Barbolight U9 with Warm White MC-E and HipCC

This is my first time modding this Barbo host, as I previously have been modding the Bomb-proof host for a couple of forum members (see my signature for links to other Barbo projects).

It has taken me a LONG time to put this one together, because I was trying to make a regulated version for this host, and the ideal driver (hipCC) fits fine in the larger diameter of the Bomb-proof hosts, but not on the smaller diameter of this U9 host. I did a lot of "experiments" along the way to try different things, so here is a pictorial of the project.

FIrst, I had to get the original U9 host in pieces. Lens was already removed prior to the light arriving to me, but the Barbolight does a good job in making these hosts nearly indestructible, so it was still laborious to get everything separated:













I then had to heat the body/head in my Powder Coating oven to 450F, so that the factory epoxy would soften enough for me to unscrew the head off:



Since I wanted to use the hipCC (about 1.1" dia) and this host was about 1.0" dia, I would have to come up with a custom heatsink. After discussing this a little with George (from www.taskled.com, designer of these drivers) I proceeded to lightly sand two sides of the hipCC to make it fit on the host, but sideways. :













You can see here in my hand written notes my original design:



I then continue work on the mill:









And for the first time I was able to test the fit of the hipCC on the new custom heatsink:





Here is a close-up of the heatsink next to the original paper design:



I continued to make progress on the inner part of the heatsink, which would be composed of a Delrin sleve, with an Al center piece to carry the "+" from the battery to the driver:









Here I am working on the inner Al piece:







The pieces:



Making a small groove to wire/solder the wire that will be going to the driver:







I then drill and tapped the location for the screw that will carry the Bat "-" to the driver:





I then drill a hole in the head that will mechanically keep the heatsink in position:



and then used the head to transfer punch that location to the heatsink:



I then drill and tapped that hole in the heatsink:





then counterbore the hole to make sure the screw head would be flush with the head (to prevent it from contacting the reflector later on):



Having done this one project, I would not do it again this way, but I decided to install a copper disk for the LED:







I left a thin self to help keep the press-fit copper heatsink in place:



I used my long jaw calipers (thanks Barry!) to measure the hole:



and then make a custom thin heatsink from C110 copper:











And here is how it looks once in place once epoxied in place:





Here I am trying the MC-E to line up where I will be doing the milling cuts:



Doing the actual milling cuts (these allow me to position the wires even lower than normal so that they would be even less chance of a short circuit with the metal reflector - I don't want to leave anything to chance):







I used the Barbo copper heatsink (which is perfectly centered in the head as a guide to center and epoxy the emiter to the head:





The reflector is perfect in terms of height, but not diameter-wise, so I need a centering ring:













This was my initial attempt at securing the Bat + to the wire going to the driver. It did not work as good as I hoped, so I did it again (see further below):



I wired the rest of the wires:





Then used thermal tape to provide a thermal path for the driver:







And then I tested the driver (LED being an SST-50 emiter):



Input voltage/current:



Output current going to the LED:



I used epoxy to keep everything in place:



and then tried on the actual head/host:









The AW 26500 cells that the owner wanted to use were a tad larger in DIA than the host (this being a "C" size host), so I bored it out slightly:







I was having some intermitent behavior (more on this shortly), so I added a flat spring to the heatsink body to aid with the Bat "-" connection to the heatsink. I first made a press-fit Delrin collar to keep the heatsink in place safely:



and then cut a groove for the flat spring (yup, the discarded negative contact from a Mag host - how is that for recycling!):







I also cleaned up the tailcap:



I decided I needed a better spring solution as it was not a great match for these cells. I used silver conductive epoxy to attach it to the tailcap:









As I still had the same intermitent contact, I decided to re-do the Bat "+" contact by using a small screw instead, so that meant re-doing that section of the heatsink. Here I am enlarging the hole in the Delrin sleeve to allow for a larger Al center piece :



Here I drilled a side hole and made a small delrin plug to limit the travel of the new Pos plug:



Making the new center Al plug:



















And here are the new pieces:





The scalop edges visible here will provide a mechanical hold for the epoxy to that there can't be any rotational forces that would affect the "+" electrical connection:













And another quick test to make sure everything is still working fine:



I then sealed the head (this is a diving-rated host after all):







Now that I have taken care of the Bat "+" contact, I took care of making a much stronger Bat "-" contact by adding one extra screw between the head and the heatsink, and one additional screw tying the heatsink, the head, and the main tube/body:





After all of these "extra" steps, everything is just solid, perfectly reliable. Since I am doing an SST-50 version of this host for the same customer, the next version will go much quicker and smoother :twothumbs

I took two layers of Kapton tape to further isolate the bottom of the reflector against the LED:





And then used 30min epoxy and Glow powder to attach the reflector to the head:











The host is complete, except for one of the o-rings that I am trying to find, but I have not yet heard back from Barbolight on the right size, but hopefully not much longer - I am sure the owner of this light is very eager to get his hands on it ASAP

Will

Lights being compared:
Bomb-prroof host with cool white P7 DD from 18650 cell (top)
Barbolight U9 with Warm White MC-E and HipCC driven from two AW 26500 cells (bottom)



Bomb-prroof host with cool white P7 DD from 18650 cell (left)
Barbolight U9 with Warm White MC-E and HipCC driven from two AW 26500 cells (right)






Ambient light:



Bomb-prroof host with cool white P7 DD from 18650 cell:



Barbolight U9 with Warm White MC-E and HipCC driven from two AW 26500 cells (bottom)




Ambient light:



Various exposures (1 stop difference). Barbolight U9 with Warm White MC-E and HipCC driven from two AW 26500 cells (on left) and Bomb-prroof host with cool white P7 DD from 18650 cell (on right):

That, sir, is absolutely outstanding!

I am totally in awe of that. You must be a real perfectionist, because not only is the work itself really superb, but you've taken such care to document every stage with those pictures.

Mind blowing! ...and so totally cool! :wow: + :kewlpics:

:wow:

You've got skills, that's for sure! :twothumbs

Thank you guys

As part of the build, while I was trying to find the source of the intermittent connection, I was testing using the AW 26500 cells. However these cells have a fairly thick jacket on top ("+" side), so unless you apply some pressure, you can't get two cells in series to conduct electricity.

The most common solution is to use a small, thin magnet in between the two cells, but if the magnet ever shits with a side impact, it would potentially short the battery to the main tube (since the main tube typically carries "-" charge:



So what I did to help me during my tests is to create these custom fit Delrin spacers that hold a press-fit magnet, which prevents the magnet from moving sideways:







Here the hole is perfect - just a press fit for the magnet:



I then had to cut the Delrin pieces to less than the height of the magnet, or about 0.045" thickness:





I cut a few to test:







Here is a side view:



This is how they look on top of a cell:



and this is how the spacer fits in between the cells:



Now I have them available for future projects using these cells

Will

Amazing work as usual Will. The attention to detail on the smallest parts is what impresses me.

I was thinking about getting some of those small spacers for the AW 26500 cells.

An insane amount of effort went into this! I really appreciate the time you took to make this presentation, and hope the recipient is happy with these!

Wow - very nice project. There is only about $ 1 - 2 K of work into that light.

The new setup has nice output, but I can see why the bomb proof hosts were popular compared to this body.

I am glad to see someone making those battery connection spacers - quite a safety improvement. Maybe you should run off 1,000 of them for all of the demand you will likely get.

If you only got paid for all of the effort / time you put into your projects! Insane job Will!

Fantastic work - and such an enormous pleasure for us mere mortals to read through the step-by-step details. I was fascinated from start to finish, and am full of admiration. Thank you!

I guess the work is OK, given all that junky equipment you have to work with.

:lolsign:


Kidding, of course. As always, an absolutely stunning project and documentation. Having finished my (very simple) first project, I have a better idea just how much effort went into this build and write up.

Truly inspiring. :twothumbs

Hello!

Its always a pleasure to look at your mods! :twothumbs

Nice mod and great write-up Will! :twothumbs

Great Job as usual Will !!


Pablo

Thank you guys

Great build & excellent documentation Will. Looked liked a lot of fun! :thumbsup:

darkzero said:

Great build & excellent documentation Will. Looked liked a lot of fun! :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Thanks Will. Yes, it was fun, specially at the very end when everything comes together

will, got to ask you..why did you make to contacts out of metal (aluminum) and not copper? This would make soldering easier....

just trying to learn....

BTW if CPF had an increased numbers of hits from Greece these past days, it is because I referenced this thread to another forum as THE mod....

kosPap said:

will, got to ask you..why did you make to contacts out of metal (aluminum) and not copper? This would make soldering easier....

just trying to learn....

Click to expand...

Aluminum is just more convenient to me from a machining point of view, but I have to admit that it would be cool to try copper for the SST-50 version that I am doing next for this same customer - something different to try :naughty:

kosPap said:

BTW if CPF had an increased numbers of hits from Greece these past days, it is because I referenced this thread to another forum as THE mod....

Click to expand...

No worries. Glad this post was of interest