103 Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

[Enderman]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

I beg to differ on your over generalization of the performance of high Powered well focused HiD at say 70 to 85 watts getting more than 115 lumens per watt, still better than high Powered LED efficacy. That's 8000 to 10,000 well focused lumens and more practical for real life use than short arc which can be focused even more tightly.

Well, LEDs can do more than 115lm/W, and they can do more than 10,000 lumens, and short arc and LEP can do more throw.
HID is just a middle ground in between all of them, it doesn't win at any one thing.

 

[XeRay]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Well, LEDs can do more than 115lm/W, and they can do more than 10,000 lumens, and short arc and LEP can do more throw.
HID is just a middle ground in between all of them, it doesn't win at any one thing.

Well, heat management is much less of an issue for HID than for high Powered LED.

 

[BVH]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Maybe we can all agree that all of them are fun to play with and make life interesting.

 

[XeRay]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Maybe we can all agree that all of them are fun to play with and make life interesting.

Kudos BVH, for cutting through all the opinion, posturing and dogmatism, thank you for your fair objectivity. A "scholar and a gentleman" !!

 

[djans1397]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Fantastically awesome pic!!

Took this a few weeks ago when I tested the new lamp. Pretty long exposure, but I deserve to have some fun :santa:[/QUOTE]

 

[PolarLi]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Thanks!

 

[The_Driver]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Any updates?

 

[PolarLi]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

I hope I will have it up and running during a week or so. So I needed to redo the backplate layout with holes for a DC meter and a DC breaker. I also changed the fan layout because the light will run cooler now. While I did that, I also knew I had a big order for some other laser cut alu parts comming up, so I just paused this project, and waited til the other parts were ready to save on shipping. Today I actually received it from the anodizing shop:

 

[The_Driver]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Looks nice and neat!

 

[PolarLi]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Thanks. Well, it's alright. I liked the old one better with just one screen and the bigger vents. But it should be functional, that is the main thing now.

Battery pack is more or less finished. Interesting form factor Have tested the charger, AUX psu and the breaker on the DC, and it worked fine. Still a bit more to do before a proper test with the Xenon, as I have to redo pretty much everything inside the tube. But it's finally plugging along now which I'm pleased to see.

Made this fiberglass form for the batteries to sit on.

A few wires, but when you get the first one right, the rest follow naturally.

The black little piece will be the "key" for the light that connect the two halfs of the pack together.

 

[Enderman]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Very nice battery pack
Soldered or spot welded cables on the batteries?

 

[PolarLi]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Thanks! It's soldered together - easy to disassemble when I make mistakes, this is only the third config :laughing:

 

[The_Driver]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Any updates?

 

[PolarLi]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Unfortunately not any news on this project. But I'll be back when the sun goes down

 

[The_Driver]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

Unfortunately not any news on this project. But I'll be back when the sun goes down

End of July? :sigh:

 

[PolarLi]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

End of July? :sigh:

Pretty much, but I may update before, just can't say for sure right now.

 

[PolarLi]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

I'm sorry for the late update, again! I could be writing a long excuse on why, but there is no point of wasting the time. But now I'm back in business and got some things done.

Because of the new layout inside the housing, I had to pull all the parts out except the reflector. Somewhere down the road there was made some compromises on easy access for all the fasteners, oh well..

I had to extend the stock wires to the igniter a little bit:

The Xenon PSU will now go in across the tube, so I had to make new brackets for it:

The angle attachment on the dremel is handy for making new holes:

And speaking of PSU, last week I did some fine tuning on the current, as access will be limited inside the housing, and you also have to adjust the current on the fly.

Finally got the top handle on, so now it's offically a "flashlight"

Had to sand out a little bit of the handle before install so it had some curve. On the inside I got to use the washers I made a long time ago:

With the battery and PSU installed, it's starting to look like something again:

I will now move on to install of the lamp and some temporary wiring to give it a test.

 

[The_Driver]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

You have my attention!

 

[Enderman]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

:O Exciting!

 

[PolarLi]

Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF

The Driver and Enderman :thumbsup:

After 5 weeks of drought, the weather has been volatile lately, but I eventually got some decent conditions so I fired up the light again. I realized it's been many months since I saw a light beam
Previous to that I made some brackets I needed for the DC breaker and the AUX PSU.

It's alive! Hopefully it's stays like that.

These DIN rail breakers are not designed for panel mounting, so I had to make a bracket.

Unfortunately, it became a little more complicated than necessary because I initially wanted to epoxy on the small angle brackets on the back panel to avoid visible screws. (like the picture above) But just before I was about the install it, I realized the epoxy would squeeze out and mess up the fit, so I went with one screw in each plus VHB tape. It's very solid, but since I had to use the screws, it could be made with just one piece of alu instead of three

The bracket for the AUX PSU also had a rail mount. But here I could simply bend a piece of standard DIN rail and screw it on the side og the housing. I also bent the rail a little bit on the corner so the PSU can't slide off. The placement of this PSU gives me easy access to the terminals and short wire runs.

Next up is making some kind of air deflector for the intake fan that cool the Xenon PSU. I also need to modify the lamp holder a little bit and a finish a few more details before I start on the wiring.