The SF M6-R - Part 2

[KevinL]

The charger thing is not a total loss, not if you've learned something from it... I've made mods so bad I've had to throw them away, but the lessons were invaluable, damn the cost of the hardware. We're all richer for experimentation.

*hides 24W Pelican Big D bulb that got blown up last night* /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Prolepsis]

I like reading about your adventures as well. After all, if you didn't take this adventure, I wouldn't be field testing your latest creation. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[js]

No. It certainly wasn't a total loss. The only thing I'd need to do to make them work right is get better heat sinking, either by providing more air flow/access or by using a different heat sink and box, as I did with BN charger. OR I could go to a switch-mode design. That's the best idea, actually, and I'll get around to it at some point, but for now I'm done spending time on it.

On the M6-R pack front, I'm thinking seriously about adding foam or felt padding strips top and bottom, underneath the shrink wrap. This would provide a better fit in the M6 body and prevent rattling and also would help cushion the pack should the light get dropped.

Is there a foam or other material (besides wool felt) that people want to recommend? Whatever it's made from, the strips that wrap around the pack will need to be quite thin. There isn't that much extra space--just enough to allow for rattling and to be of concern in terms of impacts and shocks.

 

[js]

So, I found a universal switching power supply that will work anywhere and will provide enough current to power the CG-340, but not enough to power the Triton. But the good news is that it will cost $20 less than the power supplies which will power the Triton. All together, I think I could offer the Hitec CG-340, power supply, car adaptor, and charging cable for around $65 or so, but it depends on how much I can make up the car adaptor cable for. In any case, certainly for less than $75 all totaled.

I have reconsidered removing R3 from the circuit because when the LVR reaches 5.5 volts it cuts out to get enough power to itself to work, and then will try to run the lamp, and then will cut out, and so on, and this will eventually destroy the battery pack--true--but there is a decent length of time to catch this, and I'd rather risk a bit of performance loss to the batteries, than damaging or destroying the FET. The former is no big deal. The latter is a very big deal, in the sense that the pack would have to be returned to me. Of course, leaving the light turned on long enough will destroy the pack, but I'm guessing that people who have spent $300+ on a light and $110+ on a pack will have enough presense of mind not to do this. Plus, chances are that if there is no R3, BOTH the pack and the FET would get damaged in this sort of scenario.

Now, I think I have found a good shock isolation and rattle solution: small rubber bands placed towards the top and bottom of the pack, underneath the shrink-wrap. I'm going to try it out on pyro's pack and see how it works, but I'm guessing that this will be just the ticket. I suppose I could have called them "shock isolation bands" or something, but, nah, I'll just tell it like it is: they're rubber bands. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif Hey, if it works, right? Plus, no one has suggested anything else, and foam thin enough is likely not going to add enough cushioning. Felt might also work out, but again, felt thin enough is likely not going to provide as much cushioning as the rubber. And for some reason these rubber bands that I have are the perfect thickness.

I know I'm not an impartial judge, but to my mind, the M6-R is just about the most perfect hand held non-EDC incan light there is:

1. It is BRIGHT,
2. It has a FLAWLESS beam.
3. It has throw AND spill
4. It is regulated.
5. It is rechargeable.
6. It is shock-isolated.
7. It is hard anodized.
8. It has a rear placed LOTC.
9. It is relatively small (2D or less size).
10. It is water-resistant / dunk-proof.
11. It has an optically coated pyrex lens.
12. It is beautiful and well proportioned and good to hand.

I told my wife that I would sell my M6 after the completion of this project, to make back the $300 investment, but honestly, I just can't give this light up. I've decided that there's no way I'd sell unless I was really hard-up for cash. Because I know I don't need it. But still.

 

[js]

I finished pyro's M6-R pack today and added the rubber bands at the top and bottom for shock isloation and rattle reduction. This was much harder to do than I had imagined it would be. The rubber bands got moved around when sliding the shrink wrap over the pack and they generally made things more difficult for the shrink wrapping process. Then when I finally got the pack shrink wrapped, I found that the rubber bands I had used yielded too tight a fit with the shrink wrap over them. So I had to do the whole process over again with the next size down of rubber bands.

However, once I had done it, I was pleased with the results. There is still some wiggle room and the pack slides in and out nicely, but there is less rattle and the rubber bands provide a decent amount of shock absorbtion. Plus, they do not interfere with heat dissipation.

OK. That's the daily update. Check out the filed testing thread also. Opening of signup thread scheduled for 6 weeks from now, roughly.

 

[paulr]

I think it's in the M6 spirit to make the interface as foolproof as possible. Someone using it for a helicopter rappel amid antiaircraft fire (or whatever you M6 users do with your M6's) won't be thinking about the state of the internal cells. I'm not sure what benefit removing R3 is supposed to give, but if it's protecting the pack from overdischarge, I'd say leave it in.

 

[js]

paulr,

No it's not protecting the pack from over-discharge. It's protecting the FET in the regulator. Nothing is protecting the pack from overdischarge. That was my reasoning for leaving it out in Prolepsis's pack: let the FET die to save the pack. However, it's a gamble whether or not the FET will burn out first due to being in a half-on/half-off state or whether the pack will get discharged to the point of death. I'm leaving it in as I know how the latter works and it is one of those situations where if you catch it soon enough, little harm is done. But I don't know how to judge the former and how likely it is.

Anyway, the M6 is NOT one of those lights which is intended to be used constant on, or left on while someone is watching TV or reading. Someone rappeling from a helicopter amid hostile fire is not going to be leaving his M6 on. It's a light that does not accomodate itself to idiocy or foolishness. In my opinion, anyway. But I certainly agree that it should be as reliable and rugged as possible, and the new shock absorber rubber bands should help towards that end.

I wish I could take advantage of the low-battery voltage cutoff feature of the LVR3I, but I can't, as I've explained before, because it will only reset when the power to the uC is removed, and that will only happen if you take off the shrink wrap, remove the top plate, unsolder one of the power leads to the FET, and then resolder it. Enough said. Willie tells me that he could install a reed switch on the back (outside) of the board, which could be used to unlatch the cut-off, but it is close to .2 inches thick, and thus would not fit. I suppose that if it were important enough, I could find some way to implement this feature, but the M6-R pack is way complicated enough, and there is almost no space to spare, and I am done making any major design changes for this build run. I mean, I want to open the signup thread as soon as possible so that everyone who has been waiting for an M6-R will be able to get one in some reasonable time-frame.

So, R3 is staying in, but in or out, it is unlikely to protect the pack from over-discharge. That's something that the user must protect against himself.

 

[js]

I was happy with the rubber bands and their shock absorbtion and rattle reduction performance, and I am very interested in what pyro will have to say regarding them and how well they work, but I am still also interested in exploring other options. Specifically I have been wondering about the silicone rubber foam sheeting that tvodrd /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif the master craftsman himself, uses to make battery rattle reduction washers for his lights. I will be looking into the available thicknesses. I am wondering how thin a sheet can be obtained. If a thin enough foam (less than 1/16th--about a 1/32nd more or less I'm guessing) could be found, it might work better than the rubber bands.

And again, if anyone has any recommendations on the subject, please post them here, or PM me.

 

[bwaites]

Jim, I use a 1/32 and 1/16 hobby silicon rubber foam sheet to deaden my spare battery carriers.

Walmart carries it in 8 1/2" by 11" sheets.

Sometimes they have 1/16", sometimes 1/32" sheets, so good luck.

Bill

Bill

 

[tvodrd]

Walmart gotta be a lot cheaper than McMaster.
Red silicone rubber sheet from 1/32" and up cat# 8632K41 in search and clk catalog page.
Red silicone foam sheet from 1/16" cat# 8608K51
Note the page #'s and check adjacients for much more. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Larry

 

[rick258]

[ QUOTE ]
bwaites said:
Jim, I use a 1/32 and 1/16 hobby silicon rubber foam sheet to deaden my spare battery carriers.

Walmart carries it in 8 1/2" by 11" sheets.


Sometimes they have 1/16", sometimes 1/32" sheets, so good luck.

Bill

Bill

[/ QUOTE ]


Not being much of a Wally World visitor, what area of the store would one look in for these rubber sheets?

Thanks
Rick

 

[Catdaddy]

Contacts are fine. Nothing going on other than a little rubbing.

"Nothing going on" is what I think we were looking for so this is a good thing.
John

 

[js]

Catdaddy,

Thanks. That's good to know.

 

[Frenchyled]

Interesting project this M6-R pack /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I just signed for an USL and Triton charger with bwaites...so for My M6 I have only to buy the M6-R PAck isn't it ?
I'll be probably for one, could you let me know when it will be possible to order?
Thanks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[js]

Frenchyled,

That's right. All you will need is the M6-R pack itself. And if you send an email to [email protected] with the word "NOTIFY" in the subject line, I will send you an email a week or so before the opening of the signup thread. Please note that this is in no way any kind of commitment to buy an M6-R. It's just an informational service I am offering to those people who want a notification of when the signup thread will open, which IS (or rather, will be) a commitment to buy enrollment thread/list.

 

[js]

So,

I finally have some important news. I got pack #001 back from brightnorm, and I immediately set things up to test the MN16 in a 3" carley reflector. And it did not blow. After running it for a while and after doing a number of turning offs and back ons, I installed it in my M6. Next I installed three 123's in the MB20 M6 battery holder and proceeded to compare the MB20 (with only three batteries in it) against the M6-R pack, and I could not tell any difference. I may have been able to if I had two M6's and could do a side by side comparison, but with the method I used, it seemed that the rechargeable pack drove the MN16 to almost exactly the same level as three 123's. Please note that if I had all 6 123's installed that I would have blown the MN16. If you ever want to try this set up, you must remove three of the batteries. Sean describes how on his flashlight page.

I will do a runtime test of the M6-R / MN16 combination, and I still want to put some hours on this lamp, and have some of the other field testers try it out, but at the moment I am pretty sure that the MN16 is going to be the perfect LOLA for the M6-R, and I suspect that it will run almost 40 minutes or maybe a little less.

My comments on the beam qualities appear in the field testing thread.

 

[js]

I haven't done a runtime test on the MN16 yet because I've been fairly busy and I figure, hey, that's what the field testers are for, right? hehe. But it looks good. It looks very good, actually.

So, as long as pyro posts a positive report in the next day or two, and as long as no problem appears at the last minute, I will be opening the B/S/T signup thread on the 1st of April and it will stay open through the weekend, the week following, and the weekend following that, to close on Sunday the 10th of April. And NO, THIS IS NOT AN EARLY APRIL FOOLS JOKE. I acutally thought about having it open the 2nd so as to avoid all suspicion on that count, but then I thought that that was stupid, and I want it to be open for a full week with the weekends on either end.

I will be posting a summary thread with final prices and pictures and a detailed writeup that brings everything together so that perspective buyers do not need to wade through the SF M6-R parts 1 and 2 and the field testing thread to have their questions answered.

At the moment, it looks as if things will stack up this way:

M6-R pack $110
Charging cable $10
Hitec CG-340 $30
powersupply $35
Car adaptor cable $10

But these are only approximate, especially the car adaptor cable (to allow powering the CG-340 from a 12VDC cigarette lighter socket in a car) and the cost of the power supply will depend upon which powersupply I end up going with.

NOTE WELL: the same cable and powersupply and charger(s) that are being sold with the USL will work just fine with the M6-R. So if you have already ordered a charging setup for your USL, you are all set for your M6-R and all you will need is an M6-R rechargeable pack (and possible an auto adaptor cable).

 

[js]

So far so good. I sent out an email to everyone on the NOTIFY list today, and I forgot to put a subject on it. Oops! Oh well. The point is that everything is still a go and the B/S/T signup thread will open on the 1st of April in "CPF's Custom & Moded B/S/T" forum.

One thing, though. It looks as if the powersupply is a bit up in the air, and the price could be higher or lower than what I mentioned above ($35). I will know before the opening of the signup thread.

Thanks everyone, and have a most blessed Easter.

 

[LLLean]

Jim,
Is it possible to post pix showing the beams of the M6 with HOLA and M6-R with HOLA?
Much thanks!

- LLL

 

[js]

LLLean,

Prolepsis's Regulated SureFire M6 beauty (pictures inside) is what you are looking for.

With fresh 123's in the MB20 battery holder, the two beams are exactly the same. But the M6-R stays at that same initial brightness, whereas the M6 on 123's will decline very slighty for the first 5-10 minutes, and then more rapidly after that.