DIY "Poor man's LED Caving Helmet"

Being a manufacturer myself I'm near ashamed of showing what has been on my head during the last twelve months when caving... They were made on a hurry, but they worked so good that we haven't changed anything. They have been a kind of testing prototype, and the best we can say about them is that carbide users don't miss it when using this.

It is so simple that it does not need explanation, just a few data:

-1 Lux III TWAK. DD 3,6 V NiMH 4500 mA (small 0,20 ohm resistor added to keep current arround 900 mA.

-Diode is glued over copper disc. Lense is PC.

-Reflector is a IMS 27mm, sputtered to soften hotspot.

-Don't forget epoxi and polyurethane everywhere!

We made 10 pcs. for this expedition (http://empresas.servicios.retecal.es/rioseras/espeleobuceo/og_t1c.htm) , and no one failed. We have been lending them since them to many people, and no one has ever failed.

I think you can spend three hours or so to make it, and no more than 40 US$, and it will be brighter than a lot of commercial units.

Heat dissipation is quite good due to the big surfaces, but it was designed to work on caves, and temperature there is usually 10-16ºC, so it does help a lot.

A simple and reliable RCA female-male connector is used for ON-OFF.

















Feel free to make any questions,

Javier

Hey Javier,

this may be the first time that I don't care about the flashlight at all .. but DAMN .. the pictures of your caving expedition look like a LOT of fun. I really should start looking for a caving group or something. :candle:

Envious,

Connor

Javier,

Muy interesante. Aun cuando sean "baratos", despues que funcionen y no fallen, esto es lo mas importante

Gracias por las fotos de las cavernas - salieron muy bien

Will

wquiles said:

...salieron muy bien

Click to expand...

Why thank you.

Barbarin, I really like the headlamp. Looks like it's taken more than a few solid beatings and stood up well.
I also like the way it looks, form following function and all that.
I've been considering building a headlamp onto my (non-caving) helmet.
May I ask what sort of clamp you use and how you attatch it to the helmet?
I can't drill mine, I was thinking I'd hot glue or epoxy rare earth magnets to the helmet and the lamp, but a clamp like that would be more versatile.
Also, what's the silver tube that holds the emitter and IMS? I was just going to use a piece of PVC, that looks a lot better for heat dissipation.
My plans were an nflex in the headlamp itself with a well protected momentary switch on top, and a nice long power cable.
I figured that way I could keep the extra length taped around the rim of the helmet and hooked up to a PVC tube taped at the back with either 4AA or two 123s.
Then if I wanted longer runtime I could untape it and connect it to a bunch of AAs in those cheap 8AA holders or whatever.
I wasn't quite sure exactly how to design the head itself, but now I have a pretty good idea.
I really like the way the 3W WahWang and a bored IMS27 work together, so I'm planning to use one of those.

Connor:

You can try with us whenever you want!

wquiles:

Thank you very much for you kind words in spanish. I'm glad you liked the light.

aileron:

The clamp is homemade 100%, and the optic holder is just an aluminiun alloy tube that was slighty worked on the lathe more for esthetical purposes. Here a picture of the aluminiun parts used:



George's "nflex" for sure will make an fantastic job on a caving headlamp, as in my opinion being dimmable is almost a must. Not only that, having the ability to take several batt configuration makes the lamp much more versatile.

Just protect perfectly the "nflex" on a small box, or cover it with any compound, and take care of the pushbutton you should install externally. "nflex" is a very good circuit, but as it comes from factory will not survive a cave, you need to be careful.

Javier

Nice, when are we going to see a production run (w/ nflex possibly)? I have been looking for a serious but affordable headlamp for a while!

We are working on it seriously. Meanwhile try this design!