P60-type LED pill for FM Cooly ...

[wquiles]

I have had a FM Cooly host for a while now, and one of these days I will build a really high power LED pill for it, but for now, I wanted to get play with making my own P60-style LED drop in from scratch. Call it a learning project 🙂

For this project I am using a new XML-2 in Direct Drive with one of my own Tiny-85 controller boards and MOSFET boards. The controller monitors batter voltage, temperature, and senses the switch button presses (On/Off cycles) to alternate between Low, Med, and High, and then it sends a PWM signal to the MOSFET which is tied to the NEG side of the LED.

I wanted the fit of this new pill to be closer than a generic pill so I measured the OD of a couple of them, as well as the ID of the Cooly:

I started making the pill. I did not have the right OD Al bar, so I was taking deep cuts of 0.150" (.3" diameter reduction) to get there quick, so I was using lots of lubricant:

Then work on the ID on one side:

Fairly close to my "drawing":

Great fit on the lens side:

I should have started on the other end, but I don't always think through "all" of the steps in my head before starting, but I went ahead and keep going. This meant I had to work on a way to hold the larger diameter lip, so I made a delrin sleeve and used the step inside the chuck's jaws to my advantage:

Got the other side done. That lip is for the PWB controller board:

Slide fit (next time I will try for a tighter fit):

Epoxy LED to pill - use lens to center:

Drill holes for wires:

Solder spring on positive contact:

Ready for wiring/assembly:

Test before epoxying things in place:

All done. The negative contact was not very "elegant", but it works 🙂

Thermal paste between pill and Cooly:

All assembled. The FM cooly is a great host - well though out!

Will

 

[tobrien]

beautiful looking work!

 

[psychbeat]

Whoa - that must've been a fun project!! Long live the p60!!!
I've always wanted longer optic based module for my 2p1s FM host.
Then I'd just use the outer lens assembly to hold it in place.
Good stuff!!

 

[DrafterDan]

Excellent, clean work.
I'm not familiar with that lens type, does it offer a better focus? Are you looking for more throw or a floody beam?

There's no end of fun projects you can do once you have access to a lathe

 

[wquiles]

Thank you guys 😱

Excellent, clean work.
I'm not familiar with that lens type, does it offer a better focus? Are you looking for more throw or a floody beam?

Yup, going for a little bit more throw. Since the XML-2 is such a big die, it still ended up having a reasonable floody mix to be useful. I would like to try next time a glass lens and see if I can get it a little tighter 🙂

There's no end of fun projects you can do once you have access to a lathe

+1

I was reloading some rounds for my rifle, and I was having trouble with seating really shallow bullets. Basically I needed a longer bullet seating stem, so I just made a custom one in my lathe 🙂

 

[Tacitus]

Thanks for the great information and for all of the work that went into sharing it! :wow:

 

[gt40]

Nice work. :thumbsup: