My first quad emitter M@G mod.. pics (a couple animated) and current measurements

[bluecrow76]

This is nothing new, I just wanted to share.

I finally took the plunge yesterday morning and starting putting pieces together. I've had all the parts for a few weeks. The emitters I think I got close to a month ago. I've been apprehensive about starting because, well, because it's quite a bit of money and I could really screw it up! Thankfully I've done some other mods over the past month to ramp up to this project. I did a handful of DHS/hotlips mods with Kai drivers, a bedside/area/emergency light, and modded my Streamlight Task-light, Scorpion LED and started on a Fenix L2P with custom 123 body mod (waiting for the GDuP to be realeased).

So yesterday morning I pretty much said it's now or never. I was going to just AA the emitters (four Cree Q5 WG) to the PXR D heatsink and leave it at that. You know... baby steps. Well the AA went easier and quicker than I thought it would (translation: it worked well and I didn't screw it up), so I decided to at least cut the wires. Somehow they ended up getting soldered on also. I verified that there was no contact between the heat sink and the pads on the emitters, and between the solder points and the metal ring on the emitters.

I tested the setup using a driver from Kai and a 12V SLA battery. I believe it was just direct driving the emitters in the pic below. I connected an additional 6V (18V total) and the emitters perked up nicely.

I came back later and started working on the reflectors. I'm using Fraen reflectors and I noticed that they were really designed to be used when the emitter was surface mounted. This meant I was going to have to shave some of the plastic base back so the reflector would sit down between the metal ring of the Cree and the wire soldered to the pad. I had to resolder a couple points to that I room for the shaved reflector base to squeeze in. Note that I cut the fins off as well. If you look really close at the base of the closest reflector in the picture below (right behind the solder point) you can see where I cut the base of the reflector back.

By this time it was getting later in the evening (I spaced things out during the day, not to mention I had an LSU football game to watch at 4:00pm... Go Tigers!), but I had a desire to at least finish the head. Thanks to tino_ale for posting this information about how he mounted the maxflex driver to the PXR D heatsink. I used your method and it worked VERY well. I used my dremel to cut a 5mm x 13mm piece of aluminum. One end was AAed to the maxflexs thermal pad and the other to the heatsink. This provides thermal transfer as well as a method of mounting the driver to the heatsink. I had a little extra AA so I went ahead an mounted the emitters for my tri-Cree C also.

You'll notice that I only have two colors of wire: red and white. It's the only teflon coated wire I have. I believe it's 26 gauge. I'll soon be ordering a couple more colors.

I tested the setup by connecting the driver (using alligator clips) to a 6V SLA battery. To change modes and test the driver, I just had to touch the wire connected to the SW input to the GND wire. I took this little rig outside to test. It lit my test tree (just under 400ft away) up very nicely, even at only 350mA!

I was determined to try and finish as much as I could before I went to bed (I had a lesson to teach in church today so I couldn't stay up all night... darn!). I didn't exactly understand what I needed to do with the M@G switch, so I emailed George at 11:30pm and went to the store for a last minute milk run. When I got back, George had responded (THANKS!!!)!!! He provided me a link to this post that showed me exactly what I needed to do to the switch.

So now my head module and switch module are complete, except for one thing... connectors. I don't want to solder the wires directly to each other. I want to use some sort of connector so that they can be relatively easily disconnected. I'm trying to find something here in town or in the states so that I can get this done for this weekend. If I can't find anything, I'm going to order some connecting sockets from Download.

Thanks for looking!

Continued here...

 

[katsyonak]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Very nice mod. Would like to see more pics of it's progress. Thank you for sharing

 

[tino_ale]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Good job !

I've been using my Quad XR-E mod outdoor last week and WOW it's really neat. You're going to love it!

 

[SnowplowTortoise]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Thanks for posting. Can you please provide more information about the batteries you are using? I have figured out that SLA stands for sealed lead acid, but I'm not finding any that would fit into a mag body. Thanks!

 

[bluecrow76]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

tino_ale: Thanks! I can't wait until it's done!

SnowplowTortoise: You got it: SLA = sealed lead acid. In my other life it means Service Level Agreement. I have a lot of them from replacing UPS batteries for clients. I don't use them in the actual lights, just for benchpower and emergency power (lights, scanner, ham radio, etc...). My host is going to be a 3D, which should give me plenty of battery options: 3D, 4C, some number of 18650's, 6AA and a dummy, 9AA, 12AA... the list goes on. I wish I could afford one of FiveMega's battery holders.

katsyonak: I'll post more pictures as I go.

Once again, thanks for looking!

 

[BentHeadTX]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

I just received my Fraen FRC reflectors in the mail so my Q5 MaxFlex Quad Mag is about ready to ramp up. The connector to the switch was my question also but I know a simple way to fix that problem.

Get a three-wire computer fan extension cable. Solder the wires on the "female" connector from the Mag switch and the three wires from the MaxFlex to the "male" connection. Get the gold plated version and solder to the existing wire using heat shrink etc. Make sure to leave plenty of extra as when the head turns, so does the wire.

If you can, drill and tap a threaded hole into the heat sink. Put a clamp on the regulator end so if something happens, it won't rip the wires off the regulator board. It should just disconnect from the harness.

That is my plan, if anyone else has any ideas let them be heard. I plan on starting my build this weekend.

 

[bluecrow76]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

BentHeadTX: The floppy connector is a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing. That means I might be able to finish this thing tonight! Woo hooo!

I couldn't wait any longer to see what it looked like on full blast (1.2A), so I took it outside last night with my 6V SLA and some alligator clips. Brushing the SW wire against the negative battery terminal acted as my momentary switch. WOW is right tino! All of a sudden my LumaPower M1-T and Fenix P3D-RB100 aren't looking so bright any more! (Then I remember... at least I can fit them in my pocket!)

 

[glockboy]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Buy the McR-17XR reflectors, you'll get almost 50% more light out the front.
Cost more but worth it.

I'm using Fraen reflectors

 

[discoverEDC]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

bluecrow76 and BentHeadTX, please post pics. When my driver(s) come in I will be building a quad Q2 with Fraen reflectors and I would like to see what the beam pattern looks like. I would love to use McR 17's or 19's but that's too much $$ right now, besides when my other driver comes I will be building an aspheric for throw :thumbsup:

Thanks in advance for the pics!

 

[Essexman]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Slightly off topic, where are you guys getting the Fraen reflectors from??

 

[bluecrow76]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

essexman: I got them from http://www.arrownac.com... part number [FONT=&quot]FRC-N1-XR79-0R. They are $0.96 and they have 3000 in stock! They also have Q2 emitters for ~$5 (min qty 5)!

[/FONT]discoverEDC: Once I get it mounted I will get a friend over to do some outside real world beamshots.
[FONT=&quot]
I wish I could afford the McR reflectors as well. I've spaced out buying the items for this project over the past four months. If I wanted to use those reflectors I would have to wait another four month to finish the build! I'm going to do this one with Fraens and maybe the next one I build will be use ALL the good stuff. It'll probably be a year from now, so it'll be interesting to see what new technology is out then!
[/FONT]

 

[Essexman]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

bluecrow76: Cheers for the details, great nice cheap supply of reflectors....... then I read the part about international shipping -

International orders will be charged a handling and energy fee of $10.22 per shipment. A $10 handling charge will be added to each line item less than $30.​

:shakehead​

 

[bluecrow76]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

essexman: WOW!!! Arrow is an international supplier. http://www.arrowne.com/arrow_worldwide/uk/main.html Try seeing if they have something a little closer to home.

 

[bluecrow76]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Well, I'm 98% done!

I went to CompUSA yesterday looking for a floppy power extension cable recommended by BentHeadTX. All I found was ATX fan power Y cables, but that's all I needed. They are three conductor connectors, and that's all we need on the maxflex.

After I built the light modules, it hit me that the wire I was using to connect the batteries to the maxflex may be to small (gauge). At least using larger wire would provide a slightly less resistance and would be able to handle more current. I asked the question here.

The wire on the fan power cables was 22-24 AWG wire with a heat resistant jacket, so I decided to use the wire on the connector to connect directly to the maxflex. Doing this required me to undo some of the work I had previously done (detach the driver from the heat sink so I could get to a place to unsolder).

Red is Vin, Yellow is GND and Black is SW.

I also reworked the wiring on the switch module. I replace the wire connecting to battery + and battery - to the connector with wire I plucked from a CPU fan (it was the exact same type and brand of wire that was in use on the fan cable I got from CompUSA.)

On the switch itself there are 4 wires. +, -, SW1, SW2. I connected + to Red, SW2 to Black, and - and SW1 to Yellow. The maxflex switch is just a momentary connection to GND. I used heat shrink to protect the solder joints. I didn't realize the picture was blurry until after I had tested and assembled. You get the idea though.

I was apprehensive about epoxying the light module in the head, so I used some Ceramique on the threads instead. It was very firm threading the light module in.

Since I'm using Fraen reflectors on a PXR heatsink, there is a gap between the top of the reflector and bottom of the lens. I had to use 2 o-rings in front of the lens to get it set properly. I'm using a UCL lens.

This was my order of assembly: put the light module in the head, screw the head onto the MAG body, insert the switch into the MAG body, connect the light module and the swith module using hemostats through the switch hole, and the set the switch in place.

Next I had prevent one thing from happening. We all like to show off our lights. This one will be making a trip to the office with me in the morning, and I know some brute is going to twist the head and rip all the wires out of the driver. I drilled a hole through the head into the body and placed a "set" screw. I say "set" because I found an appropriately sized screw on my workbench and drove it in. It will be replaced with an actual hex head set screw this week.

So here it is, another vanilla M@G quad emitter mod by another proud flashaholic:

At the beginning of this post, I said I was 98% done. The only thing I'm missing are battery carriers. Once again, I was glad I have a maxflex in here because I can set the max current output to 350mA and run the thing on 3 alkaline D cells. I did some VERY rough estimates and I think running it on high at 350mA will draw somewhere around 1A @ 4.5V from the alkaline cells. I believe this is really more than the cells are supposed to handle, but it works. I'm sure the batteries will start to sag under the load fairly quickly. I have ordered some 3AA-1D adapters and I will also be building some PVC 18650 & C tubes this week. My thoughts for using the 3D host was that I would have a whole host of battery options.

I don't have a camera capable of doing decent beam shots. I will be borrowing one later this week once I get the proper battery setup to run it at 1.2A. At 350mA inside it is definitely brighter than my TerraLUX MiniStar 5 drop-in (not really surprising). Once it gets dark tonight I'll go outside and compare throw.

Hope this helps someone out there who is contemplating a similar build.

 

[BentHeadTX]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Great build Blue!
I am getting the wiring I need tomorrow and start to build the beast on Tuesday. Mine will run a copper PXR heat sink and push four Q5 Crees at 500mA each. This will give me around 600 lumens at the emitters for 2.5 hours on eight Eneloop 2000mAH AA NiMH batteries.
Nice to know that I can run three C cells in a pinch. The point is to not push it too hard as I would kick it down a few levels.
Still trying to figure out if I should run the MaxFlex inside the heat sink (as you do) or figure out a way to have the heat pad soldered to copper braiding and attach it to the body of the light. The idea of running 700mA to each of the Q5's will give me 800 lumens at the LEDs and make my Mag a contender!
Glad I could help with the computer connector trick. Can't beat the price for those connectors

 

[discoverEDC]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Bump on pics..... Please...

All of my parts are in for my quad Q2 but I probably won't have time until after Thanksgiving to build it. Oh well, I can play with my new D-mini Q5.

 

[bluecrow76]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Alright... here's some quick and dirty pics using my OLD Sony Cyber-Shot 2.0MP camera... that's right... 2.0 mega pixels! :mecry: My wife's getting a new Nikon D40 (or equivalent) for Christmas, so the pain is almost over.

I still have not come up with a "real" battery solution, so I'm still using 3D alkalines in the M@G mod. I'm only driving the maxflex at 350mA right now because of it, so keep that it mind.

Anyway, here are the lights I used to compare (left to right):
1. Quad Cree Q5 WG M@G (maxflex @ 350mA, 3D alkaline)
2. RcatR Aspheric M@G (1A, 2 x 18650)
3. LumaPower M1-XRE w/ aspheric lens (Cree, 18650 on high)
4. LumaPower M1-T stock (Cree, 18650 on high)

Down the driveway refence shot:

LP M1-T

LP M1-XRE Aspheric

RcatR Aspheric M@G

Quad emitter M@G @ 350mA

You can't see it very well, but the end of the driveway across the street is lit up pretty well, theres just more spill than the other lights.

Backyard reference shot:

LP M1-T

LP M1-XRE Aspheric

RcatR Aspheric (very blurry)

Quad M@G

So that's it for now. I'm working on some PVC battery adapters so I can at least drive the Quad M@G on 2x18650. I should have that done next week.

Thanks for watching!

 

[discoverEDC]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

Thanks for the beamshots :thumbsup: Now I have an idea of what mine will look like. I have a completely separate question for you. For your aspheric mag, is the reflector used? In my research for building my aspheric mag I've come across both opinions, use the reflector, don't use the reflector. Your aspheric beamshots look good, so how is yours set up? Thanks.

 

[bluecrow76]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

I made a 2x18650 to 2D adapter today. I've been contemplating moving the quad module to a 2D (I found a nice red one on sale at Lowes Wednesday), and the PVC pieces I had already cut were just the right sizes, so it ended up being a 2D adapter. I have since changed my mind about to move, but I thought I'd post pics tonight anyway. I will be making a 3x18650 to 3D adapter tomorrow or Monday, and then I will really be able to post some beam shots!

Here's the pics:

I used 1" ID and 3/4" ID PVC. The 1" outer piece is ~85mm long. The 3/4" inner piece is ~105mm long. Total length of the adapter is ~125mm. I had to sand down the 3/4" PVC before it would fit into the 1" PVC. I pounded it down until I couldn't get it to go anymore and then cut things to fit. I install the adapter large end first, and I cut the small end so that the 18650 cells extend past the end. This allows the spring to come in contact with the end of the cell without binding up inside the PVC.

A Duracell D cell is 60mm long. An unprotected 18650 is 65mm long. The spring has to be modified for length, as well as bending the top of the spring towards the middle so it will make contact with the battery, since the diameter is smaller than the D cell. I also cut the top of the spring down. I still need to cut more off the bottom so that there's not so much pressure on the batteries.

Now I just need to do some voltage measurements before I do the 3x adapter. I don't know the total forward voltage of the emitters when they're running at the lowest setting. If I use 3x18650 cells, the max voltage that would be supplied is 3*4.2V=12.6V. I measured the Vf at 700mA of each emitter when I was matching them and these were at ~3.68V @ 700mA. I need to figure out if 12.6V from the batteries is too much or not. I don't want it going direct drive on me. Either way, if I keep the setup in the 3D, I'm going to build some spacers anyway to keep up the battery options.

 

[bluecrow76]

Re: My first quad emitter M@G mod... in progress...

discoverEDC: RcatR did a great job on my aspheric build.

Inside the MAG head there is a lip. The aspheric lens rests on that lip. I think it's 50mm in diameter. RcatR bored that lip down further so that the lens sits further in the head. He then cut the reflector so that it sits on top of the aspheric lens and holds the lens in place. The bezel then fits down as it normally does. This has the advantage over the easy method in that the aspheric lens sits below the bezel and is protected.

One of these days I'm going to CAD it out and figure out what those dimensions are.

He installed the emitter on a heatsink set down inside the MAG body. According to his calculations it's a perfect setup for the Cree emitter.

The easiest way to do an aspheric build is to just replace the MAG lens with aspheric lens. The bezel doesn't screw down all the way though. The other problem is that there is some light that is reflected backwards from the aspheric lens at say a ~150-160 degree angle (if 0 degrees is out the from of the light). This poses a problem if you are holding the light out in front of you and your eye is at that angle from the light... you get blinded. By sinking the lens into the head, that reflected light remains in the head of the light, instead of in your eyeball. By adding the reflector on top of the lens, you keep "stray" light from escaping. I can send a nice laser beam of light exactly where I want it with practically NO spill.

Just for kicks I put an aspheric lens on the top of the quad build. It was by no means an efficient use of light. It just threw four funky looking spots on the cealing at a 30-45 degree angle. It actually seemed to loose some of the light.

Hope that helps!