miniMAX with SST-90!

[Packhorse]

Been working on this for the last week or so.

Im calling it the miniMAX. Minimum size Maximum output.

Light head.

Adjustable focus based on a W200 head and Ahorton aspheric lens.
SST-90 LED Direct drive.
Custom made heat sink and handle.
Thermal switch for protection. Light will switch to low if over heated.

Cannister.

PVC cannister with locking latches.
Dual O-ring seal
7 x 18650 2500ma Li Ion cells in parallel
Rotating collar magnet operated reed driven MOSFET ( still deciding between 2 stage switch for low and Hi settings or memory type driver).

Here it is next to my old can light.

I did intend to use a bunch of AMC 7135's to regulate the current but after preliminary tests direct drive off a freshly charged battery pack gives about 7 amps which is what I was aiming for. I guess this will give me at least 4 hours + total run time as the voltage drops and so does the current.

 

[Packhorse]

Reserved for beam shots.

 

[SUBjohan]

Verry nice, I really would like to see beamshots compared with a XR-E with ahorton.
It would be nice to have in water and on surface beamshots

Greetz Johan

 

[lucca brassi]

I have just find fine and even cheap driver for that led it is not 9Amps but 8 Amps small and quality build for 15,42€ at Farnell

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/4925.pdf

UPS ) - I have missed allready posted https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/242505 stronger one

 

[wquiles]

Packhorse - nice design!

Looking forward to beamshots :twothumbs

I have just find fine and even cheap driver for that led it is not 9Amps but 8 Amps small and quality build for 15,42€ at Farnell

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/4925.pdf

UPS ) - I have missed allready posted https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/242505 stronger one

Keep in mind that those are "voltage" regulators, not current regulators, so there is no current regulation taking place at all. A voltage regulator used in such a mode in which it is being subjected to the max. output current on a continuous basis is likely being stressed outside of the scope of the original design, which is why the user in your link added a thermal device to control run-away current situation that could damage both the driver and the LED. I am not saying this is a bad idea, as many many have done this before, but you need to proceed with caution, and carefully look at the power being dissipated by the driver and make sure it is heatsinked appropriately.

Will

 

[heffay]

Looking good! Hurry up with the beam shots! :naughty:

 

[Packhorse]

SST90 vs XR-E both using Ahortons aspheric lens.
Dont pay to much attention to the intensity of each as I did not check voltage levels or current supplied.

At this stage I can not get full focus contol. I can increase the beam angle from about 15 degrees to about 25 degrees. With a bit of machining I can easily increase this.

My feeling is I should be using a SST-50 instead. Then the beam will be smaller and I will be able to run it at full power so beam intensity will be better than it is at the moment.
I sort of guessed this from the start but really wanted to try out the SST-90.
The SST-90 would make a great video camera lighting system though.
Would love to build one up but I have no use for it.

 

[wquiles]

It is amazing the size difference - awesome picture :twothumbs

 

[Packhorse]

Yeah, I had hoped the difference wouldnt be so great.
Interesting to see the 12 rows on the SST. When presented against a white ceiling on land in focus they are quite obvious but in water I dont think you will notice them at all.

 

[Fluor]

It looks wery bright Packhorse! Do you have å picture of the 25 deg angle too? How is the shape like at 25 deg?

Keep up the good work!

 

[Packhorse]

OK I know how you guys like light porn... eeer I mean beam shots.
And you know how I hate beam shots with no comparisons....

All shot taken at the same settings. ISO 80 shutter speed 8 seconds Aperture 2.8 White balance daylight. Canon G10.

No light

miniMax tight focus

minMAX wideish focus

w200 with MC-E at 1/2 rated power

W200 P7 @ 2.8amp

Quad DX aspheric XR-E running 700ma per LED tight focus.

Quad DX aspheric XR-E running 1400ma per LED wider focus

21w Dark Buster HID

 

[wquiles]

Great job on the night beamshots :thumbsup:

From the pics on the miniMAX it seems there is not a huge difference between narrow/wide - it is because there is no more physical lens travel possible?

 

[SUBjohan]

WOW thats one huge die

I think thats a little to big for my liking :mecry: how about a SST50??

Greetz Johan

 

[Goldigger]

Packhorse,
Dont know if this is of any interest to you, while over on the MTBR forum i found a link to this http://www.polymer-optics.co.uk/LED Optic Brochure (Cree).pdf its a 6-45 degree optic.. scroll down and look at part number 130... designed to be used with XRE's...

7 Cell Cluster Zoom Optic - Part No. 130
Used with Part No. 135. Zoom optic simply requires to be moved forward and rotated on a course thread action.

Initial 6 deg beam is achieved with Zoom Optic nested on Part No. 135 with 0- 0.2mm separation. Rotate Zoom Optic about its axis on a thread angle of 30 deg by only 30 deg to achieve 45 deg beam.

 

[mbsub]

@ Goldigger

Some is curious with the beam shots of part no. 130. The center of the wide beam is much more brighter than the spot beam of 2 x 6°.
Maybe its a question of optical loss.

Michael

 

[Goldigger]

Who knows maybe somebody will come along and provide some beam shots to confirm..

 

[Packhorse]

Great job on the night beamshots :thumbsup:

From the pics on the miniMAX it seems there is not a huge difference between narrow/wide - it is because there is no more physical lens travel possible?

I need to change a few things in the head to allow for a wider beam. At present with the head tight its at max spread. If I undo the head about 2.5mm then its at tight focus.
I need to either machine some of the length off the back of the head thread, or adjust the spacers that hold the aspheric to bring it closer to the LED. I guess I will need about 5mm of full travel which is about all the W200 will allow before the 1st O ring is exposed.
With the W200 head there is space for a 4th O ring at the end of the thread. This allows for some extra safety if the user inadvertently un threads the head too far. Even if this happens at depth the pressure differential will keep the head in place.

 

[Packhorse]

@ Goldigger

Some is curious with the beam shots of part no. 130. The center of the wide beam is much more brighter than the spot beam of 2 x 6°.
Maybe its a question of optical loss.

Michael

My guess is that the photos were taken with different settings to show the spill of the wide beam setting. As such you cant compare brightness between shots.

 

[Packhorse]

WOW thats one huge die

I think thats a little to big for my liking :mecry: how about a SST50??

Greetz Johan

Yes it is. But the XR-E die is tiny.

XR-E die is 1mm x1mm
SST-90 is 3mmx 3mm
SST-50 is 2.25mmx 2.25mm

That should give you some idea of what the SST-50 will look like.
I have one coming to try out.

 

[Packhorse]

Mods to focus system have been made and a new pic of the widest beam added to the pics above.