SSC P7 in a 2D Maglite

Updated

After this thread I thought I first have to upgrade my 2D Maglite with a SSC P7. I never modded a flashlight before so I need some help. I want to use this parts in my 2D Maglite:

Driver board: KD Super Output SSC P7 LED Driver Board (5.5V~15V)
Lens: Multi-Layer Coated HD Flashlight Lens(52mm*2.0mm)
Reflector: 52.75mm Aluminum Reflector for SSC P7 LED Emitters
Emitter: Seoul P7 Emitters, bin CSX0I
Heatsink: DHS Heatsink HAIII version
Power source: 6AA>2D adapter with 6 Eneloops

What I also need:
Alumina Adhesive
Arctic Alumina
some teflon wire

And what else do I need?

rayman

WOW! 90-95% efficiency. **cough**bulls**t**cough**cough**

You probably want to reduce the input voltage from 10.8 to the lowest possible to make the converter work. Why? Because efficiency drops the bigger the differential, and at 3A, you're going to need a heatsink for the converter, not just the LED.

CM said:

WOW! 90-95% efficiency. **cough**bulls**t**cough**cough**

You probably want to reduce the input voltage from 10.8 to the lowest possible to make the converter work. Why? Because efficiency drops the bigger the differential, and at 3A, you're going to need a heatsink for the converter, not just the LED.

Click to expand...

So the best would be if I use only 3 Eneloops and 3 dummy cells?

rayman

I use the DHS sink, and its great.

Drewfus2101 said:

I use the DHS sink, and its great.

Click to expand...

Ok thanks. So where can I find AA-sized dummy cells?

For the driver board I think I'll take NetKidz's 5-mode-solution. But I'm also thinking of taking only two 4x AMC7135 boards. So is it right that 2.8A is the best current for a SSC P7 emitter?

rayman

Think about another source of P7. BSYPI has blueish color and up to 740lm@2,8A. CSXOI is pure white and 740-900lm@2,8A. You can buy them here:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12721
or here:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=180106
Or $27 from Kaidomain.com:
http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1761

phantom23 said:

Think about another source of P7. BSYPI has blueish color and up to 740lm@2,8A. CSXOI is pure white and 740-900lm@2,8A. You can buy them here:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12721
or here:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=180106
Or $27 from Kaidomain.com:
http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1761

Click to expand...

Thank you very much :wave:. I didn't know that. I think I will take the CSXOI.

rayman

Actually I did a mistake earlier. It wasn't 10.8V but 7.2V because it's only 6 and not 9 Eneloops. So what do you recommend me?

2x AMC7135 1400mA Regulated Circuit Boards with 4 Eneloops
or
1x KD Super Output SSC P7 LED Driver Board (Low/High/Middle,5.5V~15V) with 6 Eneloops

rayman

Keep in mind Eneloop only have a little over 2000mah capacity each.

Bad news. This reflector won't fit. It's slightly too deep (designed for WF series flashlights, not Maglite). You'll have to cut 1-2mm of it. I know it's a little bit more expensive (3 times...) but this should fit with no problems (camless):
http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1739

I'm using that reflector with my P7 Mag 2D.

The aluminium is very soft so it is very easy to file the reflector down.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2561076&postcount=60

I think I'll buy both and see which beam I like more.

So the my only problem is the driver board issue. Do you think the driver board will get too hot if I use KD Super Output SSC P7 LED Driver Board (Low/High/Middle,5.5V~15V) with 6 Eneloops?

rayman

rayman said:

I think I'll buy both and see which beam I like more.

So the my only problem is the driver board issue. Do you think the driver board will get too hot if I use KD Super Output SSC P7 LED Driver Board (Low/High/Middle,5.5V~15V) with 6 Eneloops?

rayman

Click to expand...

They're cheap enough that frying one wouldn't set you back too much. However, if you want to play it safe, use no more than 4 eneloops. It will probably keep the power dissipation in the board to about two watts which is still hot but won't result in instant death for the converter.

I would use 6 Eneloops. They sell this board with 2 D Li-Ion cells. 2 Li-ion are 7.4 volts. Six eneloops are 7.2 volts. 4 Eneloops are 4.8 volts and the board needs 5.5 volts. I think it has some kind of over discharge protection for Li-ion cells so it may shut off when run off of multiple NIMH.

Rayman , I've just built a few direct drive P7s. I have 2 dimmer boards on the way from Der Wichtel and hve to decide where they would be best used.
My experinces so far:
P7 on 3 Eneloops works great. Have 2 xCSX01 P7s. On 3 Eneloops , fresh charge initial current draw is between 2.2 - 2.4A. The pack seems to be improving with a few cycles , initially dropping to around 2A for most of the run , today I measured 2.3A after 20mins.
Comparing to a D LION direct drive , initial current 3.1A, dropping to 2.8-2.2A for most of the run , there is very little difference in output.
Another CSX01 LED is in a 3 x C NiMh and it draws 3.4A on startup. I left it for 3 days and now it's 3.1A. I believe running that light with fresh pack I'm just making lots of heat with the extra current. Good candidate for a driver.
The D LION heats the body to about twice as much as the eneloop pack for what appears to me to be a 10% increase in light output so I think it's an inefficient setup. The Eneloop pack runs for about 40 mins constant then tapers off. At 1 hour still usefull light, around 150 lumens, pack measured about 3.2V open cct so good time to switch off.
So it seems logical if you made a serial/parallel 6 cell eneloop pack (3.6V)
the sag would be less than with 3 and you'd be looking around 2.8A or so initially then around 2.5-2.6A for about 70 minutes or more then taper off for 30 minutes or so. So unless you want to extend run time , it would be efficient without driver.
D LION ran to 30 mins 2.5A , 60 mins 2.15A , 80 mins dropped to 1.3A (surprised me , was expecting 1.5-1.8 from brightness) and cell was 3.36V open cct.
Adding driver to D LION to get a flat 2-2.2A should give me over 2 hours and would take a keen eye to spot the slightly lower output. Worth losing a little efficiency through the driver and could really get a long run time on low level.

So while I am going to add drivers to some lights , just pointing out direct drive works really well for some cell combinations. I think all current differences are due to different voltage sag by the different cell combinations and if the sag reduces current to acceptable levels, great!

After reading your posts (Chodes, spencer, CM) various times I think it would be the best if I use 2 of the AMC7135 1400mA Regulated Circuit Board with 4 Eneloops and 2 dummy cells in a 6AA>2D battery holder. So the question is where can I get AA-sized dummy cells?

Could I direct drive a P7 with a 6AA>2D battery holder with 3 Eneloops and 3 dummy cells?

rayman

It would be a safe starting point at least.

The AMC datasheet sheet shows on the bottom of page three that the dropout (voltage drop) is 0.2v at 350ma, so assuming that you shorted any diodes on the boards and the wires/switch had no resistance then when your 3.6v battery was fresh or the charger (3*1.4v) 4.2v - 0.2v leaves up to 4v to drive the led.:twothumbs

But as the battery voltage drops to nominal voltage (3*1.2v) 3.6v - 0.2v leaves only 3.4v to drive the led which would mean about one amp.:sigh:
But the dropout voltage of the regulator drops below 0.1v when the current drops out of regulation so you could get back 0.1v to 3.5v which might get you 1.7a.
So if you had a low resistance installation with cells that did not sag much under current draw you may get half the battery capacity regulated and half unregulated.

I would be inclined to take spencers advice and use 6cells for 7.2v and use the other regulator.

Nick

Doh!Nut said:

It would be a safe starting point at least.

The AMC datasheet sheet shows on the bottom of page three that the dropout (voltage drop) is 0.2v at 350ma, so assuming that you shorted any diodes on the boards and the wires/switch had no resistance then when your 3.6v battery was fresh or the charger (3*1.4v) 4.2v - 0.2v leaves up to 4v to drive the led.:twothumbs

But as the battery voltage drops to nominal voltage (3*1.2v) 3.6v - 0.2v leaves only 3.4v to drive the led which would mean about one amp.:sigh:
But the dropout voltage of the regulator drops below 0.1v when the current drops out of regulation so you could get back 0.1v to 3.5v which might get you 1.7a.
So if you had a low resistance installation with cells that did not sag much under current draw you may get half the battery capacity regulated and half unregulated.

I would be inclined to take spencers advice and use 6cells for 7.2v and use the other regulator.

Nick

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your advice, I think I'll do it like this.

Now another question , is Alumina Adhesive the best thing to glue the emitter on the heatsink?

rayman