# Boosted Thor ~3x Output - Part 2



## Roy (Feb 8, 2005)

Look here for the origional thread.


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## 4sevens (Feb 8, 2005)

wow, that last thread had close to 10k views!


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## NewBie (Feb 8, 2005)

Heheh, whoa!


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## IsaacHayes (Feb 9, 2005)

Jar, Care to spill a little info about the current incarnation of the circuit you got now? Is it more efficient too? I'd imagine smaller parts would be....


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## Brock (Feb 18, 2005)

Newbie and chance this will fit in the "little Brother" Thor? Run-time, schumn-time, I just want bright /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif


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## UncleFester (Mar 6, 2005)

Jarhead. I don't want to be a PITA, but howz Thor's Hammer doing? Last I heard, you were experimenting with syncronous rectification. Intiution tells me you're gonna (at least try to) squeeze this thing to 96% efficiency or so.


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## NewBie (Mar 27, 2005)

Yes, the efficiency is higher Issac.

Brock, depends on what the "little brother" is, and how much room is inside. It could also be miniaturized for lower wattage bulbs.

Well, UncleFester, the lab measurements are putting it well past that. Gonna need to find someone else to measure and confirm what I'm seeing at the moment, before I make any claims.


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## Brock (Apr 1, 2005)

[waving hand]I'll try it, I'll try it[/waving hand]
Seriously though I would be happy to run it though any test for you.


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## BVH (Apr 26, 2005)

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bumpit.gif Newbie, anything on the horizon?


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## Graywolf (May 3, 2005)

Does anyone know if something happened to Newbie? Car accident, sickness, personal problems? I sincerly hope none of that happens to anyone, but it has been almost six(6) weeks since any word on the Thor mod from him. I read the one post where he is very busy with work, and personal life, but six weeks without a word on a subject in which he obviously was very interested? If you are able to read this and respond, give us a little hope please.


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## java_man (May 3, 2005)

Greywolf

If you click on a users name, then click on the "show all posts" button, you can see if anyone is active.

And newbie is alive and well !


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## NewBie (May 4, 2005)

I ran into a "feature" in the chip that I have been trying to work around. If I can't figure out how to get around it easily, I'll be going back to a more discrete design.

Sorry about the delay, trust me, I'm working on it nightly.


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## UncleFester (May 4, 2005)

[ QUOTE ]
*NewBie said:*
I ran into a "feature" in the chip that I have been trying to work around. If I can't figure out how to get around it easily, I'll be going back to a more discrete design.

Sorry about the delay, trust me, I'm working on it nightly. 

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmmm.. Would you be interested in sharing this "feature"? Maybe someone would have some insight.......


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## JohnGault (May 4, 2005)

[ QUOTE ]
*NewBie said:*
Sorry about the delay, trust me, I'm working on it nightly. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you So Much for your continuing effort!

I've been looking forward to this since November /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif


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## jtice (May 4, 2005)

He may be slow at times, but his work is top notch, im sure that the end result will be the very best it cna be.

looking forward to it.


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## Gadget_Guru (May 11, 2005)

Newbie,

Do you have a low-voltage cutoff feature in your boost circuit? That would be a great way to protect the lead-acid battery from damage. It would also be nice for those willing to spend the $$ for NiMH D-cells to replace the original lead-acid battery in the spotlight.

Thanks,
Darron


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## NewBie (May 15, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

At the power draw from the SLA, the voltage drops down to the 8V range, and it dims out. Once the load is removed, the cell voltage comes back up to 11.5V, so it doesn't hurt anything. Remember, when it is boosting, it is yanking a good 10 Amps out of the cells.

I finally licked one of the major quirks I've been fighting for some time now with the all in-one-chip I've been using. I still want to work a little on reducing that drop over time, so I am not quite done.







This is the old chart for comparision, orange being stock:






It has been awhile, so I'll dig up some more output comparisions:


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## UncleFester (May 15, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Aha! the master speaks!!/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif


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## Icebreak (May 15, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

145,000 Lux from the stock bulb with your circuit is massive. Almost level draw too. Really impressive work, Newbie.


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## NewBie (May 15, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Thanks fellas!


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## diggdug13 (May 15, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

WOW!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif 

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif

Doug


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## bwaites (May 15, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Any time frame yet?

I've got two Thors anxiously awaiting heart transplants!

Bill


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## NewBie (May 16, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Well, I ran some tests today.

Rewired everything with 4 guage wire.

Found the circuit keeps the voltage on the tabs of the H4 bulb within 0.64% (0.01V out of 15V).

So I was left scratching my head, looking at ripple currents/voltages and other interesting things...

Then something from deep in the past, decades ago, struck me. The stand-offs in the bulb are also resistive.

So, as the bulb heats up, the stand-offs that hook from the tabs through the glass, and then to the filament- get hot.

So the bulb gets hot, and the resistance in the filament stand-offs goes up. This causes the output level to drop some.

Time to go repeat the test, this time using the nice stock bulb, instead of a autostore bulb.

BTW, for those not familiar with the Thor's Hammer (boost circuit we are talking about) go here:
Thor's Hammer (boost)


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## UncleFester (May 16, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

INTERESTING. 
I guess that would have shown up if both voltage and current were measured at the bulb. 
I'd 'a never thought of that one!
Edit: It also means the not only are the standoff resistive, but they have a positive temperature coefficient.


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## NewBie (May 16, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Okay, so I thought a little more, and decided I'd use the hottest running bulb I have, a Narva. 

Monitored output of the converter the whole time, on the H4 bulb terminals themselves, it stayed constant, even on a scope.

Here is the result:








Contrast that with the previous one:





The Narva bulb is quite a bit brighter (refer to previous chart post on output vs. voltage at 15V) It also runs lot brighter.

So, pretty safe to conclude it is due to temp. I also tried a run, went 15 minutes (to drain battery), let things cool, and started up again. Same curve over time.


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## UncleFester (May 16, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Congratulations on finding that!/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif I'm impressed. 
You DO know that now you're going to need to make power regulation feedback and not just voltage feedback./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif
Edit:<Homer Simpson drool> mmmmm..... multiplier circuits... mmmmmmm


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## NewBie (May 16, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Well, I've got one more test I wanna try to confirm this, will let you know what happens.


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## IsaacHayes (May 16, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

So runtime is up from <20mins to 35mins! nice! That's almost stock runtime!


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## NewBie (May 16, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Well, I got some +/- 50 parts per million per degree C sense resistors today, and put some heavy heatsinking on them, and I can now see the current to the bulb changing as the bulb heats up, even though the voltage is sitting rock steady. Which means the bulb is changing resistance with temperature (which it should be doing).

I'll do a plot and post in a bit.


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## HarryN (May 16, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Well Newbie, you sucked me in - It is plenty good enough for me to buy one. Let me know when / what you want to offer. I prefer to obtain one at the highest integration level you will offer - of whatever you are offering and perhaps wire upgraded by someone who can solder them in for me. What a great setup. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


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## NewBie (May 17, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Okay, I ran some more precise tests. Although the current does change a little, which is what I was seeing with the more precise current sense resistor, it stops shifting soon.

The voltage is flat to 15.03V +/- 0.01V the whole time.

This is a plot of the output current to the bulb:







But I did find something more out, gotta run the test to absolutely prove it now. Be back in a little bit.


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## NewBie (May 17, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Okay, here we go. I increased the distance by a factor of six from the light meter, and saw a much lower drop-off. 

I also took a regulated LED light that has a constant output and pointed it at the light meter. I took a blow dryer and pointed it at the light sensor, and saw the reading start dropping, and then going back up as it cooled off.

Tomorrow night, after I get all these cells recharged, I'll do a much longer distance plot (100ft), to reduce the heating of the light meter sensor due to the IR output of the bulb. (btw, found this same problem on two different brand light meters)

Anyhow, here is the new longer distance plot:





This one below used exactly the same bulb, reflector, battery, boost circuit, everything was the same, except distance:








*Moral of the story, Incandescent lights heat up light meter sensors and cause errors.*


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## UncleFester (May 17, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Geez, what other surprises does this project have to offer??? It really complicates things when your test equipment lies. I had an o scope that the power supply regulation failed in. It was on a bench to test high power audio amps. When the amp is loaded heavily, it pulls the AC line down which changed the focus on the scope. It looked VERY MUCH like the amp oscillated when loaded. Liar.


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## NewBie (May 17, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

LOL! This isn't the first time equipment has lied to me, which is why I kept on plugging away at it. Personally, I would have expected the designers to have compensated for heat in the light meter sensor, especially in the higher end heavy duty version, but both meters show the same problem.

So, the internal heating effect of the wires is still there, you can see it in the current plot, but it is not nearly as bad as I'd first thought. The sense resistor heating only saw it rise by 5C, so 50 ppm * 5C = 250 ppm change, or 0.0000017 ohms, something I'd not see with the equipment I have here at home. Yes, the sense resistor is actually a Kelvin connection type.

Right now the soft start has a 0.025 second delay where the bulb sits around 11V, and then a 0.025 second soft start time which ramps it up to 15V. So the total circuit startup period is 0.05 seconds. I could slow it down a little, so the initial bump you see in the current plot above is a little bit lower, which I might, but first I want to get a digital scope hooked up to get better capture of the initial bulb startup currents. That plot was based on a 1 second sample rate, or 2116 actual data points over the runtime. I'm doing the light meter plots at the same 1 second sample rate.


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## jtice (May 17, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Well I'll be damn, thats very interesting.
I guess the Thor does put off alot of heat, very interesting it had that much of an effect on the light meter, I shall remember that!


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## NewBie (May 18, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Okay, took an oscilloscope and grabbed the data points during the first seconds of turn on. I did alter the soft start and delay a tad since I last talked about it. I had a little noise in the measurment setup, but the plot still turned out decent.

Here is what it looks like (trying to be nice an gentile), the is the voltage at the bulb:


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## NewBie (May 18, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

[ QUOTE ]
*NewBie said:*
Okay, here we go. I increased the distance by a factor of six from the light meter, and saw a much lower drop-off. 

I also took a regulated LED light that has a constant output and pointed it at the light meter. I took a blow dryer and pointed it at the light sensor, and saw the reading start dropping, and then going back up as it cooled off.

Tomorrow night, after I get all these cells recharged, I'll do a much longer distance plot (100ft), to reduce the heating of the light meter sensor due to the IR output of the bulb. (btw, found this same problem on two different brand light meters)

Anyhow, here is the new longer distance plot:





This one below used exactly the same bulb, reflector, battery, boost circuit, everything was the same, except distance:








*Moral of the story, Incandescent lights heat up light meter sensors and cause errors.* 

[/ QUOTE ]


Okay, did the 100ft outdoor shot, there is some warble in the line, due to distance and wind and such:







Notice how much flatter the runtime plot is. I never realized light meter designers would skip temperature compensation in the measurement head. Even at 100ft, I could feel a *little* heat on my face from the beam.

Anyhow, this is great news, it is somewhat regulated, and it was mainly the meter all along....

Looks like soon, I will need to go find H4 terminal lugs now, and start board layout. Just a few minor things to try out and tidy up first.


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## idleprocess (May 18, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Seems fast for a soft-start circuit, but I guess it makes enough of a difference.


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## UncleFester (May 18, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

[ QUOTE ]
*NewBie said:*
[ QUOTE ]
*NewBie said:*
Okay, here we go. I increased the distance by a factor of six from the light meter, and saw a much lower drop-off. 

I also took a regulated LED light that has a constant output and pointed it at the light meter. I took a blow dryer and pointed it at the light sensor, and saw the reading start dropping, and then going back up as it cooled off.

Tomorrow night, after I get all these cells recharged, I'll do a much longer distance plot (100ft), to reduce the heating of the light meter sensor due to the IR output of the bulb. (btw, found this same problem on two different brand light meters)

Anyhow, here is the new longer distance plot:





This one below used exactly the same bulb, reflector, battery, boost circuit, everything was the same, except distance:








*Moral of the story, Incandescent lights heat up light meter sensors and cause errors.* 

[/ QUOTE ]


Okay, did the 100ft outdoor shot, there is some warble in the line, due to distance and wind and such:







Notice how much flatter the runtime plot is. I never realized light meter designers would skip temperature compensation in the measurement head. Even at 100ft, I could feel a *little* heat on my face from the beam.

Anyhow, this is great news, it is somewhat regulated, and it was mainly the meter all along....

Looks like soon, I will need to go find H4 terminal lugs now, and start board layout. Just a few minor things to try out and tidy up first. 

[/ QUOTE ]

*Somewhat regulated ?* I guess modesty is a virtue.
I think someone found the H4 terminals in this thread or the signup thread. 

Cool /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif


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## NewBie (May 18, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

LOL 

Yeah, but I'd like to find board mount versions for the existing terminals to plug into.


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## jtice (May 18, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Thats a damn fine looking plot Jar.
very very flat for an incan setup.

Is the plot as flat at lower levels also?

also, how low can this setup go? It would be really nice if you can get it to dail down really low, for a LONG runtime setup, might be able to rig a defuser to it and make it a camp light /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


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## Brock (May 18, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Very nice. I forgot about the soft start, nice touch, I can't wait to try it out!


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## NewBie (May 19, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Thanks Brock.


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## Dr_Joe (May 24, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Outstanding Newbie, keep up the excellent work. can't wait to get my hands on one !


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## Fraseman (May 24, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Ditto on the excellent work. You are certainly putting in a tremendous amount of time on this. Thank you. I can't wait for the final product.


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## MR Bulk (Jul 3, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Any updates?


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## HighLight (Aug 23, 2005)

*Re: Boosted Thor ~2x Output - Part 2*

Anything on the horizon I wonder? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif


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## NewBie (Aug 29, 2005)

Yes, I'll be locking it down in awhile, trying some additional changes to improve efficiency, above the 95% level at +100W, while trying to keep this as low cost as absolutely possible.

Meanwhile, the load at work has increased significantly, with a considerable amount of extra hours, resulting in over 60 hours a week away from home. Plus there are all the things you have to do around the house in the summer, and honeydo projects (trust me, those take priority). As summer ramps down, and things at work don't demand so much attention, I really want to devote more time back on the project.

Why the quest for efficiency? Well at 100W, at 95% efficiency, you have 5% waste. This 5% of 100W is 5W. This 5W goes up as heat. You need to dissipate it somehow, which costs money (such as heatsinks, or board size).

Once locked down, I'll pick a few alpha testers.

Depending on how that goes, we will move to the beta phase.

If everything is good to go, then we go to production.


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## HighLight (Oct 26, 2005)

Newbie any news on the Thors Hammer boost board?


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## glockboy (Oct 27, 2005)

update?


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## JohnGault (Oct 28, 2005)

I think the original thread has a birthday comming up next week 

I guess it gonna take as long as it takes..... just so it doesn't go away altogether!


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## HighLight (Oct 28, 2005)

:bump:


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## The-David (Nov 1, 2005)

, ahh man am I looking forward to this


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## glockboy (Nov 20, 2005)

any news about the beta phase?


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## Dr_Joe (Nov 25, 2005)

Any news about anything ? :candle:


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## NewBie (Nov 25, 2005)

News?

Well, I've been busy with things in my personal life, that may put me in a much better situation for the long run.

Though, have been adjusting the board layout, and should be sending it off for my alpha/beta phase soon.


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## JohnGault (Nov 25, 2005)

NewBie said:


> News?
> 
> Well, I've been busy with things in my personal life, that may put me in a much better situation for the long run.
> 
> Though, have been adjusting the board layout, and should be sending it off for my alpha/beta phase soon.



Awful Glad to hear from you and see you haven't given-up the project that's become important to so many of us 

Thanks Again! Keep us updated on any progress please...


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## mdocod (Dec 8, 2005)

perhaps this was already answered in the original thread, (links to original don't work for me, ??)...

1. I thought these bulbs were designed to operate at around 13-14V... how much life would one expect to take off the the bulb by driving it at 15? (my feeling is that, with the soft-turn-on, it's probably fairly gentle on the bulb, even at the higher voltage. Props to a great idea there)

2. Couldn't something similar be achieved, by using an 18 or 24V power supply, and a simple voltage step-down converter to help maintain a level output?

3. Are you running both filaments at the same time? (I found that by rewiring the way my stock thor came, I could use both high and low beams at the same time, it also made the low-beam much brighter since it wasn't "seeing" the high-beam filament as a resistor.)



if any of you are interested in having a regulator type circuit before the hammer boost is copmleted- I was going to suggest having a look at products already available... DC-DC converters...

I was doing some searching around... the LC200/12/12 by Avel, would be an appropriot design... 13.7V output.. unfortunatally, it's only ~80% efficiant.. http://www.avellindberg.com/pdf/avel_lc_series.pdf

The VI-200 would fit in a thor (i think)... made by Vicor. would use 12 or 15V outputs... http://vicorpower.com/documents/datasheets/ds_vi-200.pdf, that one is 90% efficiant.



could the filaments be wired in series?, then use a 28V system to drive the bulb?




just some thoughts/ideas... I'm looking forward to seeing the finalized thor hammer... in the mean time, i'll be tinkering.


[edit]... thought of some more things to mention


the bulb comparison is very interesting... especially the narva at ~117W totally outperforming the 130W bulb in output and efficiancy.... Could these tests also have been skewed by the sensativity to heat of the light-meter? The higher wattage bulbs, would, afterall, make more heat and reduce the "measured" output due to increased resistance... I'm assuming the tests were performed with the bulbs mounted in the thor? If so- different bulbs will generate slightly different focus depending on filament position.. Another thing to point out that I found very interesting... It took 15V to get the stock bulb to actually run at 130W, it's rated power... whereas the same 15V, seems to push the 100W bulbs above and beyond their watage rating... maybe there is room for more voltage on the 130W bulbs...? Seems like bulbs really start to "shine" when they are slightly overdriven.


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## NewBie (Dec 8, 2005)

mdocod said:


> perhaps this was already answered in the original thread, (links to original don't work for me, ??)...
> 
> 1. I thought these bulbs were designed to operate at around 13-14V... how much life would one expect to take off the the bulb by driving it at 15? (my feeling is that, with the soft-turn-on, it's probably fairly gentle on the bulb, even at the higher voltage. Props to a great idea there)



The bulb is fairly low cost, and yes, the soft start helps alot to prevent insta-flash. With the design I had back in May, you will notice there is a soft start at the very beginning, then there is an additional soft start, then finally a third softstart, as I inch the bulb on up.

This is where I was back in May:







An example of what the current did at that time?






How do I know that it helps alot? I had a whole box of blown H4 bulbs, which kept growing, until I added the soft-start feature. Then I found I could push the bulbs a bit harder.




mdocod said:


> 2. Couldn't something similar be achieved, by using an 18 or 24V power supply, and a simple voltage step-down converter to help maintain a level output?



That would cost you additional money, possibly more than the 19 dollar THOR, just in batteries alone.



mdocod said:


> 3. Are you running both filaments at the same time? (I found that by rewiring the way my stock thor came, I could use both high and low beams at the same time, it also made the low-beam much brighter since it wasn't "seeing" the high-beam filament as a resistor.)



Just the high beam filament.




mdocod said:


> if any of you are interested in having a regulator type circuit before the hammer boost is copmleted- I was going to suggest having a look at products already available... DC-DC converters...
> 
> I was doing some searching around... the LC200/12/12 by Avel, would be an appropriot design... 13.7V output.. unfortunatally, it's only ~80% efficiant.. http://www.avellindberg.com/pdf/avel_lc_series.pdf
> 
> The VI-200 would fit in a thor (i think)... made by Vicor. would use 12 or 15V outputs... http://vicorpower.com/documents/datasheets/ds_vi-200.pdf, that one is 90% efficiant.



You could not even fit the Avel part into the Thor, since you'd need the LC200, 8.8 inches, by 5.2 inches, by 2.2 inches, and you'd need a pretty big heatsink to dissipate the 20 Watts or so of heat, and it would have to be even larger, since it is inside the plastic Thor housing.


The Vicor is not 90% efficient. And they are spendy to start with. The high priced E grade is 78-88% efficient, and the uber spendy C, I, M grades are 80-90% efficient. Notice how it states "up to 90% efficient". 

Now, if you have 10% losses there, you are looking to have to dissipate 13 Watts of power, not an easy chore inside a plastic cased flashlight. Ouch!

At 20% (80% efficiency), you are looking at having to dissipate 26W of heat, ouch!

They will cost you at least 91.00 dollars if you buy 100 of them, for the low grade lossy E version. Plus you will need a nice big heatsink...

Plus you'd need to provide an external soft start circuit on top of it all, or rely on the hard limit, not quite the same thing...

Once you include the heatsink and the Vicor, it is doubtful you could fit it in there. Guess you could add a fan to the Thor, but then you'd have to fit that in, cut a hole, and pay for the fan too.

Now, realize if you go with those solutions, you are also looking at 10-20% less runtime, or less.



mdocod said:


> could the filaments be wired in series?, then use a 28V system to drive the bulb?



You'd have to go figure this out.




mdocod said:


> the bulb comparison is very interesting... especially the narva at ~117W totally outperforming the 130W bulb in output and efficiancy.... Could these tests also have been skewed by the sensativity to heat of the light-meter?



Not by that much. The filament of the Narva is being ran at a higher Kelvin temperature than the 130W bulb in that graph, even at the same voltage. You can see it in the color of the beam.




mdocod said:


> The higher wattage bulbs, would, afterall, make more heat and reduce the "measured" output due to increased resistance... I'm assuming the tests were performed with the bulbs mounted in the thor?



Nope, the Narva bulb was definitely running the filament hotter, you can see it in the beam color, much whiter or more "blue".




mdocod said:


> If so- different bulbs will generate slightly different focus depending on filament position.. Another thing to point out that I found very interesting... It took 15V to get the stock bulb to actually run at 130W, it's rated power...



No, 130W is not the stock power. That is the stock power of the great big Thor. The stock bulb is 100W. Here is the datasheet:
http://www.molalla.net/~leeper/12569.jpg

And here is the photo of the stock bulb:
http://www.molalla.net/~leeper/12569_2t.jpg




mdocod said:


> whereas the same 15V, seems to push the 100W bulbs above and beyond their watage rating... maybe there is room for more voltage on the 130W bulbs...? Seems like bulbs really start to "shine" when they are slightly overdriven.



See my above comment.


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## dwminer (Dec 9, 2005)

*I wish to Withdraw*

I have given my Thor away and wish to withdraw from the booster purchase. Thank you
Dave


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## mdocod (Dec 12, 2005)

Newbie: Thankyou for clearing that up for me!!... (i'm trying to get a grasp on what's going on with your circuit)... I realize now.. they your circuit... is being designed with a spacific application in mind- so it can be smaller and more effeciiant than a run of the mill voltage regulator when used in this application..


I appologise... I misunderstood one of your graphs before comparing bulb brightness... The graph does however, have a 130W narva bulb in it. Which is still interesting because it appears that the 100W narva is brighter. (am i reading this correctly?)


I understand now why you are using such heavy gage wire in the project.. I was over at a friends house the other night, and we took apart the thor and his vector 3mcp.. we were measuring voltage and current at the bulb... with both filaments running.. it dropped the voltage to 10.4, and was pulling near 16 amps, (stock wiring looks to be 18 gage, in which case, 16 is about the limit)... We hooked the same lamps... up to a "regulated" power supply and ran them at 14.5V (dropped to 13.7 at the bulb)... over 14 gage wire... current with both filaments on the thor was over 18 amps. (that's with the philips 130W).

Would your booster circuit work with both filaments running? or would a beefier design be required?


keep up the good work!


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## CroMAGnet (Dec 12, 2005)

Will Thor's Hammer best my new HF 35W HiD in LUX or LUMENS? I seriously thought it was my last big light purchase...


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## NewBie (Dec 14, 2005)

CromagNet said:


> Will Thor's Hammer best my new HF 35W HiD in LUX or LUMENS? I seriously thought it was my last big light purchase...



Yes, in lumens. The bulb, stock, puts out 2900 lumens when driven to spec.

http://www.molalla.net/~leeper/12569.jpg

I'll be driving it alot harder.


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## mdocod (Dec 15, 2005)

Newbie-

I was wondering if you had an estimated $price$ for the booster... I'm interested in putting my name on the list- but would like to know what i'm getting into before hand.


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## HighLight (Dec 15, 2005)

Newbie have you considered farming out some of the prototyping or production/assembly of the Thor Hammer to some interested CPF members so we can get our hands on this little gem sooner rather than later? Just a suggestion since you have so much other more important demands on your spare time.....


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## glockboy (Jan 16, 2006)

new year bump


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## PhillyRube (Jan 29, 2006)

Still waiting and playing with the maxabeam!


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## glockboy (Feb 25, 2006)

any update?


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## mdocod (Mar 2, 2006)

haven't seen much activity in this in awhile... kinda hoping that your still working on it Newbie!

I just had a thought- could 2 of your boosters be used in a single thor, one for each filament of a 100/90 type bulb?


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## HighLight (Mar 4, 2006)

Newbie, update us on this project please. :bump:


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## HighLight (Mar 6, 2006)




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## mdocod (Mar 7, 2006)




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## HighLight (Mar 11, 2006)

:thinking:


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## hord (Apr 3, 2006)

I have been following this project for a while, and am about to undertake the wiring upgrade on my own ‘Thor’ equivalent down here in Oz! But while I might get a 5% boost (I will test to see the end result of voltage & current improvement at the bulb)… Newbies booster circuit is what I am hanging out for!

So rather than post another ‘bump’ I thought it would be more encouraging to share a few links I have been researching to try and Help Newbie’s design along the way down the production path. Some time back he was looking/asking about female H4 plugs for board mounting to offer a fully ‘plug & play’ solution. Whilst I haven’t been about to track any smd plugs down yet (not for the want of trying!) I have tracked down some H4 sockets with pigtail leads that could be added fairly seamlessly to the board.

The best picture to describe what I mean can be found here but this particular combo only comes with 18AWG leads (though they do seem to offer customised bulk buys)… the better (pictureless) option might be this one (bottom of H4 connectors) as it offers 12 AWG pigtail leads. The first one has its leads exiting out the sides of the plug leaving the bottom of the plug flat making flush mounting easier.

My idea was that these female plugs could be epoxied to the board (hot melt glue might re-melt!) with the minimal length pigtail leads soldered into the board. Not as neat as a true smd solution but it should keep costs down yet still provide a very easy plug in upgrade!

I also re-discovered the original Thor Booster thread (whose links have been misplaced with the CPF upgrade) in Google’s Cache of the website… so while it works it is a bit scruffy! It can be found here!

I can see from the posts that there are still a lot of keen people wanting to make Thors Hammer a reality... and I am sure it will be at some stage! But if there is any other part/design research or help that the rest of us can offer you Newbie (in a non-hurrying... non-pestering way  ) to make things easier for you just sing out!!! As it is usually the hours spent trying to locate the best componenets on the web that takes the fun out of designs! 

Just a thought....

Harvey


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## glockboy (Apr 24, 2006)

still waiting for update.


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## Dr_Joe (Apr 26, 2006)




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## dwminer (Apr 26, 2006)

Looks dead to me. Gave my Thor to my next-door neighbor.
Dave


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## HighLight (Apr 26, 2006)

Yeah I hate it when people start threads like this, talks about going into Beta testing, yadda, yadda, yadda and then just ignores the thread and is active elsewhere. Kind of makes you wonder what it is all about....


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## thesurefire (Apr 28, 2006)

HighLight said:


> Yeah I hate it when people start threads like this, talks about going into Beta testing, yadda, yadda, yadda and then just ignores the thread and is active elsewhere. Kind of makes you wonder what it is all about....



IMHO this is somewhat uncalled for. Why not just simply ask 

'Newbie are you still working on this?' I see no reason he wouldn't give us a honest and straightforward answer, so Is this still in the works?


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## HighLight (Apr 28, 2006)

thesurefire said:


> IMHO this is somewhat uncalled for. Why not just simply ask
> 
> 'Newbie are you still working on this?' I see no reason he wouldn't give us a honest and straightforward answer, so Is this still in the works?



We have asked..read the preceding posts!! Just frustrated about this thread thats all. I purchased a Thor what 2 years+ ago in anticipation for this mod and then (read some of the preceding posts) it just fizzles? Thats just life I guess but if there are technical problems them some of the preceding posts offered help etc. but Newbie just doesn't chime in. And I'm not one to go PM'ing people so that is why I made that statement.


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## LumenHound (Apr 28, 2006)

I can't believe this thread is still going.
Newbie has said that he has a full deck with regards to family and work right now so it seems reasonable to classify the Thor Boost board as having been put on the back burner for now.

I would imagine that Newbie (Jar) will re-open interest on the project when time permits. Work and family must come first.


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## HighLight (Apr 28, 2006)

Your right. Instead of editing my previous post I'll leave it but your right. I'm feeling like such a woos lately..lol


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## Bright Scouter (Dec 15, 2006)

Well, it's been a while since it was brought up. 

Newbie,

Any chance you have thought about putting any more work into this, or should we consider this permanently shelved?

Thanks,


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## markdi (Dec 22, 2006)

Hi

I want one - if the price is right


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## thesurefire (Dec 23, 2006)

thesurefire said:


> IMHO this is somewhat uncalled for. Why not just simply ask
> 
> 'Newbie are you still working on this?' I see no reason he wouldn't give us a honest and straightforward answer, so Is this still in the works?



Alright I was wrong, 6 months later, still nothing.


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## NewBie (Dec 23, 2006)

Actually, I inquired to see if folks would be interested in me making a run.

I spent too much of my own money on too large of a board run, and the place got the layers mixed up (damn obvious to me), and I lost a chunk of "fun" money.

I spent the rest of it on Lithium cells for battery testing I did in the spring, summer, fall, winter, and I need to get back to finish things up.

I'm considering doing another small prototype run (have the parts that make it work already), and getting a few of those in the hands of a few folks for alpha field testing, to see what shakes out before a beta run.

Why, are a few of you still interested?

With all the available low cost HID lights available now, I had thought not too many would still have an interest.


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## mdocod (Dec 23, 2006)

I'm still VERY interested NewBie!! HID is fun and all, but there is just no replacement for that instant-ON gratification... not to mention, a 3X boosted thor is brighter than most of the reasonably priced HIDs, and probably cheaper to build. I have an amondotech, and while it is a bit brighter than the stock thor, I still prefer the incan color rendering of the thor.


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## LumenHound (Dec 23, 2006)

Thor's Hammer would breath new life into the hundreds of 10M Thor spotlights that are sitting in closets collecting dust. Instant on, soft start, and regulation...what's not to like? 

If the current market would support a demand for 100 units, could they be produced at a price point that is worth your time and effort while not being too expensive given the cost of the original host versus a budget 35 watt HID spotlight?


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## maddog (Dec 24, 2006)

i'm still interested ... in getting one.


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## Nell (Dec 24, 2006)

Interest, YES!
I kept mine in hopes that the project would breath again.
I like my costco HID that Ted Bear picked up for me, but this Thor will be modified and be quite a hot rod(soon).

Thanks.


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## Beamhead (Dec 24, 2006)

NewBie said:


> Why, are a few of you still interested?


 
I have a Thor that has been awaiting it's transplant for a while................... :wave:


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## oklalawman (Dec 27, 2006)

I have two thors and am still interested,


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## SteveTheReaper (Jan 2, 2007)

The link to the original thread doesn't seem to work. Will this be just for the 10MCP Thor, or will it work with the 15MCP Thor? If it works for the 15MCP, I'm interested.


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## Knight Lights (Jan 2, 2007)

Newbie,

I'm still interested, in fact I rewired one of my two with larger gauge wire per your directions so that it would be ready when the chips were!!

Bill


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## HarryN (Jan 2, 2007)

Newbie, I know your pain on spending all of the fun money. It is strange how these little "fun projects" always take way more money and time then expected.

I am still interested in 1, maybe 2. I know on my PCB project, it took a LOT of boards to get a reasonable price point.


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## Quazar (Jun 12, 2007)

Also still interested.


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## dano (Jun 15, 2007)

Newbie has left CPF, so this project is no longer operational.

I'll close this one.

Similar projects can be started in a new thread.


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