# BigMag³ 4000 Lumen, fully dimmable



## mash.m (Jan 17, 2008)

hello,

today i wan to present my just finished BigMag³. at this moment i haven´t much time so i let the pictures speak:














left side, my bigmag³, right side 35 watt hid






data of the flashlight:
20 seoul p4 led´s
20 17mm 10° ims reflectors
weight is under 2 kg
pwm elektronik for the steppless dimming from 0 to 100%
maximum current at 100% 22 ampere @ 3,75 volt
output about 3200 lumen after the reflectors

runtime at 100% about 20 minutes, but the head goes very hot.


details will follow

markus


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## Amonra (Jan 17, 2008)

i can't hear the pictures I can't see them either !!


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## nanotech17 (Jan 17, 2008)

Amonra said:


> i can't hear the pictures I can't see them either !!



+1


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## frosty (Jan 17, 2008)

nanotech17 said:


> +1


 
Me neither.


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## N10 (Jan 17, 2008)

same..lols


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## Thujone (Jan 17, 2008)

Pics or it didn't happen


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## mash.m (Jan 17, 2008)

:nana: wags :nana:

now fixed! 

markus


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## paulr (Jan 17, 2008)

:wow:


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## criollo (Jan 17, 2008)

markus, with the BigMag³ you can light up the Olympiastadion easily !! :twothumbs

:thumbsup::rock:


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## Illum (Jan 17, 2008)

20 Seouls...


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## monkeyboy (Jan 17, 2008)

Kewl! I want one 

Certainly the brightest LED light I've seen on CPF so far. Two questions:

1) What batteries?
2) Which HID light is that in the comparison?


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## Brozneo (Jan 17, 2008)

Outdoor Beamshots! I would love to see this thing in action outdoors vs some other high powered lights!


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## jirik_cz (Jan 17, 2008)

WOW :twothumbs
More info please!


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## souptree (Jan 17, 2008)

:bow:


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## JetskiMark (Jan 17, 2008)

Hello Markus,

That is quite the lumen monster that you created. I am looking forward to all of the specifications and some outdoor beam shots. Please take some comparison shots with the (make & model?) 35W HID.

Regards,
Mark


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## cmacclel (Jan 17, 2008)

Nice job! I was thinking of puting something like this together and started sketching up a design just today. I guess now I need to go BIGGER 

Nice job!

How can it only be 3.75v? 22 amps?

Mac


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## Aircraft800 (Jan 17, 2008)

_Holy [email protected]!_

Nice Job! I love the head, did you machine/design it? Great Job! We need more info..


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## kurni (Jan 17, 2008)

Blinding heater; good for pitch-dark cold night. I can't imagine the amount of work to ensure 22A goes through the circuit safely. LiIon or NiMH?

PS: how many lumens is one car headlight?


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## MatajumotorS (Jan 18, 2008)

cmacclel said:


> Nice job! I was thinking of puting something like this together and started sketching up a design just today. I guess now I need to go BIGGER
> 
> Nice job!
> 
> ...


I think he is using Li-Po batterys and all leds in paralel. (saw picture on his site )


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## mash.m (Jan 18, 2008)

hello,

actually i use 4 nimh mono d 10.000ma/h rechargable batteries, but when i have time again i will make a lion batterie set for this flashlight - ideas are welcome!
i think when i use the lion set i must change the pulse time, but this is no problem.

all led´s are parallel and driven direct hex-fet´s. under fully load the voltage breaks down from 5 volt to 4.05 volt. the batteries are at maximum discharge. here is the schematic:





it is a very easy circuit. i have fine tuned it via my oszi. i take the lowest possible switching frequency that will not flicker. i know that the knop of the pot is very nasty, but untill now i didn´t find a beatyfull one - any ideas?

during my test i determine that the spring and the minus screw have a to high restistance for my project so i remove this screw an use four flat copper wires direct from the batterie minus. (i make some pictures about this) with this wires you safe the spring resistance and the srew resistance.

the hid light is my selfmade automotive hid overdrive @ 40 watt with a hella ballast and a philips 4000k bulb. output should be 3000lumen or so.

i will make beamshots at the weekend with a [SIZE=-1]Microfire K3500 to compare. still hope that the weather will be better then now.

markus
[/SIZE]


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## paulr (Jan 18, 2008)

Make sure to look at the Data Bank 70 thread if you haven't seen it:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/178130


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## mash.m (Jan 18, 2008)

Aircraft800 said:


> _Holy [email protected]!_
> 
> Nice Job! I love the head, did you machine/design it? Great Job! We need more info..



the head is selfmade and designed by me. it is the same i have used for my BigMag², but much lighter and in my view more beautyfull 

markus


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## mash.m (Jan 18, 2008)

paulr said:


> Make sure to look at the Data Bank 70 thread if you haven't seen it:
> 
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/178130



i have see this :huh: in the past but i think this are two different categories of "flashlight". the databank is very heavy, an bright but not very portable.

the databank is the brightest led device ever buildet and i have seen!

markus


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## Ganp (Jan 19, 2008)

Excellent work markus - that head looks terrific:twothumbs

I hope you get to post some outside beamshots.



Colin.


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## mash.m (Jan 19, 2008)

hello,

here some detail pictures! no beamshots today - bad weather here in germany!

head inside:






electronik first try with 4 fet´s. not very beautyfull but functional. you can see the four fets adhered at the outside of the mag. good thermal management. the fets are wired with massive copper wires - very low resistance.





rearview with the 4 flat copper wires:





inside view with the 4 wires:


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## mash.m (Jan 20, 2008)

here now some beamshots, but very windy today!

selfmade automotive hid overdriven at 45 watt with 7 inch reflector:





BigMag³ at 100% but very windy at this time and my tripod waggle:





all pictures have the same exposure and f-number.

sorry for the bad second picture, but it was very windy here. today we have about 10°celcius and this in winter time! it should be -10°celsius at this moment. next weekend i make better pictures and compare with a microfire 3500.

markus


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## dan_ (Jan 20, 2008)

:thumbsup: awesome light!!
Is the beam that bluish in real or is it just the camera?

(Wo wohnst du denn in Deutschland wo´s heute so kalt ist??)

~Daniel


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## criollo (Jan 20, 2008)

Holy Gautama Buddha !!   I told you this one is gonna be impressive !!! :twothumbs

mash.m you've got talent !! Keep up the :goodjob:


Best Regards


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## paulr (Jan 20, 2008)

mash.m said:


> it was very windy here. today we have about 10°celcius and this in winter time! it should be -10°celsius at this moment.



It was the BigMag³ that raised the temperature . Nice photos!


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## mash.m (Jan 20, 2008)

hello,

the beam is pure white. next time i make a manual white balance!

i live between karlsruhe and heidelberg. the weather is very crazy at this moment. not good to make beamshots. after take the bigmag beamshot the cam battery was empty. i will make new shots this week.

markus


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## 07accordEX (Jan 20, 2008)

wow dude, that is sick 
i wanted to get a HID but you just killed my quest for one lol


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## mash.m (Jan 21, 2008)

hello,

today i make some beamshots again, but also very windy!
exposure time 1 second
f-number 2.8
manual white balance so you can see the diference between a 4300°k hid an my BigMag³.

BigMag³ 100%:





hid at 45 watts, a little unsharp, maybe the wind:





two absolut different flashlights - the light color and throw.

maybe anybody here in germany with a high powered flashlight to compare?

next is to make a lion or lipo battery pack. anybody idea where i can get cells that fits in the mag?
then i will search and buy a new, more beautiful black button for the pot. actualy i made a case for this light with car charger second battery pack and so on.

markus


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## dan_ (Jan 21, 2008)

Hi markus,

looks great. The new beamshots don´t look bluish at all. 
Sorry, don´t have any light to compare in that output-range...

Cheers,
daniel
_
btw: I live in Herborn, weather´s going crazy here, too. About same temperatures like your place (I re-read your post, thought you wrote that it was minus 10°C, that´s why I was wondering where in Germany it could have 20 °C difference )_



mash.m said:


> hello,
> 
> the beam is pure white. next time i make a manual white balance!
> 
> ...


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## Hallis (Jan 21, 2008)

That thing is insane!!! I like it. 

Shane


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## rizky_p (Jan 22, 2008)

Plain SICK!!:twothumbs:twothumbs:twothumbs makes my 5 Cree light like a candle stick


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## nein166 (Jan 22, 2008)

mash.m said:


> two absolut different flashlights - the light color and throw.
> 
> maybe anybody here in germany with a high powered flashlight to compare?


 
Maybe RA isn't too far away
He's got a Big HID


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## MrValiant (Jan 23, 2008)

It would be just too cool if you could post a link for the dimmer pot you used. Your light is just awesome I'm drooling on my keyboard.


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## mash.m (Jan 23, 2008)

MrValiant said:


> It would be just too cool if you could post a link for the dimmer pot you used. Your light is just awesome I'm drooling on my keyboard.



the pot is a 1mohm linear pot, but this only controlls the electronic postet on the first side. you can not dim such high currents only via a pot. you need electronic! you can dim a 20mA led directly via a pot but not these high powered leds.

markus


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## Amonra (Jan 23, 2008)

A link to the electronic used then ?


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## mash.m (Jan 23, 2008)

Amonra said:


> A link to the electronic used then ?


 
? i don´t understand what you mean!

markus


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## StefanFS (Jan 23, 2008)

Wo kauften Sie die bestandteile/komponenten? They want to know where you got the components, like the 1 mOhm linear pot.


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## Tidra (Jan 23, 2008)

but why, why,... I just find a housing with 19 Power Led's and you put 20 together,....:mecry: not fair,...

oooooo man I love it,...

Iztok


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## mash.m (Jan 24, 2008)

StefanFS said:


> Wo kauften Sie die bestandteile/komponenten? They want to know where you got the components, like the 1 mOhm linear pot.



ahh ok. the most i have at home. missing parts i buyed at conrad elektronik:

www.conrad.de

markus


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## TheGreyEminence (Mar 2, 2008)

Any more news on this one?

Regards


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## JimmyM (Mar 2, 2008)

mash.m said:


> it is a very easy circuit. i have fine tuned it via my oszi. i take the lowest possible switching frequency that will not flicker. i know that the knop of the pot is very nasty, but untill now i didn´t find a beatyfull one - any ideas?


Which FETs are you using? Logic level I assume. Also, do you have a pic of the scope trace at the gate pin (555 output). I'd be interested to see what the switching wave form looks like.

Awesome light.


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## mash.m (Mar 3, 2008)

JimmyM said:


> Which FETs are you using? Logic level I assume. Also, do you have a pic of the scope trace at the gate pin (555 output). I'd be interested to see what the switching wave form looks like.
> 
> Awesome light.


 
here the screenshot from the oszi:





i used hex-fets type irl3803

markus


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## JimmyM (Mar 3, 2008)

mash.m said:


> here the screenshot from the oszi:
> 
> i used hex-fets type irl3803
> 
> markus


Nice. Looks like you're drving the hell out of the gate. Nice vertical switching transitions. I wouldn't have thought the 555 could source/sink that much current to to drive the gates of 3 large FETs. The IRF3803 isn't a logic level FET though. It still shows only 0.009 Ohm Rds(on) at 4.5V which is pretty darned good. What is your gate voltage? Is it the pack voltage? Just curious. Looks like things are switching well even at a lower than optimal gate voltage. Is the low gate voltage the reason you're using multiple FETs? Becaue of the increased ON resistnce, therefore more heat, due to lower gate drive voltage?


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## mash.m (Mar 3, 2008)

the gate voltage = battery pack voltage = 3-4 volt

the 555 drives the fet realy good. you are right. i have choosen three or four fet's to decrease the resistance. with one fet the voltage drop was to high. i think this is a realy simple and usefull pwm that every body can solder by itself.

markus


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## jufam44 (Mar 3, 2008)

That's a beautiful light. Would you be willing to tell us how much money you put into making her?


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## mash.m (Mar 12, 2008)

jufam44 said:


> That's a beautiful light. Would you be willing to tell us how much money you put into making her?



the parts aren´t very expensive:

20 seouls @ dx = 120$
20 ims 10 = 90$
frontglas = 15$
electronics = 40$
batteries nimh = 50$
batteries (new pack) lion from kai = 80$
thermal glue = 20$
small pices like the o-ring = 40$
head = selfmade
time to do this job = ???

the problem is the time that i need to build this light. and this is not payable. but this is my hobby...

markus


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## ez78 (Mar 12, 2008)

I like this one. Borderline insane stuff. Great job! :twothumbs


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## Sgt. LED (Oct 5, 2009)

And now up for sale!


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## jar3ds (Oct 5, 2009)

what body is this?!


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## Databyter (Oct 5, 2009)

I like the fact that it is dimmable, it makes it so much more usefull.


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## rizky_p (Oct 6, 2009)

Replace that with MCEs and you get the KONG. oh yeah

http://elektrolumens.com/Kong/Kong-12.html


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## moviles (Oct 6, 2009)

rizky_p said:


> Replace that with MCEs and you get the KONG. oh yeah
> 
> http://elektrolumens.com/Kong/Kong-12.html



or Replace that with sst-90s and 26650 a123 systems batteries (70 amp max) and you get the world record forever 


nice build :thumbsup: I love your mods :bow:


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