Spike Light - V3

[AsianAnts]

cant wait to see this on sale

 

[ahorton]

I think I'll be posting the first one tomorrow.

 

[AsianAnts]

nice, cant wait to see it sir!! i still use your V2 and love it!

 

[Daniel-O]

Soooooo... any more teasers? Or perhaps a photo?


the world waits...

Dan

 

[ahorton]

The time for teasers has passed. I was hoping to do a big write-up on the final product, but I've been using my hobby-time to make them instead.

If you head over to my sales thread, you can put yourself on the waiting list.


To get on the waiting list, send me a PM or reply in the sales thread with your preferences:

1. Body Colour (Black / Red / Sky Blue / Dark Purple / any)
2. Button Colour (Black / Red / Sky Blue / Dark Purple / any / same as body)
3. User Interface (Competition / Competition + Extras / Simple).
4. 18650 cells (optional - XTAR protected 3100mAh cells - $20 each)
5. 18650 charger (optional - XTAR WP2 MK2 - $20 each)
6. Country

I'll respond to let you know where you are in the waiting list. When yours is ready, I'll let you know so that you can send the payment.

Apologies in advance for being slow to make them. They take me a really long time and I don't get too much hobby-time these days.

 

[kevinm]

Nice work ahorton! I'm glad to see these in production.

Kevin

 

[ahorton]

I bought some Xtar 3100mAh cells. They claim to contain the latest Panasonic cells and the results back this up. I was really pleased with how they performed in my headlamp.

The two higher flood levels and the spot were run until the low-voltage protection in the headlamp reduced the power.
The lower modes were run until the cells' protection circuits shut them down.
The lowest mode was calculated (conservatively) rather than measured.

The vertical axis shows luminous intensity as measured on my cheap DX meter. I've removed any numbers from the vertical axis because they're not accurate so it's only the ratio that we're interested in. I also scaled the spot down so that it fitted in a nice part of the plot (otherwise it just dwarfed everything else).

The current to the spot XR-E was 1050mA and the twin XP-Gs each received up to 700mA (1400mA total).

The thing I wanted to see was the shape of the curves with these cells. As expected, the twin XP-Gs stay in regulation much longer than the single XR-E, but I'm still pleased with the performance of the spot.

I prefer to show the data on a logarithmic scale:

but if I take out the lowest mode, then it can also be viewed on a linear scale:

Bottom line:
I can get at least:
3 goods hours on the spot,
4 on the flood at 100%,
10 on the flood at 40%,
28 on the flood at 15%,
85 on the flood at 5%,
and probably more than 400 at 1%.

I'm really pleased with these new cells. I can now confidently use the 15% level for a whole night (up to 14hrs) and still be pretty confident that I'm getting the full spot beam when I need it.

 

[Icarus]

:poke: still no pics of the spike V3?

 

[Th232]

:poke: still no pics of the spike V3?

I thought there were pics in post #104?

 

[Johnny_5]

ahorton, you have said:
begin quote--
5 New Lens
It has a whole new lens which I designed specifically for the V3. Similar material (BK7) and quality to my aspherics, but a new mould was made along with whole batch of funny shaped lenses. The manufacturer thought I was crazy. They said they couldn't imagine how it would be useful for anything.
--end quote

how are they 'funny', not a standard plano convex aspheric? I'm trying to learn and understand more about plano convex aspheric light collimination and similar approaches, if it's not standard in that particular way please explain as I (and others), will probably learn a bit more about light shifting and bending. Also, dose someone have a link where I could learn about how thickness and wavelength of a particular light are shifted up or down in frequency based on various materials so I can see what results would be under different materials with different thicknesses using different types of light?
If I have posted in some fashion inappropriately please let me know and I will correct it asap

 

[ahorton]

Nothing new to learn about bending light. They're not that fancy.

The odd thing about them is that the asphere is off-center and has an oversized flange. This means that part of the flange is useful for letting little flood LEDs sit in the same cavity.

 

[Edwood]

Have any production Spike Light V3 been made yet? Teaser pics? ;)

 

[ahorton]

There were a couple of pics back in post 104. Not much has changed. Just little things like a spiral cable instead of a straight one etc.

 

[ahorton]

Two Important updates for V3 owners and those on the waiting list:

1. Free upgrade for all existing V3 owners.
This is a very small upgrade, but I think it's worth having. The hinge that lets you adjust the angle of the headlight has a special black (7075 aluminium) screw. To get the friction right, it ends up being too tight to be adjusted by hand. So I made some new screws with a very wide slot in them. The slot allows you to use many different tools like a screwdriver, spoon, or even just a stick that you pick up off the ground. I'm quite happy with the stick method. They're easy to find and they seem to break if you try to over-tighten the screw.

I want to give these away for free, but I need to charge for postage. ($5 in Australia or $10 international).

All V3s sent from now on will use the new screw.

2. Clearing the waiting list by Christmas
I've been working hard over the last few weeks to make enough headlights to clear the waiting list by Christmas.

One of the major reasons that you haven’t all received your V3 headlights yet, is the fact that my equipment only allowed me to make 1 battery case every 2 weeks. With my new gear, I can now make up to 6 per day.

The downside is a cosmetic one. The new battery cases have one end which looks pretty ugly. Instead of being streamlined and smooth, they now have a chunky and irregular appearance. They've also got tiny blobs and scratches on the plastic parts. These come from imperfections in the new moulds, but I think they are worth the increase in production speed. The feedback from most users, is that they’d prefer to have an ugly battery case if it means that they're not stuck on a long waiting list.

The ugly cases are still perfectly functional, and a good deal stronger than the old ones too. You can see one of the original cases in the picture below for comparison. If you want, you can always smooth it with sandpaper, but it will never quite look like the original.

(A pile of buttons)


Clearing the waiting list is important, but I’m much more interested in making things better. So I’ve also got a whole new battery case design which will be both beautiful and stronger without gaining weight. I’m projecting that it will be ready around June/July 2013. So if you'd rather wait another 7 months for a better model, then feel free to stay on the waiting list.


When the new case becomes available, I want to offer it as a free upgrade to all existing V3 owners. All you’ll need to pay is the postage cost which should be under $20 worldwide. The upgrade will take a little time with a screwdriver, but it should be pretty easy.


That’s the plan anyway. If things change, then I’ll let you all know.




If you're on the waiting list and keen to have your V3 sent by Christmas, then look out for a PM or an email from me soon with further instructions. If you haven't heard from me by Friday, then send me a message.

 

[Edwood]

Ugly case now and free "pretty" case later is a no-brainer for me. I'm all in for the Ugly! :)

 

[Lips]

ahorton

Can the V3 have emitter upgrades to Xp-g2s and Xp-e2s (or better) by the owners down the road? Easy to do or PITA

Some are available now but maybe not in the right tint...

 

[ahorton]

Ugly case now and free "pretty" case later is a no-brainer for me. I'm all in for the Ugly! :)

Well that's the plan anyway. It may happen that I get hit by a bus before making the new cases. Or I may never raise the funds needed to get started (way beyond hobby-money and will probably need a pre-order). Or it might not happen 'till 2014 etc. Anything could happen, so only buy it if you're happy with Ugly. Think of Pretty as a possible bonus.

One thing to be said for Ugly: He actually exists. Pretty is nice to dream about, but she may never be born.



As for upgrading to XP-G2s and XP-E2s, unfortunately they can't be changed once it's all assembled. Of course anything is possible, but I suspect you'd spend many hours trying and end up destroying it.

I did consider having more easily upgradable LEDs, but you either pay for them in extra weight or in a worse thermal path. I had the same design struggle with the battery case. There is a slightly higher resistance and weight with the 18650 cells + hardcase approach, but I think it's worth it.

If someone really wanted it, I could upgrade LEDs individually before assembly, but it'd be a big job and wouldn't end up as neat, so I'd charge at least an extra $50.

What I have done in the past, is offer a trade-in on an old headlight when buying a new one. Then I pass on the used headlights cheaply, or lend them out. I never made any clear rules about it, I just offered it from time to time as I talked to old customers or someone asked me for an upgrade. I think this is a much better way to upgrade the LEDs to whatever is best at the time, because you get a whole new headlight. I also like to check them out and see what is wearing out. It helped me a lot when designing the V3.

So if a V4 comes out in 2015 (my guess, not a promise). I'd probably buy back used V3s at about 50-70% of their current cost. Or think of it as getting the latest-and-greatest every 2 years for $150.

 

[Ore]

Nice that they are ready now :)
I don't mind the 'ugly cases' what counts is: "The ugly cases are still perfectly functional"
Upgraded LEDs would have been cool, but I think it's better to leave the working ones now and keep the better thermal path.
Good Job I'm looking foreward to mine.

 

[Lips]

If someone really wanted it, I could upgrade LEDs individually before assembly, but it'd be a big job and wouldn't end up as neat, so I'd charge at least an extra $50.

What I have done in the past, is offer a trade-in on an old headlight when buying a new one. Then I pass on the used headlights cheaply, or lend them out. I never made any clear rules about it, I just offered it from time to time as I talked to old customers or someone asked me for an upgrade. I think this is a much better way to upgrade the LEDs to whatever is best at the time, because you get a whole new headlight. I also like to check them out and see what is wearing out. It helped me a lot when designing the V3.

So if a V4 comes out in 2015 (my guess, not a promise). I'd probably buy back used V3s at about 50-70% of their current cost. Or think of it as getting the latest-and-greatest every 2 years for $150.

Always nice to have the latest and greatest, especially on an expensive light like this. After looking in to it probably wouldn't make much difference at the drive levels and the thermal mounting issues. May be giving up a little efficiency but we do have 2 x 18650 with ability to change batts on the fly...


Question on the interface: (Competition + extras (what I ordered))

When you you long press to turn on, does the light have memory to know whether you were on Spot or Flood from the last turn off. Hope it has memory! Or does the light revert to a specific mode...

 

[ahorton]

Yes the light does remember a few things in the Competition and Competition+Extras UIs. The Simple UI has no memory.

1. It remembers if you were in spot or flood and returns to that.
2. It remembers which flood level you selected.
3. It remembers which extra mode you were last in (eg, strobe / sos / battery indicator).

However:

If you turn it off from the programming mode, it will return instead to the competition mode.

After losing power, it will always come on in low (5%) flood mode. This means that if the switch ever breaks, you can still use the headlight to get home.

Of course you never need to lose power if you change one cell at a time. I love to show off by bringing the cell holder in front of my face and swapping one cell at a time without ever taking it off my head or losing light.