DIY arc LS circuit

shiftd

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Hi all. As we all know, arc circuit boards have been very rare since forever, so i thought, why not make your own circuit that is as perfectly functional and fit to the light as an arc original circuit. A couple ideas have come and go. But i finally decided on this design (idea) simply because of its relative simplicity and fairly cheap parts (not including lux and the circuit).
here are the parts that you will need (note, lux is not included in the pic, forgot about it when taking the pic):

parts.JPG


as you can see, the parts are really few, only 4. As a note, there are 2 kinds of retaining rings. the newer ones have a bit thinner overall thickness which makes the process a bit harder as a whole, but not much. the one shown on the pic is the newer one. it is yellowish in color, while the older one is silver in color. Also, you can take basically ANY board that fit into the hole of the retaining ring. Anyway, enuff rambling.

stack them together like the pic below:

stacked.JPG


You can use the board (in this case, i use BB) as it is and epoxy to the sink without further modification but then you will end up with a bit (about 2 mm) higher of the overall setup height, which might make your pack cannot screw fully. So, if you don't want that, you have to bore the heatsink a bit. Bore the sink so the inductor of the board can stick into the sink. to prevent short, epoxy the inductor to insulate it. the hardest part in this whole setup is to make sure you have proper and reliable ground. there are a lot of ways to do this, like making a couple of smaller holes into the sink and just wind the ground wire between the holes and the sink holes. As you can see on the pic above, i cut some of the penny's part so one of the hole in the sink is accessible for winding purpose.

after you make sure your board is working, and you have proper ground, epoxy the whole thing together.
below is the end result (again, not pretty but working anyway). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

done_front.JPG


done_back.JPG




A note. as i said above, using newer ring will make it harder for the mod. This is because ... (i don't know how to say it) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif . needless to say, it makes screwing the sink to the pack a bit harder, but that also applies to original circuit, so no difference there /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif


i believe this design has the same, if not better heat transfer than original circuit design, where there are 4 heat contact from lux to the flashlight body. In this design, there is only 3 contact point, with the middle being bridged by epoxy.

well, question, comment, critics are all welcome. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

AilSnail

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Great stuff, shift. Innit thicker than the acr board?

PS for sure it looks like it has better heat transfer. the stock arc looks like a thermal trap.
 

jtice

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DAMN FINE JOB SHIFTY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

You went the same route Im going, but you pulled it off without a lathe or machinery ! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif

Very good creative thinking, this is what its all about, comming up with "out of the box" thinking.

Keep it up shift, you are inspiration to the less fortunate members that lack the machinery required for alot of these mods.

-John
 

shiftd

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thanks for the kind word snale and ticey.
i am just go with the cheapest route, you know, when you lack the resources, your mind think for the best and cheapest possible resources. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

tvodrd

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/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif (sorry I couldn't help with the HA /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif .)

Larry
 

paulr

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Note that all pennies made since 1982 are copper-colored zinc, and are lousy heat sinks in addition to being a pain to drill. Earlier pennies are 95% copper so you might want to spend an extra few moments looking through your change for older pennies, if you want to make more of these mods.
 

Justintoxicated

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looks like you used a 1999 there :p

Nice mod anyhow! I wanna do a penny mod still /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
paulr - I thought new pennies just had less copper? your saying they are solid zinc?
 

shiftd

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Larry, don't worry about it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif . You helped me a lot already, dood.
paulr, true. for this mod, i am using *any* sink that i can find, and i twisted my finger already /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
so far, the copper helds quite well in transfering the heat that the head becomes warm.
justox, how can you tell? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
neg2, thanx /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

Justintoxicated

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I could tell by the traces of copper after your flattened the HS in the 3rd pic, only a 1999 would look that way. that and if you look really close you can still see the date stamped into the coin!

Ok j/k I was looking at your sample first pic :p
 

cy

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Looking good shifd! looking thin

Be sure and figure out a front support. to be reliable it must withstand the tremendous forces generated by the screwing action of a twisty.
 

shiftd

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Cy, this DIY circuit is made based on original arc circuit, so the support is basically similar to arc but with more twist added to it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif. if you epoxy the whole pack like the last pic above, the strength then will be much greater than original arc board in that it is the epoxy that will hold the circuit in place.
in the original arc board, the retaining ring only prevent the sink from going downward, but the pressure from battery will instead press it upward. So if you twist too hard, either the battery will be crushed or the board will get pressed upward and instead crush the luxeon to the optic (or reflector).
In this DIY however, the epoxy at the bottom of the sink will keep the sink intact so it all will depend on the strength of the epoxy that you are using. So, when you twist the pack reaaall hard, it is either the battery that got crushed or (much unlikely) your epoxy break out and then your lux will get crushed.

I believe the presence of the epoxy to hold the set up in place is a LOT better compared to nothing in the original arc board.
 

milkyspit

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[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
Note that all pennies made since 1982 are copper-colored zinc, and are lousy heat sinks in addition to being a pain to drill. Earlier pennies are 95% copper so you might want to spend an extra few moments looking through your change for older pennies, if you want to make more of these mods.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point, Paul.

It's worth mentioning that another way to get a pre-1982 penny would be through a coin collecting dealer, show, flea market, etc. I haven't checked prices lately, but I'd suspect a typical dealer would sell a penny from the 1970s for perhaps 25 cents... and sometimes they'll sell a bulk lot of old pennies in poor condition (by coin collector standards) for ridiculously low prices! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The irony here is that a penny considered to be in poor condition for coin collecting is typically one on which the raised details have been worn away, but for heatsinking standards that means they'll be BETTER suited for our purposes, as less work will be necessary to get them totally smooth. For some reason I think that's pretty humorous. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

As for the pricing... I'd suspect that compared to buying a "real" copper heatsink or having one machined, the copper penny approach even when bought from a coin dealer represents a much better deal. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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