I'm totally new to lights. I have a basic knowledge of electronics and electrical circuits and have some experience with wiring and tinkering. I also have a decent understanding of Li-ion cells and wiring battery packs (I am currently powering my living space with 2 48v Li-ion packs that I made).
I want to build my first dive light. I never enter overhead environments and I still don't dive at night, but the water in my area usually has low vis and I want to start bringing a light with me (to recreational depths). I bought The Dive Light Companion and it is a really cool book, but it barely has any info on LED lights. I've spent some time over the last few days reading here on the forum and watching YouTube videos trying to learn what I can about LED flashlights. With the info about building lights from PVC in TDLC and the info I have gathered reading and watching videos I think I have most of the knowledge I need to start making my first light. I am not looking to make anything that will last forever or anything that will impress anyone with how pretty it is. I just want to make a light the gives a decent amount of light and that will give me some hands on experience building these things. Later down the road I can get more advanced and detail oriented.
I think I found a good LED/driver combo. Will these work together? https://www.lightmalls.com/20mm-cree-xhp50-j4-6500k-6v-led-emitter-start-with-a-20mm-copper-base https://www.lightmalls.com/6-9v-5a-...-flashlight-circuit-board-for-xhp5-mtg2-xhp70
Then I could use 3 18650's in series and instead of wiring together a pack and shrink wrapping it I could just have them stacked inline in a holder or something along the light for easy removal and charging. If this woudn't be a good choice could someone please give me some suggestions? Is this website a decent one to order these parts from?
On another note I don't understand something (possibly many things) about how drivers work. Specifically with a reed switch. If an LED has 5 modes and you use a 5 mode driver, how do you activate the different modes with a reed switch? Is it something where every time you cycle power it goes through a different mode? Also, what should one look for in a reed switch? They all seem to be low voltage switched that I see for sale, but I haven't found one that states what that voltage is.
Anyway I'm sure I've left some questions out, but my head is spinning just a tad from all of the different information I have been trying to absorb. I am hoping that this combo will be enough for me to throw together a light to get me started down the path of light building. Thanks for reading and responding.
I want to build my first dive light. I never enter overhead environments and I still don't dive at night, but the water in my area usually has low vis and I want to start bringing a light with me (to recreational depths). I bought The Dive Light Companion and it is a really cool book, but it barely has any info on LED lights. I've spent some time over the last few days reading here on the forum and watching YouTube videos trying to learn what I can about LED flashlights. With the info about building lights from PVC in TDLC and the info I have gathered reading and watching videos I think I have most of the knowledge I need to start making my first light. I am not looking to make anything that will last forever or anything that will impress anyone with how pretty it is. I just want to make a light the gives a decent amount of light and that will give me some hands on experience building these things. Later down the road I can get more advanced and detail oriented.
I think I found a good LED/driver combo. Will these work together? https://www.lightmalls.com/20mm-cree-xhp50-j4-6500k-6v-led-emitter-start-with-a-20mm-copper-base https://www.lightmalls.com/6-9v-5a-...-flashlight-circuit-board-for-xhp5-mtg2-xhp70
Then I could use 3 18650's in series and instead of wiring together a pack and shrink wrapping it I could just have them stacked inline in a holder or something along the light for easy removal and charging. If this woudn't be a good choice could someone please give me some suggestions? Is this website a decent one to order these parts from?
On another note I don't understand something (possibly many things) about how drivers work. Specifically with a reed switch. If an LED has 5 modes and you use a 5 mode driver, how do you activate the different modes with a reed switch? Is it something where every time you cycle power it goes through a different mode? Also, what should one look for in a reed switch? They all seem to be low voltage switched that I see for sale, but I haven't found one that states what that voltage is.
Anyway I'm sure I've left some questions out, but my head is spinning just a tad from all of the different information I have been trying to absorb. I am hoping that this combo will be enough for me to throw together a light to get me started down the path of light building. Thanks for reading and responding.