MC E Light

[houndlegs]

Hi guys

Ok i`ve decided to take the plunge and build my own light but i have some questions i need answering to help me proceed.

Leaving heatsink and design to one side, i need to know more about the electronic side.

This is what i want to do,run 2 MC E`s through a driver using a 24 v NiCm battery(the reason i want to use that battery is i already have it, if not its buy another)

Questions;
1 Can i actually use that battery or am i better off getting something else?
2 What driver do i need? I`d like to be able to dim the lights or have maybe a high and low beam (and i need you to be specific here, cos what you say is what i buy)
3 Is series or parallel better? and could someone do me an idiot proof drawing to show me how to connect/solder these things together

Sorry its a long thread with so many questions, but i just dont understand the electrical side of things

Cheers
Phil

 

[marcopolo]

All the info you are asking is on this site which is why you probably havn't got an answer yet, but as i'm new also and doing similar to you, here is a quick rundown on what you need:

2x bFlex UIB2 drivers (one for each MC-E in with 4 dies pre-soldered onto a 20mm MCPCB in SERIES - Vf about 14v, driver steps down your 24v battery voltage and maintains constant current at chosen level ie dimmable.) Remember the MC-E is acually 4 LED's on one die which can be run say 2S2P, 4S or 4P etc...and each die will have Vf 3.2-3.8v depending on the current.

One thing I would worry about is the fact your 24v battery charged, presuming it is a 20cell NiCad battery is going to start off at 28v and this is just above the rated 25v of the driver - maybe others here can answer whether this brief time over the rated voltage will damage it?

When you order the board you can usually order the LED's pre-soldered onto the board which removes that task from you.

Cutter electronics supply all of above. If I were you I would seriously consider 2 of 4up XR-E rather than 2xMC-E unless your housing size must be an absolute minimum for some reason. The XR-E can be pushed to 1000mA whereas the MC-E is bound by about 700mA as long as your cooling is good.

Hope this helps some.

Marco.

 

[houndlegs]

thanks Marco , I think I`m getting there slowly