Building a Light with Q5. 40000 lux !!!

[Gunner12]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

Gunner12, does direct driving the LED from an 18650 really drive the LED at over 2 amps and have you even tried that before?

I haven't tried it before but I have connected a Q5 directly to a 18650(forgot to measure current)

This post shows that a good Q5 at 3.7v draws around 1.5 amp so from that info, it think it is safe to say that unless you have a very high Vf Q5, 4.2v will drive it over 2 amp.

The upcoming Seoul has a higher Vf then the current P4 and is IIRC actually less efficient then the current P4.

WadeF: The 40000 Lux figure is just a guess of maximum lux. the actual figure is probably closer to 30000 Lux. It will be of a Cree Q5 driven at around 2 amps and through a reflector with about the same performance as the MRV's reflector.

 

[saabluster]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

You could also use two of these driver boards(in parallel) to get about 2 amp to the LED. Check post 5 of this thread.

The link you provided is for a

SKU: 4735​

not the one I mentioned (SKU: 3256). Have you tried 4735 in parallel? Just curious.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

saabluster - did you get 2 amps out of those 2 boards ? What body did you use ? How many batteries ?

 

[saabluster]

saabluster - did you get 2 amps out of those 2 boards ? What body did you use ? How many batteries ?

In theory it should be 1600mA. I have not measured it at the led though. I don't know if you want to go over that as it makes the flashlight really hot after 10-15 minutes. And this is with a fairly hefty flashlight. Its the "super thrower" from DX (SKU: 3356).

I did a little experiment and made an aspheric mag and used this exact same driver setup and same led bin and the super thrower could throw every bit as far as the mag but had a much better spill than the mag. The reflector in the ST is REALLY good. It gathers much more light than most other reflectors. My only problem with it is it has a few surfacing issues(defects) with the reflector. It really is not a big thing but I want perfection. I am resurfacing the reflector and sending it to a guy to coat in pure aluminum which should give me another 15-20% out the front. We shall see. I took some lumens measurements before and will compare it when I get it back. Its not the kind of measurement you would get from one of the pros so don't ask. It will will serve as a comparison based on my equipment and setup only.

I used two 18650 for this as well.

 

[Nitroz]

Pictures of the two flashlights compared side by side??

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Not with a Cree, but I have a light utilizing a 3" reflector and a Seoul P4 that measures 40,000+ lux at 1 amp to the led. For the Cree you are going to need a nice deep reflector in the 45mm diameter range.

Bill

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

saabluster, do you think I could hook up the two .boards to one 16850 battery and still get this same amp output ? ( I know the runtime will be much shorter ) ?

I don't like the super thrower look that much. much rather the lights mentioned above ( either the WD-600 or WD-400 ).. so is it realistic to hope for close to 2 amps from one 16850 ?
Oh, and I won't run it for longer than 5 minutes max each time, so the overheating should not be a big problem.

 

[Nitroz]

If you're a modder the way to go is with an aspherical mag, especially if throw is what you are after.

The die of the LED is magnified. Also the light can be defocused to produce a huge flood light, so it is multi-functional.

 

[saabluster]

If you're a modder the way to go is with an aspherical mag, especially if throw is what you are after.

Based on my direct comparison I disagree. There are ALOT of lost lumens with the aspheric. With my light meter doing a ceiling bounce test the aspherc has half the lumens coming out the front. And the throw of the "super thrower" with the exact same drivers and led bin threw every bit as good as the aspheric. And this with a MUCH better spot to spill. I gave the two lights to my sisters to see what they thought and they both agreed they liked the Super Thrower better.

 

[saabluster]

saabluster, do you think I could hook up the two .boards to one 16850 battery and still get this same amp output ? ( I know the runtime will be much shorter ) ?

I don't like the super thrower look that much. much rather the lights mentioned above ( either the WD-600 or WD-400 ).. so is it realistic to hope for close to 2 amps from one 16850 ?
Oh, and I won't run it for longer than 5 minutes max each time, so the overheating should not be a big problem.

I don't know as I have never tried it. I think it could work but I doubt you would have that level of output for very long. As it is the batteries get very hot in mine. I can't imagine what it would be like to pull even more current from half the batteries.
As far as the flashlight used I personally would not use the WF-400. It does not have enough mass to absorb the massive amounts of heat put out at that drive level. I'm confused why you think the WF-600 looks OK but the Super thrower not. They look the same. One is just longer than the other. Note that with the Super Thrower you can remove the extension and use 2 18500s which make it much shorter. But you still have the option of using 18650s for longer run time when you need it. And the two 18500s will better be able to cope with the current you are asking than one 18650.

 

[Nitroz]

Based on my direct comparison I disagree. There are ALOT of lost lumens with the aspheric. With my light meter doing a ceiling bounce test the aspherc has half the lumens coming out the front. And the throw of the "super thrower" with the exact same drivers and led bin threw every bit as good as the aspheric. And this with a MUCH better spot to spill. I gave the two lights to my sisters to see what they thought and they both agreed they liked the Super Thrower better.

What aspheric lens size did you use?

The mag with this setup can easily produce over 40,000 lux and more.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

I guess I jsut don't like the double lenght of the Super Thrower. The smaller the better.. - I guess I like that approach.

But if this is not realistic to get 2 amps from one battery, what would be the best way of getting MAX brightness from WD-600 ? Would change of Q5 alone make a difference, or should I upgrade also the circuit board ? Or maybe just drop in the Q5 and do a direct link from a battery ( as suggested by Gunner a few posts above ? ).

So I guess my question is: how to mod WD-600 with Q5 to get the most lumens/lux and the best throw ( considering circut boards and lenses )

thanks for all your input.

 

[Khaytsus]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

hi Patriot36:

the avatar is freaky indeed. As old polish sayins says: "look at what you are afraid of.. and you will be scared even more."

BTW, we have about 1.5 gadzillion of those under our house.. Used to see them in the house here and there, but after taping up some vents and such they never seem to get in anymore.

Still see them on the back porch. And I tell you what, if they didn't live on the far side of the house from the central heating unit, our filter would never get changed. *shudder*

Most bugs don't get me, but those stupid crickets just come en masse!

 

[saabluster]

I guess I jsut don't like the double lenght of the Super Thrower. The smaller the better.. - I guess I like that approach.

But if this is not realistic to get 2 amps from one battery, what would be the best way of getting MAX brightness from WD-600 ? Would change of Q5 alone make a difference, or should I upgrade also the circuit board ? Or maybe just drop in the Q5 and do a direct link from a battery ( as suggested by Gunner a few posts above ? ).

So I guess my question is: how to mod WD-600 with Q5 to get the most lumens/lux and the best throw ( considering circut boards and lenses )

thanks for all your input.

Maybe you missed what I said about the extension on the super thrower. It comes off and then you can use two 18500s which are smaller than 18650s. With this setup you should easily be able to hit 2 amps(and hold it for longer than 30 sec). And its only 5/8" longer than the WF-600. Trust me you will never notice the difference. Either one of these is too big in diameter to make a good EDC and length will be really close. But if you are dead set on the WF-600 than enjoy. Its a great light too.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

hey saabluster, sorry I guess I missed that you can remove the extension and shove two 18500s to get 2 amps! Would I have to put the two circuit boards to get that output or could I wire that directly to the LED ? Also, would you recommend the lenses Gunner was talking about with this thrower ?

thanks!

 

[Everett]

If you don't like the length of the super thrower, why not consider the cree projection (sku 4081)? the reflector on that is fantastic (might be the same as super thrower, don't have the ST to compare) and it's the perfect size for 1x18650, even protected. also, the emitter and driver housing piece has plenty of room for driver boards, so it would be nice if you're using two.

 

[saabluster]

hey saabluster, sorry I guess I missed that you can remove the extension and shove two 18500s to get 2 amps! Would I have to put the two circuit boards to get that output or could I wire that directly to the LED ? Also, would you recommend the lenses Gunner was talking about with this thrower ?

thanks!

You really don't want to wire the led straight to the batteries. As far as reaching 2amps I don't know what one will work to reach that. The drivers I mentioned earlier I know work and should give you around 1.6 amps. You can experiment with the different 1000mA drivers on DX and report back. Just don't bother with the AMC7135 boards. It did not work for me.
And yes the lense Gunner talked about works great. It will give you about 8% more light out the front. You need the 52.1mm for either of these lights.

 

[saabluster]

If you don't like the length of the super thrower, why not consider the cree projection (sku 4081)? the reflector on that is fantastic (might be the same as super thrower, don't have the ST to compare) and it's the perfect size for 1x18650, even protected. also, the emitter and driver housing piece has plenty of room for driver boards, so it would be nice if you're using two.

It is the same reflector. And yes it does an incredible job doesn't it? Hey, maybe you could use the two drivers on yours and see how it works with one 18650? Don't use the ones I used though. I just tried it with one 18650 and the light output is significantly lower.

 

[saabluster]

What aspheric lens size did you use?

The mag with this setup can easily produce over 40,000 lux and more.

It was a 50mm x 30mm fl from surplus shed. I checked on their site and I can't find it now they must have sold out. Don't confuse this with the 50x30 they have on there now as the one I have doesn't look anything like that. As a matter of fact mine actually measured at 52mm.
The reflectors in these Super Throwers really are that good.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

thanks for the input. Still learning.. still researching..

Quick question - how much abuse in amps the Q5 can take ? I was looking at the board suggested by Gunner ( thanks again for all your help ) - here. Would this be possible my candidate to wire two of them to 2 x 18500 ? This way the led would get ( in theory ) around 2.4 amps. ..

I just want my darn 2 amps in a small body! .. and something that could run for at least 30 minutes. :thinking: