shining beam 2500mA driver wiring?

[Mettee]

So what are we doing here, are we helping him(jez) to use 4 cells now or are we trying to get it to work as it should with the 3 cells. I got lost in all this tech talk and such.

Jez, I think you are on the right track and that you have added some very robust additional enhancements that will help it run right. :thumbsup:

ETA: OH YEAH, and again, what is the output like JEZ?

drew

 

[ti-force]

So what are we doing here, are we helping him(jez) to use 4 cells now or are we trying to get it to work as it should with the 3 cells. I got lost in all this tech talk and such.

Personally, I think 3 NiMH cells would be the best option because of the 4 watts of waste heat that's created with 4 NiMH cells, but I guess it's really up to Jez. If Jez wants it to work with 3 NiMH cells, but can't get it to work, the only other battery options I see are 4 NiMH cells or 1 Lithium rechargeable.

ETA: OH YEAH, and again, what is the output like JEZ?

I'm not Jez, but I would imagine the output falls pretty darn fast after 15 or 20 seconds when 6 of the 8 7135's shut down.

 

[jez]

Hi fella's,

I'm sorry this has all got confusing about what I want to do but with your help i'm progressing well.

Ideally I wanted 3 d's running the torch but had initial problems with low amps. I seemed to have reached a point where my cells provide 2.3A tailcap measured with pointy ended leads. Seeing as the driver is 2.5A not a bad outcome.

I had read that this driver can also put out 2.8A with replacement thicker gauge wire over standard but I misunderstood and thought this was again with 3 d cells.
Hence a lot of my frustration.

Some advice from you guys got me trying 4 c's as I had these at home.
Using these I got about 2.8A but this fell of rapidly to 0.7A so I thought this was a cell problem or a faulty board.
Advice from you guys again got me burning my fingers which confirmed a theory that the board was cooking.
So out came some very ugly heat sinks just held on with tape and this slowed the current drop.

Tonight, out came the iron again and using Justin Case's suggestion I made some stand offs from 16awg wire soldered to the mounting tabs then filed flat to mate with the sinks.
Using compound the torch held it's current for as long as I could hold the pointy ends of the dmm on the torch, can't believe the difference!
I've now cleaned this off and am in the process of waiting for the thermal epoxy to go off so I can give it a full run time test and let you all know the results.
Besides it can't hurt to have the driver heatsinked anyway can it.

As I mentioned earlier somewhere in the post (it's been that long) I've done a basic version of the spring resistance mod and I also ran a wire from the +ve spring tip through to the switch to improve that.

I had been cleaning the contacts as best as I could remember with IPA before soldering etc. I don't have any of the deoxit stuff.

Mettee, I'm sorry for missing you out. The output is fab at 2.3A but I seem to have got caught up in the 2.8A mission even though the driver is 2.5A - guess this is the start of something expensive

I hope I answered everyones questions and I think I'm reaching a happy place to stop.

Now how do I get a tighter beam out of it

Cheers

Jez

 

[jez]

well it ran at 2.78A for about 7mins 30s then started to drop off seeming to hold around 2.1-2.4A ish after 14+mins but climbed back to 2.7 around 20mins.

couldn't tell you if it went back down again as my hands gave up holding the probes.

It seems to be a success, perhaps the dip was just a glitch?

Thanks very much for all your help, you really are a great bunch.

Now need some drain cleaner and a pair of snips for a tail spring mod

Jez

edit - carried on for 45+ mins still delivering 2.73A - torch makes a good handwarmer!
Vestureofblood - you're right, I'm really suprised what some 1/8" ali can do

 

[Mettee]

right on! Ok so are you using 3 or 4 cells?

Sounds like it is working properly if its 3 cells. It should get to a point that when its working right the current holds....seems like you are there.

for a tighter beam you can use the rebel led mag light reflector, I had great results with it.

 

[jez]

Thanks for the info on the reflector Mettee.

I did the runtime check with 4 cells. I'm now tempted to run it with 4 just because I can now

But it's good to know that I can use the d cells if I need to at 2.3A

Question - If I mod the tailcap spring for 4 c cells will it be to short to swop to 3 d's if I need to?

 

[vestureofblood]

Excellent work jez.

I am so glad you persevered on this. I wouldn't worry about that little drop in current, in real world use it wouldnd be that noticable.

As for the 4C tail cap. If I remember right the spring mod in a 3D to 4C makes the spring sit below the rim of the tailcap, so you probly couldn't just put the Ds back in. A couple of options would be to get a second Mag tail spring you could just snap in without even removing the other when you want to use the D cells. Or you could make a spacer out of some copper or aluminum.

 

[TorchBoy]

edit - carried on for 45+ mins still delivering 2.73A - torch makes a good handwarmer!

That sounds quite good. If you do the same thing with 3 D cells what is the current after that much time?

 

[jez]

Torch boy, i'll take the torch home and try it when I have time.

 

[jez]

Did the short (45mins) runtime check with d's and was getting 2.1-2.3A steady.

Just for fun, put 4 c alks in and after just 5mins current dropped to 2A showing just how bad the voltage sag can be.
Put the 4c rechargables back in and 2.78A all the way

Think i'm gonna run this in c cells and keep a spring for D's in an emergency.

Thanks again folks

Jez.

 

[pugga]

Hi all,

I just received some drivers for a project and just checked on shinningbeams page but obviously they have sold out of them and have taken off the sales/specs page. Has/does anyone have the specs on the driver as I can't remember a few things for example here is the info from there XP-G/XR-E driver,

* Regulated circuit board designed for Cree XP-G and XR-E emitters
* 3 modes: Low>Med>High
* Voltage input: 2.8V - 6V !!!!!
* The memory feature will memorize the last mode
* Output current: 60mA on low, 440mA on medium and 1.4A on high !!!!!
* Buck circuit board !!!!!
* Linear regulators for high efficiency
* 17mm base board diameter
* Lead wires already soldered on board
* Reverse-polarity protection prevents wrongly installed batteries from damaging the circuit

Thanks for any help

Cheers pugga

 

[bstrickler]

* Regulated circuit board designed for Cree MC-E and SSC P7 emitters
* 3 modes: Low>Med>High
* Voltage input: 2.8V - 6V !!!!!
* The memory feature will memorize the last mode
* Output current: 140mA on low, 1000mA on medium and 2.5A on high !!!!!
* Buck circuit board !!!!!
* Linear regulators for high efficiency
* 17mm base board diameter
* Lead wires already soldered on board
* Reverse-polarity protection prevents wrongly installed batteries from damaging the circuit

Edited for you

To lock the memory, light must be on for 3, 5, or 10 seconds, I can't remember which one it is.

~Brian

 

[TorchBoy]

* Buck circuit board !!!!!
* Linear regulators for high efficiency

Neither of them is a buck driver !!!!! Both drivers are linear regulators.

 

[vestureofblood]

Neither of them is a buck driver !!!!! Both drivers are linear regulators.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ti-force]

Edited for you

To lock the memory, light must be on for 3, 5, or 10 seconds, I can't remember which one it is.

~Brian

Let me see if I can help you with your memory. Mode is memorized after the selected mode has been on for 3 seconds or longer, as long as Shiningbeam hasn't made any changes , and as long as my memory is serving me correctly.