My first PVC + Osram LED build with 2" glass lens

Well this is the first build I've completed. I have not yet threaded the inside to allow for smoother focusing of the beam, but for now it does what it's supposed to. And accidentally, it's waterproof :huh:
I'll post some beam shots tonight. Supposed to be a little foggy, so let's hope for lightsaber time!

As I haven't yet completely educated myself as to power needs, I simply took to driver setup that was already built for this Osram in the headlamp I took it out of and ran with it. I stuck 4 AAs in the handle and called it done. I am certain I could cut the size on this bad boy way down save for the need for a 2" head to house the lens. Performance-wise all I know is that looking at it is a bad idea, and at about 20 feet it projects a perfect blowup picture of the face of the lit LED that is about 6"x6", and at 250' the square is roughly 4' x 4'.

Here are a couple "guts" shots for those of you who know what you're looking at. I'm just a guy ripping apart headlamps and stripping LEDs and drivers (At least for now while I consult "Fun With LEDs for Dummies") :duh2:

Cool build Jim! Where did you get the aspheric lens?

I've got tons of them. 2", 3" and 4". I work in the auto industry, specifically with about 200 repair shops in Houston, TX. Well, these lamps are sold as full assemblies, so I have regular and frequent access to the guts of the lamps when they are damaged in auto accidents. Basically, HID, ballasts, all sorts of LEDs and pre-made driver builds. My very first build was what I call the "Light Cannon" around the house. It's a PVC housing, pieced together like a shoulder-fired rocked with the ballast mounted on top, and an HID bulb and 4" aspheric lens in the front. That one really annoys the neighbors. I also have a ton of lens from DLP TVs that I have scavenged off of craigslist. Basically I upcycle all my parts as it's more fun for me to build a lamp like the one above for a total cost of $12.87. I can already feel the "brightbug" growing inside of me though, and I'm sure I'll be on superbrightleds.com before long dropping a few bills to try and blind myself.

I have a bunch of photos of some of the stuff I have access to on this thread here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-A-newbie-with-toys-he-doesn-t-understand-yet-)


As a side note, I have not installed any kind of reflector on this piece yet, so I'm sure that I'm losing a ton of light even though this emitter doesn't have a very wide viewing angle. I just love the little square it puts on my neighbors garage at 250'. The lens is absolutely awesome on such a tiny light source. I'll try a couple reflectors I have laying around the garage and post up beam pics tonight to see how it changes the beam.

First of all, WOW! "Tons of 2", 3" and 4" aspherics!!!" A plethora of free parts and a well stocked shop is the dream of every modder. My hat is off to you sir!

Secondly, Don't worry about a reflector. It won't add anything to an aspheric build. Most important is proper centering and precise focus of the LED to the lens. Another concern is making sure you are driving your LED hard enough and have good heatsinking. Keep the Pics and builds coming Jim. This is fun stuff!

Right now it's heatsinking off of a finned aluminum sink that I trimmed down to fit inside the 1.5" PVC coupling. It is basically hanging free inside the PVC, with only the top mounted portion touching the PVC. I originally was concerned about the PVC melting, however after 20 minutes left on, I disassembled it and only felt hot air inside, but the PVC was only warm and the sink was hot to the touch. No melting or discoloration as of yet anyways.

As far as power supply I'm only just now getting into playing with these things. So the extent of my electrical analysis was "Well, it is setup to run off a 12V car battery, so I supposed 4 AAs ought not to burn anything up" lol. I tested it with a couple cordless drill batteries, all 12v of different AH, and didn't see any noticeble difference in brightness. I had originally planned on putting 8 AA Alkalines in it, but when I did the dry run it noticed no difference in brightness, so I left it at 4 AAs alkalines. The nice part is that I get to use the drivers that the auto industry has already set up for me, so I don't have to worry about much in the way of mathematics (which I'm not afraid of, I just have very little idea of where to start).

With my "parts bucket" comes some difficulty in that a lot of the setups I have free access to are multiple drivers and LEDS run off of a single board to which it all mounts. So to downsize and fit into more hand-held applications, I need to learn more about what parts on the board I need to de-solder and pair with the matching LEDs .

I hear ya. Perhaps you can get some input from some of our resident electrical geniuses. Eventually the right folks will see your threads.

Ok I got some shots out in front tonight. They aren't great as it's cloudy and there is a lot of ambient light, but they are mainly thrower shots so no biggie.

This is the side splash shot (thinking about putting a hood on it to avoid so much side splash)



This one is control


This is 96' with pinpoint focus followed by the flood setting.



Thats it for now. If I get some better ones later I'll replace these. I'm hoping cloud cover moves on

You need a lux-meter!!!

The_Driver said:

You need a lux-meter!!!

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