sst-90 mag?

[justindfish]

Ok guys I'm wanting to get an sst-90 Mag built my question to yall is. Do I use the d2flex and direct drive with 3 D NiMh LSD 10000 mah or do I go with the regulated single output Der Witchtel driver with 3 26650's lithium 4000 mah?

Whats yalls thoughts? This ain't going to be a shelf queen its for use!

 

[LilKevin715]

If this torch is going to be used on a regular (and I'm guessing frequent basis) then I would probably recommend going the regulated route. Direct drive with 3 D LSD Nimh (assuming Accupower 10A cells) might be a bit too much assuming you do the low resistance mods. Those cells can provide well over 10A and fry your emitter, with heat being a big second limitation as well. If you go the regulated route you do have the option of using a driver with PWM/lower power draw modes. This will give you the flexiblity of runtime/heat generated.

Another driver option to go regulated is to use several AMC7135 linear regulator boards wired in parallel in combiniation with a PWM driver like shiningbeams 2.8A driver wired in parallel. This would give you the output you need and the flexibilty of lower power modes. This route would limit you to your li-ion cells wired in parallel as the AMC7135 linear regulator shed off the extra voltage as heat (6v absolute max). Or you could also use the 3D cells with the AMC7135 driver boards just fine.

 

[PCC]

Having built a direct drive SSR-90 I can tell you that it will work quite well but heat management will be your biggest problem. Even at 5A it will get very warm quite quickly. At over 8A you're looking at 4 minute run times with a 15 minute cooldown period because it will get too hot to hold after about 4 minutes. With a D2Flex to reduce the output you will probably be able to get away with it, though. I had to use a large copper heatsink to try to keep the heat under control and this forced me to place an on/off rocker switch in the tailcap. This was probably a good thing, too, because the stock Mag switch would probably melt from the high current. If I were to do it over again I would probably start with a 4D Mag and make an even larger heatsink (4.5") but that would make it even heavier since copper at this diameter weighs about a pound per inch (2.2kg per 25mm).

 

[justindfish]

I appreciate all the help and ideas that yall have given me with this project. The two different setups that I talked about are lights that have been built and tested. Nailbender has built more than one sst 90 DD as stated above and the regulated was a design that Der Witchtel had told me would work.

But I'm still not sure what I want to do.

Both had told me that heat would become an issue fairly fast.
Which makes the DD model sound that much better with the d2flex installed. I want to be able to have 1200+ hopefully more but I still want to be able to use the light also so the d2 could modulate it down to say 700 lumens and still be a really bright light and be able to run with out a heat problem.

Or wait another 6 months or more to see if Der Witchtel can pull off the multi mode 9A regulator which I'm positive he will but that might be another light.

 

[PCC]

Which makes the DD model sound that much better with the d2flex installed. I want to be able to have 1200+ hopefully more but I still want to be able to use the light also so the d2 could modulate it down to say 700 lumens and still be a really bright light and be able to run with out a heat problem.

I think you've found what you've been looking for.

 

[bigchelis]

I know from PCC and my experience the vF of the SSR-90 changed to an insane lower level by breaking in the emitter at 50 watts (no load) 3 minute cycles.


Will the D2Flex allow you to run the light at those levels to break it in?


There are other threads here on how to break in the SSR-90 and it makes a huge difference. Im curious if others have done it with D2flex installed.


bigC

 

[PCC]

Hmm, I just looked at the specs of the D2Flex again and see that it has a maximum drive current rating of 6A. That would work with a broken-in SSR/SST-90 but will result in about 1500 lumens from a green one. Still, 1500 lumens is not bad. That's about the drive level that I had planned on using on my SSR-90. Maybe I should build my 3D SSR-90 with this board powered by 3D NiMH cells instead of the 3 Li-Ion batteries I had planned on. It would save me some money, too.

 

[bigchelis]

Hmm, I just looked at the specs of the D2Flex again and see that it has a maximum drive current rating of 6A. That would work with a broken-in SSR/SST-90 but will result in about 1500 lumens from a green one. Still, 1500 lumens is not bad. That's about the drive level that I had planned on using on my SSR-90. Maybe I should build my 3D SSR-90 with this board powered by 3D NiMH cells instead of the 3 Li-Ion batteries I had planned on. It would save me some money, too.

I say break it in 1st. Then stick that D2flex which is a good driver compromise. I can get a P7 Mag D2flex if you want to see how they feel and work. I myself dont like them much. The only reason I had them in the past was cause I had insufficient heatsink for the LED's Mag builds and I needed a lower level to let the LED cool. Now, with your copper heatsinks thats not an issue.


bigC

 

[justindfish]

well Dave (Nailbender) will be the builder and that is what he recommended. Says it works well so I think I'm going to go with the d2flex. He has made some like that already.