Driver board list / regulator board list.

[Bogus1]

TorchBoy, thanks for doing this. This will be a valuable resource I'm sure.

You might want to add Goldserve's FLuPIC and Piglet boards to your list.

I am selling them in this thread on CPF.

I also have them listed on my store:
Flupic converter version 2.2 Standard Sammie 0.55"
Flupic converter version 2.2 Standard Sammie 0.55" 1amp burst
Flupic converter version 2.2 Standard UI 0.6" for Fenix
Flupic converter with Low>High>Burst and adjust high level
Tri-Flupic driver for 3 LEDs independantly [standard UI] 0.77"
Piglet 50/500mA multi level/function buck/boost 0.55" driver

Missing from this list due to being out of stock is the Piglet with drive levels of 150/800mA, the 10.5mm FLuPIC, and the 0.77" FLuPIC.

The program for the Standard FLuPICs is listed here. There have been a number of custom programs for these boards but it doesn't make sense to list them in a thread like this.

 

[TorchBoy]

:duck: More boards! :hairpull:

I've added them to my to-do list in post 2, but I'll need the tech specs to take them any further. :rock:

 

[Stereodude]

You might want to add Goldserve's FLuPIC and Piglet boards to your list.

I am selling them in this thread on CPF.

What are the technical specs for the FluPIC? Is it a boost, buck, buck-boost? Output current capability, minimum input voltage, etc, etc, etc..?

 

[Stereodude]

Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

Why do you say "infamous"? (In italics, no less!) As I've mentioned in post 1, once the voltage gets too high, you've very nearly got enough to run an extra LED in series - neatly gets rid of the extra voltage problem, as long as you can cope with having an extra LED. I had mentioned that it's a linear regulator, along with the voltage requirement. I've seen people knocking it simply because they apparently didn't remember/realise before installing it that it needed enough volts. I figure they should blame themselves, not the regulator. Anyway, with three suitably matched AA NiMH cells and LED Vf they're going to be more efficient than any buck regulator I've seen, and can easily be about the same even without that matching. When the cells are empty and it drops out of regulation, thanks to the LED operating voltage requirements it ends up throttling back to very low current, thereby helping protect the cells from overdischarge (assuming the user notices the light's not bright any more). It's a true constant current regulator(!), is also a fraction of the price of certain buck regulators and comes with multimode setups OEM. Like any of the boards in this list, it has its uses - for some it's great - and it has its limitations.

I say infamous because the products using it say it's good for 2.7V to 4.2V when that's clearly not the case. It's also the core of most of the DX and Kai Domain hence it's famous mostly for the wrong reasons. Basically it's a crude but cheap solution.

 

[kavvika]

Many thanks for this thread, it has helped me a lot! I just want to throw a few things out there that might be able to help someone else out with their Mag modding:

For modding a 2-cell light, to be powered by 2 alkaline or NiMh cells, you need a boost driver. Here's three that I like:
DX #4382. $2 each, 700mA output, claims to be "regulated"
Lowes Task Force 2C Driver, but they only come with the light:ironic:
Bad Boy or BB Nexgen. Pricey at more than $15 each, many output currents available.

For modding a 3 cell light powered by 3 alkaline or NiMh cells where you don't want to use a resistor for efficiency purposes:
Any of the DX or KD AMC7135 circuits will work. They are most efficient when using one 3.7v Li-Ion or 3x NiMh or alkaline cells. I personally like the KD 3x 5-mode or 4x 3-mode, since you can make a multi-mode 3-cell Maglite with those circuits. Price varies from $2 in a multi pack to about $5 for the 4x 3-mode board

For modding a 4 cell light powered by 4 alkaline or NiMh cells:
DX #3256 should work quite well. Only $1.50 a board, claims 800mA, very efficient around 6V, but drops down to about 70% at its upper limits.

For modding a 4+ alkaline or NiMh cell light, or a smaller light with 2x Lithium primaries or Li-Ions:
KD Kennan board seems to be a very popular choice, but it is currently out of stock. Only $3, and very efficient.

Note that I use Maglites in these examples as they are the lights I have to modify. The numbers I quoted are not derived from my testing, only extensive research both here and in the DX and KD forums. The only boards I currently own are the TF 2C board and DX #3256, so I cannot guarantee my statements to be 100% accurate, and I don't have the funds to purchase and test every single board mentioned. This list is for boards that are reasonably priced for the budget modder that wants to make a single LED mod, that is powered at >800mA drive current. But again, everything that I have mentioned was copied from a text file I composed for myself previously, for my own personal Mag mods, so I am not out to mislead anyone. If I have made any mistakes, please let me know so I can change them. This helped me alot, and I hope it can help someone else!

 

[StefanFS]

Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

I say infamous because the products using it say it's good for 2.7V to 4.2V when that's clearly not the case. It's also the core of most of the DX and Kai Domain hence it's famous mostly for the wrong reasons. Basically it's a crude but cheap solution.

What do you consider to be an elegant and more expensive solution then? Please enlighten me.
As Torchboy said, under certain circumstances these are great, 3-4 NiMH or one LiION cell. I get discharge curves that are perfect for my needs, and there isn't that much that can break in a simple, robust and elegantly designed driver circuit. But I also really like the FluPIC's, so I guess some think I'm a bit strange.
Stefan

 

[Stereodude]

Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

What do you consider to be an elegant and more expensive solution then? Please enlighten me.
As Torchboy said, under certain circumstances these are great, 3-4 NiMH or one LiION cell. I get discharge curves that are perfect for my needs, and there isn't that much that can break in a simple, robust and elegantly designed driver circuit. But I also really like the FluPIC's, so I guess some think I'm a bit strange.
Stefan

:sigh: A properly designed buck-boost regulator would be the more elegant and likely more efficient solution. You could hold dead flat constant current regulation all the way down to 2.7V. However, there doesn't seem to be any of these on the market. Why there aren't I don't know. :thumbsdow

If the battery spends any appreciable time of its usable life below Vf+.15V, IMHO the 7135 is not a good match. Lets look at your scenarios and assume we're using a Cree Q5 (which isn't binned for Vf). Depending on Vf of the LED, 3 NiMH cells could spend the entire time with the 7135 not in regulation. A single Li-Ion could spend about 50% of it's life out of regulation. 4 NiMH cells will definitely be in regulation, but you're dropping about 1V across the 7135. These different scenarios would bother me (the last one not so much), but then again, I like perfectly flat output curves that have a cliff at the end. Maybe you don't.

 

[J.D.]

Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

:sigh: A properly designed buck-boost regulator would be the more elegant and likely more efficient solution. You could hold dead flat constant current regulation all the way down to 2.7V. However, there doesn't seem to be any of these on the market. Why there aren't I don't know. :thumbsdow

How about this ?
The GDup is a fully regulated Buck/Bust Converter - but not available as board only - not yet. Hope it becomes available soon...

And i think the Piglet hast also a bust buck design... - but currently limited to 500ma output - i think.

I agree with you, we need more bust buck converters out there

 

[Stereodude]

Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

How about this ?
The GDup is a fully regulated Buck/Boost Converter - but not available as board only - not yet. Hope it becomes available soon...

And i think the Piglet hast also a buck/boost design... - but currently limited to 500ma output - i think.

I agree with you, we need more buck/boost converters out there

That's quite an expensive buck-boost converter, but it's on the right track.

Building a good 1A buck boost converter that take 2.7V to 5.5V should be trivial given some of the commercial LED driver chips out there.

 

[Bogus1]

I should have 150/850 mA Piglet boards available soon, but of course the CR123 won't stay in regulation. These work well in ES cans and have been around for years. They are rated down to 2.4v but that's why I have the two configurations of 50/500 and 150/850mA as lower voltage won't drive to 850mA.

The FLuPIC is an LDO driver with PWM control and once Vin drops below Vf the board goes into DD, so the range is less than 5.5v. I believe PWM controls continue to work down to 2v. Maximum current is on Burst which is DD and around 1.2amps in most applications.

I'm sure someone else can explain all this much better than I can.

 

[StefanFS]

Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

These different scenarios would bother me (the last one not so much), but then again, I like perfectly flat output curves that have a cliff at the end. Maybe you don't.

I like and use both solutions, for some applications I like perfect regulation and for other tasks I choose FluPIC or AMC7135 based solutions due to their extended runtimes. It all depends....
Stefan

 

[TorchBoy]

Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

OK, I don't care if you look at me strangely, but I like crude if it does the job. That means that in the right situation I like using a resistor. On the subject of resistors, Kavvika, IMO using a resistor with 3x NiMH will probably be as efficient as anything else, but it won't result in a constant current (which I do also like, cliff or no cliff at the end).

Also, I like cheap, at least in the sense of inexpensive, not poor quality (which I'm told a lot of Americans mean by the word). I'm sure there's the odd "properly designed buck-boost regulator" around, but how much do you want to pay? For the cost of one of the more expensive drivers in this list (and I mean no disrespect to the quality or usefulness of those boards), I can get a constant current driver, LED, and donor body (and possibly batteries as well).

My understanding of "elegance" is that the simpler a solution is, the more elegant it is - complicatedness and elegance do not normally go together. The AMC7135 thus fits my idea of elegance for those situations it's suited for very nicely.

Thanks for those recommendations Kavvika. I note it's Kennan, not Kennar. I quite like it - it appears to do just what's claimed for it, and keep a constant current output. Are any of the DX buck boards constant current?

 

[TorchBoy]

Re: Driver board list / regulator board list

:sigh: A properly designed buck-boost regulator would be the more elegant and likely more efficient solution. You could hold dead flat constant current regulation all the way down to 2.7V. However, there doesn't seem to be any of these on the market. Why there aren't I don't know. :thumbsdow

FYI, I've added the GD range to the list.

Edit: And the SOB range.

 

[rolling]

Does anyone know a methode to adapt the 14mm drivers to 17mm? Id like to put a SOB750 in my LM M1-T.

 

[TorchBoy]

Does anyone know a methode to adapt the 14mm drivers to 17mm? Id like to put a SOB750 in my LM M1-T.

It's spelled "KENNAN". Or would be, if they were in stock. :shakehead

 

[rolling]

It's spelled "KENNAN". Or would be, if they were in stock. :shakehead

No. The Kennan needs a bit of Vin above Vout to run in regulation, dont remember the exakt value but it does not run in regulation from a singel 18650 if the Forwardvoltage at 750mA is at 3.7V. And after it goes out of regulation it does not go into direkt drive. It continues to work at a quite low mA count. If i recall correctly. I did test one. Correct me if i am wrong, it was quite a while ago.


Edit: I thing it was the 4-18V issue.

Edit2: - Total input voltage must be 1-3V higher than output voltage, depending on the number of LED that you need. If you are running two LED, your battery voltage should ~2V higher than the LED total VF. If you are running one LED, your battery voltage should be ~1V higher than the LED VF.
So it would work for 2xRCR123a and 2xCR123a not for 1x18650. The badboy would work for all 3 configurations.

 

[JB01245]

Any thought on this one?

http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut755

 

[sunspot]

I'm having trouble getting an answer on another board but maybe I can here. Get an answer that is.
I want a drop-in module for a 2AA Mini-Mag.
The Terralux Extreme is, well, not very extreme. The K2 flip chip on it is only OK, not great.

Here is the question. What board can I use to drive a high output Cree/Seoul LED? I don't mind if the light gets very warm, just not hand burning.

The problem with the Terralux is it's insulated from the flashlight body and head so I understand that it can't be cranked up to 11.

I need one built for me as my eyes are weak and my hands are no longer steady for making my own stuff.

Can anyone help?

 

[TorchBoy]

... I understand that it can't be cranked up to 11.

What does that mean?

Does anyone know why the Kennan board has appeared on KD's new arrivals page (page 2) when it's not a new arrival and none of its details have changed? Same price, same "Out of Stock – Ship in 1 to 4 weeks" availability. Are the items listed there really just random selections to give the impression something is happening?

 

[Bogus1]

TorchBoy, my store software just picks out selections to claim as "new" and theirs is likely the same. It's kind of annoying really. Only new items should be listed as new.