So today I received the UltraFire C8 from DX and started modding it right away.. The idea is to run it using R/C LiPo battery packs... I bought 3x 7,4V 5000mAh.. I took apart the tailcap and drilled some holes in from the back-end beside the clicky, attached a negative cord to the bottom of the battery spring, drilled another hole beside the first one and pulled the positive cord through, which I then proceeded to solder to the positive contact pad at the back of the head.
I didn't have much material at home for this project, so I scavenged the spiral cord from a broken weapon mount touch-pad and made an extension cord out of that.
I have yet to decide if I should swap out the driver for one that puts out more amps, the default driver in the UF C8 SST-50 only pulls about 1A at the most when I measured it running through my power supply. However, going up to 4 or even 5A will probably mean too much heat generated than this housing can take, and the idea is after all to have a light that runs for a VERY long time.
So, the result is a light that, rather than running with 18650's with ~9.25W(3.7V x 2500mAh), I now have 37W from a single 7.4V x 5000mAh and I have 3 of them that can easily be swapped..
I estimate 4-5 hours of runtime from one battery..
This is version 1, I will be replacing some bits of this build when I get better parts, the cables to begin with.. And if I can find a driver that runs it at about 2A and can handle the 8.4V input that would be great too..
EDIT: I just tried to replace the default driver with this one http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/t...t-Board/Detail however it burned, which I was almost certain that it would, since its specced at max 6V input. I think its going to be hard to find a driver which will fit the housing, so for the time being, I will stick to the default one..
I didn't have much material at home for this project, so I scavenged the spiral cord from a broken weapon mount touch-pad and made an extension cord out of that.
I have yet to decide if I should swap out the driver for one that puts out more amps, the default driver in the UF C8 SST-50 only pulls about 1A at the most when I measured it running through my power supply. However, going up to 4 or even 5A will probably mean too much heat generated than this housing can take, and the idea is after all to have a light that runs for a VERY long time.
So, the result is a light that, rather than running with 18650's with ~9.25W(3.7V x 2500mAh), I now have 37W from a single 7.4V x 5000mAh and I have 3 of them that can easily be swapped..
I estimate 4-5 hours of runtime from one battery.. This is version 1, I will be replacing some bits of this build when I get better parts, the cables to begin with.. And if I can find a driver that runs it at about 2A and can handle the 8.4V input that would be great too..
EDIT: I just tried to replace the default driver with this one http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/t...t-Board/Detail however it burned, which I was almost certain that it would, since its specced at max 6V input. I think its going to be hard to find a driver which will fit the housing, so for the time being, I will stick to the default one..
