Building a Light with Q5. 40000 lux !!!

[spider-cricket-hater]

Hey everyone,.. I think I want to build a flashlight, my first one I guess, but I need some help. Here are my 2 components.

1) Cree Q5 http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2394
2) Custom Board ( http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6190
3) Body.. ???

Not sure about body. I want do drive that LEd at 1000mA so I can get max brightness out of the Q5. I don't mind size of the battery, preferably - something I could get in a store nearby.

The question is.. what cheap body could I get from DX to host those components ?

What I want from this light is a *thrower*. Small, good looking thrower.
Any ideas ?

thank you in advance.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

Re: Building a flight with q5. Need advice.

oh.. if someone thinks of a better circuit board, please let me know.. this is what I found on DX.. but some ppl say that this q5 star can be driven even a little over 1000mA.. ??

any suggestions ?

 

[Sgt. LED]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

Ledan Just built me a super thrower! Aspherical 1 C Mag with tail bored deep for 1 18650 cell and a Q5 running at 1000mA. The Q5 can go to 1200mA (I think) if you have enough heatsinking, but I wouldn't want to risk it on my first mod. Wish I could give you Mod advice but I if I knew what I was doing I would of made it myself!
Good luck man!

 

[Greg G]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

SPH, I'm gathering parts to do this same setup. I decided on a Shark board and a Remora controller from the Sandwich Shoppe. I'm probably going to put this is a 2D Mag I already have, since it's my first time. I'm going to machine an aluminum heat sink in my lathe for it.

About the only thing left undecided is the reflector. I know there has to be something better out there.

 

[Sgt. LED]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

Doesn't Malkoff sell reflectors? Nah, I'll bet you're after something else.

 

[Greg G]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

I saw that he had some OP reflectors. I was considering one of those.

 

[Gunner12]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

How about the KD 3 mode Driver, no Strobe or SOS mode and more current, 1200 mA. The Q5 can go up to 2 amp with good heatsinking. It will still have more life than most need.

Cheapest throwy might be the 3W Cree Projection. If you want max brightness, direct drive the Q5 with a 18650 battery.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

thanks for the suggestions - I never knew that the q5 can handle 2amp ??? dang.. How many lumens would we talk about then ?

also, gunner - would this body you pointed out fit me the best ? Again, I would rather use batteries that I can buy in a local store, but I can spare a few bucks on getting protected 3.6 and a charger..

hhmm..

 

[Gunner12]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

At 2 amps, around 330-340 lumens.

The Cree Projection has a 3.6-9v board and will work with 2 Cr123 batteries. and it is smaller then the 2D Maglite. The WF-600 would be brighter(18650 only board). I'm guessing around 19000 Lux without changing the driver board. Change to a more powerful driver or direct drive, you should be able to get 20000+ lux.

If not, get a Maglite 3C or 3D, this board, a Seoul LED, a UCL window (52.1mm), and a heatsink. If done properly ,you should be able to get around 20000 Lux at 1 meter.

Same basic instructions as here except solder the positive to the center contact of the board and the negative to the outside contact ring of the board, then solder the positive wire of the board to the positive contact of the LED and the negative to the negative of the LED(and a Seoul instead of a Cree for more throw).

It might be easier to buy a Malkoffdevices drop-in and a UCL window but modding is more fun.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

340.. wow. tempting. very much.

I like the looks of WF-600 a lot, and it is decently priced. I would skip Mags since their shape is pretty boring ( sorry mag fans )

What board would I have to use to put in WF-600 to get 2amp and drive that q5 at that insane brightness level ? Does the light have enough of cooling to keep the led .. uhmm.. cool ? Would I have to add special heatsink ?

Themalkoff drop in is too $$$ to buy it. 69 bucks - for just a led,board and heatsink. no way. those guys are ripping everyone off I want to keep my budget as tight as possible.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

oh and another question - lots of folks are drooling over Tiablo A9.. would the above setup match output of that light ( better, same, worse )?

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

bump..

 

[Gunner12]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

The Tiablo with a 2 amp Cree Q5 will kick the WF-600's butt. But then there is the price difference.

For max brightness, remove the driver board and hook the LED directly to the 18650 battery. It will be hard on the LED but as long as you used heat-sinking paste and don't run the light for5 long, you should be fine. You could also use two of these driver boards(in parallel) to get about 2 amp to the LED. Check post 5 of this thread.

If you use a UCL Lens(52.1mm one), you will also get more throw, I'm guessing close or over 30000 Lux with runtimes less then an hour.

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

Thanks Gunner. You have been a big help. I will try to get all of the components and a good heatsink.

I know a little about heatsinks since I build computers, and I know that for example copper is better than AL. Can I use copper instead for a good heatsink ? Would it make a big difference. ??

Also, what would be a major difference between driving the LED directly from the battery vs. putting it through 2 boards ( as suggested by Gunner ) ? There will be no regulated output, since it will be a big 2amp sucker - so either way the batteries ( battery ) will go down really fast.

any inputs ? ( sorry for all the questions.. but every answers is a new learning step for me !! )

 

[Gunner12]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

The light comes with a pretty good heatsink that is also connected with the body, so the only thing you need to add is the thermal paste between the LED star and the heatsinking surface.

Direct driving the LED from a fresh 18650 will be cheaper but the LED should be seeing over 2 amps. You will get more light but the LED will be pushed hard. Two drivers should give you more runtime and punish the LED less but will be a bit more complex.

My calculation(at most a guess) show up to 40000 Lux at 1m for that mod(With two drivers).

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

good Lord have mercy.
That will be a beast!

I am totally up for it. I am going to order all of the parts next week. I already have bunch of thermal pastes ( from Arctic silver to Thermaright stuff ).. so I should be good to go.

awesome. thanks for help. Will report soon a my progress. I hope that this thread will be a good FAQ for all who want to build a thrower for under $50.

40.000 lux. mercy me i can only imagine

 

[Patriot]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

good Lord have mercy.
That will be a beast!

I am totally up for it. I am going to order all of the parts next week. I already have bunch of thermal pastes ( from Arctic silver to Thermaright stuff ).. so I should be good to go.

awesome. thanks for help. Will report soon a my progress. I hope that this thread will be a good FAQ for all who want to build a thrower for under $50.

40.000 lux. mercy me i can only imagine

Spider-Cricket, your avatar is freaking me out.....haha.
Under $50 bucks? Sorry, what light housing are you going to use again?





Gunner12, does direct driving the LED from an 18650 really drive the LED at over 2 amps and have you even tried that before?

The reason the I'm asking is that I have a MRV Q5 that I'd like to play around with. I know there are some great MRV threads out there, but I was most curious about the direct drive method. Thanks

 

[holeymoley]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

Gunner you are a ninja.:bow:

I am following this thread with great interest. I have similar plans for a Q5 and was going to use the http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5448 WF-400 body for mine but now you have me re-thinking that.

Only problem is I saw the post on the LED forum about that upcoming SSC emitter http://www.olightworld.com/news/cn/news_detail.asp?id=121
and I might just have to wait for that thing

... "emits up to 420 lumens at 600mA maximum and 350 lumens on average"

 

[spider-cricket-hater]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

hi Patriot36:

the avatar is freaky indeed. As old polish sayins says: "look at what you are afraid of.. and you will be scared even more."

Here is the list of things I am planning on getting:

1) BODY: WM-600
2) EMITTER: Cree Q5
3) EXTENSIONS FOR 18650 ( just in case ): MAGNETS
4) BATTERY CHARGER: DSD 18650 CR123A Charger Black
5) 18650: TRUSTFIRE (?) Protected at 2500 mA
6) LENS: UCL Lens(52.1mm one)
7) Thermal Paste: AS5 ( already have this )

Because of the batteries cost will be higher than 50.00, but not by much, and way cheaper than Tshiablos A2399 or whatever they are called. - and I believe it will be a better thrower than any of them, ha! Ok, I just calculated the costs and it looks like that for everything I will pay 61.53. Not bad for the brightest toy in the hood!

holeymoley:
This is incredible.. 350 lumens at 650 mA.. wow. Hard to believe it. If this really is true, than I will swap the emmiters.

 

[WadeF]

Re: Building a light with q5. Need advice.

Q5 @ 1A and 40,000LUX? I think the only way to acheive that is to use an aspheric lens as someone else suggested. With a custom reflector you might be about to get 40,000, but you'd have to out do the Dereelight DBS's reflector which seems to be in the 30,000LUX range with a Q5.