wquiles
Flashaholic
You would think that given how many flashlight projects I do that I actually own a lot of lights. Actually, I own very few lights (well, to a non-flashaholic I own an "arsenal" - but in reality I only own a few lights - most are customer lights that I photograph before sending them out to their respective owners). A couple of weeks ago we lost power here where I live and it happened right at 6AM - right when we wake up to get ready for work and take the kids to school. Still pitch black, and with no power, I scramble to get several LED lights scatered throughout the house so that we can all get ready. Problem was that I did not have that many lights to start with, so I started thinking about the "need" to make more emergency lights to keep around - specially/mostly indoors, where you only need a little bit of illumination, specially lights that can stand on their tail to light up a room, bath, kitchen, etc..
I already had two "big" output lights: two of my own custom 1xD's, direct driving a P7, from a 3xAA adapter. But those are way, way too bright for a small room indoors, so I needed something with less output, and that would run for a LONG time as well. Since I recently have been playing with my own Joule Thief circuit, I decided to build a couple of lights to take advantage of the abundance of used AA cells and LOTS of new D cells (that come free with most D Mag's that I buy from Fry's, HomeDepot, etc.). I also though about making my own P60 drop-in with a super low output, for night adjusted vision, so I started working on these.
First is the P60 drop-in. I bought a "kit" from Asia for the P60, so I started looking at what emiter would work well with the smooth reflector. I started with an older P4:
But decided to use a more efficient LED instead. Looking at my parts bin revealed a neutral white XM-L, so I reflowed it into a datiLED 8mm board:
When I tried it on the smooth reflector, I was able to get a great beam
So I soldered and epoxied the Joule Circuit on the back:
And tried it with a few cells:
I soldered a wire to the spring (Bat +) that comes with the kit:
And simply (although not "pretty) used hot glue to keep everything in place - very solid, firm setup:
The fit of the base to the reflector in these kits is horrible, so I used a thin piece of copper tape to set the focus to the right spot in a press-fit:
And this is how it looks in the Solar Force host:
Home made P60 drop in:
Nice tint:
I can use new or used CR123 cells, but since my circuit can operate down to 0.8 volts I decided to make an adapter/sleeve so that I can also use AA cells in this host:
With an AA cell it was a tad shorter than an 18650 cell, but the springs more than make up for the difference:
The next light uses some really old 3W LED's that I got many years ago, but that were vf-matched to 3.5-3.6 volts), so I decided to build a floody light using 3x of these LED's, each driven by its own Joule Thief circuit, everything feed from 3xAA cells (using another of my own custom 1xD's as a host). Since I wanted to re-use parts I already had, and I did not have any reflectors for these weird looking LED's, I decided to modify a home-made Mag D P7 reflector and make a sort of "dish" reflector out of it.
I started with the P7 heatsink to hollow it:
It is hard to see in this picture, but I cut a lot of "facets" in the heatsink, going from outside towards the inside, using my very sharp PCD insert to achieve a polished effect on the Aluminum:
Then drill and chamfer the hole for the wires on both sides:
I then did a dry fit to see how I can place the 3x "weird" emiters. Note that I had to cut/trim their wires to give me clearance:
In this photo you can see a little bit better the facets in the heatsink - nothing too fancy but seems effective:
I then proceeded to glue them:
I then carefully solder the wires:
And since this is going to be floody and very open, I put a good dose of glow in the dark powder with 2-part slow cure (30-min) epoxy:
I then solder each of the 3x Joule Thief circuits:
And test it:
Here it is running:
Ready in the host (heatsink is a press-fit):
I carefully cut/fitted the reflector so that it would line up over the heatsink, to provide additional "focusing" on the sides:
Here is how it looks from the front after being turned off - notice how the heatsink reflects some of the light, as well as the cut Mag reflector:
Of course, in raw form the image is fairly "ugly", so I planned on using a diffusing film to even out things:
Here it is OFF:
Here it is ON:
And although not quite focused, here is the afterglow:
OK, now for the last "emergency" light. I already had the floody light, so I decided I wanted one with more throw. So I decided in a neutral white MC-E, using another of my own custom 1xD's as a host, so it can be driven from a single D cell or a 3xAA adapter. First, I had to once again modify the P7 heatsink in order to facilitate installing the MC-E. Fairly easy on the mill thanks to the DRO:
I am using a left over metal reflector for P7's that I had handy:
So I prepared everything:
And used the reflector to position/center the LED by eye as best as I could:
I then solder wires:
Wired a single Joule Thief circuit:
Prepared the stock switch:
Here is the finished product:
And although not in focus, here is the afterglow:
That is for now. By the way, guess which of these 3x my kids LOVED? Of course, the weird one with the 3x LED's and the massive afterglow of the glow powder
Will
I already had two "big" output lights: two of my own custom 1xD's, direct driving a P7, from a 3xAA adapter. But those are way, way too bright for a small room indoors, so I needed something with less output, and that would run for a LONG time as well. Since I recently have been playing with my own Joule Thief circuit, I decided to build a couple of lights to take advantage of the abundance of used AA cells and LOTS of new D cells (that come free with most D Mag's that I buy from Fry's, HomeDepot, etc.). I also though about making my own P60 drop-in with a super low output, for night adjusted vision, so I started working on these.
First is the P60 drop-in. I bought a "kit" from Asia for the P60, so I started looking at what emiter would work well with the smooth reflector. I started with an older P4:
But decided to use a more efficient LED instead. Looking at my parts bin revealed a neutral white XM-L, so I reflowed it into a datiLED 8mm board:
When I tried it on the smooth reflector, I was able to get a great beam
So I soldered and epoxied the Joule Circuit on the back:
And tried it with a few cells:
I soldered a wire to the spring (Bat +) that comes with the kit:
And simply (although not "pretty) used hot glue to keep everything in place - very solid, firm setup:
The fit of the base to the reflector in these kits is horrible, so I used a thin piece of copper tape to set the focus to the right spot in a press-fit:
And this is how it looks in the Solar Force host:
Home made P60 drop in:
Nice tint:
I can use new or used CR123 cells, but since my circuit can operate down to 0.8 volts I decided to make an adapter/sleeve so that I can also use AA cells in this host:
With an AA cell it was a tad shorter than an 18650 cell, but the springs more than make up for the difference:
The next light uses some really old 3W LED's that I got many years ago, but that were vf-matched to 3.5-3.6 volts), so I decided to build a floody light using 3x of these LED's, each driven by its own Joule Thief circuit, everything feed from 3xAA cells (using another of my own custom 1xD's as a host). Since I wanted to re-use parts I already had, and I did not have any reflectors for these weird looking LED's, I decided to modify a home-made Mag D P7 reflector and make a sort of "dish" reflector out of it.
I started with the P7 heatsink to hollow it:
It is hard to see in this picture, but I cut a lot of "facets" in the heatsink, going from outside towards the inside, using my very sharp PCD insert to achieve a polished effect on the Aluminum:
Then drill and chamfer the hole for the wires on both sides:
I then did a dry fit to see how I can place the 3x "weird" emiters. Note that I had to cut/trim their wires to give me clearance:
In this photo you can see a little bit better the facets in the heatsink - nothing too fancy but seems effective:
I then proceeded to glue them:
I then carefully solder the wires:
And since this is going to be floody and very open, I put a good dose of glow in the dark powder with 2-part slow cure (30-min) epoxy:
I then solder each of the 3x Joule Thief circuits:
And test it:
Here it is running:
Ready in the host (heatsink is a press-fit):
I carefully cut/fitted the reflector so that it would line up over the heatsink, to provide additional "focusing" on the sides:
Here is how it looks from the front after being turned off - notice how the heatsink reflects some of the light, as well as the cut Mag reflector:
Of course, in raw form the image is fairly "ugly", so I planned on using a diffusing film to even out things:
Here it is OFF:
Here it is ON:
And although not quite focused, here is the afterglow:
OK, now for the last "emergency" light. I already had the floody light, so I decided I wanted one with more throw. So I decided in a neutral white MC-E, using another of my own custom 1xD's as a host, so it can be driven from a single D cell or a 3xAA adapter. First, I had to once again modify the P7 heatsink in order to facilitate installing the MC-E. Fairly easy on the mill thanks to the DRO:
I am using a left over metal reflector for P7's that I had handy:
So I prepared everything:
And used the reflector to position/center the LED by eye as best as I could:
I then solder wires:
Wired a single Joule Thief circuit:
Prepared the stock switch:
Here is the finished product:
And although not in focus, here is the afterglow:
That is for now. By the way, guess which of these 3x my kids LOVED? Of course, the weird one with the 3x LED's and the massive afterglow of the glow powder
Will
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