# Worm light (SST-90 headlamp)



## ahorton (Sep 3, 2010)

This is a little something I've been working on.

A request was put to me for a 2000 lumen headlight with a narrow beam and no spill. So after a month of trying to tell him how crazy that was, I agreed to build a headlight with a SSR-90, 40mm aspheric and 10A adjustable linear driver.

I've named it the 'Wormlight' because the mouth reminds me of Shai-Hulud.

The LED is held in place with two M3 screws and a big blob of thermal grease. The most of the body is machined out of one piece of aluminium.

It puts out a lot of heat. It survives because the thing is covered in fins but even so it gets very hot to touch after 10 minutes of full power.

The driver is located in a little box that goes at the back of the wearer's head. Then a cable drops from the box down to a battery in a backpack or on a belt. The box also has an on/off switch and intensity dial which smoothly increases current from 2.5A up to 10A.

Not waterproof, the cable glands are just for strain relief.

The aspheric lens can be screwed to within about 5mm of the emitter dome so it can give a nice round and wide beam.





























Personally I think that the SST-90 is far too big for sustained use.

The bodies however, have come out beautifully and my plan is to use them to make slightly less powerful headlights. These are hands down the prettiest headlamps I've ever seen. Not as small as most headlamps. It's about 60mm at its widest but somehow it manages to not look too big. The fins are tapered and the lens-holder which screws in has the worm-mouth that somehow all fits together. Then again I like a meaty looking headlamp that says "Are you looking at me?".



Future plans:

I think a SST-50 driven up to 6.67A by a TaskLED H6flex would be the upper power limit (for comfortable dissipation of heat).

Or an XR-E could be used. In this case I'd put the driver in the head next to the LED to allow a 2 x 18650 battery at the back.

I also have vague ideas about using switches in the head that turn the light off when you screw the lens down. Then it would work just like my favourite old Petzl Zoom. Two switches at different heights would allow settings of:

1. off (both switches - off)
2. wide beam, low power (low mode switch on, high mode switch off)
3. medium beam, high power (low mode switch on, high mode switch on)
4. narrow beam, high power (low mode switch on, high mode switch on)


Or I could use an inline switch between the battery and the lighthead.


All in all, I'm very happy with how these have turned out, even if a 37W headlamp is a bit on the crazy side of things.



My next rogaine (long-distance navigation in the bush) event will only have 3 hours of dark, so it's conceivable to carry a battery that will let me use one of these lights (at low power most of the time but being able to turn it up when I want it). 6 x 18650s give approx 50Wh should do it.


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## Szemhazai (Sep 3, 2010)

This head lamp will be a bit to hot to touch, I think... But the effect's will be spectacular .

Magicshine (2,4A / 10W / SSC P7) :





SST-90 @ 10A & aspheric lens :naughty: 

No lens :





Something in the middle :





Spot : 





Spot (long range)


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## Walterk (Sep 3, 2010)

Oh man ! How I love flood-to-throw. This is the way.


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## psychbeat (Sep 3, 2010)

SICK!!
sst 50 version would be cool too!

nice work!


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## PCC (Sep 3, 2010)

That's a really nice looking headlamp. If you cut the lens shroud off then you can call it "The Cyclops".

You could always power an SST-90 with a H6Flex. That'll yield more output than the SST-50 would at 6.7A. At 6.7A the SST-50 would be overdriven. I think the SST-90 driven at 6.7A would give you around 1700 emitter lumens while the SST-50 at 5A would give you around 1250 emitter lumens. Scale that up to 6.7A and you still only have 1675 lumens before you take into account the lesser emitter efficiency at this higher input.


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## ahorton (Sep 3, 2010)

PCC said:


> That's a really nice looking headlamp. If you cut the lens shroud off then you can call it "The Cyclops".
> 
> You could always power an SST-90 with a H6Flex. That'll yield more output than the SST-50 would at 6.7A. At 6.7A the SST-50 would be overdriven. I think the SST-90 driven at 6.7A would give you around 1700 emitter lumens while the SST-50 at 5A would give you around 1250 emitter lumens. Scale that up to 6.7A and you still only have 1675 lumens before you take into account the lesser emitter efficiency at this higher input.



Agreed, but surface brightness is important to me.

As for the cyclops, I have something else in the works which will assume that name.


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## MannyDLights (Sep 3, 2010)

I want one too .....:mecry:


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## nein166 (Sep 4, 2010)

Ouch that looks like a Scurion on steroids!!!
please tell me you have more hosts available


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## ahorton (Sep 6, 2010)

I have made 3 in total.


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## Changchung (Sep 6, 2010)

ahorton said:


> I have made 3 in total.



Wow... Price? What kind of battery use?


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## ahorton (Sep 6, 2010)

Changchung said:


> Wow... Price? What kind of battery use?



These ones aren't actually for sale. More could be made if people wanted them.

The battery I'm using is an 18650 pack.


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## psychbeat (Sep 7, 2010)

could you make a P60 compatible HL host?

Ive been wanting one forever 

sorry to get off topic

these wermz look really nice btw

id be into one with a reflector for more flood


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## Changchung (Sep 7, 2010)

I am the first one or the second one...


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## ahorton (Sep 7, 2010)

With a 42-50mm lens, these bodies can be used with just about any reflector. It's something I had in mind when designing it. You just put the reflector(s) on the LED(s) and screw the window down 'till it's holding the lens in place nice and snug. 

Regarding the P60, I'd hate to step on Moddoo's toes since he put a lot of work into developing a P60 host:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb//showthread.php?p=3217082

Though I can see your frustration at it not being ready yet.

If you have a design in mind (or even if you want to start a thread to develop a design) then I'm happy to machine it for you. Cost would be related to the number of people wanting one.

It might be worth contacting Moddoo or resurrecting his thread just to check that he isn't about to deliver his headlamp. It sounded like he was very close a while ago.


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## AsianAnts (Sep 11, 2010)

wow.... if you decide to produce these, COUNT ME IN... OMG... what fun i would have at my camps and fishing trips... :naughty:


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## kevinm (Sep 11, 2010)

You, my friend, are a madman!:tinfoil:

Are you a caver? Do you recall the old customs Bill Stone and the Haultla expedition nuts used? This kind of reminds me of that.

Nice job!

Kevin


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## ahorton (Sep 11, 2010)

kevinm said:


> You, my friend, are a madman!:tinfoil:
> 
> Are you a caver? Do you recall the old customs Bill Stone and the Haultla expedition nuts used? This kind of reminds me of that.
> 
> ...




Rock climber, camper, trekker but not a caver sorry.

I don't know those customs, give us a link.


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## psychbeat (Sep 13, 2010)

ahorton said:


> With a 42-50mm lens, these bodies can be used with just about any reflector. It's something I had in mind when designing it. You just put the reflector(s) on the LED(s) and screw the window down 'till it's holding the lens in place nice and snug.
> 
> Regarding the P60, I'd hate to step on Moddoo's toes since he put a lot of work into developing a P60 host:
> 
> ...



I PM'd him a while ago about it and havent heard back.
Id guess the project is on hold- Im not sure how many people
would want one of these... It might be easiest to start with a
solorforce bezel and make some kind of hinge/heatsink and then a small
2 in parallel 18650 pack for the rear of the strap..

just a thought...
Id love to have a HL host for all of my Nailbender modules tho..

Ill keep an eye on the worm sst90 too as an option!


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## etc (Sep 16, 2010)

Awesome. Would be great with a P60 module drop-in, if it isn't already.


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## hank (Oct 28, 2010)

Yum!
P60!!


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## dkoong (Oct 29, 2010)

hey!! thats my headlamp!!!


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## ahorton (Oct 29, 2010)

Indeed!


Now everybody knows that you are the crazy guy who wanted the brightest headlamp in the world.


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## dkoong (Oct 30, 2010)

haha!

will call you on tuesday next week to confirm a time at UWA to pick it up!

good thing i can turn down the brightness so it wont burn a hole in my forehead. lol


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## z17813 (Nov 2, 2010)

The moment I saw this I thought it would be perfect for any firefighters out there, and if you had it mounted on a helmet and were wearing gloves then heat buildup probably would be less of an issue.


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## mytoyz (May 17, 2011)

ahorton, Are you still making these lights? Price? Im located in Hawaii and would love to have one of these on my camp/fishing trip!! Mahalo


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## ahorton (May 17, 2011)

Hi mytoyz,

Welcome to CPF.

I am still making and selling these sorts of headlights (and others). I make them one at a time to fit the requests of each customer. The price depends on the parts and the complexity. If it's similar to something I've already made then it could be as low as $200.

The worm light shown in this thread must not be submerged under water, but it will survive being used in the rain. How water resistant are you thinking?

Send me a private message if you want to discuss it further. Or outline your exact desires and we can go from there.


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## ahorton (Jun 7, 2011)

Just adding some XM-L beamshots.
Current to the XM-L is 2800mA in all images.
Poor photography I'm sorry.

Three images in each set: wide, medium and narrow.

Tree at 90m
















Tree at 15m
















Tree (in the middle) at 250m


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## Walterk (Jun 7, 2011)

Wowie. I already was impressed with the SST-90 issue.

How would you describe the XM-L compared to the SST-90 for aspheric set-ups?

Easier to run, lower current ?
What does it do to the beamsize and intensity?


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## ahorton (Jun 7, 2011)

Definitely easier to run. 3A is quite manageable as opposed to 9A. At 3A, heat isn't a problem at all with this body.

The bigger the die, the bigger the projected image when focused to a narrow beam. So you don't get any more throw with a bigger die. To get a decent throw, you really have to run the die at full power, so the SST-90 becomes a problem while the XR-E does very well.

For flood however, the beam gets smoother as the die gets bigger. The XR-E flood is much less pleasant than the XM-L or SST-90.

The XM-L or SST-50 seem to be the best 2 options. They are small enough to get decent throw without overheating but big enough to give a very nice and smooth flood beam. The choice really comes down to how much power you are willing to give it (10W vs 15W) given battery capacity and runtime preferences.


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## Walterk (Jun 8, 2011)

Thx for clearing that up, with your expierence and field-testing its most appreciated .


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## PBear (Dec 29, 2012)

Are you still producing this headlamp? 

Even if you are not, can you quantify the difference between it with an XML vs. the SST90.

Thanks!


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## ahorton (Dec 30, 2012)

I do still have a couple of the wormlight bodies. I make them up individually to suit different people's needs. So most things are possible.


The XM-L is a slightly dimmer and narrower beam. 


Are you aware of my V3 headlight? It is superior to the wormlight in almost every way (less weight, smaller, more comfortable, easier to use, more waterproof, less bouncy on the head when running). A lot of my customers are hunters and farmers. The only advantage the wormlight has, is that it is capable of a longer range, but it is so much less user-friendly, that most people prefer the V3.


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## PBear (Dec 30, 2012)

ahorton said:


> I do still have a couple of the wormlight bodies. I make them up individually to suit different people's needs. So most things are possible.
> 
> 
> The XM-L is a slightly dimmer and narrower beam.
> ...



No, I am not aware.

I'm a runner, so I would like to know more ...


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## ahorton (Dec 31, 2012)

All the info is in the first post of THIS THREAD.

If you want to go running, then the Wormlight isn't for you. It's more suited to someone staying still and willing to carry a big battery on their belt. The Spike V3 is a much more agile and usable beast.


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## Papa Bear (Dec 31, 2012)

I've gone to the other thread (I'm the same person as pbear - I had some CPF account administration issues, but they are fixed).


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