BlackAndChrome
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2010
- Messages
- 19
A while back I was looking into modding a maglite. After a pretty long break I was cruising DealExtreme looking for some LEDs for a binary clock I am working on. Well my interest has since come back, but I decided rather than just talking about doing it I was actually going to do it this time. I did a few more than a few hours of research around the forum and interwebs and hopefully made good choices on the LEDs. So here is what I bought.
15943 Cree XR-E R2 (WG) Emitter on Premium Star
25505 1.5V~4.2V 3W Cree Circuit Board for Flashlights (16.7mm*5.6mm) (X2)
02394 Cree XR-E Q5 Emitter on Premium Star (228LM at 1A)
26110 18V 5W Cree Circuit Board for Flashlights (16.8mm*5.5mm)
25231 52.8mm Replacement Glass Lens for Flashlights (5-Pack)
So how'd I do?
Now if my research proved correct the only different between the Q5 and the R2 is that the R2 is slightly more efficient, so I figured I might as well get one of each to mix things up a little.
I've got two lights that I want to mod. One of them is a 3D maglite and the other is a craftsman (typical 9 LED 3AAA light) but it is sturdy and can be dismantled and heatsinked to respectable degree.
I picked up some 1.5 aluminum rod stock to turn into a heatsink and possibly a conical reflector for the smaller light, that is when I get back in town the weekend.
I figured I would use the Q5 ad the 18v driver in the maglite because I wouldn't have to really worry about how efficient it is since it will have a large heatsink and a fairly big battery. The R2 and one of the 4.2 volt drivers will go in the mini light since any extra efficiency helps, and I can use 3 rechargeable AAAs in the 3 cell holder (or maybe a CR123A later).
Since heat is obviously the largest issue in a big light in a small body how much safe runtime do you think I'll get out of the R2 before the body gets hot? The heatsink will be about 2.5cm diameter and 1.5cm deep although it will tie into the rest of the aluminum body so a little thicker. I guess I'm anticipating changing the sense resistor, or perhaps it's not needed? First time experience with Hi Power LEDs.
Another question I had was about the driver boards. Is there any reason why you can't trim the sense resistor? As in a 20ohm trim across a 1ohm resistor in series with the factory resistor (trim||1ohm--.2ohm). For a dimming function in the small light obviously.
Now here's my idiot question. How do you wire the drivers to the LEDs? Primarily regarding the input voltage. The presoldered wires are red to LED+ and Black to LED- but where to the inputs go? Is that the rings on the back, + to center and - to outer ring (that would be the most convenient anyway)?
Thanks,
-Nick
15943 Cree XR-E R2 (WG) Emitter on Premium Star
25505 1.5V~4.2V 3W Cree Circuit Board for Flashlights (16.7mm*5.6mm) (X2)
02394 Cree XR-E Q5 Emitter on Premium Star (228LM at 1A)
26110 18V 5W Cree Circuit Board for Flashlights (16.8mm*5.5mm)
25231 52.8mm Replacement Glass Lens for Flashlights (5-Pack)
So how'd I do?
Now if my research proved correct the only different between the Q5 and the R2 is that the R2 is slightly more efficient, so I figured I might as well get one of each to mix things up a little.
I've got two lights that I want to mod. One of them is a 3D maglite and the other is a craftsman (typical 9 LED 3AAA light) but it is sturdy and can be dismantled and heatsinked to respectable degree.
I picked up some 1.5 aluminum rod stock to turn into a heatsink and possibly a conical reflector for the smaller light, that is when I get back in town the weekend.
I figured I would use the Q5 ad the 18v driver in the maglite because I wouldn't have to really worry about how efficient it is since it will have a large heatsink and a fairly big battery. The R2 and one of the 4.2 volt drivers will go in the mini light since any extra efficiency helps, and I can use 3 rechargeable AAAs in the 3 cell holder (or maybe a CR123A later).
Since heat is obviously the largest issue in a big light in a small body how much safe runtime do you think I'll get out of the R2 before the body gets hot? The heatsink will be about 2.5cm diameter and 1.5cm deep although it will tie into the rest of the aluminum body so a little thicker. I guess I'm anticipating changing the sense resistor, or perhaps it's not needed? First time experience with Hi Power LEDs.
Another question I had was about the driver boards. Is there any reason why you can't trim the sense resistor? As in a 20ohm trim across a 1ohm resistor in series with the factory resistor (trim||1ohm--.2ohm). For a dimming function in the small light obviously.
Now here's my idiot question. How do you wire the drivers to the LEDs? Primarily regarding the input voltage. The presoldered wires are red to LED+ and Black to LED- but where to the inputs go? Is that the rings on the back, + to center and - to outer ring (that would be the most convenient anyway)?
Thanks,
-Nick
