Q2J w/ 4 cells?

[dw_1984]

I realized that I have an extra 1 watt white LS (bin Q2J).

I have a 4C Mag-lite and was wondering if it was possible to run the LS with 4C batteries (Nimh). I know it was only meant to run with 3 batteries but would the EL heatsink thermally bonded to the head be sufficient enough to handle the extra battery? Looking for a nice bright light /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Daniel

 

[shiftd]

NO WAY
just when the heat is gonna be transferred to the metals, the wire inside the luxeon will break. Even 4 C or D sized alkaline batteries is not recommended. I kill 2 of my best luxeons by connecting them to 4 AA niMH batteries and all i got is .5 second runtime and then no more light can be produced by the lux's. If you ran it using 3 AA/C size, niMH battery, you already seriously overdriving and at the treshold of killing your lux. adding another cell will definitely break if not kill your lux

edit: one of my dead luxeon has the bin of q3L, which has higher forward voltage than yours, and still got killed in the process. If you want brighter light, move on to the 5W level and change the C cells to 123s.

 

[dw_1984]

Thanks shiftd.

There goes that idea. I guess I'll hafta find some other use for this LS. Hmm...maybe a dat2zip converter board. Possibly a BB400 for a MiniMag maybe. Or maybe another BB700 (just like my current project) for the 4C I got.

I just gota find some useful thing to do with this extra LS.
And thanks for now letting me blow it up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Daniel

 

[shiftd]

Huh?
Are you going to fuel a BB400 with 4C cells? do not do that. That will fry your BB. (i think)
oh, also i think you are going to fry you q2j if you drive it using BB700.
If i were you, i would paralel the 4C into 2 line of 2C each and uses a micropuck to drive your led.

cheers

 

[MR Bulk]

DD it off three AA or AAA alkys. Use the thinnest wire you can get (32 AWG, etc.) and plenty of it looped around inside to give a little extra resistance. Nice and bright, and reasonable life (not a ½-second like shiftd's!)...

 

[dw_1984]

Sorry for the confusion. What I meant was a BB400 for a MiniMag (2 AA). Or a BB700 for the 1 watt. From what I've been told in another thead, it is doable as long as there's enough heatsinking. I think ElektroLumens Blaster II runs around 700ma too.
The 4C is currently DDing 3 Nicads (old ones but all I could find at the moment) w/ a dead battery wrapped in foil as the fourth to a Q2H low-dome. It's not too impressive considering its size and that a BB400 in a MiniMag could very easily beat it by a long shot.

Hopefully I can get it to work, I just have to work on potting the BB.

I'll let you guys know the results (hopefully good) or my little experiment when I actually get around to doing it.

Cheers,
Daniel

 

[shiftd]

[ QUOTE ]
MR Bulk said:
DD it off three AA or AAA alkys. Use the thinnest wire you can get (32 AWG, etc.) and plenty of it looped around inside to give a little extra resistance. Nice and bright, and reasonable life (not a ½-second like shiftd's!)...

[/ QUOTE ]

Mr Bulk, the 1/2 seconds runtime that i got is because i direct drive the 1W using 4AA NiMH batteries. I have never killed a lux using 3 cell configuration

 

[dw_1984]

[ QUOTE ]
shiftd said:
Are you going to fuel a BB400 with 4C cells? do not do that. That will fry your BB. (i think)

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a little new to this how flashlight thing and a complete newbie to electronics but could you tell me why it's not a good idea to use 4 cells with a BB400? Is the combined voltage too high (I don't think that's the reason because on Wayne's page it shows the max input voltage to be around 7V).
I just need a little clarification.

Thanks,
Daniel

 

[shiftd]

Well, I am not so sure my self, that is why i put (i think) stuff. But one think i certain is that the Vin should not exceed Vout. Vout for BB400 is 3.5 V, while Vin (from 4C cells) at least 4.8 V, so it is not allowed. However, for BB700, Vin max should be 7V. I think you mix up between the two

 

[dw_1984]

Oh yeah. I see your point. I was reading through the technical support page on dat2zip's and i found what you refered to as the Vin should not exceed Vout.

Yeah I did confuse the two. Thanks!

Daniel

 

[dw_1984]

Sorry to bring back an old subject but I was looking through old CPF posts yesterday and realized that someone did something similar to what I was originally planning.

AB's Mag 2C Luxeon http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=196542
used a Q2K with a resistor or some sort to run it with 4 cells.

If I can find out what resistor AB used (which may be difficult considering AB hasn't been on very lately or maybe someone else knows), maybe I could try and duplicate his results.

I'm going to be using a N4J I got recently instead of the Q2J I had originally.

Or would I still blow the LS in "light" of shiftd's previous experiments? Does anyone know the current resistor to use?

Thanks,
Daniel