# How do i make a god infrared flashlight ?



## Isthereanybodyoutthere (Jan 31, 2008)

Hi ,i am new here so if this has been up before please forgive me .
So ,,i have this cheap nightvision 1G type ,,and really, without some extra light it is not worth much 
A friend has a ATN 450mw IR iluminator nice but pricey 
Then i on ebay i bought a Huntlight 1 WAT IR flashlight 
Well its actually god ,,but it throws the beam to wide for my use sins i have a 3x lens on the NV 
Soo after looking here i did remember that i did have a colminator lens 
Took the Huntlight apart .the colminator did fit perfect ,and now it has a nice beam about what my friends ATN has when on full focus 
BUT it is not so powerful as the atn (didnt expect that either )
On Kaidomain they have a 3Wat IR diode ,i have ordered one already ,just to see how it is (not here yet )
I know about Deal extreme ,but they only have a 0,5 wat 
On ebay one has a 5 Wat but is asking $32 :duh2: 

I know the Wat number wont tell me how many lumens i will get ,i really would wish they did put the lumen numbers on instead/also of wat 
So has anybody made a Ir flashlight ,,it has to reach out to about 130 meters 
Where to buy a god powerful Ir diode and driver that fits .it dosnt need strobe or sos .but different settings would be nice 

And what would be best reflector ,colminator (my best bed)or lens ?

I have been thinking of one of those 3x or 4x colminator lenses 

I am located in Europe so it dosnt matter custom vise( got to pay ) if it is from us or asia

Ps ,,very nice forum here :thumbsup:


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## saabluster (Jan 31, 2008)

Isthereanybodyoutthere said:


> on ebay i bought a Huntlight 1 WAT IR flashlight
> Well its actually god ,,


 WOW! I guess you really can buy anything on ebay!


Isthereanybodyoutthere said:


> Where to buy a god powerful Ir diode and driver


 Since you now own him you might just ask if you can borrow his Ir diode and driver.





Isthereanybodyoutthere said:


> I am located in Europe so it dosnt matter custom vise


Lets see... I'm going to say Germany?


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## monkeyboy (Jan 31, 2008)

Isthereanybodyoutthere said:


> I know the Wat number wont tell me how many lumens i will get ,i really would wish they did put the lumen numbers on instead/also of wat


 
I can't help you with your product search but IR LED's produce invisible radiation so they give *zero lumens*. If you look for the data sheet on the LED, the radiometric power (watts) will give you some idea of the output.


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## Meduza (Feb 1, 2008)

Osram got a quite high power infrared LED, SFH 4231-DX, if you can hold of that one it would be good, min 500mW IR and max 1000mW IR!

It is in golden dragon package so you would be able to use the Ledil IR Dragon series of lenses:
http://www.ledil.fi/pages/3151/

You can build a tri-illuminator with nearly 2 watts of IR output with three of those and the Ledil tri-lense


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## Isthereanybodyoutthere (Feb 1, 2008)

Meduza said:


> Osram got a quite high power infrared LED, SFH 4231-DX, if you can hold of that one it would be good, min 500mW IR and max 1000mW IR!
> 
> It is in golden dragon package so you would be able to use the Ledil IR Dragon series of lenses:
> http://www.ledil.fi/pages/3151/
> ...



I have read about the Osram ,,but cant find it 
How expensive is it  ,,the 3Watt one from Kai is on its way ,,so the wait begins 
Does some one know what angle this one is having 
www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4572

I am going to find some colminators ,,with about 6 to 8 degree spread 
Any ideas ,, i do know about Deal extreme and Kaidomain ,,are there any others like those ??


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## Meduza (Feb 1, 2008)

If i remember right Digikey has the lower bin code that "only" have minimum 200mW output for about 10$... i do not know who has the higher DX-bin that outputs minimum 500mW...

Normal lenses do not works so good with IR due to that the wavelength is different... the Ledil IR Dragon lenses is made for IR and collimates it good.

You can maybe talk to the guy who organizes the ledil groupbuy in the marketplace about if he can get some IR lenses in the next batch...?


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## Nils (Feb 7, 2008)

If you don't mind going with DX or KD you could easily build an infrared torch on the cheap.

You could either mod a complete torch or build a dropin. Using a smooth reflector should work fine with IR light as the reflection wont depend on the wavelength.

This one http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=3247 says 1.5V at 700ma = 3W... kinda strange as 1.50*0.7 = 1.05... I would think driving it with a single alkaline would work since the alkaline would have a high enough inner resistance. For nimh you would have to add a resistor or driver board. 

I'm thinking wether one of the c310 boards on DX/KD would work as they give around 700ma output and are configured as step-down convertor. Should work even with a Lion cell. 

You could buy the wf-502b led flashlight and replace the led with the IR one as it has a c310 driver board, it's a op reflector though. 

I've been thinking about something along the lines myself for a cheapo nightvision... kinda low on funds right now so that will have to wait.

By the way: The IR flashlight sold at DX isn't worth it. IR Leds are directly connected to battery and this thing gets hot on NiMh's. Besides some leds may be damaged, beam pattern is uneven and of course there is no throw ;-)

May be of use in conjunction with a webcam for close up illumination...

Another possibility would be to take a simple xenon torch and add an ir filter. That should give plenty of output even though it's not the most economical in terms of power.


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## Isthereanybodyoutthere (Feb 7, 2008)

The led from kai is the one i have ordered 
It should be here any day 
The light you did show(wf-502b) looks almost exactly like hunt light i have in the 1watt IR version ,right down to the op reflector ( the tail cap is different )
I did also notice the strange thing about the watt 1.5V at 700ma = 3W 
But it has 3 squares/crystals in the led instead of 1 in my hunt light 

A friend of my have a power supply like the one Kai uses in his demo video 
When the led arrives we will test it with that to see how it works 

Isnt there something about pulsing the led`s can give you more power without  the thing 

The filter option i think will end up to big and heavy if you want any runtime ,,i have a filter and it does work ,,but is ending up big


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## Isthereanybodyoutthere (Feb 12, 2008)

Arghhh just got the packed from Kai  they did send the wrong item :scowl:
Have already send them a note about it 
Have long does they normally take to solve such problem 
They did send *Φ20mm 6°Optical lens Reflector for Lumileds/SSC LED Bulb 

instead of the Ir led 

The value is $ 1,4 for the lens 

*Meduza thank for the info ,,i have been looking at Digikey ,,but can not find it ( the ir led )
Got a link


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## Gunner12 (Feb 12, 2008)

Seeing as they are on Chinese New Year Vacation right now, it would take a while for them to respond.

I hope all this works out for you.


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## monkeyboy (Feb 14, 2008)

Nils said:


> This one http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=3247 says 1.5V at 700ma = 3W... kinda strange as 1.50*0.7 = 1.05...


 
They must be talking about the *input* voltage and the *output* current. The output voltage will be increased by a boost circuit.


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## Isthereanybodyoutthere (Feb 14, 2008)

monkeyboy said:


> They must be talking about the *input* voltage and the *output* current. The output voltage will be increased by a boost circuit.



In the video that is shown ,,they only ad 1,5V at 0,7 A ???


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## monkeyboy (Feb 15, 2008)

Hmm.... yeah you're right, looks like IR diodes run at lower Vf. Must be a mistake by Kaidomain.


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