# Wall-E - The Dual Ostar Light 2,000 lumens



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Thought I'd share my new light. Uses two 6-die Osram ostar emitters in a machined casing. Everytime I show someone the light, they immediately say how it reminds them of the robot from the Disney movie "WALL-E", so that's pretty much what I call it now. :thumbsup:

The design:






















Center section completed:








Rear casing completed:








Test fit of emitters, Ledilstar lens and center/rear casing:








Ostars mounted onto center section:








Wiring inside rear casing:








I decided to use TaskLED's CCHIPO driver to drive both ostars, and due to the massive size of the driver, it's been remote mounted into it's own electronics box:








Front cover completed:


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Test fit of o-rings and glass lenses purchased from DX:








Completed light pics:








































And of course no DIY light thread is complete without beamshots!!! I'm using the external pot leads of the CCHIPO to control the light with three light settings for low, medium and high power settings:

Control Shot:








Low Power Setting at 30 mAH current. My guess is 50-60 lumens? Perfect for breaks and chatting waiting for others in my group to regroup without blinding other riders:








Mid Power Mode set to 182 mAH. Should be somewhere around 500-600 lumens:








High Power Mode set at 700 mAH (just shy of ~2000 lumens):


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

I was going to originally set max power to 1000 mAH to juice it up even more, but I'm sure the light will get hotter than I would like.

Anyone who's used an Ostar know it runs hot, WAY hot, and you're probably wondering how I dealt with the heat of two Ostars. Well.... if you've put 2 and 2 together you've already noticed the thermostat in the rear casing.

Here is the back of the light:








Themostat trips the fan on when 50°C is reached. In worst case scenario (no external air flow... basically the light sitting on my desk), the light reaches a steady state of 58°C at max power and the fan is continuously on.

The mid power mode can be run and will not trip the fan until sitting stationary on my desk for 30 minutes, at which time the thermostat turns the fan on for about 3 minutes until the temp drops about 10°C. Since this is worst case testing, I'm thinking I'll up the middle power mode to around 300 mAH or so to get 1000 lumens output for regular use.

With my 18.5V 4400 mAH pack, runtimes are 75 hours on low, 12 hours on medium, and 2.7 hours on high. This assuming driver efficiency of 85% and assuming the fan is always on for medium and high power modes.

I have no idea if I'm the first one to build a thermostat controlled actively cooled light, but it's cool if I am


----------



## ocean breathes salty (Oct 1, 2006)

let me be the first to say .... HOLY $H!T

What an amazing light. Congratulations and keep them coming!


----------



## Whitedog1 (Feb 3, 2009)

let me be the 2nd to say what a f*** crazy light!

congratulations!! you are a real genious DIY light mate!!!:thumbsup: 

:cornut: would it be possible to drive this light with an hipflex??


----------



## Harpoon (Jun 5, 2008)

Very impressive - build quality and attention to detail looks superb!


----------



## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

cosmoworks,

I'm lost for words, so have some of these instead :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: .


----------



## msxtr (Dec 10, 2006)

Harpoon said:


> Very impressive - build quality and attention to detail looks superb!


Hi, I'm agree :eekster::eekster:

To how many volts work the light? what driver are used you?

Greetings - Saludos

msxtr


----------



## Whitedog1 (Feb 3, 2009)

cosmoworks said:


> I decided to use TaskLED's CCHIPO driver to drive both ostars, and due to the massive size of the driver, it's been remote mounted into it's own electronics box:


This should give you the answer msxtr
greetings
Whitedog


----------



## super-fast (Sep 28, 2006)

Whitedog1 said:


> let me be the 2nd to say what a f*** crazy light!
> 
> congratulations!! you are a real genious DIY light mate!!!:thumbsup:
> 
> :cornut: would it be possible to drive this light with an hipflex??


No that wouldn't be possible, the forward voltage from a single Ostar can be as high as 24V. Since the Hipflex is step-down driver the input voltage needs to be higher then the output, but the maximum input voltage of the Hipflex is 24V. Osram Ostar's need a boost driver when used in most battery applications.
The only smaller driver I could think of is a Shark driver from The Sandwich Shoppe, but it will only work when the forward voltages match very well and the driver is properly heatsinked.


----------



## StevelKnivel (Jun 23, 2007)

That's bada$$!


----------



## Mike_socal (Jun 30, 2007)

You did one hell of a job on that light. Superb craftsmanship.


----------



## emtnate (Feb 9, 2008)

cosmoworks - nice looking light, but you should call it 'Johnny 5' since Disney stole the robot design from Short Circuit.


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Great stuff and as all the words have been used already I will just say Echo to all the other posts.

Is the driver bigger than the light . as I have never seen a cchipo in real life.

One question do they suffer with getting the light focused like the MCE / P7 s


----------



## TOMMO (Dec 12, 2008)

Work of art dude!
Tommo.


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks to everyone for all the comments!

Whitedog: Thanks for your comments... as super-fast stated, you can't use the hipflex to drive this light, as I have measured the total Vf of this light at 39.2 volts (19.6 volts each emitter). If you wired it up in parallel you could, but then you'd have a really small window of allowable input voltages.

msxtr: Vf was measured at 39.2 volts at the high power setting.

emtnate: Most of the people that commented when they saw the light were probably too young to know what Short Circuit is. Shall I add electronics that say "Johnny 5, alive!" when it's turned on? 

troutie: Originally I used one Ledilstar SS and one Ledilstar Med lens. I found that the medium lens was way more spill than was needed for riding so I swiched to two SS lenses. I compared WALL-E to my quad R2 light which uses two Ledil CRS SS lenses and two CRS-M lenses and WALL-E is still way floodier than my quad R2 even though it's using all spot lenses. So to answer your question... Yes, they suffer even worse than the MCE and P7, but it works in my favor because the using only spot lenses actually gives me the exact beam pattern I was looking for. And about your reference to the size of the CCHIPO, here's the driver next to an unfinished "archelot" triple housing:









Yeah my jaw nearly dropped to the floor when I got the driver in the mail and held the thing in my hand.


----------



## Billabang (Sep 2, 2007)

:yikes:


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

That's some quality work there cosmo :thumbsup: 

Nice to see something different to Cree LED's...what kind of machine did you machine it on?

Steve


----------



## HEY HEY ITS HENDO (Feb 23, 2008)

WOW! cosmo what a beautiful creation
the build quality is just stunning!
Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:


----------



## odtexas (Oct 2, 2008)

> *Cosmoworks wrote*
> Yeah my jaw nearly dropped to the floor when I got the driver in the mail and held the thing in my hand.


More like when you held it with both hands.


----------



## cytoe (Jan 20, 2004)

waalllleeeeeee! sweet light. First light I've seen w/ active cooling.


----------



## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

JEBUS!!! We need a side-by-side of Wall-E vs. triple MC-E...


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks HENDO and cytoe for the comments!



deesta said:


> That's some quality work there cosmo :thumbsup:
> 
> Nice to see something different to Cree LED's...what kind of machine did you machine it on?
> 
> Steve


Thanks Steve, means alot coming from the machining master! The original design was much "curvier" in shape - But after my hookups for getting it CNC'd fell thru, I redesigned it to make it easier to manually machine and ended up hacking it out on the small benchtop milling machine. If I get around to my next lighting project, I might contact you if you're up for a new project at that time.

Here was the original design:

















pinkrobe said:


> JEBUS!!! We need a side-by-side of Wall-E vs. triple MC-E...


Probably about the same in terms of light intensity, but I'm sure beam patterns would look different depending on the optics used on a triple MCE.


----------



## crux (Jan 10, 2004)

cosmoworks said:


> The original design was much "curvier" in shape - But after my hookups for getting it CNC'd fell thru, I redesigned it to make it easier to manually machine and ended up hacking it out on the small benchtop milling machine.


WHAT??? You did that on a manual milling machine? That makes it even more impressive. Very nice. :thumbsup:


----------



## racerdave (May 12, 2007)

"hacking it out?" No way in Hades does that look like a hack job.

I'm definitely stunned. Absolutely amazing. :thumbsup:

What battery/batteries are you using to power this beast?


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Fantastic Cosmo that must have taken a few hours to do on a desktop mill .

Any chance of some pics of your setup as a fellow minimill user nothing comes off my machine looking that good even with some solid carbide cutters that Deesta gave me 

:thumbsup:


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Oooh, I like the look of the original too!! I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm a 'machining master' though... 
That's some amazing work for a manual mill...I get too bored doing things manually these days. Feel free to drop me a line if you want re: next project. I'll gladly have a look for you:thumbsup:


----------



## wkumtrider (Dec 27, 2007)

Really nice light. Very impressive. What cable gland/connector are you using?


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

crux: Thanks!

racerdave: It's a 10-cell 18650 pack 5 series-2 parallel (88 watt-hours of capacity). I also have a 5-cell pack (44-watt hour capacity) which gives me half the runtimes if I'm only out for a short ride.

troutie: I'll send you pics when I have the machine back together.. right now it's torn apart as I'm retrofitting it with DRO. Have you swept your table with a test indicator to make sure it's square with the quill? A few thousandths off can make a difference on the surface finish. I've been getting great results using 3-flute TiCN coated high helix cobalt cutters.

deesta: Thanks Steve. I like the original design better too but you can see why I made the change. I'll definitely consult your CNC 'skillz' for the next project. Wall-E could use a stem-mounted companion, something that will be a big hit. 

wkumtrider: I'm using trailtech locking connectors between the battery and driver box and Switchcraft EN3 connectors from the driver box to the light head.

Here's a picture of the battery, driver box, and the connecting cable (battery and driver go into my camelbak):


----------



## TOMMO (Dec 12, 2008)

Do ya recon those optics would work with a P7 or MCE?


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

TOMMO said:


> Do ya recon those optics would work with a P7 or MCE?


I doubt it. The lenses are designed specifically to fully enclose over the ostar star. I held a lens up to a P7 emitter last night and the P7 dome is way too big to work. I don't have an MCE to try on hand so I can't comment on that. The Ostar's dome is large in diameter (due to 6 dies), but it's very flat and low profile. Could possibly be shorter than an MCE's dome.. again I'm just guessing on that one.



cosmoworks said:


> I was going to originally set max power to 1000 mAH to juice it up even more, but I'm sure the light will get hotter than I would like.


Update: So I take back what I said about holding power back. On last night's 2 hour ride, the fan never kicked on even once. Granted it was chillier than usual, I think it's time to juice it up to 1000mA! :eekster:


----------



## sergio_pt (Jan 29, 2007)

great work cosmoworks! whats the optics diameter?

You should try to machine the original design with 20mm optics, that would be pretty cool. 
And if you want to make the original it I'll buy you one.


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks sergio.... the optics are 35mm in diameter.


----------



## unterhausen (Sep 28, 2008)

I was looking at leds at digikey and i saw these emitters, but I couldn't believe the specs. 

Be careful you don't melt your helmet


----------



## Bryguy17 (May 19, 2007)

WOW. that thing is awesome! excellent work on the machining.

what it does, really, is makes me want to actually build my 14x - XPE R2 light with a remote CCHIPO. How are you liking that driver? aside from being rather large...


----------



## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

Great job!!!
Deesta, i have a couple of those lenses lying around, i think i'll post it to you along with my half-finished ostar project! The ostar has a wider die than the MCEs and it's even harder to harness it's beam. I'll try some reflectors.


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

_deesta: Thanks Steve. I like the original design better too but you can see why I made the change. I'll definitely consult your CNC 'skillz' for the next project. Wall-E could use a stem-mounted companion, something that will be a big hit._ 

No worries mate, I've just received a Hope Stem plate for my Thompson stem off Hendo..it's gonna be really easy to modify my 'Altair' housing for it and I'll be able to do the triple XPE to suit too. Can send you some info if you like??

Steve


----------



## wannabeRacer (Feb 9, 2004)

geeez.... lookout I see the cycle light of the future


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

_unterhausen: _ Helmet is still in tact........... for now. You need to be careful ordering from digikey, because they are just averaging the luminous flux from a wide range of bins, so you could get stars with anywhere from 610 to 1120 lumens per star. 

_Bryguy17:_ Thanks!... The driver is working great.... at first I was worried that I might have to cool down the driver box as well due to the heat it would have to dissipate at 85% efficiency, but at around 30 watts output it only gets slightly warm. You should totally build your monster light... we need more power-arghhh arghhhh arghhh!!! (Tim allen reference).

_Giant-Lander:_ Thanks!

_deesta:_ My next light design is already in the pipeline... no turning back cause parts are already on order. Best if I start off the bat making it hope compatible.... so hell yeah, send me the info!


----------



## sergio_pt (Jan 29, 2007)

This one has the bin numbers I think.
http://www.led1.de/shop/product_inf...me=osram-power-leds-osram-ostar-c-128_184_185


----------



## Bryguy17 (May 19, 2007)

cosmoworks said:


> Thanks!... The driver is working great.... at first I was worried that I might have to cool down the driver box as well due to the heat it would have to dissipate at 85% efficiency, but at around 30 watts output it only gets slightly warm. You should totally build your monster light... we need more power-arghhh arghhhh arghhh!!! (Tim allen reference).


oh yeah. I wanna get some little housings CNC'd for some dual XRE/ dual-triple XPE / tripleXPE - XRE light. in the meantime, I can make one of those silly XPE lights for shits and giggles, and a possible trip to the 12 hrs of angelfire. I think if I'm doing DH racing at night, I'm gonna want all 3500 lumens


----------



## DaUsualSuspect (Dec 18, 2006)

*CAD program*

Great Light! What CAD software are you using?


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

_sergio_pt: _ It's still a lottery... PZQZ means "PZ bin thru QZ bin" - you'd get the same chances as ordering from Digikey.

_Bryguy17:_ check out deesta's triple-triple-XPE. Pretty damn sweet light, and small too!

_DaUsualSuspect:_ Thanks! I'm on Solidworks.


----------



## unterhausen (Sep 28, 2008)

cosmoworks said:


> _DaUsualSuspect:_ Thanks! I'm on Solidworks.


I guess some of us should have figured that out given your username.

I need to work on my rendering, your parts look much nicer than
the ones I've been drawing.

It's a really amazing light, too bad your cnc deal fell through,
the original design looks incredible.


----------



## oakley198877 (Oct 4, 2008)

Lost of words.... These lights are bad ass!! and the small fan.... truely unbelievealve! great work!


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

^^ Thanks for the kind words again.

Just an update...

I was able to shave off 1/2" of the light thickness by swapping out to Fraen reflectors instead of using Ledilstar Optics and modifying the center heatsink piece. Supposedly you gain 10% more output by using a reflector, but visually it looks about 20% brighter. The fraen (narrow) reflectors focus the beam way tighter than the ledilstar lenses do so I've lost the super smooth transition between the center spot and the spill that I had with the ledilstars. Instead the hot-spot and spill is more defined and separated, so we'll see if I find the need to run one narrow and one medium fraen lens after I'm able to test the new configuration.









Below is the new side view of the 1/2" shorter body. The light is now only taller than an "archelot" triple cree. The width is the same (3") and the thickness is the same (2"):









Maybe I'll get a chance to do some more outdoor beamshots if I can find the time.


----------



## Turveyd (Sep 30, 2007)

First AMAZING, I want a dual Ostar 

Secondly, Is this a dry weather tool only ?? surely the fan's not water proof ??

Thirdly, whats the total cost of the build if you add 50% for yourself, can I have 1


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Turveyd - It's mostly dry weather here, but the themostat is mechanical, so even if it were raining, it would most likely be cool and the fan would never see any voltage in that case if it got wet. Total cost of the light materials excluding the battery/charger/labor is just shy of $300.


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Very, very nice cosmo :thumbsup:


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Fraen reflector beamshots:

A different night than the previous beamshots, so here's another control shot:








Low Power Setting (30 mAH current):








Mid Power Mode Setting (changed to 261 mAH). Should be somewhere around 800-850 lumens according to the Osram data sheet for relative output:








High Power Mode Setting (700 mAH):








You can definitely tell there is a much brighter focused center spot. The picture doesn't really show just how much the center spot is brighter since the center spot is completely blown out and have exceeded the max white values for a jpeg image. The spill is very similar to the ledilstar, but the center spot is much "hotter".

Since I had a medium lens with me, I swapped out one reflector and took the following beamshots of one narrow beam and one wide beam reflector:

Low Power Setting (30 mAH current):








Mid Power Mode Setting (changed to 261 mAH):








High Power Mode Setting (700 mAH):








The resulting pattern doesn't nearly have the center brightness that the dual fraen narrow reflectors, but it's probably the most practical for night riding, especially since there's loads of side spill which works great for singletrack. Then again, the the 2X fraen narrow combo has the biggest "WOW" factor when you can look across the mountains and light up the other side then hear your friends drooling. :thumbsup:


----------



## Turveyd (Sep 30, 2007)

Prefer the 2 Narrow, as long as you've got atleast 1 Ostar Flood on the bars to fill in nearer the front wheel.


NICE get it upto 900ma say and that will literally be all the head mounted light anyone will need.


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Just a quick update....

I ended up anodizing Wall-E shortly after the fraen conversion, but decided to update this thread with pics based on the recent interest in anodizing.

Parts cleaned up after a few minutes soaking in light lye solution:








Parts in the anodize bath (diluted sulfuric acid). It's really important to monitor bath temp and make sure it doesn't get to high. "zen bicycle" shows a good example of how to use dual containment (second container of ice water) in the thread mentioned above to keep bath temps in control if they get too hot. (I just use a frozen water bottle if the temp gets too high).








Anodize complete. (Even though I used steel hardware to bolt to the buss bar, make sure that the only metal that touches the acid is aluminum!):








If you've followed the 720 rule, then parts should have a slight "greenish/titanium" color to them:








Decided to make the mount Mango orange:








Black for the body:








Finished mount:








Body (back cover):








And the completed light!:


----------



## Itess (Feb 22, 2009)

cosmoworks said:


> Just a quick update....
> 
> I ended up anodizing Wall-E shortly after the fraen conversion, but decided to update this thread with pics based on the recent interest in anodizing.


Awesome! :thumbsup: Some day, when I have my own shed i will also try anodizing 

BTW, for a long time I have a question: why do people use glass lenses before collimators? Is it necessary?


----------



## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

Fantastic job, better than anything you'll ever find in the shops.


----------



## Village (Sep 8, 2008)

Gorgeous! Nice color choices too! :thumbsup:


----------



## Joshp82 (Apr 1, 2009)

thats awesome i want one


----------



## cdcdcd (Jun 30, 2009)

The quality of construction is superb - an absolute work of art. Out of interest, how much does it weigh, excluding the driver?


----------



## lidarman (Jan 12, 2004)

Yes, this place is full of art.

Amazing work.

But how many lumens is enough?


----------



## piesoup (Feb 9, 2009)

That is fantastic, well done!

I am currently sourcing material to set up an ano tank, cant wait!


----------



## thysmeades (Jun 24, 2009)

Hi Cosmoworks, awesome little light. what cad or drawing program did you use to create the drawings in? and where did you source your in line DC connectors?
regards
Thys


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Itess: When using fraens, you need them to keep the dirt out of the light... not necessary with the ledils. I just used them with the ledils to make it easier to clean.

yetibetty, Village, Joshp82, piesoup: thanks!

cdcdcd: Don't know, never weighed it. But checking my cad models, the Aluminum case and mount weigh 170grams.

lidarman: I think I'll have enough lumens when my barlight is completed. I had the notion that I'd be done with it a few months ago, but the project keeps getting sidetracked. But stay tuned, it's in the making...

thysmeades: I'm on Solidworks software. DC inline connectors on the battery and remote electronics box are just trailtech's from batteryspace.


----------



## Turveyd (Sep 30, 2007)

Don't know how well a Fraen works with a Ostar but I was hugely disappointed with a MC-E, can you offer this with a IRIS is it ???

Any idea of your cost on this build ?? Ostar's are expensive aren't they ??


----------



## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

Turveyd said:


> Don't know how well a Fraen works with a Ostar but I was hugely disappointed with a MC-E, can you offer this with a IRIS is it ???
> 
> Any idea of your cost on this build ?? Ostar's are expensive aren't they ??


Turveyd, as your in the UK your best bet would be from here: http://www.leds.de/c21/High_power_LEDs.html


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Turveyd said:


> Don't know how well a Fraen works with a Ostar but I was hugely disappointed with a MC-E, can you offer this with a IRIS is it ???
> 
> Any idea of your cost on this build ?? Ostar's are expensive aren't they ??


What didn't you like about the Fraen and MCE? The MCE and Ostar Fraen optics are actually the same, with just the emitter opening cutout being different, and some mounting posts on the Ostar version. The ledilstar actually has the better beam pattern, but the Fraens just put out so much more light that I stuck with them. Never played with the Iris though, probably wont - things are huge.

Cost of raw materials for the build stated in a previous post. The emitters themselves I got for about $32/ea.


----------



## sdnative (Aug 10, 2008)

Beautiful job :thumbsup: 

Great pictures too :thumbsup: 

Curious on how many watt/hrs that fan eats up under normal use? Looking at forced cooling on a light for my own lineup, but hesitant to go there for a number of reasons ...power is one.

~Chris


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

sdnative said:


> Curious on how many watt/hrs that fan eats up under normal use? Looking at forced cooling on a light for my own lineup, but hesitant to go there for a number of reasons ...power is one.


Thanks!

Under normal use the fan really never comes on . Typically it only comes on when I'm stopped (resting) or ride at a really slow pace (climbing) on a hot night and decide to use high power mode in these situations.

The fan I used only has a 0.9W power draw, so power requirements are minimal. My night rides are usually around 2 hours, so that's about 1.8Wh. Round that up to about 2Wh given regulator inefficiencies and that's about 2.3% of my total pack capacity (88Wh) assuming the fan is on all the time. Realistically the fan is only on for several minutes at a time, so in practice it ends up being way less than 1% of my total pack's capacity.


----------



## wee_ry (Sep 8, 2007)

Wow very nice!


----------



## Chasintrane (Jun 1, 2006)

Amazing. I want to buy one of those!


----------



## Undergroundrider (Jun 3, 2009)

Chasintrane said:


> Amazing. I want to buy one of those!


+2 : nice work!


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

^^ Thanks again for the comments.

Here's Wall-E's twin brother! (fraternal of course, since it's yellow). My buddy borrowed my plans and made his own:


----------



## odtexas (Oct 2, 2008)

Like the new lower profile mount/heatsink on the bottom of the light.
So how are these new reflectors compared to the ones in version one?

Did he go with the CCHIPO or did the new hyperboost get incorporated into this light?

I do like the yellow. Good job on the Ano..................:thumbsup:


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

odtexas said:


> Like the new lower profile mount/heatsink on the bottom of the light.
> So how are these new reflectors compared to the ones in version one?
> 
> Did he go with the CCHIPO or did the new hyperboost get incorporated into this light?
> ...


The yellow Wall-E pics are with two fraen medium lenses, but he actually switched them out to two fraen spots like I'm running in mine. I do like his mount better though - it doesn't stand off the helmet as much as mine does.

He used a CCHIPO since he had the parts machined before Hyperboost was available. Stay tuned though, as I'm cooking up some ideas in my head which I'm thinking of using a Hyperboost, or two. 

But meanwhile, check out my Rubix light (3,600 lumens), if you haven't already:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=568134


----------



## xdtr22 (Nov 20, 2007)

DO you have all the dimensions and such for the milling? I have somone that can do the housing for me if he had the correct dimensions! Great looking light!


----------



## mtb_robs-x (Dec 13, 2009)

almost consider it,...

constructive critic
- do not like fans, 
since it does have a thermostat, probably not a big noise problem, for most people,
but spinning squirells,... the fan is not IP rated, aka splash or waterproof,...
and for the dessert devils,... the sand will kill it,...
- battery voltage to high,
now I'am working on batteries,... but 18.5V is an odd ball, 
and that makes it hard to get packs and charger, the big target for portable, be 4 cell max , for flexibility and availability,
well, the power tool market , might be a workaround, a good one too, they do make decent stuff,
- external control box,
gee, don't want it on the bike, guess for a helmet light in the backpack, not to bad.
but would want a wall-e on the handlebar
- yellow, nice color
- connector,..... with so many trail techs , another adapter ,...

big applause, nice,


----------



## HarlieJ (Mar 1, 2007)

Great job! The abilities of a talented machinist just strike me in complete awe. What would you charge to build one? Thanks


----------



## super-fast (Sep 28, 2006)

@mtb_Rob, running a dual ostar light from just 4 cells? That would results in a terrible runtime.

In the worst case the fan dies, when he just make sure he keeps moving there is no problem at all. The fan isn't terribly expensive, the light doesn't fail when the fan does, so it isn't a problem when the fan would stop working and needs to be replaced


----------



## piesoup (Feb 9, 2009)

mtb_robs-x said:


> the fan is not IP rated, aka splash or waterproof,...


Take a look at this then...
http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=6308103&postcount=94


----------



## Hoodoo (Sep 20, 2006)

Sorry, replied to wrong thread!


----------



## Hoodoo (Sep 20, 2006)

Fantastic looking light. However, the heat sink that is attached to the driver board serves no purpose since the whole thing is contained inside the metal box. All it will do is radiate heat into the inside of the box which will eventually be conducted to the surface of the box. Why not remove the heat sink and attach the regulator/FET/Driver chip directly to the surface of the box, that way you will have removed one section of thermal resistance in the path from heat source to outside air. You may be able to use a smaller box.


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

mtb_robs-x said:


> almost consider it,...
> 
> constructive critic
> .....
> big applause, nice,


Thanks, i think.... The language barrier makes your post a little hard to understand, but it sounds like you're stating reasons you wouldn't want to build something like this. For me, none of the points you've brought up are a concern, since I don't ride in desert monsoon weather, and all my batteries and chargers are 18.5V.



HarlieJ said:


> Great job! The abilities of a talented machinist just strike me in complete awe. What would you charge to build one? Thanks


Thanks, but I'm not interested in building another one of these lights at the moment. I may sell this one off eventually sometime next year though.



Hoodoo said:


> Fantastic looking light. However, the heat sink that is attached to the driver board serves no purpose since the whole thing is contained inside the metal box. All it will do is radiate heat into the inside of the box which will eventually be conducted to the surface of the box. Why not remove the heat sink and attach the regulator/FET/Driver chip directly to the surface of the box, that way you will have removed one section of thermal resistance in the path from heat source to outside air. You may be able to use a smaller box.


Thanks Hoodoo. I didn't design the driver, TaskLED did and it came with a heatsink on it. Taking the heatsink off wouldn't let me use a smaller box anyways, since the one I'm using is already a perfect match in size to the driver board, and the EN3 connector needs the height to fit, the heatsink just sits where empty space would if I removed it. Hard to tell from the pic, but the wiring all crams up nicely in there when closed. If I did find a shorter box somewhere, it'd be hard to close.


----------



## chelboed (Jul 29, 2005)

OP: This is the most impressive light I've seen to date. Excellent work.


Question: Is the lamp head water resistant with the exposed fan?


----------



## losimaster117 (Aug 16, 2009)

Dear God boy!!!! that is a fantastic job you did!!!!!!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :eekster: :eekster: :eekster:


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

chelboed said:


> OP: This is the most impressive light I've seen to date. Excellent work.
> 
> Question: Is the lamp head water resistant with the exposed fan?


Thanks chelboed, but I think Rubix is more impressive than this light, although Rubix's purpose is different than this light (floody bar light versus spotty helmet).

The fan's aren't rated for water use, but they do withstand water splashes (just take a look at piesoups's link to Rubix's fan  )



losimaster117 said:


> Dear God boy!!!! that is a fantastic job you did!!!!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :eekster: :eekster: :eekster:


Thanks losi!!


----------



## mimi1885 (Aug 12, 2006)

Cosmoworks, great work of art. 

Does the Ano affect the the ability to dissipate heat from the llight? I know that integrated fan would help alot. what would a max run time be like on a 4-cell 18500. would it even work


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

mimi1885 said:


> Cosmoworks, great work of art.
> 
> Does the Ano affect the the ability to dissipate heat from the llight? I know that integrated fan would help alot. what would a max run time be like on a 4-cell 18500. would it even work


Thanks. Ano's not gonna affect heat dissipation since you're changing the aluminum surface itself and not covering it - like you would if you painted it.

Did you mean a 4-cell 18650 pack? Never seen anyone selling a 18500 pack (but then again never looked for one). I did hook it up to a 4-cell 18650 pack once and it ran fine... probably less efficient though. Assuming 85% efficiency and running it at the 700mA setting, would mean my light consumes about 33 watts of power. A 4-cell 18650 pack would have something around 33 watt-hours of energy, so that means you'll get about an hour runtime at max power.


----------



## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Cosmo, are you happy with the beam from the reflectors? If your finding it a bit to much flood, it says on the Fraen datasheet that if you want the 8 degree beam then you need to have an ostar without the dome lens on.
From what i can gather you can remove the dome lens??


----------



## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

Goldigger said:


> Cosmo, are you happy with the beam from the reflectors? If your finding it a bit to much flood, it says on the Fraen datasheet that if you want the 8 degree beam then you need to have an ostar without the dome lens on.
> From what i can gather you can remove the dome lens??


Yes, you can. I have tried it and all you have to do is be careful with the silicone that protects the tiny led elements and is exposed when you remove the lens. I pushed the lens out from underneath the star.......Perhaps a "domed" lens like this :http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4558 (i can't recall their scientific name right now) would also tighen the beam , or the addition of a small convex lens with correct focal depth.


----------



## Goldigger (Nov 6, 2009)

Giant-Lander said:


> Yes, you can. I have tried it and all you have to do is be careful with the silicone that protects the tiny led elements and is exposed when you remove the lens. I pushed the lens out from underneath the star.......Perhaps a "domed" lens like this :https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4558 (i can't recall their scientific name right now) would also tighen the beam , or the addition of a small convex lens with correct focal depth.


There aspherical lens if im not mistaken, I've just ordered a dive light that uses an aspheric lens with a SST-50. It is also focusable.
Here is a beam shot comparison of a dual Ostar vs the Aspheric SST-50. You get no spill on the aspheric..which isnt much good for a bike light i dont think.


----------



## cosmoworks (Jan 22, 2008)

Goldigger said:


> Cosmo, are you happy with the beam from the reflectors? If your finding it a bit to much flood, it says on the Fraen datasheet that if you want the 8 degree beam then you need to have an ostar without the dome lens on.
> From what i can gather you can remove the dome lens??


Yes I'm happy with them and don't find that there is too much flood. I've been riding with this light every week for the past year now and found that I actually wanted more flood which is why I built Rubix.

I was considering removing the domes of the Ostars but not for more spot, but for on-axis intensity. The Fraen datasheet shows twice the on-axis intensity with the dome removed which means alot more throw  ... not something I'd try without the floody bar light. But I never got around to actually doing it, and realistically I'll probably leave it as is, and focus on my next light when time frees up.


----------

