CommanderTony
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2014
- Messages
- 3
Here is a flashlight I built with some gathered parts and elctronic components:
This thing will light up the backup yard and beyond!!
Main construction from (yellow colored) 300WATT Halogen AC powered shop light. Home Depot $25
Installed HID 6K Xenon Lamp to replace Halogen lamp and circuitry.
picture share
screenshot on pc
jpg images
upload img
The AC powered halogen flood light was "perfect" application for the xenon lamp because
300WATT/500WATT halogens run SO HOT the base of the shop light unit is all steel and all
aluminum case housing up top for the lamp with a large glass plate cover.
Xenon bulb may get half as hot as the 300WATT or 500WATT halogen and great fit for what
the shop light was built to withstand for heat.
Installed a sealed 12Volt AGM performance battery DC power source at 12Amps.
Cost me $21 dollars.
Battery size across manufacturers goes a lot taller in height dimension after 12amps type.
Next level is 18amps usually taller and thinner versus lower and wider 12 amp style.
I Used a steel floor joist "strong tie" I had lying around to raise the aluminum headlamp
assembly 4 1/2" inches higher than original position.
To make room for the battery and the battery now far away from any radiating heat from above.
It was a great piece of steel flat stock (after I got done with it, it was then flat stock)
and right size width to support the entire upper headlamp assembly.
Square edges on both ends of flat stock needed to be tapered with a pneumatic die grinder
cut-off wheel to form a bit of a triangle point on the strong tie as pivot point neck for
the headlamp unit to pivot swing the beam up or down.
Reused the oversized wing nuts for handtightening on both sides to lock head lamp focus
into a given desired position.
Xenon bulb's HID igniter box 35WATT is seperated from being in contact to the battery with
a large thick 3M insulated double-sided sticky pad.
Igniter box gets warm at the most after a half hour or two the pad won't transfer heat to battery.
Flashlight's floor base (originally non-existant, a bent tube frame of steel with 7 inches of
space between the bends) to support the AGM battery now a 7" x 10" piece of aluminum flat stock
I had cut from a roll used for house siding/windows. Contoured it up around steel tubes and screwed
it in place with 4 black self-tapping commercial steel stud framing screws.
Looking at the reflector you can view where both areas needed to be filled where halogen bulb
originally connected to large square host ceramic contacts now removed.
For the fill material I used SUPER STRONG stainless steel tape cut with a die grinder tacked in
place. Perfect material! Man that stainless steel tape is strong stuff even cutting it.
______________________________________________________________________________
In comparison to high end Streamlight HID spotlights costing US $400.00+ using 7.5AMP battery
units. Regardless of R&D that may of been done refining their lamp's REFLECTOR for example,
my build still has excellent throw properites along with incredible flood range, at a DIY price
and well outlast 7.5A power source. Yes, the build is comfortable enough.
______________________________________________________________________________
Perhaps if I have the reflector plate chrome plated that may just magnify the throw three times
as far.
6000 Kandlepower Xenon plasma bulb seen, came out of fog lights on previous Benz V6 320 6speed
manual. Fog lights had halogen beams and I found a kit from Germany to install the Xenon units
in the car. And so I kept them and put original H4 bulbs back.
Kit was $300 dollars at the time from a hidden treasure available resource that were initially
made in Germany stamped on everything/igniters.
Now you can find similar xenon packages just as good quality like Japan/China market brought
to USA for $65 dollars or less. If I went to get those Xenon lamps for the fog lights directly
from Mercedes Benz they would of cost me $2000.00 dolars for retail Germany Benz resource.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Not to get off the subject but a crazy set of invents spent several days researching speaking
with electrical enginners about wiring switches why switches always have instructions to wire
them on the positive side of a circuit wire??
To make long story short, reason being floating grounds in vehicles and the like.
To best attempt to control the chaos of social liabilities DIY installations DC electrical
switches are marketed to protect company against liability from any chance a customer's
application may be something like a vehicle where there is a floating ground.
In other words, wire a switch on the negative side where a floating ground exists (as a
vehicle's entire body grounded) then how is that going to work? HA!
Because my flashlight build has no floating grounds I chose to wire all of the switches on the
negative side connections.
This gives a fraction of benefit to gentle startup contact once that switch or switches snap
to ON position and overall longevity of the build's flow.
In closing on that point, some electrical engineers may claim there is going to be no
difference (when there are safe "no floating ground" applications) between running your
switches on the positive side versus running them on the negative side for activity.
Though my point here is:
Just touch a wire to the positve side power source to make a final circuit connection and see
what happens making STRONG spark at times with usually any component. And now do the same
completing circuit first on the positve side and now make the final connection to circuit
(would be the switch here for my point in discussion) to the negative side.
You will always see the protection of virtually no spark that way or significantly less at
instant contact/startup.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
You can see a tight group of wiring to build.
It is in the art of wiring in a build and how attractive of a job doing so in my opinion...
All connection terminals are heat shrinked.
A great set of Bonaventure International DC rocker switches are added to build.
Installed a flat 10AMP two prong fuse on top of +positive side battery terminal.
Before any power gets sent out everything goes through that fuse first in connection.
That RED 10Amp Fuse also easily disconnects where I stacked (2) 1/4" female terminals on top
of each other and soldered their sides only and cut-off the left over "pipe" section of
thosee 2 stacked terminals where the wires usually enter in and get crimped.
Then slid the bottom terminal of soldered stack onto battery's male 1/4" prong and the top
terminal stacked welcomes the 10AMP fuse prong right in!
Completing the build I wrapped up the project adding a dual outlet 12V accessory box.
To power anything relative along the way (portable CB radio, small AC power inverter run 19"
TV for 20 minutes up to 45 minutes). And is choice location for applying a re-charging source
easy connect via cigarette lighter plug connector. Use a Deltran Battery Tender.
An excellent finish to the front of the flashlight: LED voltmeter circuit from a Singapore
merchant I found for $3.01 cents.
One of the two switches on the back of the flashlight is dedicted solely to the voltmeter for
ON/OFF anytime display.
Thanks for viewing. Best Regards. CommanderTony
This thing will light up the backup yard and beyond!!
Main construction from (yellow colored) 300WATT Halogen AC powered shop light. Home Depot $25
Installed HID 6K Xenon Lamp to replace Halogen lamp and circuitry.
picture share
screenshot on pc
jpg images
upload img
The AC powered halogen flood light was "perfect" application for the xenon lamp because
300WATT/500WATT halogens run SO HOT the base of the shop light unit is all steel and all
aluminum case housing up top for the lamp with a large glass plate cover.
Xenon bulb may get half as hot as the 300WATT or 500WATT halogen and great fit for what
the shop light was built to withstand for heat.
Installed a sealed 12Volt AGM performance battery DC power source at 12Amps.
Cost me $21 dollars.
Battery size across manufacturers goes a lot taller in height dimension after 12amps type.
Next level is 18amps usually taller and thinner versus lower and wider 12 amp style.
I Used a steel floor joist "strong tie" I had lying around to raise the aluminum headlamp
assembly 4 1/2" inches higher than original position.
To make room for the battery and the battery now far away from any radiating heat from above.
It was a great piece of steel flat stock (after I got done with it, it was then flat stock)
and right size width to support the entire upper headlamp assembly.
Square edges on both ends of flat stock needed to be tapered with a pneumatic die grinder
cut-off wheel to form a bit of a triangle point on the strong tie as pivot point neck for
the headlamp unit to pivot swing the beam up or down.
Reused the oversized wing nuts for handtightening on both sides to lock head lamp focus
into a given desired position.
Xenon bulb's HID igniter box 35WATT is seperated from being in contact to the battery with
a large thick 3M insulated double-sided sticky pad.
Igniter box gets warm at the most after a half hour or two the pad won't transfer heat to battery.
Flashlight's floor base (originally non-existant, a bent tube frame of steel with 7 inches of
space between the bends) to support the AGM battery now a 7" x 10" piece of aluminum flat stock
I had cut from a roll used for house siding/windows. Contoured it up around steel tubes and screwed
it in place with 4 black self-tapping commercial steel stud framing screws.
Looking at the reflector you can view where both areas needed to be filled where halogen bulb
originally connected to large square host ceramic contacts now removed.
For the fill material I used SUPER STRONG stainless steel tape cut with a die grinder tacked in
place. Perfect material! Man that stainless steel tape is strong stuff even cutting it.
______________________________________________________________________________
In comparison to high end Streamlight HID spotlights costing US $400.00+ using 7.5AMP battery
units. Regardless of R&D that may of been done refining their lamp's REFLECTOR for example,
my build still has excellent throw properites along with incredible flood range, at a DIY price
and well outlast 7.5A power source. Yes, the build is comfortable enough.
______________________________________________________________________________
Perhaps if I have the reflector plate chrome plated that may just magnify the throw three times
as far.
6000 Kandlepower Xenon plasma bulb seen, came out of fog lights on previous Benz V6 320 6speed
manual. Fog lights had halogen beams and I found a kit from Germany to install the Xenon units
in the car. And so I kept them and put original H4 bulbs back.
Kit was $300 dollars at the time from a hidden treasure available resource that were initially
made in Germany stamped on everything/igniters.
Now you can find similar xenon packages just as good quality like Japan/China market brought
to USA for $65 dollars or less. If I went to get those Xenon lamps for the fog lights directly
from Mercedes Benz they would of cost me $2000.00 dolars for retail Germany Benz resource.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Not to get off the subject but a crazy set of invents spent several days researching speaking
with electrical enginners about wiring switches why switches always have instructions to wire
them on the positive side of a circuit wire??
To make long story short, reason being floating grounds in vehicles and the like.
To best attempt to control the chaos of social liabilities DIY installations DC electrical
switches are marketed to protect company against liability from any chance a customer's
application may be something like a vehicle where there is a floating ground.
In other words, wire a switch on the negative side where a floating ground exists (as a
vehicle's entire body grounded) then how is that going to work? HA!
Because my flashlight build has no floating grounds I chose to wire all of the switches on the
negative side connections.
This gives a fraction of benefit to gentle startup contact once that switch or switches snap
to ON position and overall longevity of the build's flow.
In closing on that point, some electrical engineers may claim there is going to be no
difference (when there are safe "no floating ground" applications) between running your
switches on the positive side versus running them on the negative side for activity.
Though my point here is:
Just touch a wire to the positve side power source to make a final circuit connection and see
what happens making STRONG spark at times with usually any component. And now do the same
completing circuit first on the positve side and now make the final connection to circuit
(would be the switch here for my point in discussion) to the negative side.
You will always see the protection of virtually no spark that way or significantly less at
instant contact/startup.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
You can see a tight group of wiring to build.
It is in the art of wiring in a build and how attractive of a job doing so in my opinion...
All connection terminals are heat shrinked.
A great set of Bonaventure International DC rocker switches are added to build.
Installed a flat 10AMP two prong fuse on top of +positive side battery terminal.
Before any power gets sent out everything goes through that fuse first in connection.
That RED 10Amp Fuse also easily disconnects where I stacked (2) 1/4" female terminals on top
of each other and soldered their sides only and cut-off the left over "pipe" section of
thosee 2 stacked terminals where the wires usually enter in and get crimped.
Then slid the bottom terminal of soldered stack onto battery's male 1/4" prong and the top
terminal stacked welcomes the 10AMP fuse prong right in!
Completing the build I wrapped up the project adding a dual outlet 12V accessory box.
To power anything relative along the way (portable CB radio, small AC power inverter run 19"
TV for 20 minutes up to 45 minutes). And is choice location for applying a re-charging source
easy connect via cigarette lighter plug connector. Use a Deltran Battery Tender.
An excellent finish to the front of the flashlight: LED voltmeter circuit from a Singapore
merchant I found for $3.01 cents.
One of the two switches on the back of the flashlight is dedicted solely to the voltmeter for
ON/OFF anytime display.
Thanks for viewing. Best Regards. CommanderTony
