# Home made lights



## R.W.D. (Feb 15, 2014)

Anyone here have any projects that stand out?

I'm not talking high quality I just want this thre to be about any home made light any of you have made worth mentioning/sharing and post pics if you have them. 

Im just an experiment person and I love making things. Ill share lights I've made that may interest someone or not  I just like out of the ordinary one of a kind things. 

Incan LED HID anything is welcome as long as you made it. It doesn't have to be fancy just has to function.


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## PCC (Feb 15, 2014)

There's a section entirely dedicated to homemade and modified flashlights. 

Here is a light that I had made some time ago using a bit of aluminum from a piece of bicycle seatpost I had laying around and some spare parts. Since that post I've made an adapter to allow me to use CR123a batteries in that light as well.


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## R.W.D. (Feb 15, 2014)

That's a nice piece you made great job on it. I'm having trouble navigating to find a home made light section could you possibly help me out with that? If not its cool.


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## PCC (Feb 15, 2014)

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?17-Homemade-and-Modified-Flashlights-Discussion


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## R.W.D. (Feb 15, 2014)

I just wanted to see what people have and show things I make. 

I made this last night with an XML T6 that I de domed for other reasons it's on a small 3.7v 460 ma li ion rechargeable that I had laying around some aluminum scrap and a small button I use for push to talk on mics 

















the micro plug I charge it with I made from an IC plug I cut down











The charger is an old cheap li ion charger I found in a closet that I modified slightly to re purpose it.


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## R.W.D. (Feb 15, 2014)

If anyone cared enough to see "beam" shots I just took some 





















I just made it cause I could the light had no purpose but it rides in my chest pocket on my jacket. 

Obviously it's not made to stay on but it works for walking around at night in my area so cars can see me or if I drop something and don't need a 1000 lumen SF Fury to find it I can use my little mighty pocket light.  

it's not amazing but maybe someone else will find it neat like I do.


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## Chodes (Feb 15, 2014)

Yep, I'd agree, not amazing, but neat.
What do you call it? Pocket mule V1?


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## R.W.D. (Feb 15, 2014)

It is definitely a mule and it puts out decent light for its size. 
Right now it's just a nameless little beast.


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## PCC (Feb 15, 2014)

Nice little project.


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## sunny_nites (Feb 17, 2014)

Got the idea for these two small lights after I ran across a couple of oddly shaped lipo batteries. Unlike the typical lipos I've seen, these two are longer and thicker rather than being flat:









I had some left over copper tubing from a water line replacement and found that the battery would fit in perfectly. Made one in all copper and one with a copper body and brass caps. Next to a Quarck CR2 mini for comparison:





Made the all copper light with an older XR-E and the copper and brass light with a newer XP-G2. The XP-G2 is a bit taller to accommodate the longer reflector it needed:





I don't have a shot of the circuit but I am using the controller from a X-light Micro, driving a P channel mosfet. The XR-E is running at 380mah on a fully charged battery, the XP-G2 is running around 900mah. The batteries are rated at 220mah but 4x discharge isn't that much of a stretch for a lipo. This is what the inside looks like on each light. The blue LED is a beacon that lights up the switch cap to help locate the lights in the dark (the small silicone and Glow Inc X10 fob hanging off of the Quark is it's version of a beacon). The blue LED runs on approximately 5 micro amps on a fully charged battery so it would take years to run the battery down:





The heat sink is fairly thin but it contacts the copper tube its entire length and it seems to do a good job transferring heat to the body.The lights will definitely get toasty after running for very long on high.

Uses a really tiny power jack to recharge the batteries. I've been charging it with a computer controlled hobby charger to help get the most life out of the batteries. That white ring inside is polypropylene to assist in diffusing and distributing the beacon light:





Since everything is soldered up inside, there are no springs to contact the battery and I have been able to get away without having to machine threads to hold the switch cap on. Basically I crimped the brass switch cap very slightly in a vice to provide 4 hold down points. There is an inner seal that fits over the switch and inside the copper tube and an outer seal that acts as the switch cap that goes between the end cap and the inner tube. The split ring just provides extra metal to hold the outer cap in place. Not sure how water resistant it actually is but I have tested it down to about a foot of water and one cycle through the washer (that test was purely an accident) and it did not leak:








The high beam shot is from about 15 feet away. Couldn't get the camera to focus very well but you get the idea; tight center spot with lots of spill. The XR-E looks pretty similar although much dimmer. It's difficult to do the X-Light Micro controller justice with pictures instead of video but this is a high and low beam shot. The low was too low for the camera to get a picture of the beam at all, so just a shot of the business end:


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## Toohotruk (Feb 19, 2014)

Cool idea! :thumbsup:

How long will it run on a charge?


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## sunny_nites (Feb 20, 2014)

Thanks!

In theory, the XP-G2 should be able to run at full brightness for around 15 minutes, while the XR-E should clock in around 45 minutes. In reality though, since the circuit is not a booster but a limiter, the max brightness would gradually dim as the battery discharged and they would appear to run for longer than that. But, and this is the real limiter, they would get really, really hot. 

I carry and use the XP-G2 every day but most of the time I run it on the lowest or close to the lowest setting, with occasional runs on max. Not sure how much juice it is drawing on low, my meter won't measure it so somewhere south of 0.10mahs. I usually charge it up every two or three weeks just to keep it topped off but so far I've never seen the charge on the battery go below 3.8V.

Took a couple more pics.

Charging using a tiny, tiny jack and cable:





The switch cap in low light and very low light:


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## jason 77 (Feb 20, 2014)

Here are two I made a while ago.


Modified mag mini...






















And this one using bits and pieces I had laying around, runs AA batteries down to about .5 volts or so using the jewel thief circuit.


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## alpg88 (Feb 20, 2014)

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?337485-plywood-flashlights/page2


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## degarb (Feb 22, 2014)

I must say, I am tired of useless, uninspired tubes that contain batteries and a reflector. This wornout design has so many usage limitations.


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## rayman (Feb 22, 2014)

Might still be the best design regarding its power source is usually round and its form factor is easy to grab and to use. There must be a reason why over 90% of all flashlights are tubes .

@ alpg88: Nice plywood flashlights btw . Unsual but interesting design.

rayman


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## degarb (Feb 23, 2014)

rayman said:


> Might still be the best design regarding its power source is usually round and its form factor is easy to grab and to use. There must be a reason why over 90% of all flashlights are tubes .
> 
> @ alpg88: Nice plywood flashlights btw . Unsual but interesting design.
> 
> rayman



Two cell lights should have battery area that is more rectangular, and three cell lights should be triangular. Then, where have we went with polymer batteries?

It is that circular reflector that limits. But even then, the ideal is a ovalar hotspot and corona--not circular. My bulk peripheral vision is 30 inches by 50 inches wide as I hold out my arms (ignoring seldom uses extreme peripheral) and hand in front of my eyes. I doubt if melting that smo or running over the aluminum reflector experiment would work. Then there is precise aiming (maybe need an adjustable aiming mechanism) or focusing a dual head to better get a 3:5 ratio.


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## jamie.91 (Feb 23, 2014)

Love these lights, much better then how far I get with my projects haha


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## degarb (Feb 23, 2014)

R.W.D. said:


> I just wanted to see what people have and show things I make.
> 
> I made this last night with an XML T6 that I de domed for other reasons it's on a small 3.7v 460 ma li ion rechargeable that I had laying around some aluminum scrap and a small button I use for push to talk on mics





This looks like an ice scraper. Yep, a dedomed xml is what all ice scrapers need. A car charger, of coarse.


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## hydro_pyro (Feb 23, 2014)

As I posted in another forum section...

The factory light bulb under the microwave was not bright enough. I couldn't see my food while cooking. There's one 30 watt light E17 intermediate-size screw-base bulb in the underside of the microwave. Unfortunately, there isn't a brighter alternative or commercially-made LED retrofit. So, I made my own.




Before: 












After: 












The light: Cree XML2 single-die "warm white" LED's, JB epoxied to an aluminum heatsink, powered by a constant-current driver circuit, and adapted to the E17 socket using a customized bulb base with a plastic grip-wing epoxied into it.




















I built this single-LED unit for my sister's kitchen:












These LED units are about 3X as bright as the factory light bulb, but consume 85% less electricity. WIN.


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## sunny_nites (Feb 23, 2014)

That's pretty cool! Probably last a lot longer than the original equipment too.


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## sunny_nites (Feb 23, 2014)

These are some other projects I've worked on.

Variety of LEDs and batteries; the larger two have XM-Ls and 1300mah lipos, one has a XP-G and a 900mah lipo, one has four Nichia 5mm domed LEDs and the other smaller light with the aspheric has a strange Nichia domed 1 watt (or maybe it was 3 watts, can't remember exactly) LED. Both of the latter lights use a 300mah lipo. Note: forgot to put a picture of the four LED Nichia in the family photo but there is a shot of it charging up on the bottom of the list.

All these lights use the same controller set up that I used in the above round/reflector lights; an X Light Mirco controller driving a P channel MOSFET at various max currents, from 1400mah down to about 400mah, except for the light with the four Nichias, that light is driven directly by the controller output at around 80mah.

All but the smallest with the 4 Nichias use a shaved aspheric to focus the light rather than a reflector. With a non focus able aspheric, you really have to compromise with the beam pattern. I guess I would call it a narrow flood. I can post some beam shots if anyone is interested. Not a whole lot of throw but the XM-Ls put out an impressive, somewhat tight, wall of light.







All have built in battery chargers that use a USB Micro cable. The XM-Ls where the earlier builds and I used a red LED behind the lens to show charge status.






On the later builds I used the translucent button cap that came with the X Light Micro and an orange charge indicator under it.











Kind of hard to see but all of the lights have a blue beacon that lights up the switch cap and the lens to assist in locating them in the dark.


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## MRsDNF (Mar 1, 2014)

Heres a couple I've made. The top one runs a 16340 battery and XPG-2 led. The leaning post runs an MTG-2 at 9 amps on high driven by 3 x 32650 batteries.


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## jonwkng (Mar 1, 2014)

MRsDNF said:


> Heres a couple I've made. The top one runs a 16340 battery and XPG-2 led. The leaning post runs an MTG-2 at 9 amps on high driven by 3 x 32650 batteries.



Awesome builds, Steve! :bow:


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## AndyF (Mar 1, 2014)

Can you post a side shot of the MT-G2 "lamp post"?. Thanks.


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## jonwkng (Mar 1, 2014)

AndyF said:


> Can you post a side shot of the MT-G2 "lamp post"?. Thanks.



I believe that's the photo of the 2 pound monster light in his signature image.


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## PCC (Mar 1, 2014)

I'm currently working on a battery vampire light. It's designed in a way that I'll be able to clean it up if a battery leaks in it. The body is made from clear acrylic and the only metal inside the battery compartment are the contacts with the battery. Here's a picture of the body and completed tail cap. The negative contact will be installed along the outside of the body and it's made so that it can be completely dismantled for cleaning should the need arise. The head will use an old Nite Ize 3-LED drop-in that they used to sell for Mini-Mags that would drain batteries down to insanely low levels.


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## jonwkng (Mar 1, 2014)

That clear acrylic body is a nice! :thumbsup:


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## MRsDNF (Mar 6, 2014)

Very nice light PCC. How did you go machining the threads in the acrylic? Just imagining it I would think that it would want to chunk of.


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## PCC (Mar 6, 2014)

Slowly and carefully.


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## rufusbduck (Jun 17, 2014)

Not quite finished yet



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## MRsDNF (Jun 17, 2014)

Looks cool. What is it?


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## jason 77 (Jun 17, 2014)

Looks very steampunkish. More pics and info on it please!


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## jonwkng (Jun 17, 2014)

Hi Scott,
Nice work! Love what you did with the brass mesh on the battery tube. :thumbsup:


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## R.W.D. (Oct 17, 2014)

Dude this thread fell off my radar and I was searching CPF in google images to see unique lights and I found this thread again and I gotta say y'all have posted awesome creations. I've made many since that little mule which btw burned the hell out of my leg then died. I never realized how intense the heat from a de domed XML is. It literally burned a hole through my pants and burned my leg. 

Anyways awesome lights :twothumbs


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## Monocrom (Oct 18, 2014)

Keep those sweet projects coming guys. :twothumbs


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## MRsDNF (Oct 20, 2014)

This is a work in progress. It will run a Shocker reflector and lens. Finish date is some time in the future.






The finished light.


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## Xavier (Jul 18, 2016)

Gonna necro cause these lights are epic.


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