Help with a Flashlight build!

[vincent180]

I'm new here, and just wanted a little (or a lot) of help with creating or modifying my first flash light! I have done some research already and i want to start of with a 900 lumen led! The ssc p7 c-bin led! I know i need a heat sink, and a driver, and thats where my problems come in! I cant find either!

With the Driver I'm pretty sure if i power the it with a 18560 battery it should be fine, but i don't have much experience buying them, so any suggestion would be great with the brand i should purchase!

I'm looking at a couple flashlight housings at the moment, in particular adjustable ones. I don't know if its a good idea to use adjustable housings but, i guess someone will tell me something about it.


Here is one flashlight i want to mod, if its able to be modded- This one can hold one 18650 battery

http://www.lightinthebox.com/803-Mini-Cree-LED-Focusable-Flashlight_p110125.html

Here is another- This one holds 3 AAA's

http://www.lightinthebox.com/LG3920-Mini-LED-Focusable-Flashlight_p110130.html

Any suggestions and help is appreciated!

 

[ahorton]

I suggest you start with cheap stuff.

DX has a lot of cheap stuff that you may find useful.

Read hundreds of old posts in this forum and see what other people have used.

:welcome:

 

[vincent180]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, busy! And yea i have looked around this site and thats why i want to build a flashlight with a p7 led, c-bin of course! =D I Just cant find the driver, and i need some suggestions with a housing!

 

[John_Galt]

Neither of the lights you want to put the LED in are a satisfactory approach, by any stretch of the imagination.

-They are cheap lights. They are not, not, not well machined, or built.

-They do not have sufficient mass or surface area to sufficiently heatsink a P7 LED which can produce a massive amount of heat. As the LED heats up, efficiency drops, while current draw remains the same, so output diminishes, while and the LED produces more heat. Eventually, the LED will destroy itself. This can be a long process, but will most likely be very quick (minutes, if not seconds).

-You need a driver that can put out 2.8Amps. It will either need to be a direct-drive type, running a single Li-ion cell, or a buck driver, using multiple primary Lithium, Ni-MH, or Ni-Cd cells.

-Your best bet would be to do a Mag mod. A Direct-drive mod, with the proper DHS heat-sink, and some research would be the most effective way of making this a reality.