# 103 Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF



## PolarLi (Aug 5, 2018)

It's time to finally present my new thrower project, the BFF.
I have gathered parts for a mega thrower since 2016, and it currently consists of mainly that, a bunch of parts. 
I'm still missing some so this could take a while, but hopefully, I will have this beast finished this year.







The Carbon Fiber tube: 






A picture of the heart in this light, the tiny arc. You can barely spot the glowing anode to the left, and to the right of the hot spot, the reflection of the arc on the cathode.
For size reference, the anode diameter is about 6 mm.






This is my first Xenon build, and it will be self-contained, in a big flashlight format. 
And if everything goes to plan, it should also be the worlds longest throwing flashlight.
Besides the performance, one of the things I will be focusing on in this build, is weight savings wherever I can.
The light may be big, but it won't be _that_ heavy for its size.

*The main specifications:
*
500W Xenon short arc lamp 
Adjustable Xenon power supply
266mm (10.5") electroformed reflector, Aluminium Quartz
AR coated, tempered front glass
1000W pure sine wave inverter EDIT 2020: No Inverter
29 Volt battery, 12 A EDIT 2020: 151 Volt Battery 3A
Carbon Fiber, honeycomb core housing
Anodized Aluminium parts
Active cooling
4.3" Touchscreen, Arduino and Bluetooth


*Basic Q&A:*

_-BFF?_ Big F**king Flashlight. Clearly. Working title: Big Focused Flashlight 
_-Isn't it Carbon Fibre?_ Yeah, probably some of that too.
_-Why?_ Because I wanted to.
_-Runtime?_ Approx 30 minutes.
_-Is the lamp an Osram XBO 500W/RC?_ No.
_-1?? Mcd - Did you forget a decimal in there?_ No.

EDIT 2020: Light completed, I will update with more pics when I have them.


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## PolarLi (Aug 5, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Reserved for updates.


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## PolarLi (Aug 5, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

I've had the lamp, reflector and a power supply for a while, but I had not been able to test it on an inverter because I didn't have a battery. 
Now I have. 

I built this earlier this summer from 32 Samsung 3000 mAh 30Q cells in 8S4P config with a 60A BMS that also has a Bluetooth module. 
This means I can monitor the battery status on my phone using an app. I can also hook up a USB interface so I can program the BMS on my computer 
(I can do the basic adjustments on the phone). 

The charging setup is a 6A Li-ion charger, and I will connect it to an XLR socket on the back plate so I can just plug it in for charging. 
The BMS also has a manual on-off switch that I will hook up to the main switch on the light, that will power on the system. The rest will be done on the touchscreen. 






First test: 





Lot of cables:






Finally wrapped it today:






Total weight, 1745 gram

A couple of screenshots of the phone and computer interface:















One of the biggest challenges so far was to find an inverter, so long story below for those who want the details.

The Xenon PSU needs AC (technically, DC works too, but you need pretty high voltage) and I figured a sine wave inverter doesn't cost much nowadays, so that would be easy enough. 
But I immediately saw that practically none of these 24-volt inverters could handle the full voltage range of the 8S Li-ion battery pack. 
And a 7S battery pack would under voltage. 

So there was basically a few other solutions: Make a LiFePO4 battery pack, and lose a lot of capacity, or make it the same capacity, and accept almost twice the weight. 
This wasn't really an option in a portable light.
Alternatively, I could use 8S Li-ion, but never fully charge it, which pretty much leave you with the same capacity as LiFePO4.... 
I also had some ideas about using diodes and relays to drop the voltage until I had loaded the battery, 
but the best option was obviously to modify the inverter to handle the full voltage range (20-33.6V) 
to get the absolute maximum capacity out of the batteries, if needed. Unfortunately, I don't have the know-how to do this myself. 
So I contacted several inverter manufacturers in China. Only a few said they could do this modification for me, 
so I took a chance and ordered one. Well, what I received was just a standard unmodified inverter. 
Luckily, it was easy enough to sell, so I didn't lose any money, but I did waste a lot of time. 

But I figured, I just have to try again, and this time I had a long dialog with the manufacturer beforehand to assure they didn't screw me over. 
Well, it worked, and a while later I finally had an Inverter that actually worked like I had ordered it to.
Total cost for the modified inverter with shipping ended up at $145, not bad at all! :rock:


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## night.hoodie (Aug 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

I dig your posts. Fascinating. I can't really tell what you're doing here, but I can't wait to see. You've got my attention. Subscribed!


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## PolarLi (Aug 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks! And if it's any consolation, not really sure what i'm doing here myself :thinking: So far I haven't installed any parts in the tube, but will add pictures along the way.


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## Random Dan (Aug 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Looks impressive so far. You'll probably want a good pair of binoculars to go with as I think the throw will far exceed human eyesight :thumbsup:


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## PolarLi (Aug 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks, and yeah, probably. Based of 100 million candela, i'm going to get a range of 20,000 meters or 12.4 miles (ANSI FL1) But rumors has it, it may be a bit more than that


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## PolarLi (Aug 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

So yesterday I made two small, but somewhat important parts - 
The shoulder strap attachment points. Yeah, this light needs a shoulder strap. Go figure :laughing:

The reason I made these tabs now, is that I need to have them anodized before I can continue working on the tube, and fit the other parts that need anodizing.

So to avoid sending two tiny parts to the anodizing company and pay the start-up fee, I started today's project. Try to anodize them myself.
I will send in the bigger parts later when I have them ready. 
There will probably be some color difference, but they are not the same alloy, so there
would be color difference regardless.

Cut the pieces out with the jigsaw:






A lot of filing and sanding later:






Below are the flanges that will hold the tabs and the front and back cover. They were laser cut (more info on that later) but to be certain the holes were perfect for threading, 
I drew them .2mm undersized, and drilled them to the correct size myself:






Chamfer:






Tapping. I did the same with the tabs, so they will be hold on with one bolt, plus some epoxy.






Then on to the anodizing. I used sodium bisulfate instead of sulphuric acid. It comes in the form of PH-Minus for pools.
I found the receip on google, and saw a couple of youtube videos 











Bought the dye on Ebay, 0.5 gram powder is enough for 0.5 liter of water.






Warmed the dye to 50C and soaked the parts for about 15 minutes, then 20 minutes in boiling water to seal it:











First and second test piece:






Then I did the parts:






Being my first time anodizing, I'm very pleased! It's probably not the most durable thing in the world, but this light won't be my EDC..

As I mentioned, these tabs will be fixed to the flange that holds the back cover and front glass to the housing/tube. 
To install the two flanges, I will carve out some of the honeycomb core on each end of the CF tube using a Dremel, 
I will then glue in this alu flange so it will be flush with the edge of the tube. The alu flange will also provide a gasket surface for the front and back cover/glass. 
The flanges also reinforces the tube, although it's extremely rigid as it is. I'm pretty sure I can stand on it!


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## The_Driver (Aug 30, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Suscribed!
I love every light you post about here!


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## NoNotAgain (Aug 30, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

If you use a chisel blade, you can densify the core on the ends. Once densified, install the strap lug and close out ring with a polysulfide type sealant. Plenty strong and will waterproof the tube. 
Paper core is notorious for picking up moisture then getting mushy. An epoxy will crack with thermal expansion and still require some type of environmental seal.


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## PolarLi (Aug 30, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

The driver, thanks, hopefully there will be a few more post when I get warmed up here  
----
NoNotAgain, thanks for the tip, but the install was done 5 days ago... Not familiar with polysulfide type sealant, but I used something called MS polymer adhesive/sealant. That too is super strong, and is slightly flexible, UV resistent, non toxic and all that stuff. I'm going to post an update soon, just need to upload some pics first.


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## PolarLi (Aug 31, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Yes, it's been a while, but I have just been very busy with all kinds of other stuff. And when I was ready to upload the pictures yesterday, Imgur upload was down for a whole day..
Anyhow, I have done a few more things. Maybe not the most exciting things, but never the less, essential parts of the build.

So I started with drilling out a cavity in the spider. The spider is the part that will secure the front of the lamp. For the lamp I'm using, it's probably not crucial, 
but should protect it from an impact. But the reason for the small cavity will become clear later  
I actually used a Forstner bit made for wood, but some googling revealed it could be used on aluminium too. And it actually left a decent finish.






I then made two convex alu washers for the bolts that hold the carrying handle. These will sit on the inside of the tube to spread the load over a bigger area.
The CF tube, courtesy of Klaus Helmerich, Germany, does have extra layers and foam core reinforcement at the top and side for these parts, 
but it's always nice to be on the safe side.






Below is the two yoke mounts. These had to be concave, so I first made them to size in the lathe, drilled and tapped, then started with the belt sander, then lapped it on the tube itself. 
When I was finished with both, I realized I made the curve the wrong way in relation to the two bolts that will hold it on. 
I did follow the plan, but the plan was wrong... The issue was how the bolts would fit on the inside, so I had to start over again... 
Sometime later, I finally got them right with a good fit, so now I just need to anodize them. 
However, I do have to test fit all the parts to find the balance point before I actually install these on the tube.

Edit: For the record, the bolts that hold the yoke mounts, won't use the washers above, they are only for the handle on top that will have all the weight on only two bolts, vs four for the yoke.
















Went on with carving out some of the core to get the flanges flush. Carved out a little extra for the tabs, and cut a hole in the CF for it.
















Then I glued the tabs on the flanges with epoxy since it's a metal to metal fit. The tabs are also threaded, (and thread matched with the flange) 
and will be secured with an extra long bolt that also holds the cover on. 

I then glued everything in the tube with transparent, MS Polymer adhesive/sealant as I mentioned in the post above. This particular type is called Tec7, 
a very popular brand here in Scandinavia. To get a good adhesive bead all the way around the flange, outer and inner, I also beveled it with a grinder and a coarse flap disc.






This thing is NEVER coming out. All I need to do now is to install a thin neoprene gasket.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how this worked out. It's always a challenge to fit removable panels to big tubes when you can't mill it out from one big piece of solid material. 
Especially here, where I couldn't have any parts protruding on the inside or outside of the tube. 

To wrap this post, here are pictures of the back cover and the business end. 
By the way, I drew these parts (and the flanges and spider) in Sketchup, sent the files to Lasermaster in the UK, and had the parts in the mail a few weeks later. 
Definitely, a service I will be using in the future.











Next up is test fit the reflector, glass, and start removing some weight of the inverter.


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## PolarLi (Sep 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Here is the double-sided AR coated, tempered glass with 98% light transmittance. 
If you don't see it, well, that the point. And when I put a small ordinary glass on top, and it's not hard to see the difference in reflection from a flashlight: 











I got a great deal on this at only $60 plus shipping from the UK. But before I found that deal, I had spent some time getting quotes from several companies around the world, and they all wanted from $250-500. 
This included cutting, then usually shipped out for AR coating, then back for tempering. Or I could skip the last part and go for more expensive borofloat. 
I believe some did it all in-house, but regardless, the one-off coating makes it very very expensive. 
This glass, however, is made by Schott and is called Conturan. And It's factory AR coated, mass produced and delivered in big sheets. 
So the glass shop just needs to cut it to size and temper it, an ordinary task. 
But this particular deal had one downside, especially for this project: I could only get it tempered in minimum 4mm thickness, so it is pretty heavy. 2.5-3mm would have been plenty strong for this. 
On the other hand, this glass is incredibly strong. Normally, tempered glass like this can take several direct hammer blows without problems.

Removed the peel ply inside the tube, and put the reflector in some days ago. For this, I used red RTV silicone, the same stuff the reflector is bonded to the mounts with. Very flexible, so good shock absorbing and easy to work with. Also going to use it to bond the glass. 











Well, it looked good. But the RTV I used, Loctite 5399, had seemingly deteriorated at 6 months in an opened cartridge, so it never cured fully, so that was a fail. Easy enough to remove, but now I need to wait over the weekend to get a new cartridge. Oh well, never a build like this without a few setbacks.


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## NoNotAgain (Sep 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

PolarLi, 
RTV silicone sealants require moisture for cure. When they die, they harden in the tube. If the sealant wasn't curing, good chance it was contaminated with a sulfur compound. Paper backed masking tape can cause this problem. 

If you want to speed the cure, take a spray bottle with water and spray the surface. Also being a RTV product, it cures from the outside to the inside, so thick cross sections will take a week or more for full cure on a 1/4" thick sample. 

What's typically done with RTV sealants is to smooth them with a mix of water and a little dish wash detergent. This also aides in cure.


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## PolarLi (Sep 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Hmm, you mentioned contaminants, and one thing did cross my mind. The aluminium was cleaned properly with acetone. And no masking tape was used. But I did not touch the CF under the peel ply. I assumed it left a perfectly clean surface, but maybe there was some kind of non-stick stuff left?

I was aware the RTV need moisture, and also that too high humidity apparently can cause the surface to cure too fast, and delay the process. But in this case, both temp and humidity were normal, around 22C and 50% and the bead was only about 4-5 mm on the thickest parts and faded out to zero. But everything had the consistency of chewing gum after 3 days. Never seen anything like it before.

When I applied it, the consistency and odor seemed normal. It also skinned at the normal rate, after 5-10 minutes.

But there was another possible thing that I did recall about the storage. During a heat wave earlier this summer, the RTV was stored in a very hot room for a couple of days, probably around 35C. I'm wondering if that potentially could have damaged it? The datasheet does warn about storage over 28C.

Anyhow, I still have plenty of the same RTV left, so I'm going to make some test beads on a piece of wood right now, just to see if that cure, to rule out potential problems with the CF surface.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it!


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## NoNotAgain (Sep 7, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

PolarLi,

Some epoxies (paste adhesives and paints with high un-reacted amine content) will retard the cure of RTV products. I wouldn't use wood as your test substrate. Use a piece of aluminum foil or some plastic sheet.

I the aerospace community, RTV106 is heavily used for heat resistance and environmental sealing. The substrates being sealed range from simple aluminum bonded assemblies fabricated from sheet aluminum and aluminum core. There is an environmental sealant that is a very dense epoxy used to close out the core and keep the edges from being crushed. The epoxy used was found to cause the RTV to not cure, so a barrier epoxy was painted on the surface then the RTV application.

Graphite reinforced composites and the peel ply aren't or shouldn't be a problem. Silicone mold releases used prior to the peel ply application if they bleed through will increase the adhesion of RTV products. The rubber adhesive in masking tape is a large cause of failure to cure issues. Standard cure schedules of 77F and 50% humidity should rule out environmental causes.

I looked the the technical data sheet for the Loctite 5399, http://tds.henkel.com/tds5/Studio/S...at=MTR&subformat=REAC&language=EN&plant=WERCS and they (Henkel Loctite) list full cure of 33A durometer hardness after 7 days at lab conditions. I'd give the sealant longer to cure. If still gooey after a week, try another tube with known good storage conditions.


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## PolarLi (Sep 8, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks NoNotAgain, you are a wealth of knowledge! 
I just did another test on aluminium foil just to be sure. Made a few different sized beads. I will update later with the results. 
Now I just cross my fingers for a fail there too, so I know for sure the problem was the silicone, and not the epoxy used in the tube. If I have to switch to the MS polymer or a different sealant, it won't be that fun to get rid of absolute all traces of silicone in the coarse CF surface.


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## NoNotAgain (Sep 9, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

If by chance you've got to remove the sealant entirely, if you have access to MEK and some plastic film (freezer bags), tape some paper towels over the sealant, then saturate the towels with the solvent, cover with the plastic film. Silicone sealants have extremely poor resistance to MEK. Acetone will work in a pinch, but MEK works much quicker. 
Do this outside as the MEK stinks, bad.


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## PolarLi (Sep 11, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

So I'm happy to observe that the Silicone I used was the problem and nothing else. After 4 days, I'm still able to smear out the test bead. Of course, no shops around here had silicone with similar specs, so I had to order in a fresh cartridge. 
I could have used a different sealant/adhesive for the reflector, but I would have needed silicone for the glass anyway. Btw, Thanks for the MEK tip, but I picked up some silicone remover from a paint shop.






Also ordered in a couple of heatsinks to the inverter. 
I will be installing a new one on the input stage and adding one on the output stage. By removing the case that partly acts as a (poor) heatsink, I got the weight down from 2480 gram to 1228 gram. 
The new heatsinks and fan will add a little bit of weight, but I'm pretty sure it will give me better cooling than stock, or at least, just as good. I'm only pulling about 600 watts from it anyway, making it run on max efficiency.


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## Syncronisator (Sep 12, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

I love your projects and can't wait for news ;-)

Especially you are working with short arc and UHP lamps like me...

Where did you get the reflector? I just know Phoenix and optiforms. Unfortunately they are in the US. Do you know a company here in Europe?


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## PolarLi (Sep 12, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks, and it's great to see a new short arc guy here, although I see you joined the forum in 2008! 
This reflector is from Phoenix. And I know of one company in Denmark, millpondoptics, that can make custom reflectors. But I got quoted 4000 euro for a 2"... Other than that, I'm not aware of anyone in Europe that has bigger standard reflectors like this on the shelf, and is selling to private customers, except various searchlight companies that sell spare reflectors for their marine searchlights. But they usually come from either Phoenix or Optiforms, and the price is about double.


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## PolarLi (Sep 21, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Finally, the reflector is in for the second time, and now the silicone cured properly without any problems :thumbsup:

When I had the reflector out, I thought of something I didn't think of the first time regarding the cooling system. So the plan has always been to let air in the two bottom holes in the reflector mount, and suck it out in the top one, and out the vertex hole around the lamp. But to force the airflow coming in at the bottom all the way to the front of the reflector, so the airflow didn't take the shortcut behind the rim, I made these two air baffles of thin fiberglass sheet. 












Also did another job on the cooling system, and that was to make an adapter to the air ducting I will be using to suck out as much hot air without it simply swirling around inside the tube. Because the tube is double layer CF, it has close to zero heat transfer, so all the heat has to come out the back (and front)

Because the hole in the reflector mount is both smaller than the air ducting, and is half moon shape, I had to make this adapter.

Made the mold of styrofoam, and put on a few layers of fiberglass using epoxy.
Demolding was done with acetone that melted the styrofoam. Somewhat effective, but it didn't remove all traces, so it took quite a bit of work to get everything out. Ok for a one-off, small part like this, but I will probably look into more professional ways of doing it next time. 






















Installed the two new heatsinks on the inverter. The one on the output transistors looks to be a little on the small side, but I will glue on a thermocouple and see what temps I get first.
The input heatsink has it's own thermocouple and is at least as good as the stock one. Total weight ended up at 1301 gram. 











Drilled holes for cooling fans and a couple of fuse holders in the back plate, and wet sanded all the external alu parts.
I will be shipping this out tomorrow for anodizing.


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## The_Driver (Oct 23, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

I'm starting to get fat from all the popcorn I've been eating


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## PolarLi (Oct 23, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Yeah, sorry for that  Well, update is coming real soon. In the meantime, I can reveal why I made the cavity in the front spider. Make room for this:


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## A_L_R_O_M (Oct 24, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Yeah man, good to see you and new project ))
I really hope this subforum would run on such a things!


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## PolarLi (Oct 24, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

So I received the parts from the anodizing company eloksal.no looking real nice, and I also got an epic deal from them, so big thanks! One of the things I sent in, was the nameplate seen above. 
The other part of it is just a round aluminium disc I polished. 





The big question was how to fasten this to the narrow spokes, and have the option of easy removal to access the bolt under it. I ended up with drilling and tapping tiny M2 threads to remove as little material as possible. 
I then beveled the outer ring of the spider with an angle grinder (before the anodizing) and have now installed it with some silicone.






A picture of the lamp holder(s) I made these earlier this year.
I used high temp, nickel plated ring terminals on the hot end of the cable.






To install the PSU and Inverter, I used 1.5mm thick Aluminium strips that I bent to fit the tube. For testing, I will only use screws to mount them, but I will use some silicone here too for a more permanent bond. If I need to remove it, It's very easy to cut with piano wire.











A picture of the battery mount. These will also be secured to the tube with silicone. I will also pad the aluminium angles with some neoprene. I cut 2 slots in each and installed Turnigy velcro straps to hold the battery in. 











A picture of the glass install. I used PTFE strips to get even thickness on the silicone:






Below is the lamp cooling shroud. Doesn't look like much, but a lot of time went into this part. Also had to do some adjustments on it after install. It's made from fiberglass sheet, that I put together in the corners with more fiberglass and epoxy. Also had to make a mold for that. Two small aluminum angles were installed to hold it to the reflector. Had to drill and tap matching holes in the reflector mount. The ducting adapter had to be cut both in width and length, rubber grommet for the high voltage cable installed and so on. (The white triangle is the adjustable lamp holder made from PTFE)













For the duct adapter on the exhaust fans, I took the easy way, had them 3D printed! 






Intake fans were a little bigger, so I had to trim a corner. For the record, there will be done more work on the backplate. Water repellent prefilter installed, and possibly some carbon fiber sheet to cover up some of the vent openings to get the right airflow.






Install of the front neoprene gasket. 






Fiberglass sleeve on the anode cable. This one will be hot... 






Igniter is in beside the battery.






Latest news, just a couple of hours ago I finished putting the main components in the tube and temporary wire it for a test fire. I switch on the battery, and the inverter and PSU fire up. I add the control power to the PSU that will switch on the lamp, I get the "click" I see the lamp flash, and everything goes dead. The BMS app tells me there is a short circuit and has cut the power. I reset and try again, and the exact same thing happens again. I disconnect the battery and inverter but leave the BMS switched on, and power the PSU from the mains. Add the control power, and "click" I have light, full power!:rock: But while I do this, I keep my eye on the suspect, the BMS (app) and sure enough, overvoltage messages flash on the screen. :shakehead Ahhh, the joy of Arc lamps I won't do any more testing tonight, it's been a long day... But it's pretty clear that the BMS can't handle being so close to the igniter or lamp, and I need to shield it from the ignition pulse or move it. All tips are very welcome! Worst case scenario, I need to swap it with an analog BMS. When I did the testing outside the tube, everything worked flawlessly. The carbon tube itself could also be a part of the EMI problem here.


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## PolarLi (Oct 24, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks Alrom!


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## minim (Oct 25, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Could it be the high inrush current when starting that’s causing it? Might need some caps at the BMS output side to handle the spike or a BMS with higher output rating. I think I read somewhere that on my maxabeam it pulls 23A for some ms at power-on but it doesn’t pull more than 7A on high setting. This Would be way higher with yours.


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## PolarLi (Oct 25, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks for the tip! But I think the inverter would kneel before the BMS. The testing (post #3) revealed both handled the starting current fine. However, you did actually remind me of the most basic thing that I somehow forgot  I can adjust current and protection parameters in the BMS software, so I just pulled the pack, hooked it up to the computer and saw the short circuit delay was set to only 8 ms. So I increased that a bit and hooked it up, and voila, it fired right up!  I'm so relieved! I guess the Smart BMS is smart after all, but it can't do anything with the user  I also hooked up the ground wires on the inverter and PSU and also twisted the power cables for good measure. Still a little worried about the overvoltage message I got yesterday when the pack wasn't hooked up. So there is a small charge induced in the wires from the igniter, but when it is hooked up, it has a load, and I guess it just bleeds off.

Edit, I had no fans hooked up during the 5-8 seconds I had the lamp on. And I obviously had no time to take any pictures. But I after I cut the power, I tried out my new toy, a thermal camera. So I took a picture of the wall, 5 meter from the light, and the hotspot had created over 30C from those few seconds burn time... And this was like 30 seconds _after_ I had turned the light off :devil:






A picture of the reflector about 60 seconds after. The lamp is not focused at all, so the pattern is pretty uneven.






Also took a picture earlier today in daylight of the reflector finally revealed:


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## The_Driver (Oct 27, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thank for your detailed posts! To me this project is already unbelievably awesome! I love it. A custom, carbon fibre Xenon short-arc superthrower with modern tech all around!

Please keep at it! I want to know and see every little detail! There are very few projects theses days where I am this enthusiastic.


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## PolarLi (Oct 27, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



The_Driver said:


> Thank for your detailed posts! To me this project is already unbelievably awesome! I love it. A custom, carbon fibre Xenon short-arc superthrower with modern tech all around!
> 
> Please keep at it! I want to know and see every little detail! There are very few projects theses days where I am this enthusiastic.



That's great! And I do keep at it  Although I had to backtrack a little today, by reconfigure the battery pack. More on that in the next update.


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## PolarLi (Oct 31, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

So I reconfigured the battery pack into 8*2*2 format instead of the 8*4 I originally had. (the pack is still 8S4P) This had nothing to do with the issue I had during the test the other day. 
This was something I've had in mind for a while. When I tested the battery pack this summer with a heavy load, I noticed the pack became really hot after 15-20 minutes when the voltage dropped and current increased. 
While I was only pulling 5-7 A from each 30Q cell, the heat dissipation in a cube like that is really poor, especially with no battery spacers. 
The plan was to just test it like it was inside the tube. But since I already had cut open the heat shrink to access the data port the other day, I figured I could just as well try to improve it now. 
The big question is, will this actually make the pack run noticeably cooler? TBH, I have no idea! But It will presumably help a little bit. Worst case scenario I just have to limit the continuous runtime to for instance 20 minutes, then let it cool down for the remaining capacity or charge it. Normally, a 5P or 6P config would have been much better for a load like this, but that was definitely not an option here for obvious weight reasons. In retrospect, I would probably be better off by using VTC6 cells or similar, but at almost twice the cost, I'll try this out first.

Old config: 





Pulling the old pack apart. Luckily the hotmelt glue I had used just popped off. I kept the paralell wiring on each row of four.






New config. I had to order in new heat shrink and a little more insulating paper, so it's uncovered for now. I will also make a hole for the dataport this time.











I have also made this little tool from a M6 threaded rod and a 3mm Allen wrench silver brazed in the end. In the other end is a piece of a PVC rod. It will use this to focus the lamp. Now I can access the adjustment screws without stuffing my hand inside the tube. I'm pretty sure it's not a good thing with all kind of uncovered electronics inside 

















At the moment I'm working on the touch screen and controller, and it's definitely not my favorite thing in the world.


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 10, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

So I quickly realized the Arduino coding was just too complicated for me, so I had to throw in the towel, admit defeat, and find someone who actually knew how to do it. I did, and got 3 full pages of code and wiring instructions sent over, and now the setup is working pretty much perfect, controlling 4 relays in special sequences, with post cooling, warning lights and more. Only need to calibrate the voltmeter, but I have to hardwire everything first. I did, however, do all the graphics on the screen myself, but that is more or less limited to find icons and fonts online, edit backgrounds and pictures and paste them in the screen editor, not really that complicated, but slightly time consuming. Still, have some fine tuning to do on the screen editor, but nothing major. Also need to adjust color and reduce the background lights on the screen a little bit, as this unit will mainly be used in the dark 






Only the crazy ones dare to continue after this point.:naughty: By the way, I also made a background that says "slide to unleash" but I figured it was a little bit over the top 





Yes, this light will also have LED lights, now you know:





At this point we have lift off:





Meta?


----------



## BVH (Nov 10, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Looking Real Good!! When do you anticipate completion and beam shots for all of us anxious followers?


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 10, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks!
Should be able to test it and focus the lamp pretty soon. The only thing that actually keep me from doing that, is the new shrink wrap for the battery. (free shipping from China :hairpull 
If I don't have it by friday next week, I will just tape it, and test it :thumbsup:


----------



## XeRay (Nov 12, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

You should probably insulate that rod with the allen wrench welded to the end. 2 layers of shrink tubing would work well to insulate it.


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 12, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

That is a life saving advice!  and I have it covered, literally. I used one layer of very thick shrink tubing. It's just not very visible on the picture above.


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 16, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

So I have some good news and some bad news. I got the shrink wrap for the battery yesterday and installed that. Also mounted the yoke/tripod mounts on the tube, and put the back cover on. But when I had wired everything up for a test, the BMS shut off on ignition, and reported an IC error, plus the short circuit error again. Played with some settings and was able to get a couple of successful ignitions, so it's "almost" working. The good news is that all errors goes away by simply moving the pack outside the housing, and the light fire up just fine. I just had a 5 minute run without any problems and even did a hot restrike. So I have to assume it's no longer a inrush problem. But there must be some EMI issue from the ignition circuit. The reason it worked the last time was most likely because the backplate wasn't on, and now it is. Going to try and find a fix for this one way or another. One thing is certain, I'm not giving up now! Beamshots are hopefully coming up when the weather clears and I have ducktaped the battery to the housing


----------



## NoNotAgain (Nov 16, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Try some copper window screening over the power supply to see if the EMI issue subsides. 
You’ll still get the air cooling with EMI/RF shielding.


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 16, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks for the tip! I don't have any copper mesh at the moment, but I think I have some perforated steel sheet, similar to the stuff that often covers PSU's. My initial thought was to just cover the battery pack in some metal and perhaps try out some snap on ferrites. On the other hand, it's better to shield the source of the EMI.

Edit: 
BTW, if anyone suspect what frequency this noise could be at, that would help alot.


----------



## A_L_R_O_M (Nov 16, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Between 10 KHz to 20 KHz ignition circutry
But the actual EMI comes from the arc so it should match the ripple noise.
Something between 80 Hz to 200 Hz


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks! Perhaps some capacitors could help filter it out. Still have a lot to learn about EMI, but luckily there is quite a bit of info on it online, so will continue to study.


----------



## A_L_R_O_M (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

If you have some ferrite rings may be you can wrap the wire around it and make inductor!
I still think you can also make a EMI shield around your BMS IC's but it should be grounded or at least to be connected with a body. Attach some wire to the backplate and make connection to your body and let's see how it works )


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

I'll put that on the list!


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

For a light that doesn't work... It sure has one epic beam 

Yes, I taped the battery on :laughing: I'm also borrowing the tripod for the stockpot light, so I had to make a temporary spacer to fit it on the yoke.


----------



## The_Driver (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

:bow: :bow: :bow:​


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

I had about the same reaction when i fired it up, but I was begging it to not hand me another antic, and it didn't, so I let it run for 17 minutes


----------



## BVH (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

A great looking, tight beam with little to no flair visible in the 2nd half of it. Looking forward to the 1-2 mile shot when it done!


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks, and yes, beam looked great, and I only spent a couple of minutes focusing it. With some more fine tuning it should be even better.


----------



## A_L_R_O_M (Nov 17, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 18, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks :thumbsup:


----------



## The_Driver (Nov 20, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



PolarLi said:


> I had about the same reaction when i fired it up, but I was begging it to not hand me another antic, and it didn't, so I let it run for 17 minutes



17 _glorious_ minutes!

When you are finished I would love some beamshots where the camera is much further away from the light, maybe hitting a cloud.


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 20, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

As usual, Im waiting on parts :shrug:now it's the various EMI shielding stuff I will try out. But I will probably start putting the circuitboard with the electronic together any day now (that will also need some shielding) When I have everything up and running properly, there will be plenty of good beamshots and not just the phone pics :wave:


----------



## Juggernaut (Nov 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Super quality build! This thing is a MONSTER


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks! I hope I don't break the scale.


----------



## Enderman (Nov 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

This is great, lets see if the maxablaster will get dethroned 
I love the 12" carbon fibre tube, I considered using carbon fibre for my syniosbeam but aluminum was easier to machine and it would work for heat dissipation.


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Cheers! The CF tube is neat, but as you say, it sucks for heat dissipation and that's one of the reasons I had to use two airducts inside it.


----------



## Enderman (Nov 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

What is the length and weight of the light?
Mine was already difficult to handle and it was only 4" long and 5kg


----------



## A_L_R_O_M (Nov 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Step by step our psychology adapting xD
I remember 10 years ago it was hard for me carrying 2D-6D MAglite.
Right now i don't care, if i can handle it i will.


----------



## PolarLi (Nov 30, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



Enderman said:


> What is the length and weight of the light?
> Mine was already difficult to handle and it was only 4" long and 5kg



It's 52 cm long or 20" and comes in at around 11 kg. Haven't put the light on the scale yet as i'm still adding small parts (and they all add up...) so the weight can change a little before I'm done. So yeah, there is a reason I have a padded shoulder strap for this  In retrospect, with a few small design changes from the beginning, I could certainly have made it just below 10Kg. And with a very different battery design, I could have dropped it all the way down to around 7 kilo, with a much shorter tube, and even more runtime as a bonus. But as Alrom says, it doesn't really matter that much, it's all about the mindset. People carry luggage around much heavier than this. One could also argue that anything over 500 gram is too heavy for a flashlight. But then you have to put different lights in different category. This one has for instance one epic candela to weight ratio :naughty:


----------



## PolarLi (Dec 27, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

First, sorry for keeping everyone waiting, again! But In addition to working on two other light projects, plus a lot of other stuff, I had more problems on this one. First the small problem. So I made the control circuit and it consist of the microcontroller, Arduino Nano, a step down converter and the volt and temp reading components. 

This board is then connected to the Nextion touch screen and the relay board. I can apply almost 50V to the input, as it go to the step down converter that supplies 5V to the Nano and screen. So during the test I started with about 10V and slowly cranked up the input voltage to check the voltmeter readings, and everything seemed fine. But when I reached about 28V, the magic smoke was released and everything went dead. For anyone that has worked with strip board, you probably already know what I did wrong. I had forgot to cut a strip! In my case, of all 23 possibilities, it was of course that one strip from the input that ended up in VIN pin on the Nano. How it even survived 28V is beyond me, but I guess I found the limit  The overvoltage also took out the temp sensor and it somehow managed to fry the screen too. I couldn't care less about the $3 Nano and temp sensor, but the $45 screen was not _that_ fun. I guess the good thing about this, beside not making that mistake again, was that the extra effort by adding sockets and plugs on all the major parts, paid off big time. Only takes minutes to swap out the components! :thumbsup: Anyhow, I finally received a new screen last week and everything is up and running again. And luckily, the screen and microcontroller is seemingly not affected by the ignition circuit at all. My precaution with the alu box was probably smart though. I was also able to locate the dead part on the old screen, by the smell and the visible blob on a tiny chip, so I ordered a new one that I just received. I installed it and lo and behold, it worked! So now I have a spare screen too.

To fix the EMI issue with the BMS, I wrapped the battery pack in copper tape, made sure all the tape had continuity and soldered on a ground wire that I connected to the backplate. Twisted some wires, extended the Bluetooth unit outside the tube and installed a few ferrites, aaaand, it doesn't work :mecry: My last attempt was wrapping all the cables in more copper tape, but no luck. Starting to get more than average frustrated with this, but I guess I'll just have to throw money at this contraption til it eventually work. Considering changing the name to BFMP - Big F... Money Pit. For the record, as already seen in the beamshot post, I can "fix" it by simply making a small box on the outside of the tube for the battery, but this is not an option for me. I'm not an extreme perfectionist by any means, but I simply refuse to ruin the sleek look of the carbon tube by bolting on a cheap looking plastic box! I can of course also thether it, which would work perfectly fine, but that wasn't part of the original concept here. Fortunately, I'm not out of ideas, and the one I'm planning now is pretty radical, but I believe it will overall improve the light a lot. However, it will take a few week to get the parts, so sorry for more delays, but it will be finished. 

PS: I also changed out the Xenon lamp. I guess that's pretty radical too! Long story that I will write more about another day.






A closeup of the stripboard layout, that ended up killing the board and screen. The 2 pin input socket (marked with a small red dot for positive) was accidentally placed on the same strip that went to VIN on the Nano. 
Normally not a problem - if you actually remember to cut it... 





First floor. You also get a good look at the aluminium box I made that hold everything in place.





Second floor.





Atleast something works.





The fried LED driver to the screen.





New one installed





:thumbsdow





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


----------



## Enderman (Dec 28, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Excellent, I like how you can still use the light and have fun even though it's not portable or finished yet


----------



## PolarLi (Dec 28, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Yep, got to have some fun. What else is the point of it I guess. Especially in this project where I've had an incredible amount of problems.


----------



## Enderman (Dec 28, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Making a short arc light is already complex, making it run off a battery and have a full computer on board is another step up.
I'm trying to simplify the designs of my future projects as much as possible because of how many things can go wrong during construction.

I've had more than one project where I realized half way through the design stage that I wouldn't even be able to open it up xD


----------



## PolarLi (Dec 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Definitely wise words!

Normally I do try to keep things pretty simple as evidenced by my previous projects. But sometimes one thing just leads to another. For example, the whole idea with the touchscreen was to keep things safe and user friendly. If I didn't have it, I would have needed several manual switches, a key switch, cutouts for volt and temp meters, and a printed instruction manual to actually use it. For instance, the xenon lamp needs post-cooling, which is included in the code, so when I switch off the light, the fans keep running for a couple of minutes without me needing to babysit it. I think the user interface I ended up with is actually more intuitive than 90% of the ordinary flashlights on the market that all use their own unique combination of short clicks, long clicks, double clicks and who knows what. 

But the "smart" BMS was definitely a mistake. And the whole Inverter setup could have been done in a much better way, plus a lot of other small things. But you live and learn. I will say this though. When I'm finished with this project and the other two that I have lined up (that are less complicated) my next light build is probably making some wax candles. I bet I can increase the output from 1 candela up to 1,2 candela. :naughty::candle:

Stay tuned for the Xenon lamp saga.


----------



## PolarLi (Dec 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Here is the long story about the Xenon lamp, and why I replaced it.

A while back during a test with the original lamp, I saw the arc suddenly move on the anode. I noticed this when I saw the hotspot on the wall shifted. Had never seen it before, but it was a sign that something wasn't quite right. 
In general, "Arc jumping" is a big no no when it comes to Xenon lamps because it will damage the electrodes over time. But it would be a problem regardless of light source because you also lose the focus setting. A side effect is that the owner may also lose focus :help:

My initial thought was that I had somehow been wrong about the lamp being designed for horizontal use, but the information I had didn't indicate this. But I contacted the manufacturer and asked for advice. And they did confirm that lamp would indeed work fine in horizontal, but they casually revealed what the actual problem was. The lamp needed something called magnetic arc stabilization (MAS) For some reason, they had not put that information in the datasheet! Needless to say, I was pretty pissed about that. I later talked with one of the engineers, but I didn't get any more info from him than a simple google search provided.

So I had heard about MAS, but I didn't actually know much about it. The basics of it are that the arc in a Xenon lamp in the horizontal position, want's to travel up on the anode (the big electrode) because of the buoyancy of the hot Xenon gas. In the vertical position you don't have the problem, because the gas just pulls in the axial direction. Usually, MAS is only required for lamps with a long arc gap, and this lamp has an extremely short arc gap, so it's a very unusual combination, caused by other factors in the design. Normally, you fix this by installing one or two permanent magnets under the reflector, below the lamp. The magnetic field then pulls the arc back in place and everything is good. You just need to find the exact right sized magnet first, which is an another can of worms. Magic almost makes more sense than this, but this is how it's been done for ages, so it's certainly nothing new.

The problem is that all light that actually uses MAS, is only designed for horizontal position or just slightly up and down. Typically a movie projector or a searchlight. But I was making a portable light. I wanted to use it all the way from 0-90 degrees without any limitations what so ever, and this created the biggest problem. Because if I didn't remove the magnet in the vertical position, it would now pull the arc off center in the opposite direction and do as much damage it originally did without magnet in horizontal position. Phew!

So I did come up with an ingenious, albeit, untested plan. Instead of a permanent magnet, I would install an electromagnet under the reflector, then tune the strength of it by adjusting the current. The main trick was to hook it up to a tilt switch that turned it off when I tilted the light over 20-30 degrees or so. It would probably been the first and only light in the world with a system like that, not to mention in a homemade flashlight(!) But just when I started to experiment with this, BVH came to the resque :rock: He had found a new lamp with the same wattage that didn't need MAS. I obviously jumped on the offer as it saved me tons of experimenting in unknown territory. The new lamp even gave me a little more candela, so that was a nice bonus. 
The old lamp may be retired for now, but there is nothing wrong with it per se. It's a solid performer. And I do know of a perfect application for it so that would be fun to try out sometime in the future.

The moral of the story is, If you think Mercury HID lights sound complicated, good luck with the Xenon build!


----------



## BVH (Dec 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Just a slight clarification.....PolarLi discovered the existence of the lamp and I just happened to find it for sale. Right place at the right time.


----------



## Rasher (Dec 29, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

The badass meter pointer continues to rise.... Friggin' awesome.


----------



## PolarLi (Dec 30, 2018)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks! But as always, the most important meter, is the lux meter


----------



## Pöbel (Jan 4, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

You good sir have me impressed beyond imagination. Love your project!


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## PolarLi (Jan 4, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks man!


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## The_Driver (Feb 17, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Any updates?


----------



## PolarLi (Feb 18, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Long story short, but I tried a new BMS instead of going for my "radical" plan. That was a mistake. The new BMS wasn't even able to power up the inverter in standby... so a almost a whole month wasted and back to what I should have done from the start, throwing out the inverter and going for a high voltage DC system. And when I had sorted out all the parts I needed: CNY. The last package was shipped 3 days ago.

Edit. Forgot to add, all this downtime makes me do crazy things. I just finished this photo *LED* light tonight. CXB3590, 93 CRI, 5600K, making about 9400 lm. 80mm "passive" heatsink with fan cooling, 3D printed housing (just a prototype) homemade anodized front ring in aluminium with AR coated glass lens. Anodized LED holder, Brass insert with 3/8 threads for light stand. Light head is semi waterproof. Takes an Anton Bauer gold mount battery or an plug in DC adapter. 
I really need those Xenon/battery parts now before I end up too far on the dark side :laughing:


----------



## Enderman (Feb 18, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

BMSes are usually very limited in their output capabilities.
The best method is to wire your electronics directly to the battery, bypassing the BMS.
Then the BMS is only used for charging, where balancing the cells is actually necessary.

This is how it is always done in RC, because the motors draw hundreds of amps, sometimes thousands, and there is no BMS that can handle that so everything goes straight to the battery.
Then a balance charger is used for recharging the lithium cells.
As long as all the cells are identical and of similar age (which they pretty much always are, since they are in packs) there is no need to balance them during discharge, only recharge.


----------



## PolarLi (Feb 18, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

That is more or less what I'm going to do, except I will use a regular charger and built in balance board(s). Plug in balance is still an option. One of the things that kept me from doing all this from the start, was that I need a 36S batterypack, 151 volt. The selection of chargers and balancers for that is very very limited. So I eventually figured out that I will split the pack. Then, of course I had to find out how to split and reconnect a pack you don't have easy access to, and also make it fail safe so you accidentally don't forget to split it. So I think I figured it out by using a 4 pin charging port, and a blind plug that acts as a "key" that connects the packs together when plugged in. To charge it, you obviously need to unplug it, and the packs are split. Simple! :thumbsup:


----------



## Enderman (Feb 19, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

There are some auto-balancers that can be connected together to balance as many cells as you want.
Then you just connect the + and - to the battery pack using a non-balancing charger and the balancing circuitry takes care of the rest.
I don't know how much parasitic drain these passive balancers use though, since they need to be connected to the cells 24/7.


----------



## PolarLi (Feb 19, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

I know, there are a few on the market, but most are designed for EV's, so they are big, heavy and expensive and/or have very limited documentation and poor user interface. What i'm making will basically be the same, except the two 18S balance boards have no connection between them, so the downside is of course that the two halfs technically can come out of balance in relation to eachother. However, with the easy access thru the charging port, I can hook up a big resistor an pull down the voltage if one pack get's to high. The main thing is that I don't have to worry about the individual cells.


----------



## Alex1234 (Feb 20, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Just curious what is the general cost of a buold like this? Your work is so fun to watch. It seams like short arc will never die like Hid did when led surpassed them however for pure throw Led has a long way to go still to beat short arc. My best thrower atm is the blf gt with CFT 90 led mod from Vinh. 2 million CD 5,500 lumens. I remember when the raidfire spear came out and everyone was stunned at an led flashlight hitting 20k CD. Then the olight Sr 90 with the 100k CD milestone and then kept sky rocketed then after.


----------



## PolarLi (Feb 21, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Most things will eventually "die" from a performance standpoint, assuming there is a market that wants more of whatever it's best in. But nothing will ever beat some of the allure of short arc, being the closest you get to your own personal sun. It's bright, hot, high pressure, exotic elements, temperamental, and can kill you 
Part cost is around $2500, but I have paid a bit more with VAT and shipping on some of this. I have also changed out a few parts that adds on top, like the inverter and lamp, but those still have value.


----------



## XeRay (Feb 21, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



Alex1234 said:


> It seams like short arc will never die like Hid did when led surpassed them however for pure throw Led has a long way to go still to beat short arc.


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.


----------



## Enderman (Feb 21, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



XeRay said:


> 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 (Feb 22, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



Enderman said:


> 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 (Feb 22, 2019)

*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 (Feb 22, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



BVH said:


> 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 (Feb 24, 2019)

*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 (Feb 24, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks!


----------



## The_Driver (Apr 13, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Any updates?


----------



## PolarLi (Apr 15, 2019)

*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 (Apr 23, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Looks nice and neat!


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## PolarLi (Apr 23, 2019)

*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.


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## Enderman (Apr 24, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

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


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## PolarLi (Apr 24, 2019)

*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:


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## The_Driver (May 25, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Any updates?


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## PolarLi (May 28, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

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


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## The_Driver (May 31, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



PolarLi said:


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



End of July? :sigh:


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## PolarLi (Jun 1, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*



The_Driver said:


> End of July? :sigh:



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


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## PolarLi (Aug 12, 2019)

*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.


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## The_Driver (Aug 13, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

You have my attention!


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## Enderman (Aug 18, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

:O Exciting!


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## PolarLi (Aug 19, 2019)

*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.


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## DOHC20 (Aug 29, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

awesome build..so much detail and time involved, its always great to see that kind of effort. can i ask where you got that Carbon tube for the housing from?


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## PolarLi (Sep 5, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks! The tube comes from http://www.klaushelmi.de/


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## The_Driver (Oct 15, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Updates?


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## hahoo (Dec 21, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

updates?


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## PolarLi (Dec 22, 2019)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Sorry guys for the long wait again. I didn't want to bumb the thread just to tell everyone I still had no update, but since it is up now, I can reveal the light is completed, pretty much... It was actually completed almost a month ago, except it all stopped on one tiny detail: the DC voltage meter. Because of some trouble with the shipping, had to reorder from a different place, but now it's finally in transit.


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## PolarLi (Jan 7, 2020)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

So the light is completed! Bet you never saw that coming :laughing:







Well, it took a while but it's finally up and running as a fully assembled and working light. That isn't to say that I won't touch it anymore, actually have some plans for a small mod, but nothing major. 

I know that all want to know the performance, but I just put it together yesterday, so it still needs some fine tuning before I reveal the final numbers. What I can say is that it is offically over 100,000,000 candela, but not by much. 
I will add some daylight pics when the weather permits and of course more beamshots and the final number.


























Small comment on the new DC voltmeter, have not programmed it for the battery capacity yet, so don't pay to much attention to all the numbers.







Also have something else coming up that deserves a new thread, Project MCP. Pretty cool little thing actually  And luckily for you, that project is completed so it will be one big post with all the good stuff.








:wave:


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## The_Driver (Jan 15, 2020)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Finally! So awesome! Please post more pics/beamshots when you find the time!


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## PolarLi (Jan 15, 2020)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks The Driver, I appreciate your patience! 

So the weather has been pretty bad the last weeks, but I finally got a weather window today and did a proper lux test, and I finally have the numbers! On a distance of 233 meters, I got 1934 and 1885 lux on two different lux meters (Amprobe LM120 and Testo 540). 
This gives me an average of *103,600,000* Candela which is the official number for now 


So first of all, I'm very pleased that I passed my own prediction in the title of this thread. But the fact of the matter is that this light actually clocked in way more on tests I did last year.
The lux drop simply boils down to lack of reflector accuracy, mostly due to a mount that isn't as robust as the one I put on the MCP light. 
The reflector itself is also bonded directly to the aluminium on this light which makes it very sensitive. When that is said, I'm not complaining! (just a little bit) 
And needless to say, it's still a killer light! More beamshots with something better than my cellphone is definitely coming up when the sky is clear. I will probably wait with the daylight pictures until the sun returns.

Here is a video of it in action tonight: 

https://vimeo.com/385063394


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## PolarLi (Feb 6, 2020)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

So I saw a comment on why I didn't do anything to reduce spill light. For instance I could have installed so called spill rings or just a tube over the lamp. Well, it would have been nice, but not really worth the effort because the BFF doesn't spill much at all, it just looks worse here because of the snow. 

So I did a pretty interesting, if not "brutal" comparison tonight. I took the biggest LED thrower I have, which isn't very big at all(!) but still a great thrower for it's size, an Acebeam K50 v3, XHP35Hi, 450 Kcd, 2500 lm (on a good day?) vs the BFF. I set the camera to 1/30 sec, f/2.8, 15mm, ISO 1270 and took a few shots. The results speaks for themself. The K50 almost "outspill" the BFF, and in some places it does, seen on the trees to the right, 1/4 downrange 

BFF, note that almost all the spill comes from the tungsten anode seen by the classic 2700K incan glow, not from the arc itself. The main reason for this is that the anode is not in focus (and never can be). But when this light is used on grass, gravel, not to mention water, the spill basically disappears.







K50:












Edit, I made a drawing that show better why most of the spill only comes from the anode itself, which ironically also eliminate most of the spill from the arc. By installing rings like the picture of the Francis light you would also remove the anode spill.


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## Zandar (Feb 7, 2020)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

From start to finish, this has been one very impressive project, that has been a joy to watch! I can't wait to see the new project!


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## PolarLi (Feb 7, 2020)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thank you for the kind words!


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## 37Blenman (Feb 9, 2020)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Truly Amazing!! Well Done!!


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## PolarLi (Feb 10, 2020)

*Re: 1?? Mcd Xenon Flashlight Project - BFF*

Thanks!


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