richardcpf
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- May 23, 2008
- Messages
- 1,281
Not exactly a flashlight but I think it is considered DIY.
I am a big fans of everything that is portable, speakers, chargers, flashlights, etc. Although I have tons of small portable charges and usb charging cables, I havent be able to find one with high capacity and that work flawlessly with most devices. Few months ago I paid $130 for a Xpal 18000 charger which brokw within 5 days with no reason, shipped it twice back but the problem persisted, this charger had a 70w battery but the lack of more usb ports for parallel charging made it work just like any small charger.
So I recently acquired an 12v (11.1v nominal) 9000mah li-ion battery pack for $50. It consist on 3 rectangular li-ion cell in series, with IN/OUT ports, a on/off switch and a overcharge/discharge protection circuit. Comes with a 350mah output smart charger which stops charging at 12.65v (4.215 each cell). This battery pack is designed to use with CCTV cameras (10 watts consumption) in power outages, not for heavy drain applications such as HID lights, but I think it will have no problem delivering 0.2C, about 20 watts. As for now it had no problem powering led strips, the eagletac m2cx4 head, rc car (high drain), and powering my wireless modem.
Here is a quick shot of it powering the duracell smart charger with eneloops
This charger kit will go in my pelican 1050 case, or the S3 T5000 along with survival and first aid kits. And lots of flashlight, batteries and knives.
What I try to build is an portable emergency AIO charger based on removable "modules":
1. USB charging module.
4x USB ports, able to deliver 5v 700mah each port, and charge all 4 devices at the same time. I decided to go with 12v car socket usb chargers, they sell for $3 at DX and have perform perfectly in my 3 months of usage. I will only use the internal circuity, they are pretty efficienct at 82-87% and will perform even at a low voltage of 7.4v (buck circuit). There will be usb cables and tips to charge nearly any device that needs 5v.
2. High output area lighting module.
An area lighting system with at least 500 lumens, will probably go for led strips, or a multihead flashlight with xpg and wide optics (inverted gorillapod). Will not be a flashlight because I already have enough, but it would work like one.
3. Li-ion charging module.
A 18650 charger that will work with 12v input. If the battery pack specs are real, it should be able to charge 8 times a 18650 before going empty, while the size and weight of it is equivalent to only 4 or 5 of the cilindricals. I think with only 4 18650s and a decent flashlight one could get enough light to survive for a month. It is also possible to connect anything that needs 12v, one could charge a cordless drill on the go.
If everything goes as planned, this charger will be able to provide:
-~20x cellphone charges (fully charge a 1000mah battery), or
-~8x 18650 charges, or
-60 lumens for 4 hours per day, for ~30 days.
I already ordered all the parts, so I will keep you informed. The only thing I fear is that the battery could fail, even if it looks well built and I can read a healthy li-ion pack. I paid $50 for 100 watts, I doubt one could get a cheaper equivalent li-ion battery.
I am a big fans of everything that is portable, speakers, chargers, flashlights, etc. Although I have tons of small portable charges and usb charging cables, I havent be able to find one with high capacity and that work flawlessly with most devices. Few months ago I paid $130 for a Xpal 18000 charger which brokw within 5 days with no reason, shipped it twice back but the problem persisted, this charger had a 70w battery but the lack of more usb ports for parallel charging made it work just like any small charger.
So I recently acquired an 12v (11.1v nominal) 9000mah li-ion battery pack for $50. It consist on 3 rectangular li-ion cell in series, with IN/OUT ports, a on/off switch and a overcharge/discharge protection circuit. Comes with a 350mah output smart charger which stops charging at 12.65v (4.215 each cell). This battery pack is designed to use with CCTV cameras (10 watts consumption) in power outages, not for heavy drain applications such as HID lights, but I think it will have no problem delivering 0.2C, about 20 watts. As for now it had no problem powering led strips, the eagletac m2cx4 head, rc car (high drain), and powering my wireless modem.
Here is a quick shot of it powering the duracell smart charger with eneloops
This charger kit will go in my pelican 1050 case, or the S3 T5000 along with survival and first aid kits. And lots of flashlight, batteries and knives.
What I try to build is an portable emergency AIO charger based on removable "modules":
1. USB charging module.
4x USB ports, able to deliver 5v 700mah each port, and charge all 4 devices at the same time. I decided to go with 12v car socket usb chargers, they sell for $3 at DX and have perform perfectly in my 3 months of usage. I will only use the internal circuity, they are pretty efficienct at 82-87% and will perform even at a low voltage of 7.4v (buck circuit). There will be usb cables and tips to charge nearly any device that needs 5v.
2. High output area lighting module.
An area lighting system with at least 500 lumens, will probably go for led strips, or a multihead flashlight with xpg and wide optics (inverted gorillapod). Will not be a flashlight because I already have enough, but it would work like one.
3. Li-ion charging module.
A 18650 charger that will work with 12v input. If the battery pack specs are real, it should be able to charge 8 times a 18650 before going empty, while the size and weight of it is equivalent to only 4 or 5 of the cilindricals. I think with only 4 18650s and a decent flashlight one could get enough light to survive for a month. It is also possible to connect anything that needs 12v, one could charge a cordless drill on the go.
If everything goes as planned, this charger will be able to provide:
-~20x cellphone charges (fully charge a 1000mah battery), or
-~8x 18650 charges, or
-60 lumens for 4 hours per day, for ~30 days.
I already ordered all the parts, so I will keep you informed. The only thing I fear is that the battery could fail, even if it looks well built and I can read a healthy li-ion pack. I paid $50 for 100 watts, I doubt one could get a cheaper equivalent li-ion battery.
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