Regulated Barbolight Host with neutral tint MC-E, hipCC, and AW C LiIon cells ...

wquiles

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Joined
Jan 10, 2005
Messages
8,459
Location
Texas, USA, Earth
This is the second light for this forum member. The owner wanted something "different" using an MC-E, so here is goes - I hope he will be happy. As with the prior P7 light, the goal was to use the AW "C" LiIon cells the owner has, and to make these lights regulated. This was a more time consuming than the prior P7 light to build, but definitely worth the extra effort.

For reference, these are the prior custom lights that I have built around this outstanding host from Barbolight:
- Regulated Barbolight Bomb-Proof Host with P7, hipCC, and AW C LiIon cells:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/236461

- 3x MC-E:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/232273

- single P7
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/222258

- single MC-E:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/226575


For this light I am using a reflector from DX in Asia designed for the Cree, but with a smaller diameter than the reflector I used in the P7 light:
DSCF6905.JPG



One of the bared hosts that I got was truly "epoxied" so hard that the normal oven treatment did not work - this is the second host that I have not been able to get opened. So, what I did is that I used this bared host for a project host - and I cut in several key places to allow me "see" inside and test fitting ideas more easily. Here you can see the cut host holding the new Cree reflector:
DSCF6906.JPG


DSCF6907.JPG



To make this MC-E version more distinctively "different", I decided to used neutral tint MC-E emiters - as you will see in post #2, the results are very, very nice with this tint:
DSCF6908.JPG



Since I am staking vertically the emiter and the reflector, I started by measuring the emiter:
DSCF6911.JPG



The reflector was measured using my "small" height gauge:
DSCF6913.JPG



Although I consider me a little bit of a hack, not a "true" designer, I do take lots of notes and do a rough paper design (at least an initial one) before getting started, which of course gets modified accordingly as I do the actual build. Here are some of the initial ideas:
DSCF6914.JPG



For the head, since it has a hole right in the middle (where the MC-E needs to be!), I had to come up with a way to fill that space. Since I had time on my side, I decided to go with a premium "plug" made of pure copper. Here I start making the initial cut (which I will later up open up to about 1" in dia):
DSCF6916.JPG



I took one of the custom heatsinks/LED driver "housing" and removed the P7 platform (since it will be flat against the bottom of the head):
DSCF6920.JPG



I then made the ring/spacer that will hold the reflector perfectly centered in the head:
DSCF6921.JPG


DSCF6922.JPG


DSCF6923.JPG



Started work on the positive battery contact:
DSCF7018.JPG


DSCF7022.JPG




and here I am driving the hipCC (www.taskled.com):
DSCF7019.JPG



Like with the P7 light, I am using 10mil thermal tape from 3M to get the back of the hipCC "glued" to the Aluminum cup:
DSCF7020.JPG



Although all drivers from George are tested, here I am testing it to make sure I did not kill it or wired something wrong:
DSCF7021.JPG



Here you can see the pure copper insert/plug and the MC-E thermally glued (two-part thermal epoxy) to it. Note that I had to make an extra hole since I made a mistake while on the rotary table:
DSCF7024.JPG



To give this project a more unique look, I gave the outer ring/spacer a light coat of glow in the dark powder mixed with two-part epoxy:
DSCF7025.JPG


DSCF7027.JPG



Using thermal two-part epoxy I glue the driver/cup to the back of the head, using the body of the light to center it while the epoxy dries:
DSCF7028.JPG


DSCF7029.JPG



Here is the head, ready to be wired:
DSCF7035.JPG



Emiter wires soldered:
DSCF7037.JPG



another quick test to make sure everything works fine:
DSCF7038.JPG



then make the ground connection with a taped screw, which goes through the head and into the edge of the main tube, for a solid GND connection:
DSCF7039.JPG



I then apply silicon sealant to the head to seal water (diving rated host deserves nothing less!):
DSCF7040.JPG



I apply "very" thin Kapton tape to make sure there is no possible short:
DSCF7042.JPG



Epoxy all wires and holes for extra measure:
DSCF7043.JPG



Start work on the custom Delrin battery carrier:
DSCF7045.JPG


DSCF7046.JPG



Tested a couple of springs:
DSCF7047.JPG



Made cut for the Al cup which will hold the spring:
DSCF7048.JPG



made the custom Al cup, which is fitted to the Delrin battery carrier:
DSCF7049.JPG


DSCF7050.JPG



Made the internal cut to grab the spring:
DSCF7052.JPG



and this is how it looks prior to adjusting the length of the spring:
DSCF7055.JPG


DSCF7053.JPG


DSCF7054.JPG



uncompressed:
DSCF7056.JPG



compressed (I had to trim the spring about 0.120", which then was silver epoxied to the Al cup):
DSCF7057.JPG



Epoxy the inside of the head to glue the reflector/spacer in place:
DSCF7058.JPG



and it is almost ready:
DSCF7060.JPG



I have to install the o-rings and lens, and it is done :D


Will
 

wquiles

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 10, 2005
Messages
8,459
Location
Texas, USA, Earth
Beamshots go here, but I am tired and going to sleep, so those will be taken tomorrow night. For now, a teaser photo, compared to my own P7 DD light. Guess which one is neutral (MC-E) and which one is the normal cool white (P7)?
DSCF7061.JPG


=> The neutral tint is on the left ;)


OK, it is night time, but it is raining, so I only took a few pictures as my camera is not rain proof!

Camera on tripod, manual exposure of 2 secs, lens fully open, full wide angle.

Set 1:
Very close distance (over-exposed - sorry about that).
First the P7 cool white, then the MC-E neutral tint:
DSCF7063.JPG


DSCF7064.JPG



Set 2:
First the P7 cool white, then the MC-E neutral tint:
DSCF7065.JPG


DSCF7066.JPG




Set 3:
First the P7 cool white, then the MC-E neutral tint:
DSCF7068.JPG


DSCF7069.JPG



Will
 
Last edited:

koala

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Joined
Mar 5, 2003
Messages
2,295
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Always interesting to 'watch' your pics. I guess posting and taking photos took a lot of time too. Thank you for sharing.
 

csshih

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Sep 21, 2008
Messages
3,950
Location
San Jose, CA
impressive work! I love to commentary on each pic.. otherwise, I would have no idea what you were doing!
 

jar3ds

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Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
1,988
Location
USA
WOW.... just w0w... :)... thank you for sharing!! amazing light... beautiful!
 

tebore

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 10, 2006
Messages
2,141
Location
Toronto, Ontario. CAN.
Amazing work as always.

How do you do it? How do you have the discipline to do the planning, machining( I assume you also clean up your work station after as well), wiring, then photograph it all and do a full write up?
 

wquiles

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Joined
Jan 10, 2005
Messages
8,459
Location
Texas, USA, Earth
Thank you guys :eek:


How do you do it? How do you have the discipline to do the planning, machining( I assume you also clean up your work station after as well), wiring, then photograph it all and do a full write up?

Basically I always take pictures as I go along - snapping one every time the operation would be descriptive/telling of why I needed it, or to show how I achieved the desired result. I think about what photos would help both document the job and allow somebody else to duplicate it on their own. After the build is complete, I resize all pictures that I will use to the forum's max (800x600), upload them all at once via FTP to my web server, and then sit down for about an hour to write the actual post. And yes, I clean the area every single time I use either the lathe or the mill - certainly not the most fun part of the project, but I do like keeping both clean as much as I can, and covered with oil.

Besides having the discipline to take pictures as I go along, the real trick for these projects is plain attention to detail. For me it is critical not to start until you have a pretty good idea on your head as to "how" the pieces can come together, and then writing down, to see if they make sense once on paper. Normally I don't plan every single detail in advance, but I have a general idea of how it can be done (which of course becomes easier the more projects you do, and by listening to other builder/moder/machinists here in the forum).

Once I have a basic design, I start, and I improvise/update as needed. For a few things, I "have" to do detail design up front - specially when there is no extra space or the space is really tight - those are the times when the calipers/micrometers come out early (along with my height gauge) and I check if things will fit once stacked on top of each other.

The last part of the discipline comes from knowing when to walk away from a problem, come back a couple of hours later, and even a day or more later, until a new idea comes about how to solve a particular challenge - that happens to me on every single project in which I am doing something new. If you try to force or speed up something, you end up botching the job or worst, ruining the part/piece, and have to start all over. This is the reason why I NEVER give a completion date for my projects - I tell the owner the light will be ready when it is ready. If something is taking me a really long time, I will send some of the pictures to the owner so that he can see how the project is evolving, but I never try to finish a light by a particular date or time frame.

Since I have not done two of these Barbolights "exactly" alike, every time I do one I am trying out something new and challenging. This cutout bare host that I mentioned earlier will help more as I can really "see" and more easily measure how things could/would line up:
DSCF6868.JPG


DSCF6872.JPG


DSCF6875.JPG


DSCF6876.JPG



Will
 

darkzero

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Joined
Oct 7, 2003
Messages
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Location
SoCal
I think Will has a new nickname! He's officially the "Bomb-Proof King"! :twothumbs
 
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