3xCree Smartfire V68c mod

[KnOeFz]

Over the last few months I've collected enough parts to start my first multi emitter mod.

Don't have the time to finish it yet, but most of the mechanical (read sawing, sanding and drilling) is done so I wanted to show you guys how things are gonna fit together. All the wiring, soldering and gluing still need to be done. It probably won't be until the end of januari untill I get to that part.

The host I'm using is a Smartfire V-68C Cree Q5 that has enough space for fitting in 3 of these 18mm reflectors from DX after sanding away the threads. I'll be using 3 Cree XR-E R2 (WG) emitters on a cut down 20 mm star.

Here's some pics of the process so far for you guys to enjoy.


The host:

The reflectors before lots of sanding (using my dremel):

My homebrew 39mm heatsink, cut with a fretsaw from a piece of scrap aluminium that was laying around in the office. You gotta love the sound a fretsaw with a wood cutting blade makes while going through the aluminium. :green:

I've drilled a hole in the head of the flashlight where the original led was mounted. An M3 screw with some nuts will keep the heatsink on the right distance from the window.

Here you'll get the idea:

Here's the cut dow stars on the heatsink, it's a nice fit. I'm not mounting them untill I'm sure I have all my wiring sorted out.

I just had to check if everything fits in there, here you see the threads removed from the reflectors, just sitting loose on the stars. I still need to figure out how to mount them in the end. I'm leaning towards using epoxy, but I'd prefer something that can still be unmounted in the future in case of emitter upgrades.

From another angle

And this is what the end result will be like, only with bright light coming out of there

To drive the leds in a parallel configuration I'll be using an 18650 to feed some AMC7135 driver boards. Either 2 AMC 7135 1400mA in parallel or an AMC7135 1400mA and a multi- mode AMC 7135 1000mA in parallel. I'll be using the schematic NetKidz figured out:

Comments, tips and suggestions are more then welcome. I'm not on the net much in the next few weeks to respond, but I'll read all your comments sooner or later

To be continued.... :wave:
edit:
continued on post #6

 

[LukeA]

I would use Fujik (from DX) to mount the stars. It's silicone-based, so it never cures like epoxy. It cures in a few minutes and becomes a strong bond, but you can always pop the stars off with a flat screwdriver or exacto blade.

If the LEDs have different Vfs, you may want to use three separate 700mA AMC boards. That way each LED gets exactly the same current. I actually had a light like that which worked well. But you can't do multimode with a setup like that.

 

[nanotech17]

very nice compact set up.

 

[KnOeFz]

@LukeA:
Yes I have the Fujik already for mounting the stars to the heatsink, but I'm not sure how to mount the reflectors on top of that. Maybe I just need to adjust the hight of the heatsink so the reflectors are in an exact fit between the glass window and the led. As for the drivers.... I'll start out this way (I like multi modes with bright lights, anyone know a cheap 2 stage switch?), maybe later on I'll try a tripple driver setup. I know a serial led setup is often prefered for multileds.

@ nanotech17:
Yes, that's what I like about the 1x18650 lights, lots of power and still it fits the pockets in my coats

 

[LukeA]

@LukeA:
Yes I have the Fujik already for mounting the stars to the heatsink, but I'm not sure how to mount the reflectors on top of that. Maybe I just need to adjust the hight of the heatsink so the reflectors are in an exact fit between the glass window and the led. As for the drivers.... I'll start out this way (I like multi modes with bright lights, anyone know a cheap 2 stage switch?), maybe later on I'll try a tripple driver setup. I know a serial led setup is often prefered for multileds.

Yep. Your heatsink has a very smart design because it can accommodate different size-reflectors. Then, when you get the height perfect, you might think about applying two little dots of Fujik to the base of each reflector to hold them on to the LEDs/each other.

I bet you're going to do this already, but you should also think about fujik-ing the heatsink to the inside of the head for heat transfer.

 

[KnOeFz]

Thanx for the hints and comments. I had some time to spare so continued my project today. I decided to go for single mode and some more mA using 2 4xAMC7135 drivers in parallel using the schematic from NetKidz:

I managed to put one of the driver boards in place of the original, also resoldered the positive contact spring:

The second driver in placed inside the head.
(I will glue it to the bottom of the heatsink some time later like LukeA suggested)
Drilled some more holes in the heatsink to get all the wires through.

I managed to get the distance between the heatsink and the window just right so the reflectors are in there without any glue. Here's the 3xCree next to a Lumapower M1 for size reference.

Here's a 1' beamshot, the 3xCree on the left and the Lumapower M1 on the Right.
The color's more way more blue in the picture than in real life (due to my crappy photography skills)
You guys probably know a WG tint anyway

Hope this mod will inspire some of you just like I was inspired by the many multi emitter mods found on the boards here.