Help With Spare Parts For Light

[ballylama]

I can feel the flames already and people laughing. Laugh away, but I'm looking for guidance as this really just sparked interest in me and so I thought I'd give er a go.

So, a friend of mine gave me some old lights that had a housing in it for a halogen bulb but they aren't working, battery's dead (old sealed lead acid one), so it's really wires and switch.

Also got some parts given to me:

MR16 1*3W 320~350mA Constant Current Regulated LED Driver (12~16V Input) (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13557)

Cree XR-E R2 (WG) Emitter on Premium Star (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15943)

I also have some optics, and heatsinks at my disposal...

Is it possible to run an 18V battery (also spare) to power, even though the driver is 12-16V? Can I add anything to not blow it up, or do I need a lower V battery?

Anyway, just experimenting and seeing if I can make a ghetto light out of it without needing to spend any $.

Any further suggestions, or guidance would be great. Maybe there is more basics to lighting that you can point me to as well.

Cheers B

 

[Linger]

yeah, lots to learn.
Use the search feature. Everytime you have a question about something, search it. The more specific you get the more helpful this will be.
e.g. driver for led
300ma driver for led
cree r2 driver
cree r2 300ma

The sticky at the top of this forum has maybe 50 different diy bike light builds people have done.
Go to the home built and modification subform, that's really the best place for you for the next while.

You can definately create something with any collection of parts. I don't want you hurting yourself so I say leave te 18v battery alone for now.


A great introductory project for you would begin with 3 or 4 alkaline or nihm batteries, either AA, C, or D (pick which-ever form factor you have 3 or 4 of.) This is a bench-top light. You make it, it works, you learn, in a few days you take it apart and build something better. Leave some of the cells aside for now, start with 2. Your 2 batteries in series (tail of one to head of another) add voltage, so 1.5volts times 2 cells = 3 volts

1)Attach the Cree r2 emitter to a heatsink
2)attach emitter to switch

3)attach the batteries to some form of battery pack (plastic travel soap dishes work great), or a battery tube from an old light

**ensure all your connections are correct, there are no potential shorts, that you are on safe surface (I covered my table top with ceramic tiles), get a camera to record the fun and maybe a fire extinquisher.

4)connect the battery pack to the switch
turn the light on.

Hopefully that was interesting. Feel how hot / or not the star base is getting. See how the output holds, or does it fluxuate?

Turn it off, tear down to begin next project:
--disconnect emiter from switch

1>Attach the emitter to the driver
2>attach the driver to the switch

Direct drive (what you just did, running batteries straight to emiter) is only OK in special situations, and you need to be careful you don't fry the emitter with too much power. 2 cells is OK (1.5vx2=3.0v, most cree r2's like 3.25v-4.0v)

Attaching your driver means you can add more power. The driver will regulate how much current goes to the led, so as long as you have the right driver, you can add more power with-out frying the emiter (just, don't fry the driver ...)
3>Double your power pack, use 4 cells in series (6.0v), hook it up and see what happens.

That should take you part of the evening, basic skills needed (you could even by-pass soldering wires if you use aligator clips and a lot of caution not to short with them.