Texas Avenger Driver for the XHP70.2 GT

JasonWW · 2018-07-21T14:15:13.000Z

Are there any negative effects from using resistors?

There must have been a reason 7135 were chosen in the first place over resistors, right?

Texas_Ace · 2018-07-21T14:19:45.000Z

JasonWW:

Are there any negative effects from using resistors?

There must have been a reason 7135 were chosen in the first place over resistors, right?

They take up more room then a 7135’s, they cost more to assemble then 7135’s as well and they don’t give a truly regulated low mode. Although with ramping firmware this is not that big of a deal.

So cost and simplicity are the largest reasons for their use. You know exactly what the light will do regardless of the Vf of the LED.

For 1S setups the 7135’s are still ok, although I have been seeing an abnormally high failure rate on them recently. Seems every prototype driver I get with them from china has a bad 7135 lately. For 2S and above, they are not options at all.

Lexel · 2018-07-21T16:21:29.000Z

[quote=Texas_Ace]

JasonWW:

For 2S and above, they are not options at all.

there are options even pin compatible problem is often you got to redo all PWM values as they are slower
then they cost like 5 times what a 7135 from china costs
Linear regulators with like 1-2A get disqualified by heat management on a regular driver

for space of 523 or 323 FET+2 0805 0.5W resistors is as big as an AMC here on 20mm

on the back of this 17mm you can literally put enough for a decent current, but still the heat wont get as goot conducted to the driver edge as with AMCs its the case

ThembaFatsani · 2018-10-28T19:52:28.000Z

Apologies for dumb question. I’m new here.

Is anyone selling this driver assembled flashed and ready to drop in? Other than through the upgrade package in the group buy?

I’m really interested in it for another spot light build but I have never done any surface mount circuit board soldering, and I’m a bit nervous to start.

If not I guess ill be getting an upgrade package…

Texas_Ace · 2018-10-28T20:25:01.000Z

For the GT driver I only made a limited batch of them as it would of been pointless to try to compete with Lumintop once they released it.

Lexel might still have some for sale, you could ask him.

Otherwise ordering the GT70 conversion kit is the only real option.

Just so you know the group buy ends on the 31st.

ThembaFatsani · 2018-10-28T20:53:49.000Z

ok. thanks for the info. i think ill just go the group buy, seems like a pretty great deal anyway.

JasonWW · 2018-10-28T21:32:22.000Z

ThembaFatsani:

Apologies for dumb question. I’m new here.

Is anyone selling this driver assembled flashed and ready to drop in? Other than through the upgrade package in the group buy?

I’m really interested in it for another spot light build but I have never done any surface mount circuit board soldering, and I’m a bit nervous to start.

If not I guess ill be getting an upgrade package…

I’m confused. Are you basically asking for a FET driver for the BLF GT? That won’t work as you’d burn up the xhp35-HI. If you plan to swap in a xhp70.2 then the conversion kit is about the only way to get the correct mcpcb.

Are you asking about a different model thrower light? Does it happen to use the same diameter driver as the GT?

If you just want a different sized FET driver for a different light, Lexel makes those here.

ThembaFatsani · 2018-10-29T02:29:58.000Z

thanks Jason, I’m looking at building my own spot light using the TA driver and 70.2 . seems like the only way to get that exact driver is the group buy. for $100 aud is a bit over the top for me though. think i will just use a big buck driver and a remote mounted pot. that will be all the functionality and performance I need. doesn’t have to be efficient in my case.

Texas_Ace · 2018-10-29T02:47:53.000Z

ThembaFatsani:

thanks Jason, I’m looking at building my own spot light using the TA driver and 70.2 . seems like the only way to get that exact driver is the group buy. for $100 aud is a bit over the top for me though. think i will just use a big buck driver and a remote mounted pot. that will be all the functionality and performance I need. doesn’t have to be efficient in my case.

What will you be powering it with?

If you have room for it and don’t need modes an external buck converter is actually the better option for you I think. You could setup an external pot on the converter to have a ramping brightness dial as well if you wanted to get fancy.

BlueSwordM · 2018-10-29T02:54:02.000Z

One good alternative would be to get a 6V MCPCB for the XHP70.2 and replace the driver with Lexel’s driver to get a regulated 8A to the LED.

That would still net you 5500+ lumens with some excellent throw.

ThembaFatsani · 2018-10-29T04:20:39.000Z

thanks TA i think you’re right. it’s for a plug in hand held spot light in a car. should be starting about 13v. external pot should be just the ticket. although I’ll probably just leave ot on full boar hehe.

PiercingTheDarkness · 2019-02-18T11:22:56.000Z

Hi TA,

Are these drivers still available for the BLF GT?

“The mcpcb is not currently available so you will need to customize an mcpcb for this mod right now.”

I’m ordering a conversion kit from nealsgadgets and it has a MCPCB so I’m guessing the above is irrelevant to me? Will I be good to go just doing a driver swap

JasonWW · 2019-02-18T11:57:30.000Z

Funtastic:

Hi TA,

Are these drivers still available for the BLF GT?

“The mcpcb is not currently available so you will need to customize an mcpcb for this mod right now.”

I’m ordering a conversion kit from nealsgadgets and it has a MCPCB so I’m guessing the above is irrelevant to me? Will I be good to go just doing a driver swap

The kit from Neal has all you need, the driver, the mcpcb with 70.2 and the new centering ring.

All pieces need to be installed.

This FET driver will burn up the little xhp35-HI. It only works with the 70.2.

PiercingTheDarkness · 2019-02-18T13:06:35.000Z

Yeah, I meant I’ll be using the 70.2 emitter with this driver but after reading previous comments it looks like TA no longer makes it.

Texas_Ace · 2019-02-18T14:19:19.000Z

Correct, I ran out of the last batch and it did not look like there was enough interest for more. I generally only make a driver if there is interest enough to sell at least 25-50 drivers. Just not worth the hassle for less.

Like Jason said you can get the conversion kit from Neal now and that has everything you need.

grahambo0101 · 2019-02-24T18:46:36.000Z

hazG:

TA I’m interested. Let’s see where this goes.

As a side note, there is a corona and some major bleed on th of light that makes it hard to see what you are shining upon. Using Matt’s video of the Xhp-70 modded light. Is there any way to find the sweet spot of the reflector to clean up the beam? Maybe it’s in material but its really hard to tell from Matt’s video. After all, the GT was to be a thrower not a flood right? The foreground of the Xhp 70 actually detracts from the distant image. One’s pupil is bound to close up as a result effecting the contrast level.

Might not be as crisp, but look at the surrounding area is all lit up with the 70.2 as well as the tower. So much more light.

djans1397 · 2019-03-17T16:37:54.000Z

Well I finally did the mod with your parts kit. Honestly it was a bit more difficult than I thought as my soldering skills needed a serous tune up. It all came together though and when I hit the button…… SHAZAAM! Instant mega thrower! I have the NW version and shaved the dome as much as possible. The tint is still neutral white with no real yellowing that I noticed when used outside. It throws as far if not further than my OG XHP35 HI, but with a much larger hot spot.

Thanks TA for making an already great light even more awesome!!! If anyone is on the fence about doing this, do it NOW! You won’t regret it!

I’m not really familiar with this driver and board. Is there a diagram or instructions that you could pm me or direct me to on this? Any disco modes?

Thanks much!

Texas_Ace · 2019-03-17T16:49:45.000Z

Great, glad you got it working! Soldering it with an iron would not be fun at all. Using hot air and solder paste it is really quite simple, the hardest part is applying the solder paste and placing all the components.

Far as the manual, I am not 100% sure what firmware you used but I assume it is the GT70 firmware, in which case the GT70 manual should be what you want. Although really it is very close to the normal GT firmware, just tweaks to the mode sets and minor things mostly.

There are some strobe modes, they are just disabled by default. You can enable them in the menu.

djans1397 · 2019-03-17T16:56:32.000Z

I bought my original XHP 35BLFGT second hand and I never really played around with the programming. So I’m assuming it is set on stock. I can tell you though with a double click from Turbo and went to Strobe mode. Could you put me in the direction of the menu for this programming?

Texas_Ace · 2019-03-17T17:11:04.000Z

This should be what you are looking for