Introducing an unnamed light

I am making a prototype of this light and just wondered what you guys think. Should I make a production run of these?







The specs of the prototype:
Body made of Mesquite wood.
The tailcap is made of mahogany
The lense is a 32mm borofloat lense. The lense is held in place using Neodymium magnets.
The tailcap is the switch, each 90* turn causes 3 different brightness levels as each emitter is switched on [off], [80], [160], [240] lumen settings. The tailcap is held to the body using neodymium magnets.
battery is a 18650 Li-Ion battery held in place with Neodymium magnets.
emitters are 3x 3 watt CREE X-Lamps.
The reflectors are 17mm IMS reflectors.
Run times expected for low, med, high: 120, 80, 40 mins.

Forseeable downfalls:
I'm still not certain what driver circuit to use.
The current design is not water tight, I would like to make this at least survive a (Small) dunk.
the 240 lumen setting may run a bit hot.
Dont get this thing too close to magnetic storage media such as VHS tapes and flopy disks.

Cost: $200
Including battery and charger: $220-250
If I made a production run would anyone be interested?

I have a few questions before proceeding with this prototype:

Does the cree 3 watt LED work with the 17mm IMS reflector?

Assuming my battery is a 18650 Li-Ion What converter should I use to run a 3 watt cree?

Can I run three of these cree LEDs in paralell off one converter?

The image links do not work.

Hi - Interesting design.

Just couple of comments / suggestions
- The rare earth magnets are cool, but I think you need to find an alternative method of holding it together. Seal it if you need to, but I found out a lot of complexities when I looked into shipping magnets. - very challenging actually.
- You might want to check the LED / reflector combo. Might be ok, but others might be more Cree specific.
- 3 x 3 watts = nominal 9 watts. Lots of power and lots of wood. It will look good, but make sure you don't push those LEDs very hard - maybe 500ma.

These things tend to evolve their way to great ideas. Keep it coming.

The rare earth magnets are cool, but I think you need to find an alternative method of holding it together. Seal it if you need to, but I found out a lot of complexities when I looked into shipping magnets. - very challenging actually.

Click to expand...

Can you explain a little more about this problem?


I'm going to add some finning or at least rough sand the surface of the aluminum to create better heat disipation. I read somones study in this forum which proved that roughed aluminum could disipate at least twice (2-4 times dont quite remember) the heat as polished AL. I suspect that running all 3 emitters at once would still be on the hot side.

Anyone have a suggestion for the driving circuit and reflector?

As far as the "lens" being held on magnetically, I would suggest just using a quality RTV that matches the finish. The need to access the LED is relatively rare, and if an upgrade is needed, RTV is easy enough to remove, but tough enough to stay in place.

I looked at using magnets to hold on the tailcap of my 2 x CR2 light. It will work, but there are some substantial shipping restrictions on packages with magnetic fields - in some ways much more stringent than Li batteries.

I have had enough credit / ATM cards accidentally wiped out my a stray field to be sensitive to the issue, regardless of the benefit. I would suggest finding an alternative holding method.

Regardless of performance, there is substantial personal liability selling a light intended for use with a bare 18650. I would market it as a R Li Ion cell light, but for a particular protected cell. The CPFrs that understand what they are doing will convert it on their own, but taking you off the hook.

For a converter, I would consider the Fatman converter from taskled.com. Just put the 3 LEDs in series. IIRC, there is a way to access the I out control resistor location, allowing the different levels you are seeking. George will happily help you.

I would suggest just using a quality RTV that matches the finish

Click to expand...

What is RTV?

I have already ordered the magnets. Upon recieving them I will test and see if they can erase my Bank of America ATM card.

jashhash said:

What is RTV?

I have already ordered the magnets. Upon recieving them I will test and see if they can erase my Bank of America ATM card.

Click to expand...

Rest assured, you can. The only question is how close you can get before it starts to erase it.

Daniel

RTV = silicone sealant = fancy caulk.