What LEDs can use to power broken x21r.2

[Mells1988]

I have a broken led lenser x21r.2 which when has been damaged by a battery exploding inside killing all the circuits and LEDs. I have spoken to led lenser who have informed me that the torch is out of warranty and in their own words said nothing lasts forever😂. I would like to re use the body of the torch and wire In a new simple on off switch to it but don't want to blow the LEDs by just simply wiring them to the battery, I have seen some Cree Xhp70.2 LEDs that claim to be 12v and was thinking of using them.
The battery is 3x32700 Life - fep04 5000mAh 48Wh

Any help with this would be much appreciated.

 

[DIWdiver]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

You are correct to be wary of connecting LEDs directly to batteries. In some specific cases this works, but often would result in dead LEDs.

The XHP70.2 would reach full output at AROUND 12V, if wired properly. It can also be wired to run at 6V. Either way can work with your batteries, but you would need a driver to regulate the battery output properly.

With most of our electrical devices, we supply voltage, and the device draws whatever current it needs. Plug into the wall you get 120V (at least where I live). Plug into the lighter jack in your car, you get 12V. USB, 5V, at least until recently.

But LEDs are different - with LEDs we supply current, and the LED determines the voltage. It can be done the other way, but the results are far less predictable, sometimes catastrophic. This is why we use special current-regulating circuits (called drivers) to run them. In your case you would definitely need a driver to get the light to do what you want.

There's a lot to consider when choosing an LED and a driver for a light. You've already got the batteries and the body, so that's a good bit out of the way.
1. How much heat will they generate, and how much can you get rid of.
2. How long must it run.
3. How bright do you want it.
4. What beam pattern do you want.
5. Is there an optic that matches the LED to give the beam you want.
6. What will actually fit the light (maybe that should be first?).

I'm sure I'm leaving out several things, and others will chime in.

You might get lucky and someone will respond who knows the light you have and can recommend something specific. Otherwise there will be a lot of questions and a lot to learn. Ready for a ride?

 

[Mells1988]

Many thanks for the reply flashaholic, have you got any suggestions of a good set of LED and driver combination I would like to maintain the 7x led setup as the lenses and heatsink is set up for 7 and I really like the zoom focus on this light.
The light was originally producing 3200lm and I would like to at least double that If possible as I am not too bothered about this running for long periods as I am going to buy a newer version of this anyway I just want to see what is possible from an old broken light.

 

[DIWdiver]

Can you salvage the board that the LEDs are mounted on? That's probably the hardest part to get, unless the light is made to fit one of the common 7-up boards (which is possible).

If you want to maintain the beam characteristics, you'll want a similarly sized LED to what it was designed for.

Maybe for starters we need to know if you are going to re-use the board. If so we need to know what is on it now so we can choose one that will fit. If not, what do you plan to do?