2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics & now w/ beamshots!)

Nereus

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I finished this mod 2 years ago, but now that I have learned to post pics it is time to report about this mod to fellow CPFers. The specs are:

- Welch Allyn 10W HID bulb overdriven at 11W
- WA B10N008 ballast running at 11 V input voltage (see next point)
- LM2670 dc/dc step-down converter set to 11v, installed to the tailcap
- 12 AA nimhs (yes, that's 12, not 8 AA nimhs in a 2D body :green: )
- Modamags light stipple aluminium reflector
- UCL lense
- Glow powder + epoxy mix behind the reflector
- Body inner diameter sanded 1 mm larger to accept overly fat Energizer 2500 nimhs - awful job! :green:
- Tailcap inner diameter sanded 3 mm larger to accept the step down converter.
- Due to step-down converter nimhs, alkalines or primary lithiums can be used.

Here is a general pic of the mod. There is a tiny 4 mm tall microswitch under the mag switch rubber. I threw the original switch to thrash bin because it is too bulky.

P2260335.jpg


Here is the business end. Yes, I removed the glass cover of the HID bulb :) Watching carefully you can see a reflection of me and my camera :D (Anyone recognising what camera I am using will get this mod FREE :nana: )

P2260336.jpg


12 AA nimhs AND WA ballast AND a step-down converter in a 2D mag = mission impossible?

P2260339.jpg


There is no battery holder. Instead, I glued small sticks (is this the correct word here?) to the inside surface of the battery tube (and yes, guys, before you ask I can tell that there is a PENCIL at the 6 o'clock position :grin2: ). They keep the batteries in place. You can see 3 contacts coming to the tailcap. On right and left there are plugs for the ballast input. Up there you can see red two-pin BEC socket that comes directly from the microswitch under the rubber cover shown above. The microswitch drives a low on-state resistance mosfet in the tailcap to turn the flashlight on/off.

P2260343.jpg


Not a very good foto, but it shows you the bottom (front end) of the battery tube. That is just the ballast back side there to which I glued contacts for the batteries.

P2260349.jpg


This is how you install the batteries - you simply slide them in. The four sticks (?) hold them in the correct place.

P2260351.jpg


Here is the tailcap bored (=sanded) out to accept the step-down converter. You know guys, boring is BORING without lathe :grin2: Tailcap outer surface took some damage during "boring" process.

P2260353.jpg


Here is the converter unit (quite ugly, I admit - but it is inside the light and works great!)...

P2260363.jpg


...and this is what it looks like plugged to its place:

P2260361.jpg


Here you can see the contacts of the converter unit. On right and left there are two plugs for the ballast input. The red BEC socket up there gets the signal from the microswitch.

P2260364.jpg


Here you can see the coil and input and output capacitors of the converter:

P2260366.jpg


Here you can see the other side of the coil and the LM2670 converter (TO220 package):

P2260367.jpg


What else could I tell... The LM2670 converter is surprisingly efficient, I measured the efficiency to be 91%. :) Here is the datasheet: http://www.ortodoxism.ro/datasheets/nationalsemiconductor/LM2670.pdf . The converter squeezes absolutely everything out of the nimhs: the runtime is exactly 143 minutes of flat, constant full brightness (Energizer 2500 nimhs). Then the output collapses totally in only 1 minute and the light turns off. After that the nimhs are so dead that you can't even turn the light on! :green:

Thanks for looking! :D

-N
 
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IsaacHayes

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

Wow, a lot of work and thought went into that!! Very nice!!

Olympus U720SW, S720SW is what camera you used right? It's too easy to look at your images metadata :p

How is the mosfet wired to go on/off? I have a few sitting here collecting dust from an amp repair project. :)
 

baylisstic

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Long Beach, CA
Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

"Anyone recognising what camera I am using will get this mod FREE"

That's the Olympus Stylus 720!
 

ZeissOEM2

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

Olympus only if he doesent took a photo with another camera,get it printed and used the Olympus to take a shot of the printed photo.

:)
 

winny

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

Greetings Nereus from the other side of the Gulf of Bothnia!

Very nice work! :goodjob:

A couple of questions...
How does the bare bulb like the atmosphere? Normal metal halides won't last long in free air so I have to ask. How is the reflector holing up against the UV radiation from the exposed bulb?

I find your build very interesting and I'm curious about it.
Have you got any comments on it from your friends?
 

Ctechlite

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

winny said:
Greetings Nereus from the other side of the Gulf of Bothnia!

Very nice work! :goodjob:

A couple of questions...
How does the bare bulb like the atmosphere? Normal metal halides won't last long in free air so I have to ask. How is the reflector holing up against the UV radiation from the exposed bulb?

I find your build very interesting and I'm curious about it.
Have you got any comments on it from your friends?

I think he just removed the covering. The bulb is still encapsulated by it's gas retaining glass envelope.
 

MikeSalt

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

I've heard that the voltages in HIDs can be rather dangerous. Have you incorporated some form of safety device should the case become live? It is a beautiful device, and a brilliant 'sleeper' flashlight. I bet the standard incandescent stock 2D beam looks like a joke compared to this one.
 

65535

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

The case shouldn't come live even if it does, the operating voltage is rather low, the strike voltage however is quite high,
 

IsaacHayes

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

Isn't it 80volts when running, and high current? 40v to conduct on skin. But I wouldn't be too worried.
 

Ken_McE

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

Beamshots please. Just give me a time and I'll go outside and look north.:grin2:
 

liveforphysics

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

Outstanding Work! I'm very impressed.

Best Wishes,
-Luke
 

Nereus

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Espoo, Finland, Northern Europe
Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

winny said:
... How does the bare bulb like the atmosphere? Normal metal halides won't last long in free air so I have to ask...
If you have a look on a non-modified WA HID bulb below you see that there are two small holes in the glass outer cover root. So air flows freely in and out of it and it has no role to play when it comes to air tightness. The actual quartz HID capsule (diameter some 2mm) has remained intact and airtight.

M10N001-1sm.jpg


I'm sure there is increased UV exposure and to be honest I have no idea how it affects the reflector... We'll see :D

The turn-on peak voltage of the WA ballast is 6000 volts and the minimum distance from the wires to the aluminium reflector is 4mm. The dielectric stregth of air is 3000 V/mm so there is 100% safety margin there. Yet, I admit that this is a bit like "living dangerous", so keep the outer glass cover there if you feel uncertain about removing it.

And yes, I built some degree of safety action against possible current leakage to the flaslight body. First, the flaslight body does not usually play any role as part of the circuitry. Secondly, for all threaded parts of the flaslight I sanded the oxidisation down so that bare aluminium can be seen. This means that even if there would be leakage current to the body, it will act as one big block of aluminium. As a result it is very hard to get electric shock because there is only minus or plus available to your hand - not both at the same time.

Thanks for the positive feedback, guys! :) You are way too smart "guessing" what camera I use! :crackup:

-N
 
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Nereus

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

IsaacHayes said:
Wow, a lot of work and thought went into that!! Very nice!!

Olympus U720SW, S720SW is what camera you used right? It's too easy to look at your images metadata :p

How is the mosfet wired to go on/off? I have a few sitting here collecting dust from an amp repair project. :)
Thanks! :) That's a IRL3102 n-type mosfet, here is the datasheet: http://www.datasheetcatalog.com/datasheets_pdf/I/R/L/3/IRL3102.shtml . The mosfet source is connected to battery minus and the drain to the load minus. The maximum gate-source voltage is 10V so you can not connect gate directly to battery plus (12*1,4V=16,8V and alkalines can be used as well -> 12*1,5V=18V). That is why the mosfet gate is connected to battery bank middle point (6 AAs) through the microswitch. There is also a pull-down resistor (some 10 kOhm) between gate and source.

Now that I read the text above I notice that I forgot to mention that alkalines can be used also in this mod, due to step-down converter. Even 1,7 V no-load voltage primary lithiums can be used. Have to edit the first post... :)

-N
 
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Nereus

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

ZeissOEM2 said:
Olympus only if he doesent took a photo with another camera,get it printed and used the Olympus to take a shot of the printed photo.

:)

Unfortunately that trick exceeds my photographing skills with an incredible margin! :D

-N
 
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winny

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

Ctechlite said:
I think he just removed the covering. The bulb is still encapsulated by it's gas retaining glass envelope.

Of course! I asked because normal metal halides, sodiums and mercury vapor blackens, crack, blows out and/or change color rapidly when the outer bulb is broken. There are of course exceptions, like one of Thorn's MH lamp (link ), but it's unusual.


Nereus,

Cool! I didn't know that.
I second Ken_McE's opinion. Put up some beamshots!
 

smurf_boi

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

great moD..i wish i could do that to my 2D mag...and...can it work on alcalines as well?
 

Ra

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

A few years ago, WA started producing these bulbs without the protective outer-bulb. However, being very small, they apeared to be too fragile. So WA designed the protective bulb around the inner bulb, to prevent the inner bulb from being touched.

So, removing the outer bulb doesn't affect the performance..

reflectorhz6.jpg



Regards,

Ra.
 

petersmith6

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Re: 2D Mag goes regulated HID! (lot of pics!)

and for the most important question...are you selling any of thease and if so how much...and BEAM shots
 
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