IMPROVE THE N30 HID add a 225 Lumen R2 LED area light and GLOWING LED locators

[Northern Lights]

Improve the N30 with a 225 lumen LED area flashlight and an always on glowing LED spot light locator.

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Quote: N30
Color - Light (close to Hunter) Green
35 watt HID 3200 lumen 4200K bulb driven at 30 watts.
70+ minutes run time from 13.2 Volt 3600 mAh NiMH pack
(I generally get 80+ minutes from a full charge, but we are only going to state 70+ in the manual)" Close Quote.

There are 11 cells in it; 47.52 watt hours.
The Amondotech N30 HID is a 35 watt bulb run at 30watt. It has a lamp accessory for near working conditions. The lamp is two parallels sets of a 3 and a 4 series 5mm 20mA LEDs run on appropriate resistors. And the cool thing is it is 26mm in diameter and the bezel just unscrews.
I dropped in this Cree R2 module for 225 lumens. Great area light, huh? R2 link
R2 drop in module runs on 3.7-18.0 Volts. The R2 is close to 4 watts so that is an estimated run time of 11-12 hours.
I learned about this link: ROP w/ constant glowing switch membrane

I stuck three 5mm LEDs in series and again in series with two parallel 100K ohm resistors in the back end which are on all the time, are there to locate the light in the dark. They draw 0.05 mAh together. That is 4.79 years of run time at 100% efficiency so let's be real and say 3.11years run time at 65% efficiency. It will be easy to find the light.
3 in series works out like this: Vf=3 (3.2)=9.6 at 20mAh.
In series with two parallel 100k Ohm resistors is 2/100K =1/Rtotal; Rtotal = 1/0.00002 = 50k ohms.
Ohms law: E/R=I
13.2volts – 9.6 volts = 3.6 volts
R= 50k ohms
I = (3.6/50000) = 0.000072 amps or .072 mili amps ~ round that to 0.1 mili amps
Now then;
3600 mAh divided by 0.1 mA is the run time in hours, 3600/.1=36000
36000/24 =1500 days; divide by 365 is 4.1 years, at 100% efficiency. Realistically, even at 65% efficiency the glowing LEDs do not drag down the performance or shelf life of a maintained light.
Easy way to do this is down load from one CPF member the LED PRO calculator:
LED PRO
It will figure your run times too at different efficiencies.
To put in the three LEDs the three were soldered onto a piece of copper wire and the parallel resistors put in series, two long leads were secured to it. Using a template the whole pattern was figured and drilled into the back end of the handle. The three LEDs were put into the outside of the handle and a piece of cardboard was secured in the middle with duct tape to hold the position. Using a pencil they were then set into the handle and pushed into position. Super glue holds them there. The black straps come off easy, the feet pull off and then the straps can be released to get to the switch and wiring. A ground wire goes to the area lamp and hot goes to one side of the switch; tap into these.
All I need now is to add a diffuser to it for closer high intensity work.

One night recently out in the boonies fishing, I dropped the light from the top of a Forest Service dumpster to the hard concrete. It was on when it took the fall and there I stood in darkness, considering how I would replace the bulb as I figured it was now deceased. No hot wire incan would have withstood that fall. I picked it up and slapped the back end… LOL!! The battery was loose and it seated with the slap and I had light again. What a good product, nice and rugged, small and realistically useable. The new area lamp module makes it available for all circumstances that I encounter for a light; it makes a good "boogey man repellent" night light with the constant glow too.

Thanks to
SALE: AmondoTech TITANIUM N30 HID search light 3200+ LM, rechargeable! $132.95 AC
Jtice and his posse
2xTrinity
mtbkndad
MattK

 

[BVH]

I love that 225 Lumen mod! May have to do that myself, three times. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Pumaman]

all right! i am convinced.
ordering the N-30 and a drop-in
looks like a great combo

 

[daveman]

Well done. You should've snaped a few beamshots of the original LEDs before you swaped them out for the R2, that way we could see how much of a difference the mod made. Nice mod all around, quick and clean.

 

[Patriot]

I love it! Good idea going with the drop in.

 

[Northern Lights]

Well done. You should've snaped a few beamshots of the original LEDs before you swapped them out for the R2, that way we could see how much of a difference the mod made. Nice mod all around, quick and clean.

Beam shots unfortunately are relative to camera settings. 7x 5mm key chain LEDs are puny to say the least and really most of us have seen a single double even multi-level cheap 5mm led lights. Pitiful.
I just finshed minutes ago some beam comparison. The R2 is the brightest single LED light I have around here after the P7 MTE. I have Golston variation in that same body MTE uses. The brightest I had when the P4 came out was from DAE and it was either a P4 or K5, really cannot tell but it was very bright, estimate 180-200+ lumen. The R2 does top it. Nice light. I would be putting that module in any light like that now except for one thing, P7. Yep, that MTE P7 even if it is not 900 Lumens smokes everything else. So for a 65mm light, to hide in my duty belt it is the P7, almost, not quite the output of the 2x A123 powered 5761 but back to the R2.
This mod need a sun shade, the R2 beam does reflect a little bit off the top of the main light, but since it is not designed as the main use I can live with it but may just put a shade around it, a tent of some material just to shadow the reflection of the top of the main light bezel it can be a rectangular sheet bent along the line of the handle.

I am aslo going to put a switch on the glow locators. Not to save power but to keep the reverse glare out of my eyes. A clickie in the wall of the rear A frame to the inside of the handle will do it. 5 minute mod.

 

[BVH]

I ordered 3 units to retrofit my lights. What a great and useful mod you came up with! Thanks again!

 

[Border]

Thanks for sharing your experience on this project, Northern Lights.

I have been planning to upgrade the LED module on my N30 for some time.

R2 drop-in order placed at DX.

 

[Northern Lights]

Thanks for sharing your experience on this project, Northern Lights.

I have been planning to upgrade the LED module on my N30 for some time.

R2 drop-in order placed at DX.

I put in the switch and glare shade, will post pics in about 13 hours.
Remove the black bands by pulling the feet off, just friction fit here.
I did not mean to sell DX R2s, My friend who I spent some time with, fellow CPF'er, DAE of QCG also has them, plenty supplies around:
R2 link

 

[MattK]

Nice!

 

[Nos]

omg great idea. thanks for posting this, dropin ordered

 

[Patriot]

Nice!

I think the L35 needs one of these as standard.

 

[270winchester]

that's pretty cool.

does the Cree module have enough mass and thermal relief for heatsinking?

 

[Northern Lights]

that's pretty cool.

does the Cree module have enough mass and thermal relief for heatsinking?

I think so, you could always put on some more copper tube on the back of it down the handle if you want. You see it is tapered and would accept the tube, you could use the tube to also join to a solid aluminum or copper billet. Options are unlimited so even if in its present state it needs more sinking it could be done in minutes.

This mod was so easy, so many options it is a natural.

That thing is made for 18650 and 2x 16340 Ultrafire lights and they have little mass in the tubes.

I ran it for a 20 minute run and could feel warmth from with in but did not see any problems. With that much capacity to the battery pack I imagine you could run it long enough to find out what the thermal stasis condition would be.

 

[Patriot]

How much voltage is going to the R2? Was there a resistor or something on the 7 LED board? I haven't opened mine yet. It looks like you've got it wired directly with the old wiring right....?

 

[270winchester]

looks like the R2 drop in can take up to to 18 volts, and the R2 module has its own regulation.

How much voltage is going to the R2? Was there a resistor or something on the 7 LED board? I haven't opened mine yet. It looks like you've got it wired directly with the old wiring right....?

 

[Northern Lights]

How much voltage is going to the R2? Was there a resistor or something on the 7 LED board? I haven't opened mine yet. It looks like you've got it wired directly with the old wiring right....?

follow the links, R2 can take up to 18V bat, 3.7 to 18Volts input on the R2 or one lithium or 3 NiMh up to 5 lithium or 15 NiMh cells. Wire it directly into the old lines.

The N30 (I just had to correct a number in the burn time of the glow locators as I mixed it with the L30) is 11 cells at 13.2 volts.

The original board was cute. It has two parallel strings of series resistors, one was 4 LEDs the other was 3 LEDs so there are two different resistors on the board. One resistor is on the (+) side of one string the other is on the (-) side of the other string. Clever how the board was set up. You see a resistor on each side. On the (+) side is connected an LED of one circuit and a resistor of the other circuit. On the (-) side connection is the opposite, the ground of the string with the positive reisistor and a resistor to the string with the last LED on the (+) ccontact.

Prepare the R2, unsolder the 11 5mm LED module, the wire polarity is obvious. To the R2 take off the big spring and unsolder the (+)spring. Now connect the wires to the appropriate terminal, pop it in, put on the bezel and use the switch.

I used a pigtail so I could bend the module around on longer wires just to take a picture for you.

The Glow LEDs now are connected to a (+) line coming from the R2 hot terminal on the switch, on this line is the Glow LED clickie. The Glow LED ground connects to the R2 ground wire.

Simple.

 

[Northern Lights]

Pulling the black feet off the black straps frees them and they can be lifted out.
I put a piece of plastic sheet under the top of the strap to create the glare shade as just a portion of the R2 beam hits the bezel and is visible to the operator.
The glow locator is constant on. It uses more power than it should in theory but it still is negligible. But when behind the light that glow is glare into my eyes. I installed a clickie up forward with the other switches. Just a hole and splice into the Positive lead. The clickie is put into the hole and just about anything can be put behind it to back it against the other side of the chamber to hold it into place. Now I can turn the locator on and off too.

 

[Patriot]

Perfect! Thanks NL





edited:

moved my battery question to another thread

 

[Pumaman]

Just got my drop-in installed and its great! Really like the N30, its well worth the price. Now with the R2 installed its that much more useful. here is a pic of the dropin running at 7.4v in a 6p body vs the 5mm leds in the N30. obviously no comparison.
thanks for the great idea Northern Lights!