500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos) - Work In Progress - Part 2

[Megatrowned]

Thanks for the confirmation email! Every time I receive an email from you, I instantly get excited! The Torpedo project is actually happening!!!

no sooner do I think I have found "the light" and you introduce the Zeus! Yes please, I will have that also.

+1
Will there be a top secret über Nuke to power the Zeus? Uh oh. Should I not have mentioned this out loud?!

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

:thumbsup:Thanks for the update Guy! This process has been fun to follow and it is exciting to be a part of the X run and one step closer to the finished product. That being said, no sooner do I think I have found "the light" and you introduce the Zeus! Yes please, I will have that also.

Hi clg0159,

My pleasure of course.
I just finished sending out a brief confirmation email to everybody who ordered a Torpedo X.

Please check your spam boxes before posting "I didn't get it" as that may be the #1 cause.
If you still don't see the confirmation mail, feel welcome to contact me and I'll be glad to re-confirm.


I know we are still at X but I'm feeling very good about being able to make the transition from X to the production version efficiently once all feedback has been taken into account.

During the design of Zeus, as a result of the usual "can't be done" rhetoric I often hear from various facilities I contract to,
I was forced to search far and wide for some electronic-guru's who would at least want to take a stab at doing something difficult, and so far the result is looking very promising and moving along oh so smoothly....

Tgwnn

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Thanks for the confirmation email! Every time I receive an email from you, I instantly get excited! The Torpedo project is actually happening!!!



+1
Will there be a top secret über Nuke to power the Zeus? Uh oh. Should I not have mentioned this out loud?!

Hi Megatrowned,

Thanks for the post and hooray, the mails landed

The Torpedo IS HAPPENING :thumbsup:
There still may be a little bit of steamrolling and ninja skills required but nothing's gonna stop us now!

As for Zeus...
The über Nuke, I need to wait for some new PCB's to determine if they'll be needed (über Nukes) or not,
along with wanting to confirm first hand some features (I conveniently forgot to mention) before I can share them.

All I can say on that front is...
Like most everybody here, I'm into flashlights, I like powerful lights, options, quality, simplicity, etc....
Perhaps most of all though, I like exploring things that have never been done.

My preference would be to just spill all the beans upfront but,
as I learned within a few short months of starting this thread,
specs, naming, design and just about everything else may find their way into a product (someone elses) before I'm able to deliver mine
and so, my preference is to be sure that I'm very close, any needed paperwork filed, and then I can and will share everything

tgwnn

 

[cactux]

If I remember well the 10250 body is used for emergency. What about selling a top cap (keychain ring) and a bottom cap. In that way you can encapsulate a battery inside, re-use the 10250 body as a capsule, and carry all of that in you keychain?

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

If I remember well the 10250 body is used for emergency. What about selling a top cap (keychain ring) and a bottom cap. In that way you can encapsulate a battery inside, re-use the 10250 body as a capsule, and carry all of that in you keychain?

Hi cactux,

Thanks for the post and suggestion.
I was planning on posting that question to the HF thread this week after some discussions by email...
as it's been requested/mentioned quite a few times there.

I just made the post, so please feel welcome to share your opinions, feedback
Thank you.

Tgwnn

 

[cactux]

It could be just to simple plastic caps. The bottom one flat and the top one with a notch to add a ring (no splash proof). I guess you can make them of the same material as the torpedos and add some orings for splash proof protection.

I guess the key here is low cost and very easy to manufacture ;-)

 

[th8tredude]

Hey Cactux,
My understanding is that the 10250 body isn't an emergency body tube, but can extend in an emergency to allow for use of a alkaline AAA in case you don't have the long tube with you. However,
I am stoked Guy is working on these caps as I've wanted some for my HF's.
Th8tredude

 

[cactux]

You are right. My point is that lets say that you have your torpedo without the 10250 installed, but you are running out of battery and you need a spear AAA battery .You can carry in the same keychain the 10250 and inside a spear battery. Obviously you need to have a top and bottom cap for it (10250 capsule).

Hey Cactux,
My understanding is that the 10250 body isn't an emergency body tube, but can extend in an emergency to allow for use of a alkaline AAA in case you don't have the long tube with you. However,
I am stoked Guy is working on these caps as I've wanted some for my HF's.
Th8tredude

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

It could be just to simple plastic caps. The bottom one flat and the top one with a notch to add a ring (no splash proof). I guess you can make them of the same material as the torpedos and add some orings for splash proof protection.

I guess the key here is low cost and very easy to manufacture ;-)

Hi cactux,

Thanks very much for the feedback.
Definitely need to be metal for durability

Hey Cactux,
My understanding is that the 10250 body isn't an emergency body tube, but can extend in an emergency to allow for use of a alkaline AAA in case you don't have the long tube with you. However,
I am stoked Guy is working on these caps as I've wanted some for my HF's.
Th8tredude

Hi th8tredude,

On the 10250 tube, thanks for correctly pointing that out. :thumbsup:
The reason I state it as for using AAA's in emergency is there is no hard lock, and it takes quite a few rotations to unscrew it.
I have tested it though and the spring that make contact with the battery provides more than enough tension to keep it secure in extended position but I'm open to ways of further enhancing the design.

You are right. My point is that lets say that you have your torpedo without the 10250 installed, but you are running out of battery and you need a spear AAA battery .You can carry in the same keychain the 10250 and inside a spear battery. Obviously you need to have a top and bottom cap for it (10250 capsule).

Thanks cactux,
Yes, its a good point too.
Especially if you are using the Torpedo with a AAA or 10440 body tube, then the small 10250 tube + end caps is going to be an easy way to carry a spare emergency battery in compact form on a keychain. :thumbsup:

Tgwnn

 

[GIR]

Hmm, don't remember if this has been mentioned already but how about a blind cap to put on the not-currently-in-use body so one can put a battery in it and carry it as a spare? So when need arises just swap bodies on the head/blind cap and off you go. More stylish than carrying a plastic battery case.

So +1 from me! :thumbsup: Nice to see there are some more ppl who want that functionality.

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

So +1 from me! :thumbsup: Nice to see there are some more ppl who want that functionality.

Thanks GIR

Tgwnn

 

[cactux]

Man we maybe a soul mates. We are in sync

So +1 from me! :thumbsup: Nice to see there are some more ppl who want that functionality.

 

[Heywood Floyd]

You are right. My point is that lets say that you have your torpedo without the 10250 installed, but you are running out of battery and you need a spear AAA battery .You can carry in the same keychain the 10250 and inside a spear battery. Obviously you need to have a top and bottom cap for it (10250 capsule).

I dealt with the spare HF tube issue differently by putting a ZoomHead and extra three position switch on the ends. The modular approach to the HF and T do present quite a few options. Seriously, the cost of having functional spare tube caps and adding to the overall modular function matrix is proving very useful for me. IMHO for a reasonable incremental cost above dumb caps I got additional functionality and redundancy with little penalty for size or weight.

 

[cactux]

That sounds great. The solution that I am talking about is for those users that do not have a ZoomHead nor a three position switch.

I dealt with the spare HF tube issue differently by putting a ZoomHead and extra three position switch on the ends. The modular approach to the HF and T do present quite a few options. Seriously, the cost of having functional spare tube caps and adding to the overall modular function matrix is proving very useful for me. IMHO for a reasonable incremental cost above dumb caps I got additional functionality and redundancy with little penalty for size or weight.

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

I dealt with the spare HF tube issue differently by putting a ZoomHead and extra three position switch on the ends. The modular approach to the HF and T do present quite a few options. Seriously, the cost of having functional spare tube caps and adding to the overall modular function matrix is proving very useful for me. IMHO for a reasonable incremental cost above dumb caps I got additional functionality and redundancy with little penalty for size or weight.

Hi Heywood Floyd,

Thanks for the post.
That will of course work, though a little more costly.

I guess if the price was right, just carrying a spare HF-R would work very well

That sounds great. The solution that I am talking about is for those users that do not have a ZoomHead nor a three position switch.

Hi cactux,

I'll have to work on making some collapsible batteries or thin batteries that you can slide into your belt
but in the meantime, I think end caps are a good idea too!


btw, not for the Torpedo X....
I tested a 14500 Nuke proto, DD with an XML bare emitter (on a base of course).
It was roughly 3.8V prior to starting (so not fully charged) but managed to hit 4500mA and had no problem staying above 4000mA,
which seemed to be on par or better than the AW 18650 cell that I tested immediately after.
Nothing overly scientific in terms of precise lab conditions but for a quick'n'rough, that should be able to pump out some lumens.
I know the cell is rated and tested as safe for >6000mA

I'm checking into moving forward on a production run, its just that the bigger size and more lithium content (than a 10250) may complicate shipping which is my main concern, due to restrictions.

Tgwnn

 

[windstrings]

I agree, as small as aaa is, shouldn't be an issue that carry a backup battery.
I suppose even if you used a 10440, if it were to run out of juice , you could switch.

_____________________________________
Alan

 

[sticktodrum]

Got the confirmation email a couple days ago, and I'm still vibrating with excitement.

This is still a pretty new thing for me and I'm happy to be part of the rest group. It's kind of like Spyderco and their mule team. The last AAA light I was excited about was the Olight i3 from Going Gear, and that's just because of the color. This however, is a whole other level of anticipation.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4

 

[DBCstm]

Ah, so many good suggestions...where to start? I had one of my 10440 Ti tubes recreated as a keychain battery holder. A copper threaded plug on one end for looks, a Ti threaded cap on the other end with a hole for a ring to enable keychain carry. When I'm carrying the HF with 10250 tube, this spare holder IS the accessory tube for the HF if/when the Nuke dies. The battery tube and battery can thread right onto the head and tail of the HF, the short tube and dead Nuke can thread right onto the ends on my keychain so I don't lose the Nuke and it's protected in a sealed short container. In this way, I have a spare cell for the 3 lights I daily carry, with the holder itself doing duty as battery tube for the 2 HF's.

DBC_July 03, 2013_193206 by genie in a black box, on Flickr

With a 14500 cell powering an XM-L, higher Amperage is attainable but for a shorter duration possibly than one might think. Forward voltage comes into play, especially so with an XM-L2. The newer XM emitter has a higher Vf to start with and the battery will sag at high power levels, severely limiting run time as the emitter wants much more voltage to run at sustained high amperage. Makes it tough for a smaller cell to supply high amps, and keep voltage up high enough to run the light in real world use.

There are now 18650 cells out there that sustain 10A fairly easily, even supplying 20A or more, but again for a short while only. The Samsung INR18650 20R is one of the best. That's right, 20A on an 18650! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it! (sorry, couldn't help myself, that old saying has such new meaning with e-cigs popping up everywhere!) Anyway, we'll be fighting voltage sag and heat, in the small lights, when trying to run high power. And to get a decent throw, well, with XM-L series emitters throw and small are not very compatible.

Very much looking forward to seeing how you handle all this with the Zeus, Guy!

Dale

 

[Cataract]

Hmmm.. end caps that turn the spare battery tube into jewelery. Why not put a stone on one end and Trit on the other... you're giving me ideas and my wallet a headache!

 

[eala]

Hey, can the 10250 nukes be charged at 500 mA or is that too much? I have one of these:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/sh...Redilast-Mini-USB-Li-ion-Charger!-CC-CV-500mA

eala