Home made triple P60s

[Itinifni]

I wanted a triple P60 drop in but wasn't willing to shell out the cash to buy one so I did the next best thing. This is how I built mine.

I started with a couple of 3 up XP-Gs (1 neutral, 1 warm), some 3/4" copper pipe, 3/4" copper rod, Carlco plain, tight optics, KD V2 drivers, 380ma bin 7135s and empty P60 pills.

I used a spring clamp to help keep my cut straight and cut the rod at about 13mm.

Square up the heat sink with a file and sand smooth.

File the LED side lip off the P60 pill and attach to the heat sink with AA.

Drill a hole through the center then cut the copper pipe to cover the heat sink and pill leaving a lip on the star side and sweat it on like a plumber.

Attach the star with AA.

To fill the space in the head next to the optic I cut the end off the P60 reflectors and attached it to the copper pipe via AA.

On to the driver, KD 8*7135 V2 with 6 extra 308ma chips added.

And that's it!

I like them so much I made two more, XP-G2 and Nichia 219.

Below, Nichia, Warm, Neutral and XP-G2, all on medium around 1.0A

Thanks for looking.

 

[d337944]

Wow! Thanks for the write up Infiniti ... excellent work there mate.:thumbsup:

Clever ideas with the piping and heatsink! Now if I only had the skills to do this myself ...

 

[Match]

Very nice work, infiniti! Nice work on making your own by hand... it makes them a little more special.

 

[Changchung]

Nice build...


Sent from my phone with camera with flash and internet on it...

 

[jmpaul320]

Very nice work!!

 

[borrower]

Awesome work! This totally looks like something I can do. (Well, soldering the wires to the emitters might be a bit nerve-wracking.)

One question (that perhaps shows my ignorance)... were you concerned about the acid flux in the plumbing parts interacting in any way with the electronics?

 

[Itinifni]

Awesome work! This totally looks like something I can do. (Well, soldering the wires to the emitters might be a bit nerve-wracking.)

One question (that perhaps shows my ignorance)... were you concerned about the acid flux in the plumbing parts interacting in any way with the electronics?

You're right about bridging the star, it's a pain. The wires are so short and have to be just right so they don't interfere with the optic. For the Nichia (the last one I made) I used a 20mm parallel star from Illumination Supply. I had to reflow the LEDs on (my first time doing that), I was skeptical as to whether or not I would damage the LEDs but it worked fine. After that the wiring was much easier.

To tell you the truth I never even thought about flux damaging the driver, I just used what I had on hand. I did clean the heat sink after soldering the same was I clean sweat fittings when I'm doing plumbing work. I'll just have to see how they stand the test of time.

 

[netprince]

This is a really cool build. How are the drop-ins handling the 5A? Also how snug are they in the hosts? Did you have to use any copper tape to help with thermal transfer?

I have to admit, I kinda want to tryit... I bet that bar of copper wasn't cheap??

 

[Mattaus]

I love these sorts of builds

Well done!

 

[Itinifni]

This is a really cool build. How are the drop-ins handling the 5A? Also how snug are they in the hosts? Did you have to use any copper tape to help with thermal transfer?

I have to admit, I kinda want to tryit... I bet that bar of copper wasn't cheap??

The drop-ins handle the 5.0A (5.3 with the 18650 IMRs I got today) without any problem so far, I'm wondering how long the S/F switches will last though. They're only rated at 3A but I only run them on high for short times. Even at medium (1A) it's enough light for most uses.
3/4 id pipe fits the L2 perfectly, I can get 1-2 wraps of tin foil around and it's snug enough to hold the ground spring compressed. Heat seems to transfer very well, leave them on for 5 minutes un-touched and they're too hot to hold. Not too hot to touch but I have to shift it around a bit until the body gives up some of the heat to my hand.

As for the copper bar, most houses (around here anyway) have a nice, long, copper rod sticking in the ground connected to the braker panel... At least one in my neighbor hood no longer does!

 

[thijsco19]

Very nice! Love this kind of home-made-stuff .

But I have a question, can you make an side photo of this?

 

[Itinifni]

Does this help?

 

[Mattaus]

I wonder if having that cut down reflector increases the throw at all? Triples are VERY floody, even with the tight optics, so even a little bit of light reflected in the right direction may help...

 

[Itinifni]

I don't think the reflector increases the throw at all. It does present an interesting patern when about a foot or two from the wall but it dissapears at any distance.

 

[borrower]

This is a really cool build. How are the drop-ins handling the 5A? Also how snug are they in the hosts? Did you have to use any copper tape to help with thermal transfer?

I have to admit, I kinda want to tryit... I bet that bar of copper wasn't cheap??

For what it's worth, my local metal dealer sold me about 2' of 3/4 rod for just under 20 bucks. (And as a bonus, it has a hole through the middle already. Not only can I run wire easily, I can connect it to my drill as I spin it against the grinding wheel.)

 

[thijsco19]

Does this help?

YES, that's perfect thank you!:twothumbs
Very nice.

 

[Lolaralph]

To the OP,
i'm curious, does a single cell provide enough power to go to 5.0+ amps, I've made a few triples for e series lights and was considering having them bored to accept 18650 cells but wasn't sure they would power these triples to over 4 amps, thanks

 

[MattSPL]

To the OP,
i'm curious, does a single cell provide enough power to go to 5.0+ amps, I've made a few triples for e series lights and was considering having them bored to accept 18650 cells but wasn't sure they would power these triples to over 4 amps, thanks

Enerpower+ 2900mAh/3C will do 7A, and its a protected Panasonic ncr18650 pd, so a very good cell. Some other unprotected cells will do 10 or even 20 Amps.

 

[netprince]

When using a linear driver like this, you need to make sure your LEDs have a lower forward voltage (under load) than the battery voltage (also under load). Look at some battery reviews. Many have a graph of voltage vs current. When you draw 5A from a cell, its voltage will sag quite a bit. That voltage must still be higher than the LEDs VF at 5A. (or you wont get 5A)

 

[Lolaralph]

When using a linear driver like this, you need to make sure your LEDs have a lower forward voltage (under load) than the battery voltage (also under load). Look at some battery reviews. Many have a graph of voltage vs current. When you draw 5A from a cell, its voltage will sag quite a bit. That voltage must still be higher than the LEDs VF at 5A. (or you wont get 5A)

I think that is what I'm running into, I used three XP-Es on one triple, with one cell I'm barely getting 3.25 amps, if I use two LiFePo 3.0 v cells I can pull 4.35, but have about ten minutes of run time. Looks like the e2e is getting bored for 18mm cells.