Spike Light - V3

[ahorton]

"map o tazzy?"

No! Bad psychbeat! :shakehead

Road Train sounds cool.
Those bush trucks usually have crazy light set ups yah?

Yah they often do. I also like the feeling being an unstoppable force running through the bush.

 

[ahorton]

Another trickle ... Teaser number 6:
The incoming batch will have 4 colours: Black, blue, red and purple. 5 of each have been ordered.

Some of the hardware will stay black as well as the plastic parts. So they'll either be all-black or red/black etc.

The switch button is being machined from 7075-T6 Al and is coming in each of the colours. So I'll be able to make a black V3 with just a red button (along with many other combinations). I don't know what I'll like yet so I just ordered a bunch of each to try out. When they arrive I'll start playing dress-ups.

 

[Baddog]

red black for me please

 

[ahorton]

Yeah I keep finding redbacks in my yard/house. I figure it's a sign that there should be a redback V3.

 

[maddog]

Nice .... i'll take Purple with a Red switch button

 

[ahorton]

Nice .... i'll take Purple with a Red switch button

arghh! My eyes are hurting just thinking about that.:sick2:

 

[maddog]

arghh! My eyes are hurting just thinking about that.:sick2:

LOL ... ok, how about Blue with Red switch button ?

 

[ahorton]

Much better!

Of course if you do end up buying one then you can have any colours you want... but I'll assemble it with my eyes closed.

 

[Baddog]

Yeah I keep finding redbacks in my yard/house. I figure it's a sign that there should be a redback V3.

redback V3 it is then

 

[maddog]

Much better!

Of course if you do end up buying one then you can have any colours you want... but I'll assemble it with my eyes closed.

LOL

 

[ahorton]

I really am bored waiting for my new toys to arrive. I'm told they will be sent to the annodisers soon but they always take a few weeks.

Teaser number 7:
The two 18650 cells are in parallel and individually accessible.
Implications:
- You can run the headlight with only one 18650 cell if you want.
- You can replace one cell at a time and never be without light.
The second assumes you don't mind mixing cells of different charge levels. For the 5 seconds it takes to swap a cell, I don't mind.

 

[psychbeat]

Hey Ash- do u test yer switches & connectors etc for resistance?
I know one of the problems with high amp lights that run on single cell voltages can have bottlenecks resistance-wise.

I think my friend is selling his Betty and Wilma for something else as he's bummed on the cool tint in the fog.
Im trying to steer him in yer direction.
I think a filter swatch would be an easy fix for him but he wants to sell one at least which should leave him with enough $ for something nice.
Those Lupines hold their value well.

I'm excited to see the new lens!
I'd grab the "road train" but I'm committed to one of KevinMs hosts and really like to dork around with my drop-ins.

 

[ahorton]

Hey Ash- do u test yer switches & connectors etc for resistance?
I know one of the problems with high amp lights that run on single cell voltages can have bottlenecks resistance-wise.

No I don't test switches and connectors for resistance... I'll explain why in the next teaser.
The Roadtrain does run at higher voltage (3S-5S -> approx 2.3A - 1.4A in the cable) so the currents aren't too high anyway. The most the V3 can pull is 2.5A which is only 1.25A from each cell. In normal use, I don't expect anyone to go above 1.4A in the V3.

I'd grab the "road train" but I'm committed to one of KevinMs hosts and really like to dork around with my drop-ins.

I wouldn't worry about the Roadtrain. It's a very high-power unit in an ultra-light sporty body. Sounds good but we all know that without proper heat transfer it's going to struggle at the high-end. KevinM's hosts are much bigger and heavier and so I expect better heat transfer for high-power dropins (then again it's a drop-in which is an extra interface, so there might not be too much difference). The Roadtrain doesn't have the heat-transfer that the big Lupines do, but they may be competitive at 30-50% of the price.

 

[psychbeat]

Totally- I think the VAN quad drops with direct to copper make up for it somewhat.
I just worry that it's hard to push 5.6a at only 4.2 (3.7)volts in any light.

Not to get off topic

 

[ahorton]

Yeah they're pretty good dropins for thermal conductivity (assuming that it can transfer quick enough into the host). 5.6A is even harder than I'd like to push a McClicky, so you really need a FET of some sort. KevinM has gone up to a 10A mechanical switch, so it should be fine.

 

[simples]

The most the V3 can pull is 2.5A which is only 1.25A from each cell. In normal use, I don't expect anyone to go above 1.4A in the V3.

As you are using a microproccessor to do all sorts of clever things with the V3, I'm questioning why you would run the power through the switch at all, but I'm probably being a bit simple.

 

[ahorton]

As you are using a microproccessor to do all sorts of clever things with the V3, I'm questioning why you would run the power through the switch at all, but I'm probably being a bit simple.

Indeed, the switch can barely handle a few mA. That's why I said "No I don't test switches and connectors for resistance" (and there's an even simpler reason for not testing the connectors). The Roadtrain also has a microcontroller and uses the same switch as the V3.

Then I went on to talk about the currents that the light can pull, but that was really just to show that they're not in the same range as the high-powered lights (about which psychbeat was talking).

 

[simples]

OK that makes good sense. Now I understand.

 

[maddog]

any pre-xmas pics?

 

[ahorton]

I wish I could put pics of the whole thing up by now. I should have had it weeks ago, but I'm told early next week will be the delivery date.

Teaser #7

Flood beam with clear lens.

Flood beam with frosted lens.

Both of the above use a tight 10mm optic, so they can be made much floodier, but after lots of experimenting, I like the tight optic with frosted lens. When I'm outside, I can't sense a hotspot because everything looks evenly lit up. Of course the things in front of me are maybe 10m+ away while my feet are only 1.5m away. So the centre of the beam does need to be brighter. The overall effect is a very smooth transition. I can't see any edge to the beam in my peripheral vision and that makes me happy.


Some plastic parts. These are the back brackets to which the battery pack attaches. 40mm slots for nice wide elastic. You can just see the 100mm radius curve in the photo. It's not a big curve, just enough for comfort. They have a bit of flex in them too.

I expected to just make solid colours (like black, red, blue, white, purple etc) but here you can see my first attempt at a black/white marble. I'm thrilled with how it came out.

These parts aren't as perfectly uniform as you'd get from a commercial injection moulder, but I'm very happy with them. I can make 1 set per day with my setup and that's all I need.