SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670, beamshots added

[LED Zeppelin]

This light is a collaboration with Matt (Aircraft800) who spec'd the running gear and sourced the parts. I made the heatsink, LZ pot knob, sorted the reflector, and did the assembly.

The sink is a modified Britelumens Deluxed Mag D sink. A copper insert was made that is a slip fit into a reamed hole through the center of the sink. The rear of the sink has been trimmed to allow clearance for the SharkSinks, pot, and 1/8" for wires.

The face of the copper insert was milled with retaining tabs on 2 sides, and reliefs cut below for the underside leads. The SST-50 was reflowed onto the copper face. There is little room for error as the solder surface is the same size as the pad under the SST, and some Kapton tape was used to prevent shorting when I soldered on the leads.

The sink was drilled for 2 set screws. The front set screw secures the back end of the copper insert. The rear set screw secures the sink assembly in the tube and is accessed by passing the wrench through the sink to the far side, much like the Mag switch assembly. The copper insert ends before the rear set screw hole so it misses the wrench. A clearance hole is drilled in the tube threads that aligns with the rear hole. Angular position of the clearance holes in the tube is arbitrary, but chosen so the LED aligns with the switch and pot.

Set screws are cup point that were filed smooth so as not to mar the surfaces and allow easy adjustment or removal.

A hole was tapped in front of the switch so the pot is as rearward as possible allowing room for head adjustment.

Here is the layout of how everything will fit into the tube:

Here's the finished tube guts:

You can see I've added another wrench hole in the tube threads so I could adjust the LED height without removing the sink.

I used a KD LOP reflector with removeable cam, and I trimmed the cam to the height where it bottoms on the sink just before the head hits the pot knob. The LED height is adjusted so that the tight focus position is achieved before the reflector/head bottoms out. The range of head adjustment from just above the pot knob to uncovering the O-ring matches the LED/reflector focus range nicely.

Here's the finished light:

This build went remarkably smoothly with little compromise. The heatsink design is very flexible and allows easy height adjustment for different reflectors/LED combinations, and easy disassembly for service or upgrades. By changing the face pattern of the copper insert it could be easily adapted to other LEDs.

I'll post specs, measurements, and beamshots in the following days.

 

[LED Zeppelin]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Here are some measurements I've taken:

Vf of SST-50 = 3.7V @ 5A
Regulated LED current on hi = 5.2A
Cell draw on hi = 2.6A on cells that measure 11.9V
Mid-pot: LED current = 2.7A, cell draw = 1.1A

Pot adjustment range is from very dim, maybe 10 lumens, to full output. Light runs fully regulated until the cells are depleted.

The following is a series of beamshots with similar class lights. All beamshots taken on manual settings, white balance sunshine, ISO200. Indoor all at F4, progressing from 1/8, 1/30, to 1/125 sec. Outdoor beamshots at F3.5, 3 sec.

Lux readings should not be considered absolute. Mine don't always correlate with others', or even my own for that matter.

Beamshots in order, top to bottom:

1) Subject light with LOP KD reflector, full-on 5.2A LED current, Lux @ 1m ~ 14K

2) Subject light backed down to mid-pot, 2.7A LED current, Lux @ 1m ~ 8K

3) Subject light w/ stock Mag reflector, full-on, Lux @ 1m > 20K (meter overload), lux @ 1.5m ~ 9.3K

4) Mac's custom P7, C bin (?), DD off 26700 Emoli cell, Lux @ 1m ~ 5.2K

5) Lambda's P7 Extreme, C bin (?), Lux @ 1m ~ 4K (note: I don't have C size NiMH cells so I am running this on 3 Eneloops in C adapters)

6) Mr. X, X bin Lux V, Lux @ 1m ~ 4.9K








Some things I noticed:

- The smooth stock reflector w/ the SST-50 gives a splotchy beam with discolorations and a petal-shaped spot. However, focused tight it can really throw, > 20K Lux @ 1m. Even more throw than an M6 w/ HOLA.

- The SST-50 works well with the McR45, McR38, or McR27S by simply resting the reflector on the LED. The beams are great with a tight spot.

 

[mash.m]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

hi,

nice and clean work, like all your mods.

wait for the specs and beamshots

markus

 

[^Gurthang]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Another impressive M@G mod, thanks for the great thread and pics, gives me more insight & ideas for my work. The pot; make? ohms?

^G

 

[5.0Trunk]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

That is Bad A$$.... Great Job!

 

[brighterisbetter]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Me likey Great job as always LED Zep

 

[olrac]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Very clean mod, can't wait for some beamshots. :thumbsup:

 

[supasizefries]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Damn, this is an awfully slick set up. Can't wait to see some beam shots! :thumbsup:

 

[Al Combs]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Another awesome mod. Your work is always a pleasure. I especially like the reflow of the LED on the copper slug idea, very nice.

 

[Hill]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

LZ,


Another beautiful build as always. Your wiring is so damn clean and perfect. Thanks for the pics!

Hill

 

[LED Zeppelin]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Thanks guys for the support and compliments.

Another impressive M@G mod, thanks for the great thread and pics, gives me more insight & ideas for my work. The pot; make? ohms?

^G

I use this pot from Digikey.

I cut off the panel mounting tabs and trim the nylon shaft as necessary depending on the knob.

The pots are spec'd at 20K Ohms, but with a tolerance of 20% or a range of 16-24K. Most are 17-21K. If the actual resistance is too low, max output of the Sharks will decrease.

For this mod I intentionally picked a lower resistance, 18.5K, not to overdrive the SST-50 too much. As is the SST is getting about 5.2A on hi.

I've used 2 methods for mounting the pot to the tube. The simplest is a tight clearance hole, and the pot is epoxied into the hole. With this method I use the included jam nut and washer on the underside as additional epoxy surface and support.

The deluxe method is to tap a mounting hole using an M9X0.75 tap and epoxy the threads together. I do not use the jam nut or washer in this case. Unfortunately that size tap is extremely rare. I've only been able to find it for a reasonable price occasionally on ebay.

Both methods can be considered permanent. I've only had to remove one, which was the tapped hole method, and I ended up having to drill it out.

Here is an excerpt from another post I made sometime ago regarding wiring of multi-Sharks and dimming control:

How to wire multiple Sharks to one dimming control:

- Order the Sharks with the on-board pot removed, or remove the pot yourself.
- Locate the three pads under the pot. Viewing the board from the component side with the pads at lower right, you will see that the larger central wiper pad connects to the top soldering hole just to the right. There are two smaller pads under the large pad. The lower right pad connects to the lower right soldering hole, and the lower left pad does not connect to any hole.
- If using a pot, order a 20K log pot. Be sure to measure the resistance of the pot (across the outer leads). The production tolerance is wide (20%!), and you'll want to use one at least 19 kohms for max output. I cut off the panel mounting tabs with small sidecuts, and tap a 9mm X 0.75 hole in the tube of the light. In a Mag tube, this hole is 1/4" in front of the oval switch recess (not the switch hole itself). The pot threads are coated with epoxy, then threaded into the tapped hole from the inside until the housing just protrudes from the tube. The tap is very rare and hard to find; it is acceptable to drill a tight clearance hole and epoxy without threading as well. I don't use the jam nut and washer supplied with the pot, but if the clearance hole method is used, they might come in handy as additional surface for the epoxy to adhere to.
- Connect the pads of one Shark to the pot. Viewing the pot with the shaft at top and the leads facing you, connect the large wiper pad (or top right hole) to the center pot lead, the lower right pad (or lower right hole) to the left lead, and the lower left pad to the right lead. I find it just as easy to solder to the pad as to the hole. The wires do not pass any current, so I use very thin flexible wire, 30 ga or so.
- The other Sharks are wired to the mother by connecting the large wiper pads together. Any number of Sharks can be wired together. Alternatively, all three pads of each Shark can be connected in parallel, or all connected to the pot. From my measurements, it seems that slightly more max current is delivered when connecting all the pads, 960 - 980 mA vs. connecting just the wiper pads, 900 - 920 mA. I'm not certain of the reason, but the difference is arguably negligible.
- If a Remora is used, connect the Remora to one Shark, and again wire the wiper pads together. All Sharks must have the on-board pot removed.

I'll try to take some beamshots tonight.

 

[tx101]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

WOW ....

Beamshots please

 

[Aircraft800]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

The pot knob matches so nice!

Beautiful Work as always!

 

[ipfreeze]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Thats a sweet setup!
Cant wait to see the beam shots.

 

[darkzero]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Beautful work Dennis. I had something in mind similar to this. PM incoming. :wave:

 

[jar3ds]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

wow... can't wait for beam shots!

 

[AlexGT]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Led Zeppelin, is that a Photonfanatic SST emmiter? If so what is your take on the brightness and tint? How many led lumens do you think it would produce at 3.6A?

Thanks!
AlexGT

 

[LED Zeppelin]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Alex, I'm not positive about the emitter. Matt provided it so he'll have to chime in.

I'm taking some beamshots and I'll take some at reduced current so you can get an idea of how it behaves.

 

[toby_pra]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Hi LedZep! :wave:

Good to hear from you back...very very clean mod!!!

Alex, I'm not positive about the emitter. Matt provided it so he'll have to chime in.

Why you are not positive with the SST50? I have a ArcMania ME II with
SST50, and i am really surprised becausem it has a very nice spot, no
donut and is very bright... :candle:

 

[LED Zeppelin]

Re: SST-50 Mag D, dual Shark Buck 3A, dimming pot, 3 X 17670

Why you are not positive with the SST50? I have a ArcMania ME II with
SST50, and i am really surprised becausem it has a very nice spot, no
donut and is very bright... :candle:

Toby,

lol, I meant that I'm not positive if the emitter came from PhotonFanatic.

I am positive about the performance, but I'll let the beamshots show.

The spot is warmer than the spill. It doesn't do very well in a smooth reflector as you will see, but the LOP gives a nice smooth beam with uniform, bright spill. You're right, there is absolutely no donut.

It is bright and it better be at 5+ amps!