BEAMSHOTS ADDED How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D BEAMSHOTS ADDED

We are issued 5D's as a back up to our SL-20's at work. Like it's owner the 5D was a bit heavy and none to bright, so I decided to play a bit.

I took a couple of measurements and figured that five A123's would just fit in the barrel of the light.


After purchasing the cells, I ran to a local hardware and found that 1" Schedule 40 fit the inside of my 5D like it was made to be there and that the A123 fit inside the pipe with their provided cardboard covering off. So, I had my carrier.





I had a local shop shrink wrap the cells. I then cut the PVC to a length just long enough to allow the tailcap to tighten the whole way down while leaving a couple of millimeters space, so I wasn't compressing the switch and threw it together for a test fit . . . no rattles or movement at all:














I then, shamelessly, stole RichS's modification of Northern Lights original tailcap modification:






To finish the build I added one of AW's three level soft start switches, a FiveMega MOP reflector, a Borofloat lens and an Osram 150W 64633. I then topped off the A123's on my BC-6 charger threw the switch and WOW!


Some observations:


Five A123's weigh about ¾ pounds less than five alkaline D's. (70 grams vs 139), so this thing feels like a completely different light.


The 64633 floods like nothing I have ever seen. It is amazing the area this thing covers with white brilliant light.


This thing will light off dark print newspaper in all three gears.


Charging at 5 amps takes no time at all. I giggle with amazement when the BC-6 chimes to let me know that the cells are ready.


The A123's are amazing! There is no visible dimming and they hold the same level of light because of their flat discharge curve, so this light seems regulated. When things dim, the cells are around 2.9 volts and it is time to charge.


Many thanks to Lux for his research into what the various incandescent bulbs can handle, to Northern Lights and RichS for the tailcap mod, to FiveMega for a great reflector and to AW for his fine switch (and for telling me that I had the cells in backwards, dooh!).


Time to go burn some more stuff!


BEAMSHOTS


Okay, here are some comparison beamshots taken at 7ft:


Cocoa colored wall




Malkoff M60F




WA1164 @ 1300 + Lumens



The Sleeper at 7000 + Lumens (white thermostat disappears:thumbsup

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

That is a great mod. Up there with the best. You made it sound so easy...

If your going to carry something as big as a 5D Mag, make it bright enough to be worthwhile.

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

I have to agree that the reshrink wrapping of the cells really makes them look nice. So far I have left my Emoli's in the cardboard wrapper. It would be nice to make them look better.

I had to bore my 1" PVC out in order for the Emoli's to fit. Your lucky you didn't have to have that fun.....

Bob E.

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

lctorana,

Thank you for your kind words.

Even though the physical size is the same, the drastic reduction in weight makes the light seem "smaller".

On the lowest setting, the light is surprisingly usable (most likely due to flood characteristics), and the capability to ramp things up when needed is a nice option.



Bob,

I sure am glad that I didn't have to bore my PVC out. The fit was perfect.

Was your pipe schedule 40?

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Wow - good job! That's thinking outside the box. What is the run time at various levels? And could we get a beam photo? We would all like to see. Cheers, Jeff

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Those are the 18650 cells correct?

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Top job, well done. And nice write-up. I'm curious to know runtimes too.

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Beamshots? I'm curious to see. Sounds amazing.

I don't know much about incans, but how do you get 7000 lumen from 150W? That's over 46lm/W. I know you can overdrive them for higher CCT and more efficiency, but to that extent? how long will the bulb last?

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

jeffosborne said:

Wow - good job! That's thinking outside the box. What is the run time at various levels? And could we get a beam photo? We would all like to see. Cheers, Jeff

Click to expand...

Jeff,

I haven't really clocked it but doing the math using a 12 amp draw run times are approximately 11 minutes on high, 19 minutes on medium and 38 minutes on low.

I'll do beamshots after I invest in a welder's mask. :laughing:

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Shreknow91 said:

Those are the 18650 cells correct?

Click to expand...

No, they are 26650.

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

TorchBoy said:

Top job, well done. And nice write-up. I'm curious to know runtimes too.

Click to expand...

Thanks. See my response to Jeff for approximate runtimes.

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Shreknow91 said:

Those are the 18650 cells correct?

Click to expand...

I'm guessing they are 26650 A123's


Good Effort TKO!
The AW switch obviously takes care that these fully charged, as A123 start at 3.6V, but drop to 3.3V almost instantly. I always liked the look of the flat A123 discharge curve...and matched to the 64633 you coulden't be driving it harder in a DD set up. One of my favorite lamps also!!:thumbsup:

Very good.:devil:

The other nice things about A123 is they can be run flat ( only if its a suitably high drain such as 64633, and , and charged up by a Ram instead of a battery charger.

How long ~ roughly ~ does the BC6 take to charge them?... And is that just in series all in the one PVC Tube/ holder?

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

VanIsleDSM said:

Beamshots? I'm curious to see. Sounds amazing.

I don't know much about incans, but how do you get 7000 lumen from 150W? That's over 46lm/W. I know you can overdrive them for higher CCT and more efficiency, but to that extent? how long will the bulb last?

Click to expand...

I don't know much about incans, either. If it wasn't for the people I mentioned in the original post, this thing would never burned it's first newspaper.

Osram lists the bulb at 150 watts at 15 volts. I am overdriving the bulb with 16.5 volts ish.

Check out Lux's thread :

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/179748

and look up the 64633 for bulb life at different voltages and lumen out put.

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Raoul_Duke said:

I'm guessing they are 26650 A123's


Good Effort TKO!
The AW switch obviously takes care that these fully charged, as A123 start at 3.6V, but drop to 3.3V almost instantly. I always liked the look of the flat A123 discharge curve...and matched to the 64633 you coulden't be driving it harder in a DD set up. One of my favorite lamps also!!:thumbsup:

Very good.:devil:

The other nice things about A123 is they can be run flat ( only if its a suitably high drain such as 64633, and , and charged up by a Ram instead of a battery charger.

How long ~ roughly ~ does the BC6 take to charge them?... And is that just in series all in the one PVC Tube/ holder?

Click to expand...

Raoul,

Thanks!

It took around 20 minutes to full charge from 2.5 volts on a single cell at 5 amps. I haven't charged them in series, yet, but I will as soon as I build a "battery clamp".

The next time I charge I will write down the starting voltage and record the actual time and let you know.

The 64633 is an awesome thing at 16.5 volts!

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

TKO said:

The 64633 is an awesome thing at 16.5 volts!

Click to expand...

Your not wrong,

I guess I will have to get some A123's for my 7C and beat the hell out of my AW C switch. ( AW C is rated lower than D )
I was to concerned the 64633 would on 5 emoli so never tried that lamp on the current 7C set up.

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Raoul_Duke said:

Your not wrong,

I guess I will have to get some A123's for my 7C and beat the hell out of my AW C switch. ( AW C is rated lower than D )
I was to concerned the 64633 would on 5 emoli so never tried that lamp on the current 7C set up.

Click to expand...

I would be interested to see how the AW C switch handles things as it officially rated for up to 100 watts. It will certainly be screaming for mercy with the 64633 on top of a bunch of A123's.

I bet 5 emoli would blow the bulb in any DD setup. 18.5 nominal voltage would be a bit much

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Nice light,

I have a couple of noob questions though. I have heard that what you guys are doing to get those batteries is take them from a battery pack. So question one is which pack do you get the 26650s like this from? And more importantly do they have an individual PCB on them?

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

vestureofblood said:

Nice light,

I have a couple of noob questions though. I have heard that what you guys are doing to get those batteries is take them from a battery pack. So question one is which pack do you get the a123s like this from? And more importantly do they have an individual PCB on them?

Click to expand...

The cells that I used were not from a pack. I purchased individual cells here: http://aircraft-world.com/shopexd.asp?id=5041

If you want to salvage them from a pack, look for a Dewalt DC9360 36 volt battery. There will be ten cells inside.

There is no individual PCB on these cells and one is not needed as LiFeO4 is a safe lithium chemistry that does not exhibit thermal runaway.

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

Thanks TKO,

So do I need to use a smart charger for theese or will my exsiting charger due? Also does draining theese below a certain voltage harm the cell?

Re: How To Lose 3/4 Pound and Gain 7000 Lumens in a 5D

A couple of threads to wade through.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/203788

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2611608#post2611608

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/185950

what's your Current charger V.O.B?


A123 are cool....you can run flat & and recharge no problem at high loads, ( however discharge them slowly, say over a Fet switch, and you risk killing them.)

Dump the cell cappacity at crazy current draws. ( I dont know of amy mag mod lamp that need as much current.)

You can charge them at silly rates ( realy quick...you'd pay alot of money for a charger to match output /what they a123 can take.)

They don't blow up ( always nice )




But they have lower overall V & cappacity than Emoli etc. ( but Emoli have their down sides also.)


We switched to these type of cellss ( A123 & moli etc.) when we needed more current supplied to our hotwire lamps, and their inherant saftey 9 and availability at the time) over Li-ion cells.

On the subject of saftey though, if you had a stack of five A123 like this build in question, and managed to short one of the the pin holders with the body of the light ( unanodised section) the results would be impresive to say the least.

( I did the same with a stack of 7 emoli, the big ones 26700, and the wire I was using on a V meter probe turned bright white and realy realy hot, in a split second before i pulled off.

I have also heard of a tailcap spring shorting between the +ve, and -ve of the base of one A123 cell, whilst screwing in the tailcap heat was felt, and before they could unscrew the tailcap again the mag spring had melted.

Lots of power...use wisely. :devil: