Does doubling 18650's get me brighter light or just longer runtime?

I'd like to make a thrower that's not EDC and was thinking about the above. I'm still new to this, but seems to be that I can only increase my runtime and NOT my brightness. Is this correct?

What do you guys recommend for a base to start with if I want to run 2 18650's and create a big head thower? Also, does the same aply to an Ican. light?

Thanks for your help,
Dan

Re: Does doubling 18650's get me brighter light or just longer runitime?

If you are dealing with LED's, 2 18650's will only increase runtime. The reason is that no matter what the input voltage, all that the LED wants is ~3.6 volts. That is what is called forward voltage. An 18650 is 4.2v off the charger and 3.6v nominal. When you run an LED, you want to run a regulator board in there most of the time which will either boost your current to 3.6v or in your case with 2 18650's cut the voltage to 3.6v.

With incan's the higher the voltage, the higher the wattage that can be allowed.


I just built a thrower as you described. I used a 2C mag with 2 18650's in there. I put a ssc p4 onto a fenix-store heatsink with a dealextreme driver that is set up to accept at least 8.4v.

I think the maglite is an excellent choice for a mod flashlight. I love them because everyone knows them and they are timeless. On top of that, aftermarket upgrades are easy to acquire whether it is an aluminum reflector, heat sink, glass lens, or whatever.

Re: Does doubling 18650's get me brighter light or just longer runitime?

allburger said:

If you are dealing with LED's, 2 18650's will only increase runtime. The reason is that no matter what the input voltage, all that the LED wants is ~3.6 volts. That is what is called forward voltage. An 18650 is 4.2v off the charger and 3.6v nominal. When you run an LED, you want to run a regulator board in there most of the time which will either boost your current to 3.6v or in your case with 2 18650's cut the voltage to 3.6v.

With incan's the higher the voltage, the higher the wattage that can be allowed.


I just built a thrower as you described. I used a 2C mag with 2 18650's in there. I put a ssc p4 onto a fenix-store heatsink with a dealextreme driver that is set up to accept at least 8.4v.

I think the maglite is an excellent choice for a mod flashlight. I love them because everyone knows them and they are timeless. On top of that, aftermarket upgrades are easy to acquire whether it is an aluminum reflector, heat sink, glass lens, or whatever.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a lot of work and soldering, etc to do this. Fun I'm sure never the less, but the last time I really played with electronics was back in college just before I changed my major to medicine. Sounds a little intimadatingoo:.
I've seen alot of Maglite mods in here. Not sure what I think about them. Can they provide the quality thrower kinda of beam that I'm looking for? I envision a kind of light that once built, will set fire to anything it shines upon :naughty:... or so my dream goes.

Thanks for the info anyway.:thumbsup:

Dan

Re: Does doubling 18650's get me brighter light or just longer runitime?

The problem is, one die has a maximum power it can be run at. Generally, this comes in at about 1A (though some custom mods have pushed this further- most notably, someone's running a Q5 at 1.76A, and has plans to run an R2 at 2.4A (respect where it's due!!). However, these are the exception rather than the norm, and beyond 1A you don't get a great leap in output (but you do get a lot more heat). A 18650 is more than capable at driving a single die at full power, so 2 18650's still drive it at full power (no output increase), but for longer. Multi-die LED's are coming out with 4 dice, but these have a max. recommended drive of 0.7A per die recommended by the manufacturers, rather than 1.0A.

Setting stuff on fire is strictly incan territory- LED's are too efficient, and don't make as much IR radiation which is what does the burning. However, incans don't make laser beam throw, so you're going to have to sacrifice fire or throw

Also, from what I understand, 2x18650 isn't actually enough voltage to power an incan to paper burning level.

Re: Does doubling 18650's get me brighter light or just longer runitime?

Jarl said:

Also, from what I understand, 2x18650 isn't actually enough voltage to power an incan to paper burning level.

Click to expand...

Hmm.... Where did I put my Solarforce L600? :huh:

I might just try it for the fun of it. :thumbsup:

Re: Does doubling 18650's get me brighter light or just longer runitime?

clicky

40 minutes runtime off 2x18650= about 4 amps at 8V=32 watts. IIRC, the paper burners are one hell of a lot more than that.