC, where we left off is that the idea was vocally shot down by “max amps at any cost, I don’t want to hear about safety” people and Sharpie left with a “that’s it, I’m done” comment which smelled of being overwhelmed by the idiocy of the human race. To be fair, there were never any hard numbers on what the fuses would involve and there was a lot of not listening to the other side in that exchange. That’s how I remember it anyway 
Reality might have been different but with deleted posts it’s hard to find out.
I can toss a design together no problem but the maths on how X trace will react to Y current is something that I have little experience with in this case.
Someone mentioned some online calculators for this type of thing IIRC but never looked into it myself.
All that said wasn’t it said that the tail design is already set as they are using an existing tail design to save money?
Luckily the tailcap PCB is one of the easier things to replace/deal with at a later date from a modding perspective so not a major deal either way but naturally it would be nice to have a tail of our design already in place.
The stock 4x reflector is as good as you will really get from a quad reflector in this size. Swapping the LED’s to XP-L HI’s (which is what I plan to do) will make it reasonably throwy (mine nets me around 450-500m throw IIRC).
To go further then that would need some kind of TIR optic or the swap to a single LED setup. Either are options in a modded light.
All of that said, the 4x reflector setup it comes with is an amazing balance of flood and throw IMHO based on my home made version. It is in a 3-way tie at the moment for my favorite light with the 8x 8000 lumen SRK and L6.
The 8x SRK is the flood and lumen monster of the bunch.
The 4x SRK with XP-L hi and L6 have surprisingly close specs and beams. It is mostly a matter of form factor that is different and both have advantages and disadvantages.
I SO want a 4x XHP35 HI Q8, that would be AMAZING!
I found this chart for some automotive-type blade fuses. These only go up to 30A. I guess you'd want more. Anyway, the cold resistance is stated 1.85 mohm. Assuming you can draw 6A per LED, that 24A so less than 50mV drop. It looks like resistances go down as fuse rating goes up and this might be as low as 24mV for a 50A fuse, maybe less if more suitable fuses are selected. Seems not so much to pay to prevent a fire.
edit: Oops... the chart:
Well on turbo it should be around ~60 watts but it obviously won’t be able to maintain that long term. I am guessing that it will be able to shed ~20-30 watts of heat long term, maybe a bit more in cooler climates or if you properly hold the light.
Would venture to guess a hot spot angle? So.. I'm wondering how good of a bike light it could make... for high speed riding. Of course it would be better without the battery compartment, but I guess a threaded cap is much to wish for and anyway, there might be better choices.
By the way, Tex, this light to me seems like a prime candidate for that PWM current control software we were discussing. Adding 8 x 4 AMC7135's is I'm guessing a price dent, even if it is more efficient than PWM (and it seems now like it indeed is).
In this light the total amp draw appears to be closer to 16-18 amps, the cumulative losses add up to the point we can’t maintain much more then that. If it was a 4S cell setup then yes, it should be able to get near 5.5-6A per LED. Part of why I plan to convert mine to 4s once I get it.
[quote=Flintrock]
I have not got into beam angles yet, I keep meaning to print off a sheet to do that kind of measurement though.
It can easily be made throwy enough to go as far in front of you as you want, or as floody as you want for that matter.
So yes, based purely on specs, it should make a pretty good bike light. The form factor and weight, on the other hand, could be interesting, I am not sure how that is normally delt with.
If I got one, it would also end up in 4s both for LED's and the batteries, with a real buck regulator then. This is how I'm planning my bike light... as soon as I figure out what host to use. I already have 4s packs anyway.
Anyway, the point of my wattage question is really how much wattage can it take, thermally, assuming electrically modded as needed.
[quote=Flintrock]
Yeah, the 7135’s are an aftermarket mod at this point.
a PWM compensation is not a bad idea, I actually considered something like that awhile back but dismissed it since I am not that good with firmware and honestly I just don’t care enough. If I need more then 8x 7135’s worth of light I am not worried about it keeping constant current 95% of the time.
This is something that could and should be taken care of in the firmware and not the hardware. On the firmware side, it would be a cool feature but a feature that is only worried about if there is extra room and time IMHO.
[quote=Texas_Ace]
Well, I'm thinking if a cap was machined to replace the battery compartment, then the form factor would be fine. Of course the idea is a remote battery pack. What's surprising to me is if this can withstand 20A, continuous, (I'm not quite sure we've established that) then why are all these bike lights made to look like they're covered in eagle feathers for cooling? On the other hand, if I remove the battery compartment, then maybe this thing doesn't cool so well anymore which might solve the riddle.
Like I said, we have no hard data at this point besides a test that TomE ran. Based on that I am guessing somewhere around 20-30 watts long term if hand held, a bit more if not worried about touching it or if the weather is cool. In a bike light with airflow it might even do 40-50watts but that would be pushing it.
20 or 30 is great for continuous. I just wonder how much the battery compartment helps with cooling. The thing is, this idea isn't really a mod. It would need to be a good enough idea that it catches on and they make a rear cap for the head section. That's not something you can really make yourself.. well I suppose you can with some glue.
[quote=Flintrock]
Well like I said they are only pulling 16-18 amps at this point but it won’t handle that full power long term for sure. In a bike light it will handle more then usual but I would be surprised if it could do more then 40-50 watts on a cool night tops long term without exceeding the ~200f that the components are rated for.
[quote=Texas_Ace]
Right, I don't think it's relevant for turbo mode and can't even work there anyway. You can't stay in regulation long above 3A. It's best for keeping a 1A mode at a predictable level, or 3 at most.
Edit I mean per LED of course
The battery tube is Thorfire
Yet the PCB is up for our input
On the phone but there is a design in the thread that has an easy tonconvert to 2S2P or adding of switch in it and on the silk.
Sharpie was a lot of talk and that did help
But actual calculations of how thick it should be he did not come with.
Awesome somebody found a cart and very cool you want to look at it TA!
On second thought that buck regular 4s batt 4s diode plan isn't so great. I works well with 3 lights and 4 batteries. I guess in for 4s 4s direct drive is still the way. It might be easier to run 4s leds and 2s batteries with a boost. Do good boosts exist upward of 3A?
Here it is
