Aspheric mag.

[Packhorse]

I fired up the 23 AMC7135 driver last night using 5 1100ma NiCd sub C's
I was a little suprised they could deliver the current but they did. Output was a steady 8.2amp!
It didnt work too well in low mode though. It just started to strobe at about 5-10hz. I rewired it so all 7135s were driven off the atmel control chip thinking this could solve the problem. It didnt really it just strobed a lot slower. I guess it was to do with the high input voltage. This should be solved once the LO10c arrives.

Anyway I tried it out with the 44mm aspheric and SST-90 ( off my miniMAX as I have yet to finish the heatsink off for this project.) and all I can say is WOW!!
I compared it agaisnt my quad aspheric XR-E driven at 1400 per LED. The SST was a slightly larger beam when focused tight ( the Quad is slightly out of focus to produce a larger beam) and was significantly brighter.
No beam shots yet as I cant find my tripod but rest assured they will come.

 

[wquiles]

Nice job dude :thumbsup:

 

[Packhorse]

All shots taken with Canon G10 ISO 80 8sec 2.8f

Ambient

Quad Q5 aspheric @1400ma per LED

Hexaspherical 6 XR-E R2's using Ahorton aspheric running at about 1 amp each

50watt halogen search lamp about 6 inch reflector

SST90 and 44 mm aspheric tight 5 amp

SST90 44mm aspheric wide 5 amp

The following 2 were taken after charging up the battery with no ambient light

SST90 44mm aspheric tight 8 amp

SST90 44mm aspheric wide 8 amp

 

[Goldigger]

looks like the Hexaspherical 6 XR-E R2's using Ahorton aspheric running at about 1 amp each produces a brighter tighter beam...

Any build info on this?

Cheers

 

[gcbryan]

Nice!

It's hard to tell from the pics but what was your impression regarding the difference between the SST-90 driven at 5 amp vs 9 amps?

I couldn't tell a lot of difference in the pics. Is it your impression that the throw would be greater or is 5 amps the sweet spot in terms of efficiency?

 

[Packhorse]

Hexaspherical= https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/242941

It was hard to measure the amperage to be honest and these were measured after the pics were taken.
Ooop it should be 8 amps not 9!!! I will change that.
8 amps did seem brighter but not by all that much as would be expected. More current and efficiency goes down and twice the power never seems twice as bright.
I will experiment to find the best power to suit my needs.

 

[Goldigger]

So the hex is not a dive light...

 

[wquiles]

Packhorse - great job on the beamshots. The focus and wide angle on the SST-90 looks like an excellent range - I think it would be very useful, not only as a diving light, but also outdoors. Nice job :twothumbs

 

[lucca brassi]

Very impressive indeed ! :bow:

May I ask what heat it is generated by SST-90 in the handle on the air at 5A or 8A ? How long have you run lamp?

OFFTOPIC:
For frst try I'll put SST-90 into empty house of Scubapro lamp
Scubalux 100 .
I must made a aluminium holder with diameter of 48 mm and press it into the enclosure. I'm worry a litle bit that heat will stay inside enclosure (because of big dimension) instead of dissipate on enclosure. For reflector I'll use original - I'm a little afraid to disassemble original original head ( press-fit lens )
http://www.google.si/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&sqi=2&ved=0CG8QFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.frogkick.dk%2Fmanuals%2Fscubapro%2FSchematics%2FOther%2F30-300-XX0%2520SCUBALUX.pdf&rct=j&q=scubapro%20scubalux%20200hp&ei=knmATofnA6WL4gT2n_WmDg&usg=AFQjCNHSnavQWbW8Z4ctNAAttmB60b9Uvw

But now I have measured inner diameter of reflector head exactly - 42mm! but I think can be easly fit 44mm DX lens with a little work!

 

[Packhorse]

Packhorse - great job on the beamshots. The focus and wide angle on the SST-90 looks like an excellent range - I think it would be very useful, not only as a diving light, but also outdoors. Nice job :twothumbs

Yeah, now just need to find away to be able to have a focusable system!

@LB. You should be able to to grind the lip off the 44mm lens to make it fit.
I didnt use the maglite setup so I cant really comment on how hot it was. I used the miniMAX body and ran it for very short times.

 

[lil_mac]

Bravo Packhorse! Are you going to dive this?

 

[Packhorse]

Yes. I am waiting for the voltage regulator to finish it off and I do need to build a battery cannister too ( although I can use the one from another light).

Question is will I use it as a primary can light or will I go for the wide beam and set it up as a video light? Maybe both!

 

[Codiak]

Perhaps the simple solution for focus would be to figure-out a simple way to mount the Aspherical Lense so it's removable? it either is or isn't focused?

 

[Packhorse]

It would be best to be able to focus it in water with out dismantling.

 

[SmokedCPU]

Hi there,

I was on the way to build a dive light with a mag before discovering the universe of CFP. Once here i was overwhelmed of new possibility but im on the way to copy your lamp's head. SSR-90 are at home waiting the 8-4-2A tri mode driver from www.pcmus.com his driver is capable of 9A and use battery up to 30V, battery canister is also arrived, and im waiting to do some test before ordering lipo battery pack. Also, some 44mm aspheric are on the way, since aspheric on direct contact with water is a mess.



As im also asking myself how i could focus/defocus, Do it worth the cost to re-thread the end of the battery tube, make 2 grooves for O-rings and use the threads to focus as with a stock Mag-Lite? The head would be moving the aspheric from led....

Im i adding a too big chance of failure by doing so ?
Do the aspheric need a big travel for Tight to flood ?

Thanks for your advice

 

[naimis]

It would be best to be able to focus it in water with out dismantling.

Heya, Packhorse. Just bought a mag (2D) for my next dive light project and have been looking over it to figure out what my approach is going to be. You say you can't focus it underwater? Given the slip fit, I'd imagine so, but is it not possible to use the threaded fit in a dive-light application?

I suspect you'd have to use a different o-ring than the factory (probably true of all of them, really).

Anyway, I'm doing a pretty similar light to what you have. I'd like to have a SST-90 running at 9A but I'm not convinced I can get the driver circuit right (been looking at maxim-ic, but I should poke around on CPF for a bit longer before committing to anything). Trying to build a canister light to use as I begin my tech training, but if it works as a video light too, well then bonus

 

[Codiak]

Heya, Packhorse. Just bought a mag (2D) for my next dive light project and have been looking over it to figure out what my approach is going to be. You say you can't focus it underwater? Given the slip fit, I'd imagine so, but is it not possible to use the threaded fit in a dive-light application?

I suspect you'd have to use a different o-ring than the factory (probably true of all of them, really).

Anyway, I'm doing a pretty similar light to what you have. I'd like to have a SST-90 running at 9A but I'm not convinced I can get the driver circuit right (been looking at maxim-ic, but I should poke around on CPF for a bit longer before committing to anything). Trying to build a canister light to use as I begin my tech training, but if it works as a video light too, well then bonus

Not to speak to Packhorses' design:

Water will eventually work past the threads and many people JB Weld the head to the handle. Variable Focus is still the holy-grail though mbsub has cracked it commerically, there is a long thread in this forum.

O-Rings are generally upsized one over spec.

A single driver doesn't exist yet, you could direct drive the bulb or use 3 x 2.8 drivers in parallel.

 

[naimis]

Not to speak to Packhorses' design:

Water will eventually work past the threads and many people JB Weld the head to the handle. Variable Focus is still the holy-grail though mbsub has cracked it commerically, there is a long thread in this forum.

I'm not so sure about that. I have two UK dive lights that are twist on/off, the Super Q eLED and the Mini Q40 eLED. I don't have the mini handy, but the Super Q uses two o-rings to seal against the head. My original Super Q flooded, but I blame that on some hacking I'd done. The mini has never flooded.

 

[Packhorse]

One thing to think about with a twist design is that it may changed the pressure inside the light.
For exaple if you were to use a mag with an aspheric in the head and have the head move on the thread the pressure would increase as you screw the head down and increase as you screw it up.
I am unsure of what problems this could cause though. Perhaps none.

But still having moving parts sealed by a single Oring like the mag head will eventually fail and leak. Add a second O ring and it will last longer but at some stage it will fail.

 

[gcbryan]

One thing to think about with a twist design is that it may changed the pressure inside the light.
For exaple if you were to use a mag with an aspheric in the head and have the head move on the thread the pressure would increase as you screw the head down and increase as you screw it up.
I am unsure of what problems this could cause though. Perhaps none.

But still having moving parts sealed by a single Oring like the mag head will eventually fail and leak. Add a second O ring and it will last longer but at some stage it will fail.

Why would the pressure change? The light itself is sealed and is therefore at one atmosphere. How does moving the head in and out increase or decrease the total pressure? It's not like the head and body are sealed separated with the head movement acting as a piston.

Or am I missing something specific to the Mag? Also, how is twisting the head to focus any different than twisting the head to turn a light on and off such as with the W200?

I'm not a big fan of twisting myself but I'm not seeing how it's any different than the W200.