Re: R.O.P. Roar of the Pelican mini-FAQ
Are there any alternative recipes for the ROP?
Yes, the ROP bulb being 6V invites many combinations.
Here's one: My ROP 1400. About $70.00 in parts and host.
Recipe:
The host is a Mag 3C
Deanodize the tailcap with lye drain cleaner, wirebrush dremmel bit to clean it up good then a squirt of contact cleaner and a quick wipe to condition the surface.
Reshape the spring with a pair of vise grip needle nose pliers and another pair of needle nose pliers so that the bottom spirals are small enough to allow the spring to drop all the way into tailcap. Bend the end of the top spiral so that it intersects its diameter. This is to insure contact with the cathod (-) end of the last battery.
6 Intellect IB1400 2/3 A from CheapBatteryPacks.
Sleeve them in 5/8" ID X 7/8" OD acrylic tube from Home Depot. Split the tube. Just load it up after charging individually. Charging as a pack will require a clamp.
Pelican PE3854 Hi "Big D" 6V SLA bulb (Roar of the Pelican) from brightguy or Lumenhound. Install it.
UCL or borofloat lens. Replace the original lens.
PerfectMagReflector LOP or lightly stippled reflector. Replace the original reflector.
A Mag 3C is 1 7/8" longer than a 2C but 3Cs are a very nice form factor.
4.30A and 8.09V at start.
4.28A and 7.93V at 10 seconds.
4.15A and 7.85V at 30 seconds.
4.12A and 7.73V at 1 minute and settled down.
That's 1.28V per cell, 31.8476W and 20.38 minutes calculated runtime.
Some good things about a ROP 1400:
1) NiMh chargers. You might already own one. If your location is other than home and your light needs a charge; it's more likely to find a NiMh charger than a Li-Ion charger
2) Easy build.
3) Safe operation. Safe charging. No fear of fiery outgassing.
4) Flexibility. You can run all the 2C 3X123 and 6cell HotWire solution lamps in it, CA1499, CA1057, WA1111, Pelican Big D 6V SLA, Krypton 5C, etc., etc.
5) Expected small initial sag but after that a nice, non-sagging run. IOWs, a fairly flat output.
6) No battery holder. A length of acrylic tube. So, ZIP added resistance from power source.
7) Very nice white temperature color of beam.
***EDIT***
Someone asked about lumens. Here's a calculation. Not a proven fact:
(7.73V / 6.0V) = 1.28
1.28 ^ 3.3 = 2.25
2.25 x 600 = 1350 bulb lumens
A massive 42.39 lu/W
1350 x .65 = 877 torch lumens
That's if Pelican is factual about 600 lumens. Looks right to me.
That's if the power of 3.3 is correct for rerating. Sounds right to me.
That's if 35% loss is incurred with the reflector and the window. Never have totally agreed with that but apparently an Integrated Sphere was used by CPFers to prove it.
The Big D low is claimed to start out at 290 lumens.
652 bulb lumens rerated
424 out the front
***End Edit***
I'm getting just over 20 minutes before I notice dimming which is about what a SureFire M6 is rated at but there have been many reports of thermal shutdowns at 10 minutes for them. The ROP 1400 does not experience thermal shutdown. The ROP 1400 also puts out more lumens than does the SFM6.
***Edit***
Additional charging information:
A while back I got 3 Vanson Speedy Chargers. They are 4 bay, 4 channel chargers that have adjustable contacts for AAA to D cells. A pack charger would be simpler but these charge the cells individually. This way I can somewhat monitor the health of the cells as well as know they are optimized. For odd cells like these IB 1400s I use spacers.
#10-32 x 1-1/4" machine bolts stuffed into little vinyl tube sections. The vinyl tube is 1/2" OD x 3/8" ID. I top them off with rare earth magnets which are probably not necessary. Really any spacer an inch or so long should work.
Here is a quick and good discussion where Silver Fox and BullseyeBill explain the operation and solve a problem I was having with CB1650s.
Vanson Speedy Charger discussion.
*EDIT*
Charge the batteries before use. Don't rely on the charge they came with. I believe this is true for all NiMh cells.
Here is a scan of a charging spacer apart and together, the re-bent spring, the deanodized tail cap and the vinyl tube with cells in it.
EDIT TO ADD 5C ROP ELITE 4500
I remember that some folks have built successful ROPs using 6 SC RC cells. I recall that josey did it using a Mag 6C long ago. I think it was Whitehot that did it in a Mag 5C by moving the switch forward.
The Elite 4500 SCs are fairly new. I don't know if they are better than the IB4200 SCs. What's nice about the Elite 4500s is their diameter. It's 22.86mm.
I recently bought a Mag5C and some Elite 4500s thinking my measurement prediction might work out just right. It didn't. Even the 22.86mm diameter cells wouldn't recess into a de-anodized tale cap.
Dang.
So I commenced to figure out how to bore out the 5C's tailcap with a hand held drill. I went to Sears and got the closest grinding bit I could find. It was too big so I cut it down by running it against a big rat ******* file. It probably wasn't a rat ******* file but I like to say rat *******.
Quickly I realized that the bit would fill up with Al so I needed to provide lubricant whilst grinding. Some Duralube squirt lube worked and let the grinding bit do its job.
Finally an Elite 4500 would fit into the bored out tailcap.
This ROP 4500 should run about an hour. I've run it through one cycle and am using it in a second cycle.
The 5C format works well for handling and it fits nicely on top of my Maxpedition Operator.
I've used it while navigating through a parking lot at night and it owned the parking lot. I used it last weekend while hiking around on an island in the middle of a river and it lasted well. I like this Hotwire enough that I'll probably buy another Mag 5C before they become unattainable.
!!!
