I am hugely grinning right now

[kuksul08]

...and giggling like a little girl.

I finally finished my first real DIY light after a long time of getting parts, researching, etc.

Check it out, it is so bright, lightweight, slick, tough, oh and waterproof too

Here's roughly what it looks like with just one LED on...

 

[kuksul08]

Here are some better pics I took

spot only

flood only

both

 

[Gryloc]

Good job! It looks very professional. :thumbsup: I think that it could pass as a commercial product.

I bet you are going to freak out some other riders with that at night (with light coming from your head). I like the individually addressable LEDs. What emitter and driver combo did you use? I like the two bare switches that can be easily and quickly activated with a gloved hand. The beams look useful, and I bet you get some good run-time even with higher current levels going to the emitters. Have you considered making a second for the other side of your helmet?

Just out of curiosity, where did you get that battery holder. I dig the metal holding clips on that holder; I hate the weak plastic Radio Shack holders.

Was this light featured on another thread? I thought I seen a similarly constructed light that featured a "gun-kote" coating for a nice and durable flat black finish. Where do you plan on keeping the battery pack? I hope you keep it in a place that is well insulated from your body, in case of a freak accident where you flop and the NiMH pack shorts out. I would hate to see anyone get burns from hot batteries on top of road rash if you would get in an accident. Happy riding!

-Tony

 

[kuksul08]

Good job! It looks very professional. :thumbsup: I think that it could pass as a commercial product.

I bet you are going to freak out some other riders with that at night (with light coming from your head). I like the individually addressable LEDs. What emitter and driver combo did you use? I like the two bare switches that can be easily and quickly activated with a gloved hand. The beams look useful, and I bet you get some good run-time even with higher current levels going to the emitters. Have you considered making a second for the other side of your helmet?

Just out of curiosity, where did you get that battery holder. I dig the metal holding clips on that holder; I hate the weak plastic Radio Shack holders.

Was this light featured on another thread? I thought I seen a similarly constructed light that featured a "gun-kote" coating for a nice and durable flat black finish. Where do you plan on keeping the battery pack? I hope you keep it in a place that is well insulated from your body, in case of a freak accident where you flop and the NiMH pack shorts out. I would hate to see anyone get burns from hot batteries on top of road rash if you would get in an accident. Happy riding!

-Tony

Thanks Tony

I hope I freak some people out :devil: I have already gotten plenty of looks just riding down the street.

I am using Cree XR-E Q5 WC LEDs from Shining Beam, I highly recommend buying from them, fast and cheap shipping, and they work great. I'm actually only using resistors in this light, because I couldn't keep waiting for the regulators to show up. I have it set so on average the LEDs will get around 700mA each. They get warm, but not hot at all, its great.

I've already started making a second light, but for selling Since I know what to do (and what not to do), this one will be much better and I already have a friend or two lined up. Yep it's the same light from the Gun Kote thread. This stuff is so awesome, through all the banging around during construction, it hasn't even scuffed.

The holders are Keystone #148 I got them directly from Keystone, but Mouser.com has them too for a few dollars each. They are nice, lightweight. I JB-welded two of the 4s packs together in parallel to make a 4s2p setup. That way I can run the light from only 4AA's, or 8 for longer run time.

The pack goes in my camelbak No worries there. Thanks again for all the comments :wave:

 

[Fallingwater]

Are you going to use those on a bicycle or motorbike?

Nice design, BTW.

 

[greenLED]

Nicely done, kuk.
You got some more pics and details of the build?

 

[kuksul08]

Are you going to use those on a bicycle or motorbike?

Nice design, BTW.

Bicycle Thanks

Nicely done, kuk.
You got some more pics and details of the build?

Yeah, here are a few from the process:
First I made it in 3D

made the battery pack

learned how to solder

 

[greenLED]

WAAAAY too cool!
:twothumbs

 

[addictedmatt]

Thats an awesome light. Nice work!

 

[greenlight]

And nice photos!

 

[John_Galt]

Sweet dude!
I would love to do something like this (eventually) for riding my quad at night. Awesome pics, BTW. Gun kote, huh, well, I'll have to look into that stuff. Do you have any other details of construction, pics or whatever? And you simply must tell me what program you used for the drawings... Was it Auto cad Inventor, or something else?

 

[kuksul08]

Thanks for the comments I plan on taking some nice official pics in the daylight once i get some time. I don't have any more of the build process, but I will take some the next time I make one.

I used Solidworks to make the model It works great.

For riding a quad at speed you will probably need like 3 of these, but for biking I think it's enough, I need to test it still.

 

[jch79]

Wow, great job! Seriously cool.

 

[jeffosborne]

Two thumbs up! Unique custom light system and super write up! Kudos, kuksul08. A question: how do you fasten your aluminum parts together? And where DID you find the sturdy looking battery holder? Cheers, Jeff O.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Very nice job! How many hours would you say that you put into making the case? It looks really cool.

 

[kuksul08]

Two thumbs up! Unique custom light system and super write up! Kudos, kuksul08. A question: how do you fasten your aluminum parts together? And where DID you find the sturdy looking battery holder? Cheers, Jeff O.

Thanks I used JB weld to secure the two main halves together, then put silicone in all the joints when putting on the rear section. There are sliders so it's constrained to only on direction, and the velcro on the bottom helps keep it from slipping at all.

The holders are Keystone #148 :twothumbs

Very nice job! How many hours would you say that you put into making the case? It looks really cool.

Too many... It was a long process, and I have very limited tools (hack saw, files, cordless drill). Including paint I'd say the case definitely took me like 12 hours or more, spread out over 2 months while waiting for parts.

 

[csshih]

impressive!

how long do the batteries last?
and.. how waterproof is it?

the soldering job you did on the leds... hehe.

 

[kuksul08]

impressive!

how long do the batteries last?
and.. how waterproof is it?

the soldering job you did on the leds... hehe.

lol, they arent pretty are they.... but they work and are strong.

I havent fully tested the batteries, but I expect a couple hours of light.

It should be totally waterproof, I put silicone in every crack, all over the power jack, around the lenses, switches, etc.

 

[Myself]

That is a nice build! Where'd you get those square optics?

It appears that you have two different optics, so you can select throw, spill, or both. I've done the same thing in my most recent build, which I'll be writing up this evening most likely.

I see you're using a male Deans connector on the battery pack. Living dangerously! A fuse, rated for more than your light draws but less than would melt the wire, would be a good addition. Mount it as close as possible to the battery pack. Even using Anderson Powerpole connectors which are inherently shrouded, I still fuse everything at the source. I've smelled exploding batteries twice, and twice is enough!

While we're on the subject of wiring, have you measured or calculated the resistance of the lead from your battery pack to the light head? If you swap out the resistors for true regulated drivers, you'll see a real boost in runtime from the higher efficiency, and the power wasted in heating up the battery cable might be the next place to look at reducing losses.

Wow. I can't get over how clean those corners are, etc. You did this all with hand tools?

 

[kuksul08]

That is a nice build! Where'd you get those square optics?

It appears that you have two different optics, so you can select throw, spill, or both. I've done the same thing in my most recent build, which I'll be writing up this evening most likely.

I see you're using a male Deans connector on the battery pack. Living dangerously! A fuse, rated for more than your light draws but less than would melt the wire, would be a good addition. Mount it as close as possible to the battery pack. Even using Anderson Powerpole connectors which are inherently shrouded, I still fuse everything at the source. I've smelled exploding batteries twice, and twice is enough!

While we're on the subject of wiring, have you measured or calculated the resistance of the lead from your battery pack to the light head? If you swap out the resistors for true regulated drivers, you'll see a real boost in runtime from the higher efficiency, and the power wasted in heating up the battery cable might be the next place to look at reducing losses.

Wow. I can't get over how clean those corners are, etc. You did this all with hand tools?

I got the square optics from Digikey, they are the CRS series. I have a 14 degree spot lense on one side and a 28 degree medium lense on the other side. It's a great combo for all around use, but definitely I think two spot lenses will be better next time around. I think I'll use the Real Spot and the Diffuser (12 deg and 14 deg).

It's actually a female on the battery I didnt want anything accidentally touching both leads and shorting it out. I have not calculated the resistance from the battery to the light head. There is 6 feet of 18Ga wire so it's probably a tiny amount.

Definitely a true driver would be best, but they are quite pricey... $15 for just one of the 3023 buckpucks! The resistors are $0.51 each, or my next rendition will be using the AMC7135 fancy variable resistors, to get around 80% efficiency with full batteries, increasing as they get nearer the Vf of each LED. Thats why I used a 4.8V source instead of having too much extra wasted voltage.

Yep mostly hand tools. First I used a chop saw to cut the rough length, then a jig saw to cut out the notches for the rear section (keeping about 1/8" from any edge...that tool is not very precise). After that I used these big files to slowly smooth away all the edges and make it fit nicely, which took HOURS. I plan on getting a table top belt/disk sander to make it 500x easier, and also it's a nice tool to have in general. Also it took a steady hand to drill the holes for the switches. I clamped it in a vise, center punched the spots and then tried not to screw it up