My latest light

So, now I've finished my latest light.

6 x XP-G - R5
MaxFlex 5
bespoke lens
CNC machined housing
Custom anodizing
Can run with a remote switch




Luminous.

Very nice. :twothumbs

Thanks for sharing.

Brian.

Thanks, its taken a fair bit of work.



Luminous

This is an awesome first post. But, beamshots?

Looks very cool man. Are you running each of these at full tilt? What optics? Very nice housing.:welcome:

JG.

Hi, I've been building for a few years now, but haven't been a frequent poster.

Weather in my neck of the woods hasn't been good for getting the camera out lately, but here are some shots of a prototype of this light, running 6 XP-G R3s.

From and approximate eye postion:


back a bit:


Pictures were with camera at:
F4
6 seconds
WB; DAY

Which I think over does the image of the output and embelishes the light, but these are the settings others have used.

I will get round to posting more beam shots when things are drier.


Cheers.

Luminous

Luminous

Oops, double post, sorry

Which I think over does the image of the output and embelishes the light, but these are the settings others have used.

Click to expand...

Hi Luminous.

What i have found with all my 1000+ lumen lights is that the hot part of the beamshot at these settings is exposed slighly more than in real life. However the light at the periphery and further down the trail is actually LESS exposed in the photos!

I have a theory on this (I'm an amatuer astonomer too). Your eyes can increase their sensitivity to light by over 10,000x in the darkest locations. Obviously with these kind of lights shining you don't get that kind of gain. However when you are peering further down the road your eye adjusts quickly for the lower light level. You camera is not so smart and ALL areas of the picture are exposed by the same amount.

I'ts just my theory and I may be wrong.

Marco.

Marcopolo.

Well, you seem to have a better handle on it than I do, photography isn't a strong discipline of mine, but I am keen not to over-do the pictures to make my light appear to have the power of the sun.

I think the next pictures I take will be at the settings others seem to use, but I may also post some which I think better represent actually being there.

Thanks.

Luminous.

WOW!

That is very nice!

Can we get some pictures of the mounting bracket? That seems to be one of the bigger challenges for bike lighting.

Weedle256.

Thanks.

Yeah, I sorted the mounting issue years ago by just electing to use a cheap, off the shelf, find it in any bike shop, item.

Here:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=14407

Then I just have made, a 'I' section piece of aluminium which fits and has a hole in it to interlock with the corresponding feature on the mounting bracket.

The added advantage of this is that I can have a mounting bracket on each of my bikes and just slide the light head unit on and off.

This also allows for a better light head unit shape that doesn't have any part of the mounting bracket still dangling from it when you remove it from the bike, thus making the light more pocket/backpack friendly

Heres a quick picture I've taken of a prototype "slide" as I call it, for fitting my lights, using the above bar mount.




The two holes are self explanitary, the milled slot was what I felt was the easiest way to provide an edge for the bar mount to interlock with.

Bit long winded, but I hope that helps.


Cheers.

Luminous

John.

Just re-reading my earlier post, it seems I've over looked part of your post.
Sorry.

Yes, I am running the LEDs at 1A, and that particular light was using the 10mm square Carclo narrow beam optic that I also used for my XP-E LED light.

Sorry for not posting a full reply earlier.

Cheers.

Luminous.

Ddemetrius456.

Hi. I don't work with a circuit diagram, but I'll list the main components I used.

LED is the Cree XP-G. The red light shown above uses R5 bin, but the beam shots are of the XP-G R4 bin (an earlier prototype). As you may know, the R5s are slightly brighter than the R4s. I get them from cutter electronics, Australia.
The light uses 6 LEDs.

These are connected in series and hooked up to a TaskLed LED driver, the MaxFlex5. TaskLed are good and theres a lot of addional info on the product on the website. They're easy to use and all the wiring holes on the board are labelled.

If you use the Maxflex, then I think you'll need a momentary, "normally open" switch. Current favourite seems to be the APEM, push button switch. You can source them from RS.

I've used a sureseal connector in the past, they're really good and inexpensive, but a bit fiddly to assemble. Again you can source them from RS.

Oops !, nearly forgot. LED "optics", as they are referred to these days, are sourced from cutter also. currently I mostly use the carclo 10mm square optic, also compatible with the cree XP-E LED.

Off the top of my head, thats about it really.

I hope this helps. If you build anything, I hope you post it.




Luminous

Hi,

I'm currently at the "which switch" stage. you say "Again you can source them from RS."

I haven't come accross RS. Could you post a web address please.

Many thanks,

Dan.

Dan.

Current favourite seems to be this switch:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=searchProducts&searchTerm=IPR3SAD2

There are variations on this switch, so you may want to look into the spec which may best suit your purpose. I think Farnell may sell them also, so you might want to check there as well as other places to get the best price.

Also, while you don't mention the application. ie the driver you will be using.
These switches are available as both latching or momentary, but if going for a latching switch, ie, if your switch is directly wired into the power supply, then watch the contact current ratings.




Luminous