500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos) - Work In Progress - Part 2

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the_guy_with_no_name

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MBI Torpedo - 500 lumen - AAA Flashight - Part 2

Continued from Part 1 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos) - Work In Progress

IMPORTANT:
The MBI Torpedo is still a work in progress.
Any specs listed here may change in the final production version though I will keep this post updated with the most current specs.

Below: MBI Torpedo with adjustable body (attached), and AAA/10440 body (detached)
IMG_0343.jpg




A quick summary of current specs as of Jan 1, 2012
  • Max Output of up to 200/500lumens
  • Cree XM-L2 U2 (or U3) Power Led

  • Standard AAA size body
  • Extendable 10250 body (patent pending)
  • Both bodies can tail stand

  • 1.5V/3.7V Dual voltage capability
  • Multi-size, Multi-chemistry
  • AAA/10440/10250/10280
  • Lithium, Alkaline, NiMh, Li-Ion

  • 4 selectable power modes
  • 1.5V Batteries: 1,10,100,200 lumens
  • 3.7V Batteries: 1,10,100, 300/500 lumens

  • Revolutionary selector ring/switch
  • turn one direction for on, keep turning (through each mode position) for more power
  • turn on the opposite direction to reduce power (through each mode position), keep turning for off

  • Reversible Clip
  • Clip-in-clip for quick change of direction of clip without the need to remove the clip

  • Reverse polarity protection
  • Short Circuit protection
  • Over-discharge protection
  • Overheat protection
  • Constant current output
  • Auto power level step down on low battery

  • Water Proof (pending test)
  • Aircraft grade aluminum
  • Type III scratch resistant hard-coating

  • Dimensions/Weight
  • 15 grams (without battery)
  • 14mm x 83mm (AAA body)
  • 14mm x 67mm (Short body, adjusts up to 83mm to accomodate a AAA sized battery)

  • Timing
  • Currently looking like 2013, April for the production version
  • Expecting a minimum of 100 units for preliminary production run
  • Full production run within a couple of weeks of that
MBI Torpedo Manual - Draft (still under revision/progress - updated 2011-12-03)
For a list of what's included, please see click on the link above (Manual) and scroll down to page 7.


Additional Options
  • Batteries
  • I will offer specially manufactured 10250 sized, li-ion high discharge batteries (price not final)
  • Planning to offer 10440 IMR li-ion, high discharge batteries

  • Charger
  • For convenience, I plan to make available a usb powered, li-ion charger capable of charging both the 10440 and 10250 batteries.
  • The charger is made by cottonpickers and more information/pricing is available on his cpfmp charger thread where you can of course buy the charger directly if you prefer.


Advance Notice of purchase availability:
If you want to get advance notice of when the Torpedo becomes available for purchase, and to get insider updates, please subscribe to the MBI Insiders mailing list


Thanks for your continued support.
The progress made in Part 1 is largely due to all the support and feedback from everyone here.

Tgwnn

p.s.
[I have started part 2 at the request of moderators, as part 1 was so long, it was creating unnecessary load on the cpf server]

p.p.s. I will aim to keep this post updated with latest specs. Planning to add some updated pics too.


Below: MBI Torpedo - tailstanding and keyring attachment

IMG_0341.jpg







Below: MBI Torpedo - keyring attachment (close-up)
IMG_0342.jpg
 
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AnAppleSnail

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For those of us who haven't followed that massive thread, can someone recap the planned features? Thanks kindly,

Snaily
 

the_guy_with_no_name

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For those of us who haven't followed that massive thread, can someone recap the planned features? Thanks kindly,
Snaily

Hi Snaily,
Thanks for posting.
I just finished sending out the mammoth update (its taken longer than all before it).
As BVH mentioned, I do plan to update post #1 with a summary, but for now you can see a quick summary here
https://sites.google.com/site/mbitorpedo/manual

I think Guy is going to summarize in his first post after completing the latest email update.
Thanks BVH :)

Thanks Unfinished for linking the old thread to this one :thumbsup:

HAPPY 2012
tgwnn

p.s. I need to update the link in my footer too perhaps
 

the_guy_with_no_name

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Posting a shortened version of the subscriber update (minus a lot of the photos)...
Apologies for the photos being oversized....

UPDATE 2012-Jan-01

Its been quite a few weeks since the last update and with end of year rush that seems to happen at this time of the year, I've been extremely busy and working hard to turn the Torpedo into a reality.

As of last week, I now finally have two working prototypes in hand:
1 x HA Black (with XML 5000K)
1 x Bare Aluminum/Aluminium (with XML 6500K)
Without further ado, here they are below…

PROTOTYPE ISSUES
Before a few beam shots, let me say I was hoping to do some really good outdoor shots but during inspection, I accidentally injured the 6500K version which I did seem to repair but now has gone funky again.The driver/pcb combo was assembled but kept loose so I could take a closer look but whilst opening it, one of the leads was pulled off.

I managed to fix it (temporarily it seems) but after messing with it for some hours, its seems there is a short somewhere and I did not want to delay the update any further.

We plan on creating 10 more proto's so we can check the consistency and quality of the pcb/driver.
There are some issues with the prototypes that are still not complete and will be tweaked in the next version.1) power settings
2) selector ring operation
3) positioning of sensors
4) temperature threshold for auto-thermal step-down
Let's get straight into the all important beam shots and then I will tell you some more.

THE BEAM

The beam is very very smooth and no sign of any rings/imperfections in wall shots.
In real life, its a very nice floody beam and the hotspot is far less apparent.
The wall shots were taken at approx a range of 1 meter.
The reason for 400lumen is that the current proto driver is maxed out at 1Amp on mode 4.

In the next proto, we plan to ramp it up to 1.4A (500lumen level).
The thermal step down on the 5000K proto is overly sensitive so it tends to jump down after just a second or two making it difficult to change the mode, with enough time to take the photo so no comparison photo on mode 4 at this time.The low (mode 1), is very very low and my guess is definitely <1 lumen.

BATTERIES

The 10250 Nuke's (aka high power batteries) work perfectly and have no trouble driving the proto's in high mode.
I've tested a standard alkaline and it too seems to work perfectly with no sense of any overheat either.
In the current proto's, I tested 10440 (IMR), 10250 (MBI Custom Nukes), AAA Alkalines.
I was able to get 4 modes with all batteries, and as far as I could tell, no apparent difference in output.
Still planning to do some more methodical & thorough testing including some eneloops and lithium AAA's in the coming days.

LED

The XML LED is mounted on a round metal board which in turn is mounted directly onto the body, allowing the entire body to act as the heat sink.
On high, the head did seem to get very warm, rather quickly which is a good sign that the heat is being transferred efficiently.

REFLECTOR

Both proto's are using a custom, smooth aluminum reflector. I was thinking of an OP reflector at first but as the beam is perfect (no rings) and a fairly diffuse hotspot, I don't see any added benefit of the OP.

DRIVER/PCB

The pcb/driver circuit as posted a few days ago in cpf is using a custom made, flexible soft/pcb board, letting us make use of a larger surface area, which is then folded over in 3. In the production version, we plan to coat and glue the circuit to the body of the torpedo to make it more durable.

SELECTOR RING

The selector ring is better than I thought it would be, in that its smooth, silent, and easy to operate.
I have tried using it with some thick leather and nylon over my hands (in place of gloves) and it was easy enough to use, the important point is being able to hold the selector ring in place (with one hand) and turning the body with the other, which I found very doable.
One handed, its still easy to operate but I did try the early morning, freezing hands test, and whilst I was still able to rotate the ring, I felt it could use a touch more grip (which I plan to add in the final version).

The selector ring, is not yet functioning per spec but this is a driver/pcb issue and hoping to get this taken care of when the next pro to arrives. For now, I need to use an external magnet to change modes and the method of mode change is also different to the spec in the current proto (its similar to changing mode on a regular twisty, eg. short turn left then right, kind of emulating a quick off then on).
The UI (user interface) is one of the most important features so of course, there is no compromise on getting this working correctly.

CLIP

The production of the clip (as posted previously in the cpf thread) is in progress and the clip proto should be ready in a week or two.
Black in color, the clip design is curved, allowing it to hug the body of the Torpedo and the inner part of the clip contains a small sub-clip, to allow you to quickly clip it onto a hat (or something else) without having to remove the clip from the body (although the clip is reversible and can be attached at either the head or tail).
clip3-2012-12-14-.jpg



and now some comparison with other AAA lights for size….

SIZE COMPARISON
below: left to rightitp eos, mbi torpedo (10250), fenix eo1, mag solitaire, mbi torpedo (10440)
IMG_0320.jpg
below: left to rightitp eos, mbi torpedo (10250), fenix eo1, mag solitaire, mbi torpedo (10440)
IMG_0321.jpg



We are definitely getting closer to a production version though I must tell you that I think the production run will slip into February.
For the most part, the difficult issues are mostly done, and the final concern I have is ensuring the mode changing works as planned.Once that is confirmed, it will take a couple of weeks for all the required parts to arrive, then assembly, quality testing, and on to shipping, but I do not want to compromise on quality or features so I hope you can understand.


I'm grateful to all of you who take the time to share in the adventure and I continue to give you my commitment to ensure the destination is one that brings us all satisfaction.
As always, a VERY HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for all the feedback, support, advice and PATIENCE.

Wishing you all a very happy and bright 2012 :)

tgwnn
 

coyote

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just got an email of your Jan 1st update. very exciting. thnx for keeping us in the loop.

can't wait to get my hands on one!!!!!
 

motohanks

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tgwnn, I have been following along with your progress on the MPI Torpedo for a few weeks and the latest email update forced me to finally register on cpf. The "Secret Thing" is awesome and I am definitely in for a Torpedo, probably one of the warmer LED versions, and a couple of the 10250 Nuke's. I hope the last of the issues with the Torpedo aren't too difficult to overcome and production can begin soon. Thanks for all the hard work you have done to create this light.
 

Sno4Life

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The update looks amazing! Should be interesting shipping that through customs in large batches... ;-). BTW, did you fix your white balance for those beam shots? There just seems to be quite a bit of variability in color temperature between the various shots. I'm anxious to see the 6500k...
 

Iamnuts

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Looks fantastic, I'd go for the black! The red ring looks good :) and as for the "secret" LOL I like that :twothumbs
 

jabe1

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Looks good! It sounds like you're closing in on a final version.

Keep it up! I'm really looking forward to it.

Please consider a natural HA version!
 

theodouma

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I'm following the previews thread for a while and also received the email update. I've just registered at CPF to say that I'm a fan of your work by so far!!! Really can't wait to see the final result of the Torpedo light.
Do you want to share more information about the "Secret Thing", or will that be a surprise for later?

I do sincerely hope you will ship the Torpedo also outside the US to the Netherlands
 

GrimCreaper

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Every update i see makes me want this light more and more. The secret thing im going to assume will be an extra carrying case that we can purchase? If it is im hoping it will be reasonably prices as well, id REALLY like one those, its so neat :D

Im budgeting myself to 5 lights a year from now on. and so far, the Torpedo, your ti pendant, and the 40dd (if i can nab one) are the only 3 im looking forward to. Hoping to get a couple of pendants actually so i can give one to my uncle.


Keep up the amazing work :) The designs are really neat!
 

romteb

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Just read the email, ridiculously cool, you probably feel pressured (not sure that's an english word) by our enthusiasm and anticipation but please by all means take your time to iron out every little detail and enventually sleep a little bit, nobody wants a bug to slip through and ruin the whole thing.

Definitly buying a few (if possible) as soon as available (and then of course a few others when available in Ti).

Happy new year everybody !
 

rlcrisp

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Hey tgwnn,

Great update! I particularly liked the beam/size comparisons and the "secret thing"! I love my itp eos a03 as a keychain light and it is incredible to see the power and versatility that you have packed into the same size!

The beam looks awesome!

Are there any plans to allow a torpedo to be attached as a keychain light? Forgive me if this has been discussed or answered already. I couldn't help but think of that after seeing it next to the itp eos.
 

Sno4Life

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I love the black version! How long does the 10250 power it at the 100lm level? (Theoretically, if you haven't tested it yet...) one hour?
 

sassaquin

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Mr. No Name - thanks for the detailed email update and great pictures.
Are black HA and bare aluminum are going to be the only finish options? I love the look of the bare aluminum, but am concerned it will oxidize. Will polishing keep the finish intact?
As romteb said, as much as we all want to get our hands on your amazing little lights, please take your time and get everything just right. Happy New Year.:)
 
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