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

[Cataract]

Thanks rlcrisp,
yes, not sure if its a flex but its a flexi
I did solder onto a component but didnt seem to work, will check again more carefully this evening.
Will post some pics in the next day



Thanks GL,

Its a flexible pcb, double sided and kind of rolled into a tube fit into the cavity under the selector ring.
They'll be sending another early in the new year with the 4500K so its ok.
I did very very carefully open the 5000K model to compare exactly, which was a help of course,
and thankfully nothing came apart on the 5000K.

tgwnn

ooOOOooo... fancy! I wanna see the pics too! Flexi PCBs are more resistant to shock since they can flex, but soldering comes apart easily... good to hear that potting is part of the plan; it should make for a heavy duty light.

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Same. I would even consider a TAurpedo or a Ptorpedo. But only in neutral, of course.

Thanks :thumbsup:

Wow I have not been around for a while but things seem to be looking pretty good with the Torpedo, good luck with the final product tgwnn.

Hi Craig,
Thanks for chiming in.
We've made a lot of progress and hopefully on the final stretch

ooOOOooo... fancy! I wanna see the pics too! Flexi PCBs are more resistant to shock since they can flex, but soldering comes apart easily... good to hear that potting is part of the plan; it should make for a heavy duty light.

Thanks Cataract,
Im gonna see if I can get the 6500K working again, work on my other thing, then will aim to post a photo or 2 of the flexi
(about an hour or so but I dont have a clock in that room)

tgwnn

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

I fixed it!!

I think the new connection was making contact with another component and causing a short,
so I re-did the connection and carefully covered it with tape, and presto!! Good as new

Here's a photo of the circuit/driver:

The clump of solder on the photo on the right side, is the repair job. The dark circle below it,
is where it got ripped of the board.
These are close ups but obviously the whole thing is TINY.
The small center photo is the bare board with no components mounted.

btw, I just checked the low mode against my ZebraLight H30 and the low on Torpedo is definitely lower.

Ok, now I can sleep in peace and work on the update tomorrow.

tgwnn

p.s. thanks for the repair tips!

 

[Diablo_331]

How low is the low on a H30? Is it around .1 lumens like the newer ZLs? If it's any lower than my sc51c then this is officially the perfect pocket rocket for me!

 

[Sno4Life]

How low is the low on a H30? Is it around .1 lumens like the newer ZLs? If it's any lower than my sc51c then this is officially the perfect pocket rocket for me!

Low on the H30 was 4 lumens, but full flood no hotspot.

 

[Sno4Life]

How low is the low on a H30? Is it around .1 lumens like the newer ZLs? If it's any lower than my sc51c then this is officially the perfect pocket rocket for me!

Low on the H30 was 4 lumens, but full flood no hotspot.

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Low on the H30 was 4 lumens, but full flood no hotspot.

Thanks Sno4Life.

How low is the low on a H30? Is it around .1 lumens like the newer ZLs? If it's any lower than my sc51c then this is officially the perfect pocket rocket for me!

Diablo,
I'll test against some other low output lights as well but Im guessing its definitely < 1 lumen and very likely < 0.5

tgwnn

 

[RCantor]

I just advertised this on another AAA titanium thread so before a whole 'nuther crowd of people come salivating over this I say previous posters in this thread get first crack at the final product

 

[MiWaFreu]

Great light! I'll take one.

Michael

 

[kaichu dento]

I fixed it!!

I think the new connection was making contact with another component and causing a short,
so I re-did the connection and carefully covered it with tape, and presto!! Good as new

Here's a photo of the circuit/driver:

The clump of solder on the photo on the right side, is the repair job. The dark circle below it,
is where it got ripped of the board.
These are close ups but obviously the whole thing is TINY.
The small center photo is the bare board with no components mounted.

You're a rock star!

 

[higbvuyb]

The real thing looks excellent; great work tgwnn.

Just one thing - to me subjectively, it would just look perfect if the knurling was aggressive and each set of 3 bands was joined into a thick band of knurling, a bit more like a Nitecore EZAA. I know everyone wants so many different options, but is a knurling option possible?

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

I just advertised this on another AAA titanium thread so before a whole 'nuther crowd of people come salivating over this I say previous posters in this thread get first crack at the final product

Thanks RCantor,
I will give you plenty of notice before the order page goes live so you can have your finger on the trigger.
Also, I'll try to accomodate the demand as quickly as possible.
In order to make it in on budget, Im going to have to make a significant number of Torpedo's so for the standard version,
I hope to be able to satisfy everyone within a 4 week period.

Great light! I'll take one.
Michael

Thanks Michael

You're a rock star!

Thanks kaichu, just lucky

The real thing looks excellent; great work tgwnn.

Just one thing - to me subjectively, it would just look perfect if the knurling was aggressive and each set of 3 bands was joined into a thick band of knurling, a bit more like a Nitecore EZAA. I know everyone wants so many different options, but is a knurling option possible?

Thanks higbvuyb,
Im planning on making the knurling a little more agressive in the production version.
The workshop needs to buy some additional tooling to do it so they are leaving that till last but I think it will prove to be satisfactory.

Also, as the light is actually small, there is not too much space between the bands (not sure there will be much practical difference with 1 solid band vs multiple smaller ones).
Not sure about knurling options (in terms of band size/number) at this stage but I do hope the grip on the final version will be just what you need and will certainly let you know if the option is possible.

tgwnn

 

[Lighteous]

I have been beseiged with end of year deadlines so I haven't been on CPF in awhile. I was curious about the progress of project Torpedo and ended up here reading about your significant progress over the past two months TGWNN! Congratulations! I will be looking for the advance order "heads-up". I'm in!

 

[stoli67]

looks great.... I knew it would!

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

I have been beseiged with end of year deadlines so I haven't been on CPF in awhile. I was curious about the progress of project Torpedo and ended up here reading about your significant progress over the past two months TGWNN! Congratulations! I will be looking for the advance order "heads-up". I'm in!

Thanks Lighteous,
Its a busy time all round.
Still a fair amount of work to get it to production quality but I do think most of the difficult "stuff" is done.
Currently working on the subscriber update and hope to put that out tonight (need to wait till dark for some beamshots).

looks great.... I knew it would!

Thanks stoli,
I know I am biased but I do have to agree with you on the "looks great" part

tgwnn


Part 2