I friend ask me if it was possible to upgrade some old diving lights to LED with dimming possibilities.
The ligts have a large reflector(80-90mm), lantern battery, a water sealed switch and charging plug in the rear.
My plan is to make a battery pack with 6xD NiMh cells that can be charged using the existing connector. This fits nicely in the housing.
I want to use 4-5 Cree XR-E Q5 or XP-G emitters mounted on a thick aluminuim plate that is tooled for a tight fit in the housing, so most of the heat will be transfered out.
I want to use the SKU.20106 driver from DX, this seems to fit nicely with the batteries and what I hope will be the cooling abilities. 15W should give at least 3-4 hours at full light with six 10Ah battey cells.
But I need some advice on what kind of optics that is best fitted for this build. I want something that is attached to the mounting plate and keeps the emitters in place as a standalone unit. Therefore the optics needs to be screwed on to the plate.
I also wonder it I should use reflectors or plastic lenses. DX has both that could fit. Cost is an issue here, as several lights could be modified if the solutions is simple and cheap. I also want somehing that fits good on the XR-E emitters. I have choosen these in favorite of the XP-G's because of cost and that most Cree optics are made for the large lens emitters.
I think we need a 20-30 degree beam. It don't need to be too tight, because the sight distance in Norway is normally not very long.
Another solution is of cause to by a 53mm drop-in module and place in the middle of the mounting plate. I could use a MC-E or a 5xP4 module from DX. This solution will be simpler to biuld, but give less efficiancy and worse heat distribution. The parts cost will be about the same, 25-30$,
not including batteries.
All good advice are welcome, I have not build this kind of light before. The key here is simple and cheap.
The ligts have a large reflector(80-90mm), lantern battery, a water sealed switch and charging plug in the rear.
My plan is to make a battery pack with 6xD NiMh cells that can be charged using the existing connector. This fits nicely in the housing.
I want to use 4-5 Cree XR-E Q5 or XP-G emitters mounted on a thick aluminuim plate that is tooled for a tight fit in the housing, so most of the heat will be transfered out.
I want to use the SKU.20106 driver from DX, this seems to fit nicely with the batteries and what I hope will be the cooling abilities. 15W should give at least 3-4 hours at full light with six 10Ah battey cells.
But I need some advice on what kind of optics that is best fitted for this build. I want something that is attached to the mounting plate and keeps the emitters in place as a standalone unit. Therefore the optics needs to be screwed on to the plate.
I also wonder it I should use reflectors or plastic lenses. DX has both that could fit. Cost is an issue here, as several lights could be modified if the solutions is simple and cheap. I also want somehing that fits good on the XR-E emitters. I have choosen these in favorite of the XP-G's because of cost and that most Cree optics are made for the large lens emitters.
I think we need a 20-30 degree beam. It don't need to be too tight, because the sight distance in Norway is normally not very long.
Another solution is of cause to by a 53mm drop-in module and place in the middle of the mounting plate. I could use a MC-E or a 5xP4 module from DX. This solution will be simpler to biuld, but give less efficiancy and worse heat distribution. The parts cost will be about the same, 25-30$,
not including batteries.
All good advice are welcome, I have not build this kind of light before. The key here is simple and cheap.
