4 x MC-E biuld

[mr ferret]

greetings people, i have been browsing and digesting the welth of info on this forum for which i am constantly amazed at the high level of knowledge and invention here!

Right so about my planned new project. i'm an underground photographer and use my lights for 'painting' my images, these like dive lights need to be waterproof though only to couple of metres, very sturdy and rugged in construction and resistant to grit and dirt and take a far amount of punishment. i do however unlike most divers require the lights for less running time but at the high brightness and beam focus and need them to be as light as possible weight wise:

The hoped for spec of new light build:

1. one maximum brightness mode (3000lm +)
2. super focus with as tight spot as possible at distance and maximum throw/minimum flood
3. run time of an hour is all that is needed but hopping for more, light is only used for a few mins for each shot so this would be ok
4. battery pack that can be changed in dirty wet conditions without issue
5. high spec waterproof casing which stays cool and resists all you can throw at it

ok so that's what i need so how am i hopping to do it?....

1. useing 4x cree MC-E LED's mounted on one board from led-tech: http://www.led-tech.de/en/High-Power...9_120_117.html
2. this would be run using a simple but efficient 2.8A constant current driver such as hipflex at 14v
3. optic are a tricky one and advice would be useful but looking at using 4 of these from cutter: http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut857
4. battery set up i'm looking at using is 4X 2600mah 18650 li-ion cells wired in series to give 14.8v and capacity of cells ie: 2600mah , having one protection pcb so they can be charged as one unit and potted in high density rubber (what are peoples thoughts on balance charging the whole pack?)
5. being from a mechanical engineering background this would not seem to be a major issue. making the pack as a potted rubber module that slides into recess to connect with two pins inside would seem the best option
6. probably a milled and turned copper heatsink inside a tempted PTFE casing made to size and a hardened and coated glass bezel to the front

so what do people think?
mainly after advice on battery configuration and optics but all thoughts gratefully received
cheers
ferret

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=3570583

 

[videoman]

3000+ lumens is easy to achieve using the XP-G's with narrow reflectors or optics. I would recommend the XP-G's over the MC-E's for many reasons.
1- They are more efficient
2- They give off less heat ( per lumen)
3- They are available as 7-up versions with optics to choose from
I have used the MC-E's for video lights but even 3 of them in a very heavy heat sink ( 24 oz) would get very hot, very fast (under 5 minutes).
I am now using 3 XP-G's with 10 degree optics for a total power consumption of less than 15 watts and producing a very bright beam at well over 50 feet away. At the standard 1 meter from the wall, the lumens would be in the 9000+ area. Check out Taskled for the new 6A buck if you are using the 4 MC-e's.

 

[mr ferret]

hmm i have thought about this and you might be right, fitting that amount of LED in one light with the required optics might be tricky though!
what optics have you used VM? they ledil?
what driver and power pack would you recommend for Xp-E's ?

 

[Linger]

design fail: 'Maximum spot / minimum flood' does not equal mc-e. The quad die, when tightly focused, puts out a hotspot with a whole in the center. mc-e's are great for many applications, maximum throw is not one of the.

vid pro's xpg are great.

 

[mr ferret]

would need 7 XP-G's to give the required output though and that might poss many issues. looks like more research needed :/

 

[jellydonut]

If you want this kind of output and a genuinely tight spot beam you'll have to ditch the semiconductors and go back to either HID arc lamps or plain old incandescent bulbs.

I think some people in the dive light subforum are building custom HIDs and high-output hotwires, otherwise you could just buy an off-the-shelf HID dive light. They're expensive, but this project ain't gonna be cheap either.