Carley Sockets

[lemlux]

Patty at Carley today informed me that Carley does not currently intend to provide pre-potted ceramically filled PR base sockets to augment their soft-filled #912 sockets. The 912 sockets are rated at a maximum current of 1.0 Amps with anecdotal evidence that 1.2 A doesn't seem to hurt anything.

This limits the attractivness of modding dead SF reflectors epoxied to aluminum flashlight threaded retaining rims for PR based bulbs. Filament height adjustments can't be made with a pre-potted bulb.

 

[Deleted member 684]

I was thinkin of a 6 volts 3 amps bulb potted in a PR base. Looks like that hope is dashed.

BTW Lemlux, you had a good experience with Gag reflector melting? What's the wattage? And did the reflector soften first, then melt or did it just melt into a gooey mess immediately?

TIA

 

[lemlux]

Nerd:

Carley will still permanently pot bulbs ceramically in PR bases. Carley just won't make plug-in ceramic sockets to upgrade the #912. This is not aluminum reflector mod friendly.

Another thread reports that a 15+ Watt Carley potted bulb melted a Mag reflector. I haven't yet had a problem with 11.5 Watts -- the highest I've put into a polycarbonate mag reflector. I don''t know where between 11.5 Watts and 15+ watts the melting point can be found.

 

[Illuminated]

That was me melting the Mag plastic reflector with 15+watts. After just a couple of minutes admiring how much light the thing was putting out, I noticed some bubbling and rainbow-colored effects starting to show around the hole in the reflector. It did not "melt" into a gooey mess, per se.

I should also mention that while doing a runtime test with 3 x 1/2D NiCads in the 2D Mag with the Carley #805 (about 6 watts), the same thing happened to the reflector, only it just took much longer. Rats! The light was laying on its side, and has a Borofloat w/WriteRight on it. Only one side of the hole showed these signs of heat damage, and MAY not happen under different circumstances, or with the UCL w/o WriteRight.

Lemlux,

I think it's possible to pot our own pin sockets using heat resistant epoxy or other compound - I'd like to try it sometime.

John

 

[X-CalBR8]

That sucks. I was planning on getting some of those. I wonder if enough of us call and bug them if they might change their minds.

 

[lemlux]

Illuminated:

The potting doesn't scare me, but getting good solder connections inside the PR base with BiPins that may not be solderable does.

 

[Illuminated]

Lemlux,

The pin sockets I've been thinking about using are silver or gold-plated, so they should be solderable.

I don't have any lights that use bipin lamps, so I'll need to get a lamp to size up the pin sockets needed. Should I just go buy a MC lamp and set up the PR socket adapter for that?

Thanks - John

PS - Off-topic: I'm thinking of having one of my Mag heads machined inside the large opening so that the TL LA will fit perfectly. A PR socket adapter w/small dia pin sockets should allow the TL LA to plug right in...

 

[Illuminated]

Lemlux,

The pin sockets I have in mind are the type found in certain Amphenol MS-style circular connectors. The contacts can be removed from the blue bakelite insert that retains them, if the circlip that retains the insert in the metal housing is removed first. Then everything will come apart easily.

These pin sockets are possibly a little long, but designed to be soldered to. I think they could be trimmed to suitable length and soldered to the standard PR base with a short wire lead. Using a bipin lamp and a simple jig should hold the pin sockets in place during potting.

Is it possible to remove the soft plastic fill of the Carley #912 and re-pot? Just a thought...

 

[BeamChucker]

Could you burn the plastic out, or partially melt it so it comes apart?

I'd be very interested in a few of these myself. It could save on potting costs. Let's keep talking.

I wonder if you could send a bipin bulb with the connectors to Carley and have them pot it for you with the connectors on. Then pull the bipin out. If not, it may be a good way to make sure things are lined up properly.

StreamChucker

 

[BeamChucker]

[No message]

 

[lemlux]

The potted bulbs I have from Carley have ceramic potting running well up the side of the glass envelope. I don't think it can be pulled out. If I haven't thrown out one the dead T-1 1/2 I've blown I'll play with it.

The soft 912's are so rubbery that I deformed the pin holes when I gently drilled a center hole to allow the conical tail of the W/A and M/C bulbs to fit deeper in the socket. It took some effort to reopen the pin holes. I suspect that whatever's at the bottom would be damaged by a heat related removal process.

I would think a much cheaper starting point would be from the massive number of old used and unused 2 cell and 3 cell Argon bulbs such as those I've compulsively saved when I upgraded flashlight bulbs over the decades.

The M/C bulb has a slightly shorter distance from the base of the bulb to the filament than most of the W/A bulbs. Partly for this reason, the bright W/A bulbs I run in my M/C won't focus as tightly as the M/C bulb in the M/C. The Carley bulbs have flat bottoms and fit flush against the 912 Socket.

 

[Illuminated]

I've already killed 2 of my Carley #816's - dropped one and broke the glass tip, and the other came loose from the potting while trying to center the lamp in a Mag.

Seems that the 816 Halogens are very short, and didn't have much glass below the PR flange. Didn't take much force at all to break it loose.

Also, the leads soldered (silver-soldered?)to the PR base are resistance-welded to the lamp's stainless (or other non-magnetic?) wires, and they separated VERY easily with only slight presure. I dunno - seemed like a fragile setup all around on this one.

The good news is that the ceramic potting was only around the top inside the base, and was very easy to clear out with a pick. Only the one solderable wire is left in the base connected to the bottom contact. The other wire broke loose from the inside of the base when the glass was initially dislodged (did I mention that it seemed rather fragile?).

The potting material seems fairly soft and crumbles easily IMO. I'd like to try something a little more robust with better glass-bonding properties. I'm open to suggestions.

Lemlux,

I gather that you need either an extremely low-profile set of pin sockets, or at least a hole in the middle for the tail on the WA lamps?

Let me think on this for a little while and see what I can cook up.

John

PS - I'm leaving (the mainland U.S.) for a week, so I'm sure I'll miss a lot of good stuff here while I'm gone...

 

[Klaus]

LOL - finally found this thread - now I understand where Lemlux is coming from

Klaus

 

[lemlux]

Illuminated:

re your quote: "Lemlux,

I gather that you need either an extremely low-profile set of pin sockets, or at least a hole in the middle for the tail on the WA lamps?"

Precisely in the case of using existing reflectors. If we wish to JB Weld aluminum reflectors (used SF Pxx reflectors, etc. to PR base retaining rings for Mags, etc.) exactly the opposite applies as we'll want the bulbs to stick out further.

 

[Illuminated]

OK - give me a few dimensions if you can:

1) dimension from top of PR flange to top of pin socket

2) lamp lead or pin diameter (so I can select pin sockets)

3) Center-to-center spacing of pin sockets

I'll be gone for 1 week after tomorrow...

Thanks - John

 

[lemlux]

Illuminated:

Here's a drawing of the 20 Watt 6 V W/A. Various W/A bulbs have slightly different filament to tail bottom dimensions.

Ideally we'd want to be able to push the bipin down as far as necessary to have the same filament height from the top of the PR flange as exist with standard PR based bulbs.

We'd also like to be able to extend further out for installations with modded reflectors.

Maybe two socket configurations are desireable (High and Low)

http://www.walamp.com/Product_Uploads/C01111.jpg

 

[Illuminated]

Lemlux,

OK - Thanks. I'll work on this once I get back home. The idea of two different high and low adapters sounds like the best and easiest answer.

The "high" for modded reflectors should actually be the easiest (possibly - based on my initial thoughts) since the pin sockets I've seen tend to be longer rather than short (like the PR base). I'd probably need to insulate the exposed socket length above the flange so as not to short against the I.D. of a metal reflector.

I don't have a SF reflector, but I do have a Tiger Light reflector, so if the two are constructed similarly, I'll use that to guess at the extension length needed to put the filament in the right focal range.

Once suitable pin sockets are determined, It might even be feasable to pot the PR base, long sockets, AND reflector all at once. That should provide the needed insulation between pin sockets and metal reflector.

Thanks again; I'll post when I have something following my return.

John

 

[lemlux]

Illuminated:

The problem with potting PR base, Socket, and reflector together is that you wouldn't be able to put the threaded PR bulb retainer ring back on.

If you have an Inretech type design, the reflector will be held against the lens.

If you have a reflector that needs to be recessed from the lens, you would have to add the PR bulb retainer ring of the flashlight for a PR base/socket/retainer ring/reflector Dagwood sandwich.

As for insulation, I would think that the pin receptacles would remain centered inside the reflector ream hole by the wider glass envelope of the bulb. It would be nice to get our hands on the insulated pin receptacles that Streamlight uses for the SL series. (these recptacles are on the end of lead wires)

It might be easiest if someone who is on speaking terms with John Goncz could arrange to buy a number of the insulated PR bi-pin bases he uses in his M5 and M7 flashlights. As Carley doesn't make these for Goncz I have no idea where he sources them.