# LED Home Made Canister Light



## CBR-runner (Feb 4, 2009)

Ok so I'm hooked on the flashlight thing. I am planning and buying parts for a canister dive light much like Packhorse. 

I have found a very powerful driver for LED's here: http://www.pcmus.com/Dive-Photos/LED-Genie.htm (has anyone else seen or tried this?) 

This and 3 R2 LED's and a 16.8 volt NiMh battery pack. 

It will look very similar to the ones at pcmus.com and those posted on Packhorse's threads. 

Stay tuned for pics, parts lists, and prices. :wave:


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## Bimmerboy (Feb 4, 2009)

Wow... according to the description, that driver can do 9A! It's definitely not cheap for something you have to assemble yourself, but some serious possibilities there.


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## Alan B (Feb 5, 2009)

Just looking at the parts, it appears that it might be PWM only, which requires some form of current limiting. Unless they have an inductor and recovery diode, or unless they are using linear mode which would generate heat and power loss.

Let us know what you find out.


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## CBR-runner (Feb 5, 2009)

From talking to the guy it sounds like it is a PWM and a buck driver. Everyone else that has used it is very pleased with it, and is getting extremely long battery life out of it. 

It should be here soon I'll post pics when I get it and ask a bunch of questions. I'm just a mechanic that dabbles in electronics so many of the in's and out's of those little parts is lost on me.


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## Alan B (Feb 5, 2009)

Love to see the schematic or at least some close up photos of the board and parts. If it is efficient that is good.


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## CBR-runner (Feb 5, 2009)

I'll post them when I get it in.


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## b-bassett (Feb 7, 2009)

hi cbr

i have recently orderd one of those led genies for a quad Q5 setup and the driver should be with me this week.

i cant say for sure how good this led version is but a freind of mine has used the origional version very sucsessfully to overdrive a 12 v halogen with extreamly good results ( apart from when he fried the chip by fitting it to an already powerd up board )
hopefully the price is worth paying for 

will comment further when i receive my one.

jon


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## CBR-runner (Feb 7, 2009)

it is a buck driver. you order it with whatever current limit u want.


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## CBR-runner (Feb 24, 2009)

Well I got the LED stuff in but I'm out of town. I'll be back friday to post pics. The led's will be here soon!:twothumbs


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## CBR-runner (Mar 17, 2009)

Sorry no pics yet work is keeping me busy. :candle:

I should have the mag-lite cut down and ready for reessembly today.:huh:

Still waiting on my LED's and reflectors. They should be here this week.


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## CBR-runner (Mar 17, 2009)

OK here we go...

This is the disassembled LED genie...

Its getting soldered together this weekend. 








This is my cut down mag-lite... 









I had the last few threads left on the top inside of the head to use a thread in heat sink. I also had the lip machined down to allow for a better o-ring seal with a stepped lens. 





Hopefully I can get the other done tomorrow.


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## Erasmus (Mar 18, 2009)

You might need to resize the pics...


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## CBR-runner (Mar 18, 2009)

good point will do it latter.....


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## csshih (Mar 18, 2009)

The driver costs almost as much as my most expensive light..


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## CBR-runner (Mar 19, 2009)

The driver is only like $43. The piezo electric switch is another $43. The solid state switch is easy to use and has no little rubber boot that can fail and flood the light. :twothumbs

Still cheaper than the $1500 I'd have to spend on a comparable light form DiveRite, or OMS.


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## Packhorse (Mar 19, 2009)

Is that ALL?

Go the mighty reed switch. No holes and it cheap!!


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## Bimmerboy (Mar 19, 2009)

Cool thread, but dude.... those pics! 

Gotta' get 'em down to 800X600. Forum rules, ya' know.


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## CBR-runner (Mar 19, 2009)

I like the Pezo switch. That and I already bought it. I like nice things 

The pic sizes are fixed... sorry about that.


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## CBR-runner (Mar 24, 2009)

well i changed what i wanted again. 

I just got my 3x ssc P7's in for this light. hopefully i'll be able to build it this weekend.


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## CBR-runner (May 25, 2009)

Well nothing yet. The light turns on but I can not get it to turn off or change brightness settings. 

I'm getting frustrated.


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## CBR-runner (May 25, 2009)

well after talking with the guy that made the LED genie turns out that I screwed up the resistors calculations. Once I get that fixed it should work. 

Here are pics of the set up so far before it goes into the mag lite head.


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## Alan B (May 25, 2009)

This is clearly a direct drive PWM resistored setup. Are you running 16V battery into 10V of LEDs? What is the Vf on those R2's?

I'm trying to think of a wrong current limit resistor value that would lead to constant-on with this setup, and I don't think there is one.

This is very similar to the hotwire regulator I am building, with the addition of a resistor for the LED current.

I wouldn't call this a buck driver. No inductor.


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## wquiles (May 25, 2009)

Alan B said:


> I wouldn't call this a buck driver. No inductor.


+1. Something does not add up ...


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## Bimmerboy (May 25, 2009)

wquiles said:


> +1. Something does not add up ...



Well, the price certainly does... lol. 

I'm about the furthest thing from being an EE, but that does look like a linear type driver. That to-220 package thing in the middle looks like a LM317, or some similar item. This is probably why you have to specify Vbatt and LED Vf when ordering.


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## CBR-runner (May 25, 2009)

Yeah I told him 4 r-2's then switched to 3 P-7s. So it was my bad.


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## wquiles (May 25, 2009)

Bimmerboy said:


> Well, the price certainly does... lol.
> 
> I'm about the furthest thing from being an EE, but that does look like a linear type driver. That to-220 package thing in the middle looks like a LM317, or some similar item. This is probably why you have to specify Vbatt and LED Vf when ordering.



The TO-220 can still be a FET (since the product claims to support up to/around 9Amps), being controlled by the micro/PIC/whatever, and this is how the PWM can be adjusted somewhat. Like Alan said, it is hard to know for sure without an schematic, but the fact that you have to let him know the voltages/details before hand do point to some sort of programmable micro and/or resistor divider.


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## Alan B (May 25, 2009)

At 9 amps the transistor would overheat in linear mode without a heatsink, so I'm guessing this must be pulse width modulated (PWM) and that is an FET switch which will not dissipate much at 9 amps as long as it is in switch mode.

If that is the case, those three larger resistors are probably the LED current limit resistors. With 16V input and 10V across the LEDs the resistors will be dissipating 6/16 of the power, and the efficiency will be a little low but still 10/16 is getting to the LEDs. I'd be a little concerned about those resistors overheating, they are not well cooled.

There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it would be best if the battery voltage was closer to the LED voltage.


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## CBR-runner (May 25, 2009)

The guy really seems to know his stuff. So I don't question it. It also means I don't have to design and build my own switch and circuit. I was really impressed with the pezio switch. Hopefully it all comes together soon.

I am not an EE so I just figure out what kind of light output i'm going for and buy the stuff that people have made. 

Some times I'm successful... some times  but I learn either way. 

here are some close ups for the EE types... (i believe he does have patent rights)


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## Alan B (May 25, 2009)

I don't know that any of this is patentable, but these days you never know. Instead he seems to be going for "trade secret", hiding the parts, etc. I'm sure we could figure it all out, but I'm not going to do that. This is not rocket science.

I hope it works out for you. At this point my suspicion is that it is already shorted. Hopefully your LEDs aren't injured, changing from 4 to 3 would increase the current a lot, possibly beyond what they can handle. The switch should probably still work, depending on the FET, but it seems shorted at this point.

These parts are very static sensitive, so assembly should take place in a static controlled environment. Even installation may be sensitive and could zap the semiconductors.

The piezo switch sounds neat, is it rated to handle the pressures? Or will the pressure simply trigger it?? If you mentioned this early in the thread, I read it all but that was a long time ago.


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## CBR-runner (May 25, 2009)

Well the Led's still light up so I assume they are ok. The battery pack I was using was only 12v. I have not purchased the 16v battery pack yet. The fact that the light strobes then went to high defiantly makes me think I blew something up.

I don't know how to test a pezio switch but it changes its resistance when I push on it :ironic:. 

Hopefully I did not scare anyone with the patent thing. I'm making sure I cover my :whoopin:.

Alan B I was reading through some of your design stuff. It is very impressive. Hopefully I can find the time to learn more about this stuff latter.


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## CBR-runner (May 29, 2009)

Well my new IC chip is on the way. should be here in a few weeks. :huh:

In the meantime I think I have sourced a hybrid metallic gasket for the lens. This should make the seal and lens easier and cheaper than making the standard stepped lens. Just need a 3mm sheet of tempered glass and a guy (or girl) to cut it into a circle :thumbsup:


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## Bimmerboy (May 30, 2009)

wquiles said:


> The TO-220 can still be a FET (since the product claims to support up to/around 9Amps)



Right... because, of course, a 317, or "similar item" isn't designed for 9A.  Just testin' ya', Will!... lol. 

Maybe one of these days I'll qualify as "knows just enough to be dangerous" (or perhaps I already do :devil. 

Anyways, good luck with the fix, CBR!


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## CBR-runner (May 31, 2009)

I have started construction of the canister. I figured I'd use 3" PVC for the body. This way I can upgrade the battery if needed.

I'm also adding a battery voltage meter so that can be checked through the canister lid in real time. 


Does anyone know where I can get cable glands like these form?


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## CBR-runner (Jun 3, 2009)

Well thanks to some very helpful posts I was able to find clips and cable glands from McMaster Carr. I ordered 3 of each, clips and glands. Hopefully these things work... tomorrow it is off to the rubber and gasket shop for o-rings, x-rings, and hopefully backing rings. 

Here are some pics of the glands and clips. These were much cheaper than the diverite replacement parts....


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## lil_mac (Jul 17, 2009)

Well? Have you finished it?


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## CBR-runner (Jul 18, 2009)

I have not finished yet I have run into some problems with the electronics and getting a lens that will work...

Thanks for the interest.


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