I was thinking about a 4.5 amp driver but thats probably too much juice for 2 18650, so 3a would be safer
I would have to order the host first and see if the driver will fit - but im guessing its just a standard 3x t6 model like the trustfires floating around? maybe someone whos taken apart this type of host can offer some info
anyway - this would cost me around $55-60 and be a fun project i think
I'm no mod veteran, but that looks like a SkyRay 3T6. I have a couple versions of those. I think you can get the Trustfire 3T6 for about the same or less money. There is a Amazon thread floating around I think started by Dchomak 18sixfifty. The TR-3T6 has much better heat sinking and slightly better finish quality. I think the driver is a little larger diameter.
thanks for the info - i thought it looked like a generic 3t6 which are common - i saw the amazon deal but its out of stock now i believe and it was $25
if the driver doesnt fit maybe its best waiting for something else
4.5A from 2x 18650 is fine, as long as it's ~3v LEDs (single 6v MTG2 is better with 3 cells). Also remember that with LEDs in parallel the driver output will be divided equally between LEDs, so a 3A driver would only run it at 1A each.
You could do it with LEDs in series but ONLY if powered by 3 cells in series, as well. That would give 3A per LED (series wiring is weird like that).
Gj has an nice side by side comparison of the SkyRay and the TR-3T6 in Post 53 below. Another good thing about the TR-3T6 is that it already has a great driver. Someone resister modded it up to 9 amps (3/emitter). I don't know the limit. It has very big SMD resistors. Which indicates it is built to be able to move a lot of current.
The current best price on Amazon is $23.70 (using link in above OP). I don't know anything about that vendor though.
Oh - that 3A IOS driver is basically the same as this driver: http://www.fasttech.com/products/1143104, but FT doesn't know their a$$ from their elbow about these things, so I wouldn't trust getting it from FT (it's really 3 modes), though the IOS one has been Sold Out a pretty long time now. I did use the FT one though successfully in a mod though - single emitter, 2 cells in series. Also, that driver is the same chip for chip design as the IOS 4.5A and the LCK-LED 5A buck driver, but the inductor is bigger of course.
Most of the asian drivers I’ve ever used never put out what they are supposed to. Der Wichtel 9A buck driver comes to mind if you run the leds in parallel. It’s damn expensive though. Not to sure of a 30 watt boost driver to run in series. HBFlex can operate down to 7 volts not sure what would happen down at 6 volts.
Oops, for some reason I read it as 'too much for 2 18650s, 3 would be safer'. :(
I haven't used any of the 'big' boost drivers, will this one (http://intl-outdoor.com/boost-7led-3-modes-23-cells-input-circuit-board-p-545.html) work correctly with only 3 XMLs?
I like the sounds of that driver. But I don like “*Thermal management, overheating protection 55-60C, the driver will automatically adjust the output current”
every driver that I’ve had that says that is a hunk of junk. But really that only been a hand full. If it don’t heat up and ramp down I’d say it’s a good choice to try with 3 leds. $17.50 is a lot of dough. I’ve ruined more drivers than I’ve used.
If 'doing its job' is kicking in 30* sooner than it should, I think it needs to be fired. It's doing a terrible job.
But all the ones I've seen that are oversensitive have the thermistor as an internal component of one of the SOIC-8 chips, and not an external thing that can be disabled. You'd have to do it through firmware, and for these unknown MCUs that just isn't possible.