Recomendations for an LED driver & other parts.

Hello Ya'll,

I've been doing a little reading, starting the research for my first custom flashlight build. I'm starting with a Maglite 6D body or possibly a 3C body. 2 x 26650 cells for power, I know I'd have to build a sleeve for the D body or bore the C body. For the emitter, I want a Cree XM-L2 T6, unless there is a better recommendation. I will use the factory Maglite reflector for now, but would like to either find or make on that's shaped for longer distance-tight beam throw. I have my own lathe so making the aluminum slug work is not an issue. I still need to find a Pyrex lens or something the like for the business end.

But the biggest thing I'm not to sure about is the driver. I would like 3-4 brightness modes, strobe and/or sos, with memory, and voltage monitor warning. If its all possible in a combo. Wanting high power output of 800-1k+ lumens.

If any of you guys could please help me out with some recommendations I would really appreciate the help. Thanks,

Don

Not a single recommendation at all, not even for a basic driver for a build like this that others have built here? Am I asking this in the wrong section or what?

Well, the requirements for your driver is quite hard to find. To get 1000 lumen+, you would at the least need to look at a driver that can put out 2.8A, such as the 8x7135 ones. The problem here is that most pre-made drivers are for a single Li-ion battery as they are usually made for P60 dropins.
Maybe a custom driver such as "Dr Jones drivers" will have something that fits?

Take a look at Taskled. Not cheap but the best drivers available! Host: Maglite2D/3D, LED: XM-L2; 2x26650 cells, b3Flex driver. You definitely won't be disappointed. You will need some time to study the manual. No SOS or Strobe.

Thank you for the help, much appreciated! Or if I may ask, what would be a good driver to work with a 2 x 26650 cell setup with a Cree xm-l2, and possibly a driver with 3 brightness modes and a voltage check? This will be my first build and I have been reading some here and there, just trying to get some ideas. Thanks, Don.

Fasttech and IOS both carry 3 amp 2- lithium cell drivers that are 3 mode or 5 modes including strobe and sos. Make sure you really pot the electronics well so they can dissipate heat; do not use the "thermal pads" that come with them, as they are not sufficient. Both drivers have low voltage cutoff. These drivers are a much cheaper option than the b3flex, but also lower quality.

Boomer8404 said:

Thank you for the help, much appreciated! Or if I may ask, what would be a good driver to work with a 2 x 26650 cell setup with a Cree xm-l2, and possibly a driver with 3 brightness modes and a voltage check? This will be my first build and I have been reading some here and there, just trying to get some ideas. Thanks, Don.

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Like said in my previous post, Taskled b3Flex.