Getting started

[Tedfs]

I've always liked to tear things apart to see how they work and have successfully put some of them back together. Rebuilt guitars,a few cars, knives swords etc...

Looking through here there is a wealth of info but I still have some major questions about starting my own mods. I found an older thread with a huge list of links but it seems all the links point to an old version of the forums and most of them are invalid.

First off, I have no major tools to make custom parts. Any major components like heat sinks or hosts will need to be purchased as well as electrical testing equipment.

Tools available:
Dremel
basic soldering iron

I don't intend to go overboard with this , just being able to make a few of my own mods that work and are durable enough for use will be sufficient. Of course maybe one stupid bright mod is in order but will save that for last.

Where might I find some information on getting started with LED electronics ? Online is good, free is better if possible.
My electronic knowledge is minimal so I have no idea how some of you can look at an emitter's specs and know what components to use to make it work. Nor how to read voltage limits.

Last class I took on electronics was in High school, a little over 20 years ago...

Learning how to properly use a MM will be in order as well.

I'm sure there isn't a one stop place to learn all of this but if anyone has some links or info to get me started, that would be great.
Basically I need to start from the ground up and need some pointers on where/ how to start learning.

 

[Tedfs]

Okay, maybe I posted in the wrong section...

Q.
I keep seeing posts about how many amps are being pulled from the tail of flashlights. Why is that important to know and where might a person go to learn more about that ?

 

[DM51]

Moving this to Batteries/Electronics...

 

[HKJ]

Might I suggest two of my writings:

Simple guide to using a DMM for measurements.

Drives, how leds are adapted for different battery voltages.

If you buy drives and led on a star it is easy enough to put it together and get it working without having a degree in electronic.

 

[Tedfs]

Thank you very much, those will be great help to get started.

Also thank you to DM51 for moving this thread to a better place.

Another question:

I also see mention of tailcap resistance, either the spring, cap or both.
Why is this important and how does it affect the output of the LED and battery ?

 

[HKJ]

I also see mention of tailcap resistance, either the spring, cap or both.
Why is this important and how does it affect the output of the LED and battery ?

There can be two reason to tailcap resistance.
The first is the resistance of the spring, switch etc., this must be as low as possible, because any resistance will just waste power. This resistance will usual be below 0.1 ohm
The other reason for a tailcap resistance is to select a lower output level, this resistance is much greater (Above 10 ohm) and it can be switch on or off.