Dive-Rite LED700 upgrade

Stephane_A

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Hello,

I have a Dive-Rite LED700 which has been flooded in sea water that I would like to upgrade because of poor efficiency.
Miraculously it still works (I had to rebuild the electric power contacts) but the light is very dim.

The heatsink is 35mm wide and 15.73mm long.
When the Led PCB and optics are in, it is 30mm long.



The battery pack is composed of 8 elements which can be NiMh AA cells (9.6V) or 1.5V Alcaline AA (12V). I don't have enough space in the canister to fit more than two 18650 elements.

Can someone recommend me of a LED PCB, optics and driver that would work with 9V?
Thank you for your help.
 
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Packhorse

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I recently upgraded a similar light.

I used a single XML and an Ahorton Aspheric ( search this forum) and a KD 2.8amp driver 3 mode buck.

The optic you linked to will be floody. I have use a driver that you linked to once. It fried 1st time I used it. Check the reviews.
 

Stephane_A

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Hi Packhorse,

The Ahorton aspheric is not wide enough to replace the face lens (44.5mm) but I found in one of your post the DX part that would fit (44mm).

For the single XML led, there are 4 parts on DW that would fit: 50598, 50599, 51989 (XMLAWT-0-1A0-T60-00-0001) and 54704 (XM-LT60). Searching the forum, it appears that the last two are just equivalent.

But I think I will go for the XML-U2 led (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/xml-u2-1c-320lm-7000k-led-white-light-emitter-with-16mm-base-3-7v-57008) which appears to deliver more lumens.

For the driver circuit, I think this one would fit (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/6-18v-3000ma-3-mode-circuit-board-for-xm-lt60-emitters-57779?item=38), for less than $5 it's worth a check.

Am I on the right way?

Many thanks for your help.
 

Packhorse

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The "U2" is AFAIK the brightest XML. If that is really a U2 then great but it may not be.

I have used that driver. I converted it to single mode as I dont care for strobe. Problem now is that the newer version does not have the separate mode board ( smaller PCB) and the modes are controlled on the main board.
I dont think you can convert it to single mode which is a pity because the board will always switch to the next mode when turning on.


The 44mm DX aspheric is a great lens. But you do not use it to replace the front lens but sit behind the front lens. I would be supprised if you could get anything bigger than a 35mm optic in there.
 

Stephane_A

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The "U2" is AFAIK the brightest XML. If that is really a U2 then great but it may not be.
I will order both XM-LU2 and XM-LT60 leds, I will take the brightest one.

I have used that driver. I converted it to single mode as I dont care for strobe. Problem now is that the newer version does not have the separate mode board ( smaller PCB) and the modes are controlled on the main board.
I dont think you can convert it to single mode which is a pity because the board will always switch to the next mode when turning on.
Thank you for the trick, should I take the KD driver instead? Or maybe a Taskled?


The 44mm DX aspheric is a great lens. But you do not use it to replace the front lens but sit behind the front lens. I would be supprised if you could get anything bigger than a 35mm optic in there.
Why shouldn't I take the 44mm aspheric lens in replacement of the 44mm original flat lens?
Because of possible leaks?
I can get the 28mm from DX and mount it behind the flat glass. I guess the Ahorton's is better but more expensive and bigger than the original reflector (14mm vs 10mm) ... I will get it if I don't get good results with the other one.
 

dexter9

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aspheric lenses have a focal length, so, if you want good throw you need to take this into consideration. so you need to test to find the distance between the led and the lens that will give you best throw.
 

DIWdiver

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The aspheric won't focus properly if there is water on the front surface of it. It needs to be in air to focus properly.

The ahorton 28mm isn't better. It's WAY better. Having played with both, I got easily twice as much light out of the ahorton. Don't waste your money on the DX 28mm. Also, it's larger but because it sits much closer to the LED, it actually takes up less room.
 

Packhorse

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As said above, the aspheric must remain dry on both sides.

If you can find a good 35mm lens then go with it.

Ahortons 28mm is a REALLY good lens. Its so good I got 50! The original DX was pretty good. But the later DX 28mm was p!$$ poor. Dont waste your $$ or time. Get the Ahorton.
 

jspeybro

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This is not entirely true. An aspheric can be used underwater and replace the front lens, but you cannot put the led at the right position when focussing in air.
The problem is that the refractive index of water is about 1.33 where air is 1. this has an effect of how the light bends and where it will focus the light.
I made a simulation somewhere in a thread which illustrated this. You need to put the LED a lot further away from the lens to get it to focus correctly underwater. Usually it is a problem to make a setup where the lens is in contact with the water and you are still able to change the position of the LED to find the correct position. That is why it is usually easier to add a flat lens in front of the aspheric
 

Packhorse

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But moving the LED further away from the lens makes the system less efficient since less light is "caught" by the lens. It will also then have a totally different beam out of the water which may or may not be an issue.
 

Stephane_A

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Thank you guys for all, it really helped me being more confused about what to order! :sick2:
But it made me read and search the forum to better understand how hi-power led works.

Dealextreme will furnish the crappy aspheric lens just for playing and the batteries.
Troutie for the Ahorton lens.
Outdoor store for the driver (http://www.intl-outdoor.com/xml-multicell-circuit-board-3a-55126v-p-361.html) and the XM-L U2 led

It will be powered by two 18650 protected batteries.

I will post pictures when I will start the mod.
 

Tambjaman

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Hi
I recently did a mod to Dive-rite LED500 which appears similar
I found some 35mm OP reflectors on DX , 2 for approx $5
I used the existing heatsink plus a custom pill ,a 20mm Xm-L emmitter and a 2.8amp driver
Instead of 18650s which were to long I used 25500 lithiums
Will be interested too see your completed upgrade
 

350xfire

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There is a guy in cavediver forum who wants to change out his NiMH pack with LiIon. DOes anyone know what driver the LED700 uses and whether it can handle the extra voltage of 4 LiIon (14.8 v)? Of course that would be over 16V full charge???
 

Stephane_A

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Even if the original leds are still working on the DR light (which could be a LED500), they are very dim so this morning I had a closer look at the driver circuit and found that the IC has burnt! There is a small hole in it.
Google helped find out the reference, it's a LM3404HVMA from National/TI.
On the data sheet, this circuit is rated for 75V max input (LM3404MA is rated to 42V).
It might be the same circuit used in the LED700, only the leds will differ.
 

Stephane_A

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The modification is nearly finished, only the battery pack has to be done (two 18650 3100mAh |2700 measured] in series).

Here are the photos of the XML U2 module on the heat-sink with the driver at the rear. I used a Gaggione Modbar optics (6°).





I will post pictures of the beam in the dark later, there's a shiny sun outside now! :p
 

Stephane_A

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I don't know, I can't find any datasheet on their website (www.lednlight.com)!
This collimator is sold by led-tech.de, I'm going to ask them for more informations.
 

Stephane_A

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With two 18650 3100mAh in series (2700mAh measured with the Imax B6 charger) I have 2h45 at full power until the voltage protection circuit fires. Switched to 30%, I still have 15-20 minutes.
Not bad for a low cost upgrade! :cool:
 

Packhorse

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Nice.
Any chance you could measure the optic.
Set it 2 meters away from a wall and measure the width of the beams spot.
 
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