Here is my first attempt at a ZLT+ boosted 2AA Brinkman Legend to Luxeon mod.
Thanks to Duggg and Mercator for the online info for the ZLT+.
I changed Mercator's PC board layout so all the "etches" could be done as three straight cuts with an Xacto knife. This was easy, used no chemicals, and fine since it was a one off circuit board. The board is 14 mm in diameter and beveled to keep the copper pads clear of the flashlight barrel into which it will fit. Here the board is being coated with flux prior to soldering. A few holes were drilled to allow easy connection of the + lead and the current sense wire. The negative lead was run over the board edge to make contact with the flashlight barrel.
I used a very simple jig for holding the SMT components in place. Just a pair of rubber bands, a needle nose plier and sewing needle did the trick.
Once all the components were soldered in place, a copper sheet metal battery anode terminal was placed upon the ferrite core. The entire assembly was potted with epoxy after testing and calibration. Output was set to 510 ma.
Here is my sense resistor wire. It is a finer gauge than usual. Only about 1 cm was left by the time calibration was completed.
The completed ZLT+ is placed inside the Brinkman barrel. The original anode and bulb socket of the flashlight was removed to make room for the ZLT+ booster.
The Luxeon was cut down to size and wired into place. After testing, the luxeon was cemented to the barrel using conductive epoxy.
The completed ZLT+ 2AA Luxeon Brinkmann next to my direct 3AA drive mod. The ZLT+ powered unit isn't as bright since it only pushes 510 ma through the luxeon instead of the 800 to 1100 ma that the direct drive unit pushes. Still it was fun project. Not too bad for a first outing with building a DC to DC converter. A converter circuit which could match the direct drive in output would be nice, but the ZLT+ just wasn't stable if pushed that hard.
Thanks to Duggg and Mercator for the online info for the ZLT+.
I changed Mercator's PC board layout so all the "etches" could be done as three straight cuts with an Xacto knife. This was easy, used no chemicals, and fine since it was a one off circuit board. The board is 14 mm in diameter and beveled to keep the copper pads clear of the flashlight barrel into which it will fit. Here the board is being coated with flux prior to soldering. A few holes were drilled to allow easy connection of the + lead and the current sense wire. The negative lead was run over the board edge to make contact with the flashlight barrel.
I used a very simple jig for holding the SMT components in place. Just a pair of rubber bands, a needle nose plier and sewing needle did the trick.
Once all the components were soldered in place, a copper sheet metal battery anode terminal was placed upon the ferrite core. The entire assembly was potted with epoxy after testing and calibration. Output was set to 510 ma.
Here is my sense resistor wire. It is a finer gauge than usual. Only about 1 cm was left by the time calibration was completed.
The completed ZLT+ is placed inside the Brinkman barrel. The original anode and bulb socket of the flashlight was removed to make room for the ZLT+ booster.
The Luxeon was cut down to size and wired into place. After testing, the luxeon was cemented to the barrel using conductive epoxy.
The completed ZLT+ 2AA Luxeon Brinkmann next to my direct 3AA drive mod. The ZLT+ powered unit isn't as bright since it only pushes 510 ma through the luxeon instead of the 800 to 1100 ma that the direct drive unit pushes. Still it was fun project. Not too bad for a first outing with building a DC to DC converter. A converter circuit which could match the direct drive in output would be nice, but the ZLT+ just wasn't stable if pushed that hard.
