Leeoniya
Enlightened
most of you will say: isn't that a gutted Q3?
the answer is "no." however, the q3 pill design was the basis for this pill as far as mechanical design. and it uses MrAl's zetex300 constant current circuit.
it all started in the Flashlight Electronics section. cause i was interested in making the circuit and was interested in the exact part numbers for an inductor and whether it was necessary to wind my own for best results. after 4 pages of discussion about that and other aspects of the circuit, i started improving on the Q3 pill design, in size, efficiency (hopefully), and most importantly: heat dissipation path for electronics and Lux1 emitter.
the Q3 design was a good start but after i opened a Q3 i was puzzled why the aluminum spacer was not in any way attached to the star (probably cause it was designed to be easily modded or serviced) but i didnt like the fact that the star was so loose on a very good thick Al spacer ring that was only serving that purpose (a spacer)
anyways. i thought it would be fitting to transfer the progress of development to this forum since the pill design is now only loosely electronics related since the components have been purchased and the circuit board has been pretty much routed to my specs within a 0.495" diameter.
i decided to merge the ideas of the zetex300 regulation and solid silver heatsinking that was discussed in a thread called "Solid Silver Heatsinks!!!"
the pill construction is as follows:
a sterling silver 0.625" dia. slug is punched from a 10ga. (0.102" thick) silver sheet. it is then drilled for the anode lead of the emitter and an electrically insulating sleeve is inserted into the hole.
aluminum 6061-T6 tube (ID: 0.495" OD: 0.625") is cut to length (roughly 10mm length...this will be finalized once the appropriate inductor is decided upon, since most of the interior of the spacer will be taken up by the inductor)
a round PCB is punched from 1/32" double sided G10-FR4 circuit board material. it is then drilled and etched.
the silver slug is polished and the round pcb is arctic silvered to the bottom of the slug. the components are then soldered on and the emitter's anode is drawn through the insulated sleeve and the hole in the PCB, which is then soldered into place. the cathode of the LED is somehow secured to the top of the slug for grounding.
the lead for the Vin on the contact PCB is soldered onto the the circuit PCB as well as the sense wire and the 2 leads for the inductor.
the circuit is then tuned to the emitter by varying the sense wire length. (a test circuit will be used in place of the emitter to prevent its destruction during the test....in case MrAl ever sees this thread)
onc working, the aluminum spacer is polished on both flat faces and is arctic silvered to the bottom of the silver slug.
the inductor is placed in the spacer, the sense wire is somehow crammed in as well. along with the Vin lead to the contact PCB.
if the circuit is never to be adjusted or tuned, or have the emitter swapped, the remaining empty space in the aluminum spacer is filled with a thermally conductive potting compound.
the contact PCB is then arctic silvered to the bottom of the spacer.
this pill should have superior heat dissipation, especially if mated to an aluminum body of a flashlight. the circuit heat will be dissipated through the potting compound and the emitter heat will go to the spacer and out to the flashlight body through the silver heatsink.
it think i have everything covered. enough talk. now for a pic of work in progress. what you see is 3 inductors that didnt make the cut due to size restrictions. as far as specs go, the axial is the most impressive, followed by the radial, and trailed by the surface mount.
i have 2 on the way that should come quite close to the specs and fit into the spacer. they both look like the surface mount one sitting on the contact pcb in the photo, just slightly smaller, and much better.
full res
questions, comments, opinions welcomed.
Leon
the answer is "no." however, the q3 pill design was the basis for this pill as far as mechanical design. and it uses MrAl's zetex300 constant current circuit.
it all started in the Flashlight Electronics section. cause i was interested in making the circuit and was interested in the exact part numbers for an inductor and whether it was necessary to wind my own for best results. after 4 pages of discussion about that and other aspects of the circuit, i started improving on the Q3 pill design, in size, efficiency (hopefully), and most importantly: heat dissipation path for electronics and Lux1 emitter.
the Q3 design was a good start but after i opened a Q3 i was puzzled why the aluminum spacer was not in any way attached to the star (probably cause it was designed to be easily modded or serviced) but i didnt like the fact that the star was so loose on a very good thick Al spacer ring that was only serving that purpose (a spacer)
anyways. i thought it would be fitting to transfer the progress of development to this forum since the pill design is now only loosely electronics related since the components have been purchased and the circuit board has been pretty much routed to my specs within a 0.495" diameter.
i decided to merge the ideas of the zetex300 regulation and solid silver heatsinking that was discussed in a thread called "Solid Silver Heatsinks!!!"
the pill construction is as follows:
a sterling silver 0.625" dia. slug is punched from a 10ga. (0.102" thick) silver sheet. it is then drilled for the anode lead of the emitter and an electrically insulating sleeve is inserted into the hole.
aluminum 6061-T6 tube (ID: 0.495" OD: 0.625") is cut to length (roughly 10mm length...this will be finalized once the appropriate inductor is decided upon, since most of the interior of the spacer will be taken up by the inductor)
a round PCB is punched from 1/32" double sided G10-FR4 circuit board material. it is then drilled and etched.
the silver slug is polished and the round pcb is arctic silvered to the bottom of the slug. the components are then soldered on and the emitter's anode is drawn through the insulated sleeve and the hole in the PCB, which is then soldered into place. the cathode of the LED is somehow secured to the top of the slug for grounding.
the lead for the Vin on the contact PCB is soldered onto the the circuit PCB as well as the sense wire and the 2 leads for the inductor.
the circuit is then tuned to the emitter by varying the sense wire length. (a test circuit will be used in place of the emitter to prevent its destruction during the test....in case MrAl ever sees this thread)
onc working, the aluminum spacer is polished on both flat faces and is arctic silvered to the bottom of the silver slug.
the inductor is placed in the spacer, the sense wire is somehow crammed in as well. along with the Vin lead to the contact PCB.
if the circuit is never to be adjusted or tuned, or have the emitter swapped, the remaining empty space in the aluminum spacer is filled with a thermally conductive potting compound.
the contact PCB is then arctic silvered to the bottom of the spacer.
this pill should have superior heat dissipation, especially if mated to an aluminum body of a flashlight. the circuit heat will be dissipated through the potting compound and the emitter heat will go to the spacer and out to the flashlight body through the silver heatsink.
it think i have everything covered. enough talk. now for a pic of work in progress. what you see is 3 inductors that didnt make the cut due to size restrictions. as far as specs go, the axial is the most impressive, followed by the radial, and trailed by the surface mount.
i have 2 on the way that should come quite close to the specs and fit into the spacer. they both look like the surface mount one sitting on the contact pcb in the photo, just slightly smaller, and much better.
full res
questions, comments, opinions welcomed.
Leon
