O.K. how's about this one for the Fenix?

I have a switcher designed (prototype) now that will run 1 to 1.5 watts with a 1.5 volt alk. AA or a NIMH with 2 brightness levels (switch mod) and you can run it at 3 watts using a AA li-ion with 2 brightness levels (switch mod). It is fully regulated and will output a very constant level. If there isn't any interest in this one I will be confused.

Let me get that straight, a Fenix that can use alkaline, nimh, and li-ion, all with one circuit? How does it compare to the stock circuit with nimh or alkalines? Brighter/dimmer? Runtime longer/shorter?

Chrisse

Please don't be "confused", but more info needed...

chrisse242 said:

Let me get that straight, a Fenix that can use alkaline, nimh, and li-ion, all with one circuit? How does it compare to the stock circuit with nimh or alkalines? Brighter/dimmer? Runtime longer/shorter?

Chrisse

Click to expand...

It's a prototype still on my evaluation board. I just started messing with it the other day and I'm at work right now so I still need to do some testing to get you better answers. I do however know that it works and it appeared to be driving the Lux over one watt. I was originally discouraged because I was working on it to be a 2 to 3 watt driver from a single AA. It didn't make par for my original intent, however I made a new (different) circuit for driving a Lux III at full power using a li-ion. I'm now combining it's capability to drive the Lux III from either battery.

Well I normally don't give up, but this is one tough crowd to get a rise out of. If a Fenix that runs on li-ion and alkalines, has a total of four different run times and 4 different brightnesses, has optional TIROS reflectors, and cost well under 100 bucks and fits on a key chain, but doesn't seem to have much of anybody's interest then I might be missing something here. Is this just not what people are looking for???? Is it my credibility? I can assure everyone that I know what I'm doing, and I'm good at what I do. I have been playing around with circuits since I was 8 years old; I'm 29 now.

2dim said:

Please don't be "confused", but more info needed...

Click to expand...

Sorry, I'm confused.

Sorry MillerMods, I fail to see your problem. How do you want us to react? The threads you started in the last days seemed interesting but there is still little to talk about.
I like the idea of a fenix that will accept all the chemistries and I bet if you can offer the mod for a decent price you'd sell quite a few. Just go ahead, psot some more details and you'll get a response.

Chrisse

No dude... I think a lot of us are interested. Just with Christmas being like 11 days away, not a lot of us are likely to jump in on a $70+ modded light, esp considering most of us that have been following your threads already have a Fenix or two... or three.

I, for one, am very interested. I don't doubt your credibility one little bit, but I admit that I'd be even more interested if a third party had a chance to play with one of your mods using this circuit to get some runtimes, comparisons of brightness vs a stock L1P and whatnot.

And of course, I'd be glad to be the guinea pig for said testing.

Cool, I will get a prototype ready for someone to do third party testing, I agree that would help. I'm glad to hear that some folks are interested and I didn't mean to whine too much, I just haven't been really impressed with the amount of response to any of my projects. I thought this one might turn some heads. I will be working with goldserve in the future for development of a certain PIC controlled switcher circuit. I think folks will really get a kick out of it.

oooOOO! Goldserve's got some real cool stuff. I'll be looking forward to your creations.
Don't give up!

Yeah, there's plenty of interest, I would think... I'm salivating over the idea of a Fenix that can run with Lux III brightness with a LiON AND having the option of getting decent brightness and runtime out of an NiMH cell.

But it's Christmas and I'm doing a tri lux light and a Mag74/85 light...

Oops...

I'm listening, but more details, beamshots, etc. would help to get some response.

Also maybe waiting for more than one day would help too.

Most of my ideas haven't generated much interest. So, I keep trying to get more practical and also try to see what people want. It requires a lot of research to design some of these circuits and it just seems to be a very specific niche I'm into. So, without enough interest it just isn't worth my time. There are alot of good ideas that fly very quickly, I'm not seeing that here. One day has historical been plenty of time to get the idea whether or not an idea will work. Not saying this won't catch on, it just isn't looking good to me.

I've been very interested in your progress and it's highly likely it's not a matter of if but only what and when I'll be buying from you.

Here's some feedback from a current L1P owner and CPF newbie who's tried hard to get up to speed.

5W LiOn Fenix
non-starter for me. Absurdly short run time was bad but the LiOn getting damaged was unacceptable.

3W LiOn
Really got me interested. Wasn't crazy about the drive level and since it was initially direct drive (how long?), that couldn't be changed. I've been following the SPY005 thread and it seems like running a Lux 3 about 30% under max only has a 10% output reduction. That seems a worthy tradeoff given the limited battery capacity available.
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1130351&postcount=13

The 14500 cell also looks to have less capacity than a 2500 mAH AA NiMH and costs a lot more. Running it to 2.6V also really put me off as it would probably suffer capacity and cycle hits. It also sounded like you wouldn't see noticable dimming before then which would allow you to avoid damage. With the 2 stage available though, I got very, very interested.

With this latest update I think I'm in. 1.5W well regulated through a LUX III off a 2500 mAH NiMH AA sounds VERY nice! Coupled with a 2 stage and the abiltity to pop in a 14500 to wow people and I'm almost ready to buy...

My only questions left are;
- Will the conversion circuit be 88% efficient on a NiMH as you quoted earlier on LiOn?
- How low will it take a NiMH before noticable dimming on high and low? I'm more likely to live with NiMH damage than a more expensive LiPo but it would be nice not to have to. NiMH is far more tolerant too from what I've read.
- What bin Lux III? Hopefully something efficient with good color. I find lights with a blue tint much less useful outdoors. My visual acuity and color perception really seems to suffer.

Given answers to these questions and the prior info you posted, I can probably estimate output and battery life but real world measurements are always appreciated.

Interested in taking a $10 non refundable deposit from me now in exchange for right of refusal on your first shipped light? It sounds like you're well on your way to an awesome EDC offering..

Mike

Thank you for all the input. One thing that I need to do is sit down and figure out how to design the cut-off circuit for the Li-ion cell. This means the circuit has to be designed to simply not operate between 2 and 2.8 volts. This will require a little more thought on my part. Yes this new design will operate on either cell type, but it falls short as the ideal circuit. It is very difficult to get much more than 75-80 percent effeciency when driving 450mA at 3.6 volts from 1.2 volts. It'll be a bit before I will have this circuit completely refined, and the chip used on the prototype didn't do the best in terms of effeciency at around 65 percent. I already have some ideas to get it up but I will have to wait to get a different chip. I will keep everyone posted.

MillerMods said:

Thank you for all the input. One thing that I need to do is sit down and figure out how to design the cut-off circuit for the Li-ion cell. This means the circuit has to be designed to simply not operate between 2 and 2.8 volts.

Click to expand...

I was going to ask this question. I actually thought about your design last night when I went to bed. If you can't manage to achieve the low-voltage cutoff for li-ions we'll have to use protected cells.

Chrisse

Graphs of the efficiency at various input voltages, while stating the output voltage and current would help a portion of the user base to have some interest. These folks I would consider the performance oriented crowd, "how does it actually perform in use".

Arm waving (vaporware) doesn't work well for a portion of the crowd, and they want to get actual hardware in their hands.

There is another portion that is in to hype and excitement, doesn't matter how things work, just as long as it is popular and there is alot of chatter.

Remember it takes all types.

There have been quite a number of folks that have made things in the past, and they fell far short of their claims, or things didn't hold up well. Personally, I'd not expect much, until you get some in peoples hands, and also post real data, runtime plots, efficiency, photos, etc.

Then there are a portion of folks that are mainly into price.

That all makes sense, thanks.

I am keeping an eye on your Fenix L1P mods miller... this one and the 2500 NiMH option sounds good to me. Heck, the little Fenix has a lot of modding potential with the thick barrel acting as a heat sink.