R2 cree battery compatibility. NEWBIE ALERT.

[andyeez]

Hi Guys. I have been looking into upgrading my MR11 Marwi NightPro halogen system to LED but have limited electronics knowledge. It is to back up my Mk1 Troutie light so 300 lumens or so as a helmet spot would be good. Anyway, I was wondering if I could use a DX R2 drop in ( http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11836 )which runs at up to 18v, with my current 14v, 4.5 mah Nimh battery pack by simply soldering the wires to the drop-in. Sounds too good to be true going off what I have been reading but somehow it makes sense to a newbie such as me. Looking forward to your expert views. Cheers.

 

[snaps]

Yes that would work, I got 2 of those drop ins to make a helmet lamp for a mate & they reach maximum light output @ 6.2 volts so any voltage above 6.2 is just wasted as heat by the drop ins regulator, I run them with a 7.2v NiMH battery pack as you get the same light but the unit runs much cooler.
They draw just over 600mA @7.2v so a 3900mAh battery pack gives over 3 hours runtime.
I mounted them in a alloy tube & glued a glass disc over the end (also from DX)
The Night pros are much better suited to the Cutter tripple or quad MR11 kit as the LED & optic are a perfect fit.

 

[andyeez]

Cheers snaps, looks like I have a bit of fiddling to do to fit them in but should be ok. Any advice on which wire to solder to which bit? I am kinda handy but short on electronics know how. I had considered the cutter kits but got confused as to what parts I needed and how to fit it all together. Any info on that option would also be most welcome then I can decide between the 2.

 

[snaps]

If you go with the drop in option its just Positive to the spring & negative to the outer connection or metal body.
The cutter kit I used was http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut757 all you do is connect 2 wires to the control board, 2 wires to the LED board & 2 wires to the switch.