Stanley MaxLife 369 Tripod

[TorchBoy]

I saw these lights at one of our local Costco stores marked down to $15.

We had a local auto parts chain selling them off for NZ$15, which is just US$10.50. It's probably a good deal, but it just doesn't produce enough light to be used very often. That's really sad because it's a nifty design, and so three Crees will get into mine one day (hopefully sooner than later).

The three diodes on the tripod legs/batteries are an easy way to prevent charging of the other legs but dropping 0.6V could be a problem for running the Crees at high current unless I use a boost power supply, which I don't want to do. Use germanium diodes instead, at 0.2V drop? Will Schottky diodes at perhaps 0.15V handle enough current?

the latch mechanism also broke... the legs won't close anymore...

The latch mechanism (for good or bad) is a magnet. Did your magnet break and/or fall off?

 

[2jzpower]

The latch mechanism (for good or bad) is a magnet. Did your magnet break and/or fall off?

there's a plastic piece where the three legs meet that is i guess spring loaded to open the legs when the button is pressed... (at the top) not the magnet at the bottom.... that plastic piece decided to break and legs won't spring open or close all the way

 

[fstedie]

The three diodes on the tripod legs/batteries are an easy way to prevent charging of the other legs but dropping 0.6V could be a problem for running the Crees at high current unless I use a boost power supply, which I don't want to do.

I used the booster circuit from the headlamp and stuffed it into the case. The only thing I used from the stock light was the diodes and the on/off switch.

What kind of output are you expecting without the booster? I tried it straight from the batteries and it was pretty lame.

 

[TorchBoy]

What kind of output are you expecting without the booster? I tried it straight from the batteries and it was pretty lame.

I figure that'll be thanks to the diodes dropping valuable voltage.

If I have my Eneloops supplying 1.2V each under load, that'll be 3.6V total, which would be enough to drive a Cree at very roughly 850mA, or "decently bright". (Halfway between the 3.5V @ 700mA and 3.7V @ 1A operating voltage figures in the Cree datasheet.) If the silicon diode is dropping 0.6 volts, then we have only 3.0V, which is enough to drive a Cree at, well, not much at all. Still better than the stock 5mm LEDs though.

If we replaced the diodes with germanium with a 0.2V drop, we have 3.4V available (and still charging protected), which is enough for very roughly 425mA, which will still be decently bright, especially since there's three of them, and operating more efficiently than at the higher current. (I think it would actually be higher, since ~425mA wouldn't cause the Eneloop voltage to drop that much.)

If we think of each Cree driven by its own battery of three Eneloops, we could have over four hours run time.

Problem: The best locally available germanium diodes can only handle 50mA. :sigh:

Would it be too bad to simply dump the diodes? Or perhaps only use one tripod leg with cells in it?

 

[fstedie]

I tried the batteries directly, without the diodes but the led drew too much current.

you need a power supply, period.

you can't just go by the voltage numbers because the voltage will drop as the batteries drain. I haven't seen the data sheets of the led you're talking about but if the leds are so sensitive to voltage drop then you'll only get a short useable time before the voltage drops below their optimal working level.

you'll likely need a constant voltage supply (or constant current depending on the led) of some sort so that you can squeeze every last bit of juice out of the batteries.

that's why I used the booster circuit that came with the other light, so that I didn't have to reinvent the wheel.

 

[WNG]

Dump the diodes and stick with matched cells.
I own two of these 369's and plan to mod one with CREEs or Luxeons.
(the other was a gift from the significant other, and will stay stock)
These went for as low as $6.25 USD at Target last year, I managed to buy one.
The diodes are coming out for modding.

I have an Energizer Hardcase 4AA that is serial/parallel. And also use AA-to-D adapters that parallel a pair of AAs. I have not experienced any problems in a year with either set up, no diodes anywhere.
Rayovacs and (Sanyo) Duracells are used respectively.

 

[TorchBoy]

That's good to know of your experience, WNG, thanks.

you need a power supply, period.

I really don't understand your dogmatism. Have you never heard of resistors or linear regulators? Neither are power supplies, and both will likely do as good a job as a boost circuit in this situation for providing an even light output, as NiMH cells have a very even voltage while discharging.

And why haven't you seen the Cree datasheet? Not interested in those sorts of details, or are you just getting into bright LEDs? The Crees are great - highly recommended.

 

[fstedie]

I really don't understand your dogmatism. Have you never heard of resistors or linear regulators? Neither are power supplies, and both will likely do as good a job as a boost circuit in this situation for providing an even light output...

I am not disputing the fact that the Crees are good. My point is that in order to get consistent light output at high currents, you'll need to properly regulate the power (unless you want to change batteries as soon as your voltage drops below 3.4V). Of course you can get something to light up with just a resistor, let us know what you come up with.

By the way, Linear Regulators are only used when you are trying get a regulated lower voltage from a higher one. The voltage drop with a linear reg is much more than the diodes (about 1.5V for a low-drop regulator) and any energy lost in bringing the voltage down (5v to 3.3v for ex.) will be wasted as heat. NOT what you want to use.

IMO, to do it right, you'd need a driver in the form of a switching regulator in a buck/boost topology so that it can give you a constant output even if the input drops below a predetermined voltage. This is precisely what is inside your typical LED driver IC which you'll usually find inside most high power flashlights. This is why I used the guts of the headlamp for my mod, the driver was built in.

Anyway, that is enough for today. If you want to know more, you can go to school and get an electrical engineering degree, like I did. That's where my dogmatism comes from.

 

[TorchBoy]

(unless you want to change batteries as soon as your voltage drops below 3.4V).

:thinking: But when three Eneloop AAs get that low (loaded voltage at 1A) they are due for recharging anyway. Really.

The voltage drop with a linear reg is much more than the diodes (about 1.5V for a low-drop regulator) and any energy lost in bringing the voltage down (5v to 3.3v for ex.) will be wasted as heat. NOT what you want to use.

You know, you slipped a decimal place. Try 0.12V. It IS what I want to use. (They work so nicely with three Eneloops that I'm also changing my caving light from its present four cell design.)

I don't think it has anything to do with which of us got our degrees more recently, just that you haven't caught up with the latest news. :kiss: I can post a link if you're having trouble finding Tom's NiMH shootout.

 

[TorchBoy]

I've just been through my supply of Crees and found three that have 1A operating voltages of 3.45 to 3.50 volts. They do rather make a lot of heat tho. Maybe 350mA would be safer, with a turbo button of course. Yeah. (Even just 3 Eneloops driving these three Crees @ 350mA will give about 1.75 hours regulated runtime, or maybe as much as 5.5 hours with 9 cells.)

Anyone got any bright ideas about how to mount them? I suppose I could get a local metal worker I know to trim a 5mm thick aluminium panel to fit then just glue them to it.

 

[fastenuff!!]

Re: Stanley MaxLife2 369 Tripod

I owned the maxlife 369 tripod and while I the tripod design worked well to aim the light where it was needed it was very dim and I never put more than three batteries in it so it was oversized for my application. Now however they make a "1.25 watt" version with a single high output led and it is also offered in a shorty style using only three batteries. Should be brighter and also easier to mod, right? Its called the Maxlife2!

 

[WNG]

I guess you can perforate the body with small holes to allow airflow to convect through. That's only if you don't plan to expose the light to wet environments.

 

[griff]

P. O. S.

 

[Marduke]

Just saw a commercial for this light and it advertised "Now 10x brighter, and with adjustable beam."

So, maybe a new version with high output and efficient LED???

 

[TorchBoy]

"Now 10x brighter, ..."

It certainly needed to be. Is it brighter than the Luxeon version they had?

 

[Marduke]

It certainly needed to be. Is it brighter than the Luxeon version they had?

I thought it only had a bunch of 5mm LED's

 

[TorchBoy]

Have you seen post 31 above?

 

[Marduke]

Have you seen post 31 above?

Well, I guess that's the new version then. I know the old one only had six 5mm LED's.

 

[Fallingwater]

The original has lousy driving current when using more than one LED.
If I had one I'd rip it apart, toss the electronics and install a direct-drive resistored circuit with a multi-stage switch.

 

[ernsanada]

Maxlife 2