Good driver for 2 cell @ 1 amp?

BatteryCharger · Oct 25, 2007

I've got a bunch of half used D cells piling up from an unregulated light. I would like to find a driver for a 2D mag that will suck them down to nothing and provide about 1 amp to a nearly antique Lux III. Can anyone recommend something?

bluecrow76 · Oct 25, 2007

This is a question that I've been pondering over for a few days now. I've been looking at the GD driver at the Sandwich Shoppe for some single emitter 2D/3D M@G mods. It's a buck/boost driver with a minimum input of 1.8V. The question that I haven't found an answer to yet is, if I run the GD at 1A, how low can the voltage go before it can't pull 1A out of the ALKALINE cells??? If I could just get an answer to that I might be able to get to a good nights sleep! :candle: If not, I'm going to have to order one and try it myself. Personally I'm waiting for the GDuP to come out because I like having options in a light.

AlexGT · Oct 25, 2007

I think a BadBoy driver would suit you perfect. look for it at the sandwich shoppe.

AlexGT

kurni · Oct 26, 2007

I'm rather skeptical with the feasibility of sucking them in 2D; I'm more optimistic with 6D setup because 2D = boost; 6D = buck. Boost requires high amp draw but I doubt 1/2 dead alks can provide that. Buck require low amp draw that the alks can still provide.

If you insist on boost; then get BadBoy Nexgen because it is more efficient than the original BadBoy. If you are willing to go for buck, the cheapest & easiest is 3023 BuckPuck from LuxDrive.

Again, I really don't think you can boost a couple of 1/2 dead alks, but that's just my 2c worth.

datiLED · Oct 26, 2007

I built a Seouled 3-D Mag for a coworker. The USWOH Seoul is on a H22A heatsink, and a GD917 driver from the Shoppe is providing buck/boost off of 3 alkaline D cells. It works great, and he is amazed at the battery life.

You can get the GD set at 1A if you want. It shouldn't be too hard on a Seoul or CREE. I run my Seoul Mag (3-D with Flupic) at 1.2A without any heat, or tint shift issues.

Bullzeyebill · Oct 26, 2007

datiLED, the H22A heatsink is anozided and you attach Seoul with little or no heatsink grease or epozy? Just wondering cause Seoul's can have BIG problems with poor heatsinking at 1 amp and above to led.

Bill

Just to add. Georges80 VIP driver does good with two alkaline D's.

datiLED · Oct 26, 2007

Bullzeyebill said:
datiLED, the H22A heatsink is anozided and you attach Seoul with little or no heatsink grease or epozy? Just wondering cause Seoul's can have BIG problems with poor heatsinking at 1 amp and above to led.

Bill

Just to add. Georges80 VIP driver does good with two alkaline D's.

You are correct. The Seoul is held in place by a very thin layer of Arctic Alumina thermal adhesive. But, my heatsink is not anodized. I seated the LED in the bed of AA, and rotated it until I was certain that all of the air bubbles were out and the AA was thin enough. Then, while the AA cured, I checked for continuity between the anode and heatsink. After the AA was fully dried overnight, I checked the LED and heatsink for continuity again.

Mr_Light · Oct 26, 2007

I have used this driver from Kai in many modded 2D Mags. Just dial in the drive level you want. Since the boost circuit is designed to work with even a single 1.2 voly NiMH cell I would think it should be able to drain the Alky's pretty far down.

(5pcs) 1AA 3W LED Circuit Board (0.8V-7V) KD#: SKU3151
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=3151

Essexman · Oct 28, 2007

Hello again Mr Light.:wave:

Just dial in the drive level you want

Would you mind describing how you set up the Kia driver?
I'm guessing you use a DMM?
It looks like a good (and cheaper) replacement for the old Micropuck, at last.

deeuubee · Oct 30, 2007

Mr. Light: I have been pulling my hair out searching for a driver like this. Thank you so much!...Do you remember the run times you got with the 2D. Were they 2-1.2V NiMh or 2-1.5V alky's or something else? Old link to mod?

Essexman: Great tutorial. I was just about to do it until I found this. I really wanted the 1A output.

SnowplowTortoise · Oct 31, 2007

I started a thread to ask this same question just a few weeks ago:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2171782

I ended up trying lots of different things. The VIP drivers from TaskLED worked very well until I accidentally shorted them out. Others from Kai and DX also work well and tend to have multiple levels but are less efficient at 1 amp.

The bottom line is that when you're trying to pull that much current from a 2.4V source, it is really important that you have very good connections everywhere and a clean switch. Also, I found that all of the drivers will self destruct if they are not attached to a heat sink. I don't have any scientific way of taking measurements, but by using dead-reckoning I estimated that many of the drivers heat up to the temperature at which hydrogen atoms will fuse and become helium (plus or minus 10%, I'd say). Watch out for the ones with the toroidal inductors in particular. This one almost caused a supernova in my basement before it vaporized in a puff of smoke:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7881

Good luck!

Mr_Light · Oct 31, 2007

I attach my DMM to the emitter side of the driver using spring clips and attach my 2D cell power supply to the battery side (also using spring clips). I then use a small phillips screw driver to adjust the pot to 3.7 - 3.9 volts (I'm using Q5s which have a higher vf than other CREEs). Keep in mind when adjusting the pot that clockwise decreases the output voltage (with the DMM it's pretty obvious). The driver is open circuit protected so you can set the voltage with no LED attached.

Essexman said:
Hello again Mr Light.:wave:

Would you mind describing how you set up the Kia driver?
I'm guessing you use a DMM?
It looks like a good (and cheaper) replacement for the old Micropuck, at last.

abhi555 · Oct 31, 2007

SnowplowTortoise said:
I started a thread to ask this same question just a few weeks ago:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2171782

I ended up trying lots of different things. The VIP drivers from TaskLED worked very well until I accidentally shorted them out. Others from Kai and DX also work well and tend to have multiple levels but are less efficient at 1 amp.

The bottom line is that when you're trying to pull that much current from a 2.4V source, it is really important that you have very good connections everywhere and a clean switch. Also, I found that all of the drivers will self destruct if they are not attached to a heat sink. I don't have any scientific way of taking measurements, but by using dead-reckoning I estimated that many of the drivers heat up to the temperature at which hydrogen atoms will fuse and become helium (plus or minus 10%, I'd say). Watch out for the ones with the toroidal inductors in particular. This one almost caused a supernova in my basement before it vaporized in a puff of smoke:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7881

Good luck!

Kai added warning for toroidal inductor driver. He said one need to use good battery and driver will generate lot of heat. Do not disclose any information related to atomic power. :laughing: Homeland will catch you for publishing easy way to achive fusion reation on public forums.

Bullzeyebill · Oct 31, 2007

I have two VIP's, one set to 1amp to led on high mode. Excellent output with Seoul P4. Pulls 2+ amps from NiMH's. Other VIP is set at stock high which is about 700mA's to led and pulls a sedate 1.2 amps or so from batteries. George's VIP circuit is great. Got to watch for reverse polarity. Foam donut can help.

Bill

SnowplowTortoise · Oct 31, 2007

Mr. Essexman, while there are clearly some parallels, I believe we should limit our discussion to driving LED's, not Kia's.

Essexman · Oct 31, 2007

deeuubee said

Essexman: Great tutorial. I was just about to do it until I found this. I really wanted the 1A output

Thanks, glad it was useful.

Mr_Light - Many thanks for the detailed instrctions, I should have some of those drivers soon. I plan tp upgrade my mag 2D, and maybe build something new.....

Mr. Essexman, while there are clearly some parallels, I believe we should limit our discussion to driving LED's, not Kia's.

SnowplowTortoise - LOL, I'll keep on topic from now on.

Good driver for 2 cell @ 1 amp?

BatteryCharger

Flashlight Enthusiast

bluecrow76

Enlightened

AlexGT

Flashlight Enthusiast

kurni

Enlightened

datiLED

Flashlight Enthusiast

Bullzeyebill

Flashaholic

datiLED

Flashlight Enthusiast

Mr_Light

Enlightened

Essexman

Flashlight Enthusiast

deeuubee

Newly Enlightened

SnowplowTortoise

Newly Enlightened

Mr_Light

Enlightened

abhi555

Newly Enlightened

Bullzeyebill

Flashaholic

SnowplowTortoise

Newly Enlightened

Essexman

Flashlight Enthusiast

Similar threads

Latest posts