SST-50 direct drive question

charlestt · May 7, 2011

Hi guys i've built a sst-50 light from an on maglite its running 3 tenergy 5000mah c cells in a direct drive configuration but i'm only getting 2 amps from the tail cap ! does this seem right ? i thought it would be pulling something like 5 amps..

The batteries are pretty new only having around 3 cycles on them if that makes any difference..

Thanks for any help

Charles

alpg88 · May 7, 2011

it does sound strange, could it be resistance of components? like thin springs, wires, ..etc.
unfortunatly without seeing the whole pic, we can't really pin point problem.

charlestt · May 7, 2011

ok i'll get some pics up.. i am using a standard mag spring just cut down.

mcbrat · Jun 10, 2015

yes, dragging up an old thread, but I'm trying to understand one of my lights. It also has a SST-50 in Direct Drive, and is also just pulling 2 amps on an IMR 16340

not sure if it's because of the bin/temp of the emitter? mines a 4500k with a purple/yellow tint...

bigchelis · Jun 12, 2015

mcbrat said:
yes, dragging up an old thread, but I'm trying to understand one of my lights. It also has a SST-50 in Direct Drive, and is also just pulling 2 amps on an IMR 16340

not sure if it's because of the bin/temp of the emitter? mines a 4500k with a purple/yellow tint...

SST-50 and SST-90 need to be BURN-IN:

You can try burn it it in. Like push it for split seconds at a time with 4 NiMH or 5 NiMH cells. Sounds silly; but doing this half a dozen times when you go back to just a single 4.2V input you will notice your 2A improve drastically. This happened to be the exact same process I did on my SST-90 builds too.

If you had a power supply feed it 5V inputs for split second bursts.

bigC

Epsilon · Jun 12, 2015

That, and the higher Vf vs a XM-L(2) with a 16340 cell will never produce 5A in direct drive. Well, at least not for long (which makes them ideal for direct drive really, because it will always be safe).

If you can upgrade to 18350 cell that would help

mcbrat · Jun 12, 2015

Thanks. Contemplating sending it off to get bored.

SST-50 direct drive question

charlestt

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alpg88

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charlestt

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mcbrat

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bigchelis

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Epsilon

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mcbrat

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