500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos) - Work In Progress

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Any chance of some neutral xm-l's for the tint snobs here ??

Not sure just yet, but I can check.
Do you know the exact bin number?

tgwnn

 

[smokelaw1]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Hi Smokelaw1,
Thanks for the kind words, the driver can now support standard AAA's (1.5v) as well.
There is auto-temperature control so if you use turbo mode (500 lumens) it will auto switch down to the next lowest mode when it gets too hot.

I sincerely apologize for putting old info out there. Will this thing reach full power on alks? I can't imagine 500 lumen on a standard AAA....but if you can do it...even for 30 seconds, well, I'll take 2!

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

its about time somebody came out with a hockey-puck shaped light!

LOL

 

[coolperl]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

500 lumens from AAA 1.5V ? ...This means driving the LED at 1.5A (and we are talking about "emitter lumens"). There is no step-up driver, that could deliver this kind of current from a AAA 1.5V battery, nor any chance to develop/produce it, taking into accout available components and assumed size.
The only way to achieve your lumens (for a short time), is direct drive from IMR 10440 cell.

Anyway... best of luck

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

I sincerely apologize for putting old info out there. Will this thing reach full power on alks? I can't imagine 500 lumen on a standard AAA....but if you can do it...even for 30 seconds, well, I'll take 2!

No problem's at all! I should have made it clear but just wanted to put something up sooner rather than later.
Yes, it should reach full power on alks (even though I expect the max burst will be 30 seconds) but I'll be able to confirm in the coming days as we work on the driver,
and I we'll need to test how well the solid head can hold back the heat before we need to reduce the power consumption.

Also, as we are really sucking a lot of juice from 1 cell (over max discharge for standard cells but heavy duties & IMR's would be ok), I dont think we can responsibly let it run on turbo beyond 30 sec's.
It may end up somewhere between 15-30 depending on final testing.

tgwnn

 

[flasherByNight]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

didn't look at your details too closely, but may I suggest keeping some of the specifics (especially if it's at all original) close to your vest.
Or you may see copies on "extreme" sites before you even release it :tinfoil:

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

500 lumens from AAA 1.5V ? ...This means driving the LED at 1.5A (and we are talking about "emitter lumens"). There is no step-up driver, that could deliver this kind of current from a AAA 1.5V battery, nor any chance to develop/produce it, taking into accout available components and assumed size.
The only way to achieve your lumens (for a short time), is direct drive from IMR 10440 cell.

Anyway... best of luck

Thanks. Im glad someone else understands how difficult it is to try and accomplish.
The biggest challenges so far have been exactly the things you mentioned: the driver, the size & dealing with 1.5V.
I can't say with certainty yet what the final power output will be from an alkaline cell,
but we are creating a custom PCB/Driver combo.
Stay tuned!

tgwnn

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

didn't look at your details too closely, but may I suggest keeping some of the specifics (especially if it's at all original) close to your vest.
Or you may see copies on "extreme" sites before you even release it :tinfoil:

Thanks for the words of wisdom!
Much appreciated.

It is all original.
Who-ever wants to copy....
Go for it! Flatter me to the "extreme"

If you think this is even modestly cool,
you aint seen nothin' yet

tgwnn

 

[Zeruel]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Undoubtedly the first AAA to use XM-L, it's ambitious but very nice. LED to be mounted on a solid head helps thermal dissipation somewhat, but the question is how long will it maintain 500lms before it auto steps down. I wouldn't mind if it's just a little thicker to help with the heat if it makes any difference at all. Tightened for off is a fantastic feature, IMO, something which more twisties should do. A trivial suggestion for the clip if you would consider, oxidize or coat it in black. I can't stand those shiny steel or chromed ones on a nice, black HA light anymore, but others may differ. And LOP, OP or SMO for reflector?

Looking forward to its completion!

 

[dealgrabber2002]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Any crazy single AA light in your cooking pot?

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Undoubtedly the first AAA to use XM-L, it's ambitious but very nice. LED to be mounted on a solid head helps thermal dissipation somewhat, but the question is how long will it maintain 500lms before it auto steps down. I wouldn't mind if it's just a little thicker to help with the heat if it makes any difference at all. Tightened for off is a fantastic feature, IMO, something which more twisties should do. A trivial suggestion for the clip if you would consider, oxidize or coat it in black. I can't stand those shiny steel or chromed ones on a nice, black HA light anymore, but others may differ. And LOP, OP or SMO for reflector?

Looking forward to its completion!

Thanks for the feedback.
Still finalizing the clip design, will keep you posted.

At this size, not sure another mm or 2 will help much with heat and if it gets beyond 15mm, then we are at CR2 size.

I was hoping for a custom TIR lens but it's extremely expensive to cast from scratch.
Will be going with Aluminuim reflector, for now likely OP, but possibly something like the reflector in the Olight T10.
We need to test the beam pattern, though with a small reflector, it will be floody so not sure there is too much merit in an SMO reflector.

tgwnn

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Any crazy single AA light in your cooking pot?

Not just yet.
If (& after) I earn my stripes on this mission, I might consider making one.

 

[Death's Head]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Different materials like Ti would be nice.

 

[easilyled]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Is it even possible to squeeze 1.5 - 1.6A out of an AAA sized battery or smaller? (this is the current required for 500 lumens from an XM-L)

I was under the impression that the voltage of such small batteries would sag almost immediately and therefore fail to deliver this type of current for more than a few seconds.

Additionally an unprotected li-ion, which I believe these sized cells are, would surely be prone to discharging below the level required to sustain them for more than a handful of cycles if such high current demand is imposed of them?


Sorry if I sound negative. I'll be only too happy if you're easily able to quosh my cynicism.

 

[tre]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Is it even possible to squeeze 1.5 - 1.6A out of an AAA sized battery or smaller? (this is the current required for 500 lumens from an XM-L)

I was under the impression that the voltage of such small batteries would sag almost immediately and therefore fail to deliver this type of current for more than a few seconds.

Additionally an unprotected li-ion, which I believe these sized cells are, would surely be prone to discharging below the level required to sustain them for more than a handful of cycles if such high current demand is imposed of them?


Sorry if I sound negative. I'll be only too happy if you're easily able to quosh my cynicism.

I'm wondering the same thing. I'm thinking 500 lumens would require an IMR cell but do they make IMR cells in that size? My thinking is that 500 OTF lumens would require much more than a 2C discharge.

 

[romteb]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

You need much more than 1.5 A from an AAA to get 500 lumens OTF, much more than double that in fact, the vf of the led being at least twice the 1.5V of the alcaline, and said alcaline sagging like crazy therefore far from 1.5V output.

 

[Rikr]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Put me down for one. Sounds great.

 

[jorn]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Thanks for the feedback.
The hole is designed at an angle so that a split ring should be able to be positioned between the fins. Adding a hole in the fin is a good work around too.
If you use a strap (the kind used for attaching trinkets to mobile phones) or even a metal type, it will sit just fine, and not get in the way when tail standing.

It's the lobsterclaw on many lanyard's, or the big keychain spilt ring itself that I suspect may make tailstanding difficult when its attached to the small ring. I rarely tailstand my keychain aaa's, so it's no dealbreaker for me. But I like to be able to do a stable tailstand even if its on my bulky keychain. It's hard to please all, but the simple extra hole in a fin might please some extra customers


Bought a neutral T4 E5 4000k at cutters, and stuffed it in my mini-x. Now I just love that little thing.
Would be cool with a similar tinted xm-l.
Don't mind some few lost lumens for better tint, and i bet im not the only one wanting a neutral tinted xm-l aaa flamethrower:devil:

 

[calipsoii]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Agreed with the other posters: I don't see how it's possible to get that kind of current out of an alkaline 1.5V cell. That far far FAR exceeds rated specifications, if it's even possible to do it at all. I'd suggest just eliminating the 500lm mode when an alkaline is used, similiar to how the Xeno E03 won't run full blast unless it's on a lithium.

 

[JacobJones]

Re: 500 Lumen - AAA Flashlight (photos)

Looks good, it's very different to my design. Must be fiddly and time consuming to make the drivers for it, I wish I was skillfull enough to make my own. I look forward to seeing the finished product