Designing an LED flashlight for Kickstarter

[stephenk]

I'm looking for a <$100 low to medium brightness warm tint high CRI light for light painting and this seems to fit the bill. I look forward to seeing it on Kickstarter.

Just a quick question - what IPX rating is expected for this light?
Also, I'd advise the first post in the thread is kept as up to date as possible of the current specifications.
Great work!

 

[jashhash]

Just to give you and understanding of what's going on over here on the other side of the world. I have 2 flashlight manufacturers collaborating on this project. The first is Luckysun, a flashlight company who does absolutely stunning machining as you see in the above photos, however their in-house electrical engineer wasn't able to design a driver to my specs. Later on in the project I met the owner of another flashlight manufacturer Manker lights who's owner is a great electrical engineer but doesn't own any CNC equipment. As it turns out these companies working together can produce a fantastic flashlight. I had lunch with the owner of Manker today and we talked more about his difficulty in designing the constant current circuit board down small enough to fit inside the driver compartment of the flashlight. The good news is that he says that he can do it but will require another 2 weeks to get it all figured out. The better news is that he said he can increase the brightness of the turbo mode from 2 amps to 2.4 amps and also add a 2 minute timer on the turbo mode to reduce the brightness to 1amp to prevent overheating.

Thank's everyone here for their input and yes I am struggling with adding a clip design to the light at this point especially since the machining is already finished. At this point I'm giving up on the wire form clip idea and will be moving on to making a stamped clip. I'm making a design revision to narrow the slot on the back to incorporate snowlover91's idea of putting on a bolt on style clip like the EX11.2. Please note that for these first article samples I will be tapping through the slot and will be using a buy out clip. If funding is successful though I will be getting a new stamp die design made and narrow one of the slots to add two tapped holes. I'm off to the electronics district to find a clip.

 

[gunga]

Snowlover is not suggesting you narrow the slot and thread it. He is suggesting you replace one of the slots with 2 tapped holes. I agree. Perhaps this can be done on production models. You could offer production tailcaps to the testers with these holes. Could you just purchase a good quality clip instead of making it? Not a McGizmo ($25-30 each!) but something you find.

Btw. I have heard good things about Manker.

 

[jashhash]

Alright here is what I found in the electronics district which will be more or less what will be on the final product. I talked to my flashlight maker about tapping the slots to add a clip like this, but we both arrived at the conclusion that this would tear out too easily. Also I'm not quite satisfied with this clip design since the material is too thin and the design doesn't match with the light that I'm designing. So now the situation is, I won't be offering a clip on the review samples, but if the Kickstarter campaign is successful I will pay for having a stamp die made for a good quality screw on clip similar to what's in the photos below. For those who sign up to be reviewers I will send you an extra tail cap with a switch if the kickstarter campaign is funded successfully.






A little more about Manker today from our meeting:
I had a chance of playing with Manker's new titanium light today and am quite impressed by the construction quality. I especially like the interesting switch design; the central section of the light rotates which toggles between 3 brightness levels, it appears to be a 5lm low, 100lm med, and 500lm turbo (don't quote me on these brightness levels). The switch and light are completely waterproof to 1 meter depth. The light uses CR123a batteries. He uses a high frequency PWM driver in this light. We talked a bit and I suggested that he make an AA version of this light and change the driver to constant current. I can tell you that he certainly knows his stuff when it comes to flashlights and he is a true flashaholic since he cares about the quality of his light and isn't just in it for the money. He seems quite interested in doing business direct with CPF instead of going through an international distributor. Also it would be best to ignore the specs written on amazon, it was written by an international distributor who obviously doesn't know a thing about flashlights. His flashlight can be seen here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011BQ0O1Q/?tag=cpf0b6-20

 

[Julian Holtz]

Hi!

I did not like the clip of my SC51W, so I made a new one from a stainless steel bicycle spoke.

Maybe you like this idea.

 

[rickyro]

Hi!

I did not like the clip of my SC51W, so I made a new one from a stainless steel bicycle spoke.

Maybe you like this idea.

Great job!

 

[snowlover91]

I think the design could easily accommodate a clip design like I referenced earlier. Another light you may want to look at for ideas is the Nitecore SRT3 which has two tapped holes. The best part of this feature is that if you put them close together like the Nitecore lights did then it opens it up for people to customize it with aftermarket clips like McGizmo and others. Here on CPF the pocket clip for a light this size will be critical in selling these lights, I don't think you will see as good of a response with either a clip on or no pocket clip initially. I know I wouldn't put money into it if no pocket clip is included or if it's a clip on, they're too easy to lose and not sturdy.

If you fill in one of the slots on the tail cap and then tap it you should have a nice sturdy pocket clip that allows people to also buy aftermarket clips and customize the light. You could also design it similar to the SRT3 if you are worried about the holes not providing a study anchor and make them a little deeper or you could add a backing plate to the clip like the D10 lights had to provide extra depth to tap the screw into. Either way I feel it's important to include a screw on pocket clip or at least tap two holes like the EX11.2 or SRT3 lights have to allow this option.

 

[gunga]

I agree completely. You could also make a slot on the body to at least fit a slip on clip though this is less preferable.

 

[gunga]

Note. I plan on trying a convoy bolt in clip. It fits many hosts. Stainless. $2. Quite good.

 

[Coltrane]

Any idea when the projects starts?

 

[jashhash]

That's an awesome looking home made bicycle spoke clip Julian, you did a great job of bending it too, did you bend that yourself with a pliers or use a wire bending machine?

snowlover91, I think this is an excellent idea and will definitely be providing a good clip with the final design. I like the approach of using a clip and a tapped backing plate that goes behind the slot.

That's a great idea Gunga! I will save you the trouble and buy a few convoy clips and try them out, if they work all reviewers will get a convoy clip. Also a large wide slot will be able to accommodate a wide variety of after market clips!

Coltrane, I'm still waiting for the driver circuit to be completed which will take another 10 days. It's been a real tough fight getting the driver circuit just right, but it's really one of the most crucial elements of the flashlight. The most difficult part is to make all the settings constant current instead of PWM. I can tell you that a constant current driver is a whole lot more complicated than a PWM and the price difference in manufacturing is huge as well. The constant current driver cost 6x more than an equivalent PWM driver. The project will hopefully be launched 3 weeks from today if there aren't any more setbacks.

 

[gunga]

Good to hear. Yes, the circuit most important. The convoy clip uses nuts in the back. They will do for the test models but a backing plate is better. I suggest M2.5 or 4-40 sized bolts for the production runs.

 

[Camo5]

Personally i think the clip needs to be as low profile as possible, any object sticking out should be completely smooth so as not to catch on things...if you haven't, check out olight's s30R clip design. It's 1.5mm thick steel with a 2mm clip that fits around a slot. The clip wraps almost completely around the light and grips so tight it scratches the anodizing finish off when I twist it. The clip itself plastically deforms before it detaches (30 lb force) Low profile and makes it a wonderful pocket carry, it's already worn from rubbing against things (edc in front pocket) but nothing can catch.

What exactly is the issue with the original inverted wrap around clip?

 

[seasam]

I don't think the Convoy clip is what you want. It works well with a $15 host, but I don't see it being nice enough for this light. My 2c.

 

[gunga]

It is not intended to be the final clip choice.

 

[jashhash]

The first wrap around clip idea didn't work because the CNC wire bending process was not able to bend the clip in that exact geometry. CNC wire benders need a small 3mm flat spot before certain curves. Also when the clip ends are welded together it breaks the heat treating of the material so when you go to stretch the clip over the flashlight it bends but wont spring back to it's original position.

Yes I understand the convoy clip may not be the best. I haven't personally used one yet, if it's not an awesome solution than I will make sure the clip is awesome for the final product. I personally like the feel of the titanium clips, they are strong and highly elastic which makes it ideal for making a clip. A titanium clip may put the light over budget though. What do you think of offering the clip as an optional extra. that way I can keep my prices low for those who would never use the clip anyways. I think a titanium clip would be a $5 adder, not too much. I think the people who EDC everyday would appreciate a high quality titanium clip over a stainless steel one any day.

 

[Espionage Studio]

Great idea to me.

 

[gunga]

Yep. Great idea.

 

[KuanR]

I'm all for a nice titanium clip and I think it's a must on a single cell EDC light

 

[snowlover91]

It's a great idea for the titanium clip, those who will pay for a good quality flashlight like myself and many on here will gladly pay $5 extra for a great clip. A titanium one would be excellent and highly recommended!