# How much would you pay for a CNC casing??



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi all,
Now that my light is up and running, I'm toying with the idea of doing a small run of casings to sell on to fund my future projects.
I was wondering how much people would be prepared to pay for a CNC machined casing.

My light is based around 3 R2 or Q5 LED's. I have re-designed it slightly but would be very similar to the photo's but without so much heatsinking around the front as it is not needed.

Any feedback would be good. I could possibly supply all the parts needed for self-assembly including all screws/o-rings/LED's/battery connector and switch/handlebar mount/battery.....

Cheers

Steve


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## bbgobie (Apr 20, 2006)

Interesting. I was thinking the same thing. I've been working on a design for the past while. At first for myself and maybe a couple friends, but recently I've been thinking of seeing if there was any interest in doing a run CNCd properly.

Reading your sig, it looks like you do CNC work, do you guys do small runs? Is there an hourly rate, or what would I need to know or provide to get a quote?


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## gillestugan (Nov 12, 2008)

I think you should change your profile from "Wannabee DIYer". That casing is certainly made by a pro, not a wannabe. Is it anodised?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks Gillestugan,

I'm a wannabee diyer because, up to doing this project, I had no idea what I was doing 
I've leaned heaps and have had loads of help from all the guru's on here. Yeah, the casing is anodised. I think I'd probably go for black if I do a run though. 

Steve


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

That housing looks pretty sweet! Is there enough heat-sinking to handle MC-Es?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks pinkrobe,

I'm not sure if the housing will handle MCE's.I don't have any to try but Troutie was going to try one but don't know whether he has done it yet..


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

deesta said:


> Thanks pinkrobe,
> 
> I'm not sure if the housing will handle MCE's.I don't have any to try but Troutie was going to try one but don't know whether he has done it yet..


Cool. I'm giving a WAG that the dimensions are 1.5" H x 2" D x 3.5" W, and with the amount of finning you are likely at almost 40 sq.in. of surface area. That would be a reasonable amount of surface for a triple MC-E, given the 2 sq.in. per watt guideline.


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## }SkOrPn--7 (Aug 15, 2008)

@deesta I assume the three images of lights that is taken in the back yard is of the light your displaying with a single light followed by two lights on and then a third is that correct or am I wrong so could you clear those images up to what they represent please.

How much would you charge for the CNC machined body plus all lights installed ready to be used that is pretty impressive and thanks for showing. BTW a black housing would be my choice of anodising.

I'm currently running AY-UP lights and I can get them for $121 so that would be my price matching point if that helps too what I would be prepared to pay.


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## kuksul08 (Oct 8, 2006)

Now that is some precision work. You could easily charge AT LEAST $60 a pop for those enclosures and hardware


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## notaknob (Apr 6, 2004)

bikeny did something similar, but I recall even though people expressed interest, he only sold a few.

Heatstroke did the same earlier this year, selling them for $60 and was sold out.

I've paid $45 for triple/quad housings turned on a lathe without a mount, which was a bargain.

I'd say $85 for your housing and mount would be what I would be willing to pay. I'd love one but I've got 2 housings sitting around waiting for me to put the guts into them.


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## ocean breathes salty (Oct 1, 2006)

notaknob said:


> bikeny did something similar, but I recall even though people expressed interest, he only sold a few.


That was the thread that came to mind when i read Deesta's proposal. People are all very keen until it comes time to spend the money.

Part of the problem with that thread was that the price wasn't clear before people expressed interest. If you are clear about exactly what it is going to cost people up front, then you will probably be more successful.

Since you have direct access to the CNC rather than paying someone else to run a batch, you can probably have a little more margin to work with.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

}SkOrPn--7: The beamshots are of 3 different settings using a bFlex. The top one is on low, middle on medium and bottom on high. The bFlex has 5 settings so just did the top/middle and bottom settings. All 3 LED's are lit at the same time.

Cheers, Steve


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## wolfbeast (Sep 11, 2006)

I'll take a housing and all the components. Let me know. Thnx


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## Boyonabyke (Sep 5, 2007)

I think you should sell them in the white... paying for anodizing will kill you on pricing, unless you can get a lot of pieces together to send off to the plating shop. Let the new owner do the anodizing color of their choice.


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

ocean breathes salty said:


> notaknob said:
> 
> 
> > bikeny did something similar, but I recall even though people expressed interest, he only sold a few.
> ...


I agree with OBS - if you want to get people to buy, pick a price, post it and see what happens. If you ask your market for a price, it will end up being too low. Somebody will say, "Oh wow, that's the best one I've ever seen - $150!", but the next guy will say, "It's red, I don't like red, shipped to Alaska, $23.50". All of a sudden, $23.50 is your price.

You know what your cost is, so add in what you feel is a reasonable margin and set S/H above and beyond that. You might also want to consider a group buy for full kits, so that you have a number of quasi-confirmed orders and know how many emitters, drivers, etc. to buy. The housings are easy, since you create your own inventory as you go.

My $0.02...


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## il2mb (Jan 27, 2005)

*got a little experience here*

My DIY done cheap case is machined but not 100% as I start with rectangular aluminum tubing. (I provide all material up front) My machinist then does the following:

cuts to length
mills the grooves on 3 sides
bevels the edges
mills a lip in the front for the poly face plate to sit
drills 4 holes with threads in the rear
deburs all surfaces

Cuts the L-bracket from stock material
Cuts the back plate to size and drills 4 holes

He does this for about $25.00 each (if I order 25 or more)

I think this is a steal.

I've had moderate success selling these cases at from $20 - $35. I haven't tried too hard to sell them even though I have been using them for my builds for over a year without problem. I haven't validated them at temperature completely for different setups. (R2, MCE, XP-E). I'm pretty confident they are more than satisfactory, in terms of thermal transfer, for 2xR2 leds but I don't know yet for MC-E or 6xR2(XP-E). I don't think it is a good idea to build a case, stuff some leds in there with a driver and then limit it's output due to poor thermal management.

Looking at the OP's case I would say he has a very robust design and worth spending some money on. But before good money is put out I would want to know if I can run it with the leds I chose at the power level desired without sacrifice.


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## brum (Dec 19, 2004)

Really liking that red-ano finish! 
Is that an Schurter foilswitch? Use those myself too, best switches I've seen so far.


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## StevelKnivel (Jun 23, 2007)

Pinkrobe is right. You should charge enough to make it worth your time, trying to keep up with incoming orders on the side gets to be not so much fun if you aren't making any money on the deal. Your housing is beautiful and executed well above the DIY level so don't try to appease all the bargain hunters, nice CNC'd stuff isn't for everyone and there are other cheaper options out there.

Re: putting MC-Es in there... I've played with MC-Es for a while now and I bet it could easily handle 3 of them as long you use a driver with thermal sensing capability like the maxflex or hipflex. The cool thing about the 3 emitter arrangement you have is that you can build it with a few different MC-E/XR-E combinations and really get a good balance of output and beam quality. I'm thinking 2 XR-Es and 1 MC-E all in series, driven with maxflex, you'd be over 1000 lumen easy and be able to get a really nice spot/flood combo.


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## chargerfan32 (Aug 12, 2008)

*nice light....*

I have been looking a lot, and for some reason seem cant seem to pull the trigger on the parts and build. Please give us a price though. Id probably like one without the anodizing...

Thanks,

Wayne


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## more10 (Oct 28, 2008)

I could also be interested in one of your cnc light box. I really like your design, well done made with a touch off an "old school" look. 
At the moment I am building my own 2xMCE maxflex3 head-mounted light and therefore I am missing a bar-mounted light.


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## }SkOrPn--7 (Aug 15, 2008)

deesta said:


> }SkOrPn--7: The beamshots are of 3 different settings using a bFlex. The top one is on low, middle on medium and bottom on high. The bFlex has 5 settings so just did the top/middle and bottom settings. All 3 LED's are lit at the same time.
> 
> Cheers, Steve


Thanks buddy I'm really impressed with you light and work what is the burn time of that sucker on full power? You need to crunch some sums and see what you can do for a complete package of CNC machined body and installed plus wired lights. Thanks for posting....


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## mikemoe (Jan 13, 2007)

That is a really sweet little housing!!! I can imagine how much nicer my Slayer would look with one of those attached. Please let me know a price.


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## WeakMite (May 11, 2004)

I'm not personally interested in the style shown above at the present time... but I'd gladly fork over $50 or $60 for a nicely executed Tesla (Lupine) styled CNC casing.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks for the replies guys, I should have a price sorted later this week as I'm just waiting to get a few more prices for the anodising and material costs.....

Steve


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## msxtr (Dec 10, 2006)

Hi, we wait your news....50-60$ will are good...

Greetings - Saludos

msxtr


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Price sorted...*

Right:
Thanks for all the interest in my casings. I've done some working out and have come up with a price which, I think, reflects the standard of the casing.

The casing weighs in at 110g.

The casing is based around the Cree Q5/R2 LED's using Ledil LC1 optics. Using a bFlex to drive them. The mount I am using is from ChainReaction cycles and costs £2.99.
It uses a 2.5mm DC panel mount socket and Apem switch from RS.

I'm thinking that it is going to be easier/safer for me to just supply the casing (with all the necessary screws and o-rings). I can recommend suppliers for LED's/batteries etc if needed. I could supply the mount too depending on stock at CRC but that would need to be added to the price.

The price for the 3 machined parts supplied un-anodised will be:

£45 (68USD...E51 @ current exchange rate - 09/01/2009)

Delivery will be extra but I'm not sure of prices at the moment. It will be as cheap as possible.

If you are genuinley interested please PM me. Once I've got enough orders, I'll get some made asap.

Any questions, please ask!

Steve


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

£45 is a very fair price for that. Well done! I'll contact the lads and see if I can get a local group buy going, although that would mean I would have to assemble all the lights myself.


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## wolfbeast (Sep 11, 2006)

*Count me in!*

Looks great. I would prefer it in the raw.

One thing though, since I am a DIY " retard" can you post a parts list needed and maybe a picture blog of how to build. Please include links on where to order parts.

Also, I would appreciate if you included the mounts. Thnx


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## msxtr (Dec 10, 2006)

Hi, don't could done you a housing for 1 OR 2 MC-E leds with 2 boom reflectors?

Greetings - Saludos

msxtr


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks wolfbeast.

I'll put together a list of bits and I'll do a step-by-step set of photo's too...Great idea that 

msxtr: Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to do other things at the moment. I've got some other things I'm working on....

Pinkrobe: Cool...If you do a group buy, I may be able to sort out the LED's/Optics if needed.


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## more10 (Oct 28, 2008)

*Count me in too!*

I am also very interested in one. I must have one, it is the most cool design.

I would prefer as much extra comes with it as possible. Mount, lens and contact. 
I have been waiting months for parts in my own DIY. And are still waiting. It feels like a whole winter, but by following others' DIY keeps me going.

Is it possible that you can create the same cooling ribs as the first model you've made? I know it has no major impact on cooling process, but it looks so cool.

Do you produce it in the same aluminum alloy. I want to anodise it in black.

What do I do to make the final order and how do I pay?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi more10,
Thanks for the interest...I can supply the same style as my 1st casing but it would cost a bit more. The fins are the longest part of the machining process. It would be £50 with the extra fins, if that's ok? I'm trying to stay away from supplying all the necessary bits as it could produce a real headache trying to buy in all the bits and, to be honest, I can't afford to do that. I can give you the details of the guy I bought my LED's/Optics from and also where to get the rest of the bits.

I think the best way of doing this is that I'll give it a week and see how many orders I have, then contact those interested to double check. Then I can make the housings, sort out the screws etc. Once the housings are made, I'll request the money, then once paid, ship out the bits. So, no need to worry about paying yet 

Hope that's of use to you?

Steve


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

Now that I've finished my light, I should definitely buy one of your housings. Check mine out:








You can see the craftsmanship! :lol:

Yeah, as of right now I'm in for two housings...


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Nothing wrong with your skills, PR...if it works! Mine looked lovely for ages before it worked 

I'll stick you down for 2 then...


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Mount..*

Here's the mount I've used and could supply with the casing.

Steve


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

This is really a good price for such a nice case. I kinda wish I needed another project so I could use it, but I have my hands full right now.


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

A few more questions:
- Would it be possible for you to supply the Apem switch as well? I can't find anything that attractive locally.
- To use the Electron mount shown, we would need to drill the tab at the center of the housing, correct?
- What are the overall dimensions of the housing?

Thanks!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi PR,

I should be able to supply the switch too, will get a price. I think they were around £3.00 each.
The supplied casing will have the hole in for the electron mount. I was planning on putting it in this one but ran out of time. By using the electron mount, you can set the light so that it is almost flat, infront of the bars. I'll do some photo's to show how it looks with the mount.
The dimensions are 84mm wide x 35mm high x 46mm deep. 

Hope that helps..

Any more Q's please ask!

Cheers, Steve


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Some more photo's*

Here's a few more photo's of the unit. Acouple of the light mounted onto the bars ans one of the bFlex and switch. The bFlex sits on a small ridge about 10mm into the rear casing.
The screw used for mounting the casing onto the mount and fixing the casing together will be stainless steel 

Steve


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## il2mb (Jan 27, 2005)

*very nice..*

Outstanding workmanship D.

You take pride in your work and it shows.

bob


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## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

make one that'll house a driver that can run 3 mc-e's (hipflex) and I'll take one for sure.


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## riggsy (Jul 2, 2008)

im really liking the housing steve... think I may have to get one and make me another light


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

rollertoaster: I'm thinking of trying an MCE in the centre for a good flood...I'm also pretty sure that a maxFlex will fit 

thanks bob, I do take pride in it...


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

deesta said:


> Here's a few more photo's of the unit. Acouple of the light mounted onto the bars ans one of the bFlex and switch. The bFlex sits on a small ridge about 10mm into the rear casing.
> The screw used for mounting the casing onto the mount and fixing the casing together will be stainless steel
> 
> Steve


This will fit a Maxflex [smaller diameter than the bFlex], but needs an extra 0.3" clearance [diameter] to fit a Hipflex. Is it possible to grind out the extra 0.15" radius from the existing housing, or would it have to be redesigned? I'm running a Maxflex so I'm fine, but others may need the space for bigger drivers.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

pinkrobe said:


> This will fit a Maxflex [smaller diameter than the bFlex], but needs an extra 0.3" clearance [diameter] to fit a Hipflex. Is it possible to grind out the extra 0.15" radius from the existing housing, or would it have to be redesigned? I'm running a Maxflex so I'm fine, but others may need the space for bigger drivers.


It would need redesigning to take a hipFlex butI'll try a bit of 1.3" diameter washer to see if it would fit in on an angle. There is loads of room between the switch tags and the DC in socket so it may work...will let you know


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*A few suppliers for bits*

For those interested in this build, some of the parts can be sourced form the following places:

Casings: Me 

Switch: Apem part no ISR3SAD300. Suppliers include RS components and digikey corp.

LED's/Optics: Search for *Brum* (http://forums.mtbr.com/member.php?u=254607) in the members list. He supplies the Cree LED's and Ledil optics, based in Europe. Very good prices and fast delivery too :thumbsup:

Driver: bFlex, www.taskled.com

DC panel mount socket: RS, maplin..it's a general purpose, 2.5mm panel mount socket

Mount: ChainReactionCyles http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/BasketAdd.aspx?AddToBasket=true&StockID=21362

Hope that's useful...if you do use George @ taskled or Brum for bits, please mention me!!! :thumbsup:


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

deesta said:


> It would need redesigning to take a hipFlex butI'll try a bit of 1.3" diameter washer to see if it would fit in on an angle. There is loads of room between the switch tags and the DC in socket so it may work...will let you know


Steve the HipFlex is single sided and needs to be mounted on a flat surface to be heat sinked , it also will come with some special material to use between it and the heatsink
and it is about 35 mm diameter.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks Chris, that puts the stops on that idea then


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## Fury25 (Oct 22, 2008)

Hi Steve,

First time DIYer here.

Would be interest in the casing as a 'complete kit' with the venting ribs per your original in anodised black and have the following question.

Would the Osram Ostar LE UW E3B star mounted 6 die led work with this housing and how do these leds rate to the current range from CREE and Seoul? - http://www.led1.de/shop/product_inf...me=osram-power-leds-osram-ostar-c-128_184_185

Additionally,

[1] noting that the Osram led already has lens on it, what optics would be suitable?

[2] what driver wouldbe required

[3] what battery would be required and what sort of burn time should I expect?

Many thanks


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## StevelKnivel (Jun 23, 2007)

Since can fit a maxFlex there is almost no need to use a hipFlex. MaxFlex can drive 3 MC-Es so close to their max that you won't even notice the difference. BTW good luck with the housing sale!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi Fury25,

Thanks for the interest, unfortunately, this is my 1st build and I have no real knowledge of anyhting other than the kit I've used to make this light. 

It may be worth doing a separate thread with regard to the Osram LED's.

The actual star will fit inside the housing but without any optic dimensions, it's hard to say if it would fit with optics. Heat may also be an issue as I would imagine the Ostar would run quite hot...but don't quote me on that 

I can give you some dimensions for the casing/LED mounting if that helps...

Steve.

SK: I hoping to try some MCE's soon so will see how that goes. Could be a killer handlebar light with 3 of them in there


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## damitamit (May 25, 2006)

Nice!

I'd be interested in 1 casing + (if you do decide to offer parts) some of the parts.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi guys: I'm having quite a bit of interst in this casing and am nearing the point where I need to start making some 

I'm going to keep this open until this sunday, then will make a start.

So far I have interest from: 

damitamit 
chargerfan
peteoheat
baltik (2)
wolfbeast
more10
pinkrobe(2)
riggsy

If anyone else is intersted, please let me know asap. Any questions, drop me a pm or post on here 

Cheers, Steve


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Steve,

I actually prefer the original design with the extra cooling fins. If we have the option then I'd pay the extra £5 for that one. 

Mark


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

No probs....I just need to find my old programs


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

*WOW What a top bloke*

I went to see Deesta yesterday and what a nice guy he is A1

Thanks Steve for the milling cutters , they make mine look like Fred Flintstone s tools

He also gave me a housing to have a look at , Not sure if he will get it back :ihih:

But I did give him my housing to examine .

What can I say , Steves housing is mega good and a work of art also 
It is a quality housing and certainly worth the asking price and some..

You are now thinking when is the BUT coming from the Trout

OK But

I dont see this using 3 MCE at full with out tweaking a little bit But then who would want to have a triple MCE anyway.

I see this as a perfect host for the XPE 20 mm triples or a combination of XPE triple and XRE .

or any other combination you can think up .

I would be tempted to do 2 xpe triples from a maxflex 
and 1 xre from a cheap driver to use as a commuting light .

That brings me on to the first mod to make it much more versatile.










It has little shoulders for the Bflex which are perfect .
so raise these by 2 mm ish 
and below add shoulders for a maxflex and a heat sink for a maxflex this will work because the maxflex is a smaller diameter.

I hope you dont mind me suggesting mods to your work Steve???

and this looks tasty










I will be back soon after more perusing.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*That didn't take long....*

Chris,
Good to meet up yesterday, top bloke..I was just expecting to see the XPE sextuplet but was given the guided tour!!! To think that you've produced your bits on a manual lathe and mini-mill is incredible....:thumbsup:

Thanks for my box of tricks....I've been thinking of what I could do with them since I got home...hmmmm!! So many toys to play with...MCE/triple XRE/optics :eekster:

I think Chris' brain works quicker than mine when it comes to ideas...good thinking about the maxFlex seat. Why didn't I think of that?:madman:

Would make the casing more useable AND upgradeable 

I DO like the sound on a an XRE sandwiched between a pair of XPE triples.....now that would be good.

Don't mind the suggestions at all Chris, I'm all for improving it, especially BEFORE I do my small production run :yesnod:


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

Troutie - in your opinion, what tweaks would need to be made to make the housing more MC-E friendly? Is there simply not enough heat sinking to run @ 600mA?


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

pinkrobe said:


> Troutie - in your opinion, what tweaks would need to be made to make the housing more MC-E friendly? Is there simply not enough heat sinking to run @ 600mA?


Pinkrobe.

Steve has done too nice a job internally and it just needs to put on a little weight inside
to improve the contact areas for the led heatsink .

It would most likley be ok as it is and monitered with a Flex driver but it was the middle 
led if MCEs that i had doubts about it has the extra metal in the clamp and centre bulge and just needs to make better contact with it .
other than that :thumbsup: perfect

and also the maxflex mount as earlier

externally nothing as it is gorgeous and some have requested the original fins back on


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

Okay, sounds good to me. Deesta, let me know when you're ready to go...


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Just a quick note to all intersted in my housing....

I've had a meeting with Chris (troutie) who is, as most of you will know, a bit of a design genius!!!

He's suggested a few mods that would make the casing much more flexible as to what components could be used. The mods he's suggested would , hopefulky, make it possible to use a combination of XRE/MCE/XPE LED's and bFlex/maxFlex. It could help make the light able to cover most things and be easy for future upgrades as and when they come along.

As a result, I'm going to put the production on a slight hold until we've sorted out these mods 

Hope that is ok with all of you that have shown an interest. It shouldn't take too long but the end product would be much, much better.

Cheers, Steve


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## dms1 (Apr 18, 2008)

deesta, I´d like to buy one when you finish it, I have send you a mp.


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Future upgradability is a good thing, Deesta...some of us folks looking at a first project might want to try something more in depth later.

Right now, I don't think MCE's are the way I'm going to go....I don't need 1000+ lumens to replace my current halogen bar light. Something in the 800-850 lumen range and with about a 3 hr on max (if I need that much light for that long) is about all I'd be looking at.

bFlex and Q or R bins, perhaps (I'm open to ideas here, folks..though for the sake of keeping it on topic, a couple PM's would be the better choice).


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

That sounds great. I'd love to have those mods to my case. Makes it nicely upgradeable.

You know I haven't even put a light together yet and already working on the upgrade plans. It's so addictive isn't it?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Troutie tests the case with MCE's...*

Hi all,

Chris has been fettling my casing to see if it would work with 3 MCE's today. It sounds quite promising...:thumbsup:

I'm in the process of re-doing my programs for the CNC to make the light more flexible as to what LED's/drivers etc will fit and should have one done soon.

I've had a few requesting the grooves around the front of the casing to be machined in so, from Chris's findings and my own preference, I'll probably be putting them into the production housings. I could still do ones without but will give people the option once I've finalised it all.

Here are Chris's thoughts:

on to the light . it worked well and the beam from the ledils was better than the booms I was impressed beam wise .

heat wise it never tripped and I ran it on full most of the time to see .
it did get warm even when going into the headwind , so I think it is ok here in the UK , but some where warmer and it would struggle .

Interestingly the front was the warmest so it will benifit from replacing the fins . 
I will do a bit more testing later .

Sounds promising.....

I've also been working on a cutter triple R2 helmet light that I thought I'd share....Any thoughts would be much appreciated 

Steve


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

*ahem* 6-up XP-E bar/helmet housing *ahem*


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Ok so I have been very busy posting a few light builds on here and boring you all 
so I have decided to just be a lurker and watch .

but To help Deesta out I have been testing his light with 3 MCE and here is what may be my last pic posted .

Deesta`s light with 3 MCE @ 600ma
optics Ledil SS
MaxFlex


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## il2mb (Jan 27, 2005)

About 3600 lumens (before losses) by my calculation. Nearly 24 watts in that head to dissipate. Sure are giving that Maxflex a workout.

Great job!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Bloody hell...great beamshots Chris:thumbsup:  

That looks really good, what are your thoughts on them?? Pleased??

Thanks for going to the trouble testing it for me...

pinkrobe: 

It's on my to-do list  I just need to get some time on my machine to do the 6-up, and do the mods Chris has recommended to my casing!! The manual lathe was free so I thought I'd knock up a quick housing for some of the bits Chris gave me  

Steve


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

il2mb said:


> About 3600 lumens (before losses) by my calculation. Nearly 24 watts in that head to dissipate. Sure are giving that Maxflex a workout.
> 
> Great job!


3600 lumens I've just fallen off my chair


----------



## ocean breathes salty (Oct 1, 2006)

troutie-mtb said:


> here is what may be my last pic posted .


Three simple words...

Don't go Trout!!!!


----------



## ocean breathes salty (Oct 1, 2006)

deesta said:


> Any thoughts would be much appreciated


What holds the optics in position? Some silicone sealant or the like? What about some kind of locking ring?


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

ocean breathes salty said:


> Three simple words...
> 
> Don't go Trout!!!!


Only Joking


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

ocean breathes salty said:


> What holds the optics in position? Some silicone sealant or the like? What about some kind of locking ring?


Silicon , keep it easy and waterproof , easy to remove .

I did not have a switch so cobbled a remote one up and Wow it is ace next to the shifter
That is the way . and takes less housing reale estate

One suggestion Steve is dont drill for the switch and power socket 
then users can use whatever they want . ( opinions please )


----------



## czarny_kruk (Jan 23, 2008)

deesta said:


> il2mb said:
> 
> 
> > About 3600 lumens (before losses) by my calculation. Nearly 24 watts in that head to dissipate. Sure are giving that Maxflex a workout.
> ...


So... you mean 150lm per watt? 
Correct calculation - 430lm x 1,53 (@600mA each die) x 3 = 1973 lumensbefore looses.

regards,
czarny_kruk


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## Harpoon (Jun 5, 2008)

pinkrobe said:


> *ahem* 6-up XR-E bar/helmet housing *ahem*


*double cough*


----------



## AS-X (Feb 15, 2006)

Great MR11 housing! What dos the back look like? Where de you mount the driver?


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## kangaroomadman (Nov 19, 2008)

What optics are those troutie? You say they are better than the BOOM reflectors?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks AS-X,

It's just something I knocked up at work. The back will be pretty simple, just the DC socket coming out. I'm going to use a cheap 950mAh driver I bought off ebay to drive them and it will sit in the bore between the LED mount and the rear of the unit.

I'm going to mount a simple on-off switch on the top...as it's going to be a helmet light, I only need an on-off really 

Steve


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

My $0.02 - I'd be just as happy to keep the switch and power plug on the unit. I don't have a whole lot of handlebar real estate, and I need to switch the light between 3 bikes. Also, I'm a set-it-and-forget-it guy - I don't do much switch-on-the-fly stuff.


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

*Full report on deesta`s housing*

When I met Steve He gave me a housing and said have a good look and let me know 
your opinion .

so after having a good look I emailed him where I thought it could be improved 
and I think he is implementing some of these ideas.

The next bit I am not sure this was what steve intended ( sorry )

but I have been using a triple mce /boom mag lite mod which had suffered quite a few alterations as different optics became available , to the point that is was looking a bit of a dog.
this one 







was then disected to give up the MCE s and maxflex .









Then with a bit of work they were transfered to Deesta`s housing .

I did not want to use the booms as I would have needed to put covers in front so I had some Ledil CMC SS optics From Bram ( cpf )

These are the square ones and steves holes are round . so I cut off the corners and had to do a bit of bodgeing with the dremel on deestas case in side 
then they were glued in with silicon .

The MCE`s were then fitted to the heatsink and the liberated maxflex , this had been AA epoxied into the previous heat sink so the sink and maxflex were put in the lathe and turned down to fit the bflex holder in steves case .

I fully expected the maxflex to die after this mistreatment but it was fine.

Sorry no pics as I was rushing to get it done for the ride that evening.

Got it all fitted and working and out riding .

I ran it on full maxflex power so it was all getting 600ma 
and it performed very well , never tripping due to overheating .

Now the but , it was a very cold night with a medium wind and snow later.
the light was warm to the touch most of the time and still was not fully cold after a ride back in to the wind and snow .

As this is a pre modification housing and he is putting the fins back on the front 
which was the warmest part of the light to the touch , I believe it will be able to handle 3 MCE `s provided they are monitered by a maxflex driver @ 600ma .or the users fingers

and it will certainly handle 3 XPE triples

In all it is a really nice and quality housing and unless Deesta wants it back it will be on my bars with the 3 mces for the forseeable future ( but might get 9 XPEs in at some time )


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

The ideas from Chris are being implemented indeed...and judging by the fact that it can take 3 MCE's in the old form makes me think that it'll be even better with the mods...

I'm leaving a bit more metal inside and altering a few things so that the LED mount will be in contact more with the 2 halves. That should give better heatsinking 

No problem at all with you messing about with the housing Chris, I was half expecting you too  

I'm glad you have because it now means that the casing is more flexible in terms of what kit can go in it...should be really future proof and upgrade-able as asnd when new stuff comes along. I know how important that is for many on here...

Chris, I suppose you can keep the housing....


Unless you want to sent it back with the MCE's in place :thumbsup:  

I was really impressed with the beamshots too....

Oh, I've also got my triple cutter light done!!!!! Only problem is that the spare battery I have doesn't have enough juice to run them :madman:


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

*Heat test update*

Here is an update on Steves housing with 3 MCE running @ 600 ma each die










the Hole is down into the heat sink as close as I dared to the leds and the maxflex is heatsinked to the extra metal of the mounting lump.this is where in the mods I suggested to steve the maxflex sink should go . 
I even used some AA silver in the hole so the probe made better contact , I will have to revisit my Xpe light with the same method.

The Result is quite a good one imho .

everything started at 9c degrees

2 mins 30 secs - temp 29c
3 mins temp 33c
4 mins temp 39c
5 mins temp 46c
5 mins 45 secs temp 51c and maxflex tripped it was set @ 50c

In my book that is a pretty good result that the maxflex is nicely monitoring the leds

Nice one Deesta you seem to have nailed it first time ( bloody engineers )


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## il2mb (Jan 27, 2005)

Troutie,

May I suggest a different test?


With the TC located where you have it now do the same except blow some air at the light head from about 5 ft away. Of course you will see a slower rise time. What you want to determine is will the over temp set point trip while riding - which would be a bad thing. If the case is dumping the heat efficiently the temperature behind the leds will level off before the trip point is reached.

I tried this test with my 2 x MC-E @ 600ma - which probably doesn't have anywhere near as good heat transfer as your case and I hit the maxflex trip point (70c) at 10 minutes. The TC, sitting right behind the leds, read 96c with no air flow. When I repeated the test with air flow the internal TC only rose to 60c and pretty much stayed there and the maxflex never tripped.

Bob


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

_Nice one Deesta you seem to have nailed it first time ( bloody engineers )_

Thanks Chris...more luck than judgement me thinks though. It seems to work really well, and witht he extra meat being left in the housing and better surface area, and fins on the front, it should be evenbetter...

Thanks for doing the testing mate, much appreciated. I'm pushing for some machine time to do a new version AND XPE casing....:thumbsup:


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

il2mb said:


> Troutie,
> 
> May I suggest a different test?
> 
> ...


OK test done as you suggested.

start temp was a bit warmer as I had our heating switched on now,

14c start

1min =20c
1.5min =23c
2 min =26c
3 min =30c
4 min =33c
5 min =35c
6 min =37c
7 min =38c
8 min =39c
9 min =40c
10min = 41c maxflex tripped

I dont see this as a bad thing at all , 
what I see is the casing dumping heat quite well , and the production one will have extra fins .
but the maxflex is working 33 % harder than yours and is now looking after itself .


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*MCE option...*

Hey Chris,

Great test results :thumbsup:

If you let me know exactly what's needed to run MCE's to the modifications you've done, I could implement that into an 'MCE option' for when I do the production casings...

Then people could choose if they wanted a XRE/triple XPE or MCE housing


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

deesta said:


> Hey Chris,
> 
> Great test results :thumbsup:
> 
> ...


You already have implemented the mods . the only difference is the internal heatsink 
which I had to make an extended one as the optics were less deep but you cannot cover all bases for all the optic and led combinations .


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Good point Chris. I was just thinking that, because your MCE set-up works so well, some might like the exact same set-up. I could have 2 programs for the machine so would be easy enough to do 

Lets do a small poll: If you'd like the XRE option, PM me XRE
If you'd like the MCE option, PM me MCE

Steve

Allof the programs for my XRE housing are done, as are the ones for the XPE 6-er. 

I should be able to do them early next week, fingers crossed......


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## mracer (Jul 27, 2008)

Wow, I just noticed this thread... I am interested in your casing (with fins) as well as the mount. Can you put me in for one set if its not too late? Thnks


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## jhitch (Mar 28, 2008)

troutie-mtb said:


> ...the only difference is the internal heatsink...


Deesta - Does this mean you could change just the heatsink for the different options? It might be a nice option to include both sinks (or offer them separately) for those that want to try different things out.


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## il2mb (Jan 27, 2005)

troutie-mtb said:


> OK test done as you suggested.
> 
> start temp was a bit warmer as I had our heating switched on now,
> 
> ...


It's neither bad or good. I'm looking at this different.

Having the Maxflex trip while riding is not an ideal situation. The fan test simulates riding and if you're hitting the programed trip value something has to change. I wouldn't want to be screaming down a long downhill and have the light go into low after just 10 minutes. I know real riding might be under lower ambient temps and you could be pushing more air over the housing but still the fact that you're hitting your trip point while under controlled conditions may want you to change some things.

Two concerns I think of when setting the Maxflex. 
1. I don't want to burn it up. That probably won't happen until 90c is attained on its internal temp meaurement. So a setpoint at least 10c below that should keep it ok.

2. I don't want to allow the led junction temperature to rise above a value that will result in 20% or greater light output drop. From reading the Cree literature I think that temp is around 90-100c at the junction. The one estimate you have to make is what is the delta between the temperature your TC is reading behind the leds and the junction temp. Even if you get the TC real close but are still separated by an 1/8" piece of aluminum the delta will be at least 20 - 30c (could be higher if your thermal path is poor). Therefore you want the maxflex to trip around 20-30c less than the TC reading as long as you haven't exceeded your burn out value. This should keep your leds from dropping in efficiency too low. So if you assume the 20-30 delta you want your maxflex to trip when the TC is reading no higher than 70c. You won't know what the Maxflex is seeing at this point so a few experiments at different setpoints will get you close.

If after doing the above and your maxflex is still tripping while air is moving over it the only other variables to play with are to increase the thermal dissipation or lower the power.

In the ideal setup a user would want to be able to ride (moving) with the light on high (whatever power level that is) for as long as there is juice in the battery without the internal temp tripping forcing a lower power level and without sacrificing too much led efficiency.

Bob


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## Fury25 (Oct 22, 2008)

Hi Deesta,

I previously asked whether an Osram Ostar could be used.

Seeing Trouties MCE version I will attempt aversion likethat.

Please put me down for a ribbed/heatsinked version as well.

Thanks


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

mracer: 
I'll add you to the list:thumbsup: Not too sure about the availablity of mounts at the moment, CRC only had 4 when I last enquired.

jhitch:
I'm not entirely sure what mods troutie has done but, ht edepth of the internal heatsink does determine the position of the LED's/relevant to the front (optic holding) face. So, in theory, different heatsinks would allow the use of different LED/Optic combinations. The only problem is that, most combinations of LED/Optic stack height are slightly different. It would be possible to supply different LED mount plates but they would cost more. 
I'll look into it to see how much. It would be nice to do it that way :thumbsup: 

Steve


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Fury25:

No problemo....Troutie mods seem to work very, very well :thumbsup: I think I'll have to do one of those myself...or try and prise the one he has from him


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

deesta said:


> Fury25:
> 
> No problemo....Troutie mods seem to work very, very well :thumbsup: I think I'll have to do one of those myself...or try and prise the one he has from him


With a beam shot like this . and having had 2 rides with it now 
you would need to send the Marines in


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Who's in the corner??*

Troutie....phone home!!!!!


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## czarny_kruk (Jan 23, 2008)

deesta said:


> Troutie....phone home!!!!!


ROTFL!    :thumbsup:


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## Swedish (Dec 2, 2008)

total weight?


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Swedish said:


> total weight?


Grams


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## mdsjack (Oct 26, 2007)

troutie, is that 196grams or pounds or what else?


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## doogs (May 29, 2007)

Deesta, if its not too late id like to put my name down for one, especially if it will be capable of taking 3 xp-e triples or 2 xp-e triples and a mc-e


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

No probs, doogs....you're not too late. I've been making a few small modifications so should be doing a run very soon 

Steve


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## Konish (Dec 26, 2006)

Steve,
Can I get in for 2 kits?? I'd like the version with the heat-sink fins if possible. After looking at the *outrageous* prices for lighting systems, my propensity for tinkering and the end of my denial about riding at night with a led key-chain light makes me think I need one of these...

R/
Dustin


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

No probs Dustin,

I know what you mean about not riding with decent lights....I started on 2 torches that were not very good 

I'll let you know when I'll be doing the run....will hopefull be this week.

Steve


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## mike1980 (Nov 6, 2008)

Hi deesta just sent you a pm, would love one of these with the fins, hope im not too late!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Build Spec. requirements please...*

Hi all,

I've just ordered the material for my housing :thumbsup:

I need a few details off those who are interested:

There are going to be 2 options on the housing.

Option 1 is the standard spec for Cree R2/Q5 XRE LED's and Ledil LC1 optics: 
Price £45 + delivery

Option 2 is for the MCE with Ledil CMC optics which will have a thicker LED mounting plate and modified optic seats. There will still be a small amount of work for you to do on the optics as I need to leave a small radius (5mm) in the corners of the square pockets and a radius will need to be put on the corners of the optics to make them fit.
Price £55 + delivery.

I can leave out the switch/power holes for you to put your own in. Price= price of chosen housing minus £2.50

I can also leave out the handlebar mount hole. Again, price= price of chosen housing minus £2.50

I will try to supply as many mounts as possible but CRC do not stock many. Price £3.00 (if available)

Please let me know which options you would like with your delivery address, I'll be able to give you a complete price, all in.

Cheers, Steve


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

Deesta, you have PM.


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## Village (Sep 8, 2008)

Deesta,

Do you plan on making another run in the future? I have too many projects on my plate right now to start a light build but would love to get one of your enclosures eventually. It's a sweet design and completely fair price!


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## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

I want one but, I can't decide which. I guess I'll just have flip a coin and pick one


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

deesta said:


> Hi all,
> 
> There are going to be 2 options on the housing
> 
> Cheers, Steve


:devil: What about the 3rd option :devil:
should be quite easy really an extended heatsink for the triple 20mm XPE`s 
optional extra maybe.


----------



## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

troutie-mtb said:


> :devil: What about the 3rd option :devil:
> should be quite easy really an extended heatsink for the triple 20mm XPE`s
> optional extra maybe.


Now you're on to something!! After seeing what's possible with xp-e's I'm half tempted to ditch the mc-e plan.


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

troutie-mtb said:


> :devil: What about the 3rd option :devil:
> should be quite easy really an extended heatsink for the triple 20mm XPE`s
> optional extra maybe.


That's definately another option Mr T...would you happen to know the stack height of the Optic/Board combination? This kind of thing is pretty staight forward to do as it's a case of altering the internal progarmming to accomodate the different stack height. And doing a different LED mounting board :thumbsup:

OK, so there seems to be a 3rd option available....

Hey Village, if these do well and are well received I may well be able to do more in the future. The programs will be saved so it would be a case of buying some more material and away we go!!! I'll probably do a few extra anyway just incase 

Rollertoaster: Have you flipped coin yet? Or do you need a 3 sided one???


----------



## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

deesta said:


> That's definately another option Mr T...would you happen to know the stack height of the Optic/Board combination? This kind of thing is pretty staight forward to do as it's a case of altering the internal progarmming to accomodate the different stack height. And doing a different LED mounting board :thumbsup:
> 
> OK, so there seems to be a 3rd option available....
> 
> ...


I think I do need a three sided coin. I'm leaning towards a mc-e or xp-e setup. It would be totally awesome if I got a mc-e version and it was upgradeable to a xp-e version at a later date. hint hint...


----------



## mike1980 (Nov 6, 2008)

Im leaning in the mce version direction but cant decide  how long do we have to make a decision ?


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey mike,

I should be starting the machining early next week...so no rush!! :thumbsup:


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Material Ordered....Get your orders in now!!*

Hi all,

I've ordered my material now, so I'll be making a start on Monday hopefully 

If you want one, please let me know asap. I'm only going to do enough to cover the orders I've received (+ a couple of spares for me to play with).

If you do want one, please use the options list below to choose which spec you would like.

Cheers, Steve.

PS. I'm working on a helmet mount that may be available at a later stage, pics to follow:thumbsup:


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

deesta said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've ordered my material now, so I'll be making a start on Monday hopefully
> 
> ...


:arf::arf: XPE housings :arf::arf:


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

troutie-mtb said:


> :arf::arf: XPE housings :arf::arf:


Yes Chris, I'll be fitting that in too :thumbsup:


----------



## mracer (Jul 27, 2008)

Deesta, I just emailed you -- wasn't sure between email or private message, I am fairly new to this board. I can't decide on which setup is best for my usage, so I would go with both if you have enough material/time. My address is in the email. Thanks for all your great work and detailed info.


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## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

Deesta, I sent you a Pm. 
I can hardly wait. I already ordered my maxflex, mc-e's and a couple xp-e's to experiment with


----------



## dms1 (Apr 18, 2008)

One question, if I buy the MCE housing what kind of leds I have to use, with pcb or without pcb?


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

dms1 said:


> One question, if I buy the MCE housing what kind of leds I have to use, with pcb or without pcb?


I can answer that for you
you would need leds on mcpcbs


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks Chris,

Yes, you'd need the 20mm Star pcb's..:thumbsup:


----------



## Harpoon (Jun 5, 2008)

Deesta, I mentioned it to Troutie on e-mail but are you asking for orders for the Troutfin Light housing yet? Or are they still being fine tuned?


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*XPE orders.*

Hi Harpoon,

Chris is dealing with the orders for the Troutlite, I'm just going to be making them..hopefully. I should be doing the prototype at the same time as I do the run of my casings so hopefully have the first one ready early next week :thumbsup:

I've done all the programs, just need to cut some metal....

Steve


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Harpoon said:


> Deesta, I mentioned it to Troutie on e-mail but are you asking for orders for the Troutfin Light housing yet? Or are they still being fine tuned?


Hi Harpoon is that Chris?

I didnot want to ask for orders untill I had one to show , I thought I had replied to your mail Sorry must have forgot .

As soon as Steve has done me one then I will get some pics up and take it from there .

Cheers Trout


----------



## Harpoon (Jun 5, 2008)

That's me Mr Trout. Don't worry, you did reply to my mail - I will sit tight for now.

Chris.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Be quick...*

Hi all,

I've had a good response to my casings and have had plenty of orders :thumbsup: Thanks to those who have...

I'm going to be doing the run in the next few days so, if you want one, you'll need to be quick.

Once I'm in a position to start, I won't be ble to take any more orders as I'll need to book time on the machine.

So, if you do want one, have a look at the options list in this thread and PM me with what you want...

Cheers guys

Steve


----------



## mike1980 (Nov 6, 2008)

just sent a pm to confirm my order  

cheers


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks Mike :thumbsup:


----------



## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Just keep the Mikes straight, K?  Have fun CNC-ing, Deesta


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## Konish (Dec 26, 2006)

Steve,
Are you going to contact the individuals that ordered cases via PM or e-mail? I know that actually collecting $$$ can be a tedious process and I just want to make sure I don't add to the anxiety. (In for 2 on the heat-sink finnned model)

R/
Dustin


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi Dustin,

Thanks for the concern  I'm going to PM people once I'm ready to send out the casings. Ideally I'd have liked to ask for it before I start, so if people pulled out I'd not have casings and no buyer, but it's a bit late now.
I won't be sending anything out until I've received the payment tho....

I know it can be a chore but, I'm a trusting kinda guy  

Steve

ps. I've got you down for 2....productiuon immenent:thumbsup:


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Parts List*

Hi all,

I've had a request to do a comprehensive parts list of what's needed for the builing of my light so here goes:

Casings (MCE/XRE/XPE options)
LED's: MCE/XRE/XPE triple (cutter). All on 20mm star.
Optics: XRE-Ledil LC1, XPE-Carlco triple(cutter), MCE-Ledil CMC SS (brum)
Driver: maxFlex/bFlex (www.taskled.com)
Switch:ISR3SAD Apem momentary switch (RS International)
DC: 2.5mm Panel mount socket (RS International)
Battery: I'm using a 15v 5400mAh Li-Ion made by smudgemtb
Mount: Electron EHP300 quick release mount (Chain Reaction Cycles)

The casings are supplied to suit either of the 3 options. The XRE and XPE are interchangeable.

Any questions, please ask. I've pencilled in a WEDNESDAY window to start machining so I'll need to know by tuesday for ant more takers :thumbsup:

Cheers, Steve


----------



## brum (Dec 19, 2004)

deesta said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've had a request to do a comprehensive parts list of what's needed for the builing of my light so here goes:
> 
> ...


Correction: the MC-E option uses the LM1 optics, the CMC's are square and would some serious filing...

I'll take one too, mail sent!


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

brum said:


> Correction: the MC-E option uses the LM1 optics, the CMC's are square and would some serious filing...
> 
> I'll take one too, mail sent!


The MCE version has different seats. I'm putting square holes in with 5mm rads in the corners. The Optics will need a small amount of work done on them to make them fit :thumbsup:

_I'll take one too, mail sent!_ No mail reveived Bram


----------



## brum (Dec 19, 2004)

deesta said:


> The MCE version has different seats. I'm putting square holes in with 5mm rads in the corners. The Optics will need a small amount of work done on them to make them fit :thumbsup:
> 
> _I'll take one too, mail sent!_ No mail reveived Bram


Check mail again :thumbsup:

Great designing on the CMC/LM1 compatibily, certainly since the LM1 is limited to just a few different models, the CMC has all of the standard LEDIL alliterations.


----------



## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

Deesta- PM sent.


----------



## cytoe (Jan 20, 2004)

Hmm... tempting. How much more for fins? (like your proto)


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi cytoe

They will all include the fins now so the price is the same as listed :thumbsup: 

Steve


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Material delay*

:madman:

Hi all, just to let you know that I've had a slight delay in getting the material for my casings. Should be here Monday, so will be starting asap....sorry for the delay.

Arrrgghhh, Steve


----------



## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Steve,

So that I can buy the last few bits that I'll need to complete the light. I just wanted to check how the LEDS fit to the plate that they attach to. Do I need to buy Arctic Alumina and they are fixed permanently or are there screw holes and I can use Arctic silver just for thermal conductivity?

Mark


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

peteoheat said:


> Steve,
> 
> So that I can buy the last few bits that I'll need to complete the light. I just wanted to check how the LEDS fit to the plate that they attach to. Do I need to buy Arctic Alumina and they are fixed permanently or are there screw holes and I can use Arctic silver just for thermal conductivity?
> 
> Mark


Mark ,
I can answer that one for deesta I am 99% sure there are tapped holes for the stars
so just some compound and carefull tightening of the screws

saying that I have not seen the revised version


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi Mark,

Chris is correct. There are screws to hold the LED stars onto the mounting board. Some thermal grease would be useful to get a completely thermal joint between the casing and the mounting board.

Hope that help

Steve


----------



## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Sure does, thanks both.


----------



## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

deesta said:


> Hi Mark,
> 
> Chris is correct. There are screws to hold the LED stars onto the mounting board. Some thermal grease would be useful to get a completely thermal joint between the casing and the mounting board.
> 
> ...


Ah, I am so looking forwards to getting my mitts on one... sounds really well thought out


----------



## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Sweet...that'll make construction that much nicer  

With the R2 version, can I assume that the Ledil's will fit perfectly between the casing holes and the pcb's so that only a little sealing is required (i.e. silicone or o-ring between the lense and casing at the front)?


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Psycho Mike said:


> Sweet...that'll make construction that much nicer
> 
> With the R2 version, can I assume that the Ledil's will fit perfectly between the casing holes and the pcb's so that only a little sealing is required (i.e. silicone or o-ring between the lense and casing at the front)?


Yep you have got it right there Psycho mike 
and those eyes will scare it into building its self


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey Mike,

Yes, once again Chris is correct. The onlt thing you'll need to do is take off the small tag on the front of the optic to make sure it is completely round 

Should be a really easy assembly, I'll try to do a blog for people to look at for assembly instructions and will, hopefully, do a printed assembly list that I will send out with each order..

Steve


----------



## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

Optics and Maxflex ordered, MC-Es already in my possession...


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Help me out here guys please I seem to be having a mental block :???:

The XPE triple stars @ cutters are wired series or as is individual now I want to run 3 stars so 9 xpe in Deestas housing from the maxflex or bflex which is the best wiring config for each option .
I have an idea but wanted to check on here as 9 does not compute in my head?:???:


----------



## ortelius (Dec 6, 2007)

Troutie,

I think you more or less have only one viable option with those 3x3 XPEs. Go with series stars (three leds on a star wired in series) and then wire all three stars in parallel.

Thus the Vf of the complete system will be 3 times individual LED's Vf, and each led will get one third of the total current. Meaning, if you run maxFlex @ 1.2A, each XPE will recieve 400 mA and the total Vf of the light will be somewhere between 9 and 9.5V.


----------



## StevelKnivel (Jun 23, 2007)

That's a tough one. 

You could run full power through one star (3xpe) and then split the current between the other two stars. One star would run at ~1A and the other two would be ~500mA. Forward voltage would be roughly the same as your 6 XPE helmet light.


----------



## ortelius (Dec 6, 2007)

StevelKnivel said:


> You could run full power through one star (3xpe) and then split the current between the other two stars. One star would run at ~1A and the other two would be ~500mA.


Just thought it might be worth mentioning: with this configuration the forward current through the first three XP-Es (on the first star) would be almost 50% higher than the officially specified maximum current (700mA).

Probably acceptable for this kind of application (bike light) if heat management can cope with it, but maybe worth mentioning as a warning.


----------



## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Steve,

Did you receive your aluminium stock? Are you in full production now? The suspense is killing me.

Mark


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Good news.....*

Hi all,

I've had the material come in and it's all cut up ready to machine :thumbsup:

I'm going to be making a start TODAY....woo-hoo!!!

All the necessary bits are on order but I am having problems locating enough mounts. I'm going to do some more searching later so fingers crossed, I'll be able to sort them too.

I'm going to order some of the switches that Troutie linked on the XPE helmet light thread. I think they'll be around £3.00 - 4.00 each.

Can't wait to get them sent out. I'll let you all know how much delivery will be and can then send out a final total.

Cheers, Steve


----------



## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

If only I had a mill. My friend took me to a scrap yard, last weekend, that sells nearly any kind of metal you can imagine. Almost any shape or size aluminum and it's CHEAP!!! $1.20/lb !!!!!! I'm going back soon to stock up... My tig welder is going to be getting some exercise.


----------



## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

I've a question on optics- which LC1 optics or combination are people selecting for this casing? I just need a wide beam spread as my trails are slow and twisty. The 14 degree LC1 M sounds too narrow... are the rectangular LC1s better suited to a bar light?


----------



## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

womble said:


> I've a question on optics- which LC1 optics or combination are people selecting for this casing? I just need a wide beam spread as my trails are slow and twisty. The 14 degree LC1 M sounds too narrow... are the rectangular LC1s better suited to a bar light?


The angles listed are the half angles. That is to say, the cone of light coming out of the optic will have at least 50% of its max brightness spread across 28 degrees. That's [does maths on paper - badly] ~10 feet of spread at 20' distance. I would say that the LC1 M is plenty wide. You also have plenty of spill beyond the 10' spread - 25% brightness at ~40 degrees. http://www.ledil.com/datasheets/DataSheet_LC1-TAPE.pdf


----------



## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

womble said:


> I've a question on optics- which LC1 optics or combination are people selecting for this casing? I just need a wide beam spread as my trails are slow and twisty. The 14 degree LC1 M sounds too narrow... are the rectangular LC1s better suited to a bar light?


I think Troutie made a good recommendation to me for on the bars: 1 x Rect, 1 x D and 1 x RS. Should give some decent range with the RS (tight spot), good, wider intermediate range coverage with the rectangular (Rect) and nice close in / don't hit it! light with the diffuser (D).


----------



## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

Thanks a bunch, guys. Huh, I had no idea that the degree ratings were half angles... saved me a load of confusion.


----------



## wny (Jan 12, 2004)

Hi.

This will be my first light build. I've learned a lot here, but I am wondering if this would be an optimal set up:

3 MCEs, M bin, WH tint, on 20mm individual addressable stars wired 2S2P
run in series by a maxFlex3 @ 1000ma
14.8V 4400ma battery

If I calculated correctly, this should yield slightly less than 3 hour run-time and an output of about 1700 lumens before losses.

Any suggestions or corrections would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

wny said:


> Hi.
> 
> This will be my first light build. I've learned a lot here, but I am wondering if this would be an optimal set up:
> 
> ...


Yes That is exactly how I configured the one I built early on in this thread


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Name my light...*

Hi gang,

I've just realised, after reading through many threads, that I have not 'named' my light :madman:

I'm thinkin, maybe, The "D-star".....??

Anyone got any good suggestions?


----------



## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

deesta said:


> Hi gang,
> 
> I've just realised, after reading through many threads, that I have not 'named' my light :madman:
> 
> ...


"That's no torch, it's a Lighthouse!" with apologies to Mr. Lucas


----------



## Calina (Apr 8, 2008)

I'd call it "the pink lady" and make it pink. :devil: 

Great light!


----------



## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Yours already has the "D-Star" engraved on the back.... I think it be christened, Deesta.

In the vein of Pinkrobe: You could call it the Andromeda..."one Light vows to drive back the night..." (apologies Mr. Roddenberry)


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Some pics and a video.*

Hi gang,

Here's a few pics of the MCE production housing.....:thumbsup:

I've done a video too, how do I get that up???

Steve


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

I am no expert here I think you need to upload it to photobucket or youtube

Looking good there Is there a big pile of them now


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks Chris, I'm uploading to photobucket now so will have a go...

Yep, there's a pile of 25 nearly finished housings...just gotta machine the inside of the rear casing and put the hole for the mount in :thumbsup:


----------



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

> I've just realised, after reading through many threads, that I have not 'named' my light


Steve, I know this is the first of many, there will be more lights to come, :thumbsup:  
can i suggest you keep the name D-Star as the fore part of the name, its your brand name, 
.... eg. "D-Star xxx" or "D-Star xxx xxxx"
more suggestions guys ...


----------



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

Psycho Mike said:


> Yours already has the "D-Star" engraved on the back.... I think it be christened, Deesta.
> 
> In the vein of Pinkrobe: You could call it the Andromeda..."one Light vows to drive back the night..." (apologies Mr. Roddenberry)


OK, that would work, alphabetical order,.... D-Star *A*ndromeda 3 ... for this one ...
next light could be, D-Star *B*xxxxxx
third creation, D-Star *C*xxxxx
if you had a minor mod then it could be D-Star *A*ndromeda 3 v2
an easy to follow evolution/version series


----------



## ocean breathes salty (Oct 1, 2006)

HEY HEY ITS HENDO said:


> OK, that would work, alphabetical order,.... D-Star *A*ndromeda 3 ... for this one ...
> next light could be, D-Star *B*xxxxxx
> third creation, D-Star *C*xxxxx
> if you had a minor mod then it could be D-Star *A*ndromeda 3 v2
> an easy to follow evolution/version series


I like that. It gets a name but it also has some meaning to let you know how old/new the light is.


----------



## wny (Jan 12, 2004)

troutie-mtb said:


> Yes That is exactly how I configured the one I built early on in this thread


Thanks.

A couple more questions. Is 26 gauge, silicone insulated, stranded copper wire OK for the internal wiring? Too big, too small? How about from the switch to the driver? I'm going to use Trail-tech connectors for the battery connection.

I'm a novice solderer when it comes to circuit boards. When making the connections for 2S2P on the stars, is it better to use a piece of wire to bridge across the adjacent pads or to use a blob of solder?

I think I have all the parts lined up, just have to wait for everything to arrive; should be a great and very cost-effective light.

Thanks again, I appreciate all the information and help.


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks for the name suggestions guys....I really like the idea of Dstar + another name. The alphabetical thing is pure genius too!!!

Just been having a look at star names and I think this sounds kinda cool:

DStar Altair

Altair is the 11th brightest star in the sky. Altair means "the flying eagle"


----------



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

"DStar Altair" .... Yep, sounds good to me, ...... wikipedia Clicky Link
and, continuing with the alphabetical thing, the next one could be........

:drumroll:

"DStar Betty"

hahahaha i couldn`t resist


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*CNCing video*

Here's a little,low quality, video of the front of the casing being machined:thumbsup:


----------



## ocean breathes salty (Oct 1, 2006)

deesta said:


> Here's a little,low quality, video of the front of the casing being machined:thumbsup:


WOW!!! That is amazing, def worthwhile watching.

What was all the coolant that was spraying around? It looked thicker than water? Does it have some kind of cutting lubricant in it or something?

Thanks for posting!


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks OBS,

yeah, the coolant is a water/oil mix. It need to be fairly thick otherwise the speed of the cutting tools would make the water content evaporate. On this piece, the cutting tools are running upto 12000RPM and the table is feeding at 4000mm/min. If I'd turned the coolant off to get a better picture, the tools would break :madman: 

Steve


----------



## ocean breathes salty (Oct 1, 2006)

deesta said:


> Thanks OBS,
> 
> yeah, the coolant is a water/oil mix. It need to be fairly thick otherwise the speed of the cutting tools would make the water content evaporate. On this piece, the cutting tools are running upto 12000RPM and the table is feeding at 4000mm/min. If I'd turned the coolant off to get a better picture, the tools would break :madman:
> 
> Steve


I think the coolant was some of the most interesting part. That and the colossal size of the whole thing. Pretty darn violent!


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

It is bloody witch craft that is Makes me sick watching.6 sodding hours to chew mine out from a solid block 
on the CNC ( chris numpty controled mill ) 






:thumbsup: Nice one Steve (That will get a few hits today I bet ):thumbsup:


----------



## StevelKnivel (Jun 23, 2007)

12000 RPM...Nice! The fastest machine I've had the opportunity to use maxed out around 7000 RPM and it was still scary how fast it could remove material. Very cool video, thanks!


----------



## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Thanks for posting the video, CNC machines in action are fascinating to watch. Very cool to see this go from a block to something resembling a finished product.


----------



## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

link? I'd love to see this


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Psycho Mike said:


> link? I'd love to see this


Here you go Psycho






It got swamped and pushed down the thread


----------



## Village (Sep 8, 2008)

That's so fascinating! Kinda like watching my steak dinner get slaughtered and butchered on video


----------



## Calina (Apr 8, 2008)

deesta said:


> Thanks OBS,
> 
> yeah, the coolant is a water/oil mix. It need to be fairly thick otherwise the speed of the cutting tools would make the water content evaporate. On this piece, the cutting tools are running upto 12000RPM and the table is feeding at 4000mm/min. If I'd turned the coolant off to get a better picture, the tools would break :madman:
> 
> Steve


Wow! 
I thought the 4000mm/min feeding speed was a typo for 400mm/min when after watching the video it made more sense.

Quite a machine you've got there!!! :thumbsup:


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks guys, Troutie recommended doing the video :thumbsup: 

I'm still meserised by how quickly it can remove metal....It's also very interesting when you get something a bit wrong and it chucks the billet out of the vise at 4000mm/min:madman: makes abit of a bang against the steel guarding of the machine.

I'll try to do a better quality one and put that up too...I'm a bit dissapointed with the quality of this one but I wanted to show the billet going in and the finished item coming out. My memory card is only 512M and wouldn't have enough storage.

Steve


----------



## Jim Z in VT (Sep 9, 2007)

deesta said:


> the cutting tools are running up to 12000RPM and the table is feeding at 4000mm/min.


So the cutter is stationary and the workpiece moves? We have a CNC tenoner at the furniture shop; the workpiece is clamped down and the motor/cutting bit moves around it. (only 2-axis, otherwise I'd be secretly machining aluminum with it after the boss leaves :devil: )

JZ


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*One little box of housings....*

Here's some of the production housings, all machined up now. Just waiting for the switches (tomorrow) and mounts (Weds) and can then get them shipped out to you all.

If you did put your name down and but have not paid yet and STILL want one, could you PM me asap please.

Cheers, Steve


----------



## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Excellent, I can't wait to start putting mine together. I was thinking about getting my father to anodise mine but I think they look pretty darn good as is.


----------



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

*.......... DStar Altair*

lovely lovely bike bling there Steve  
3 MC-E just ordered from the opposite side of the planet, 
......argh its gonna seem forever till they arrive
nFlex, bFlex, maxFlex, remote hipFlex, ....??
MC-E, XP-E, XR-E
4p3s
2p6s
????
battery pack specs .....
share your thoughts/help others (and me lol)
...............so, what have *you* got planned for yours ....?


----------



## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

HEY HEY ITS HENDO said:


> ...............so, what have *you* got planned for yours ....?


3 MC-E, 2s2p driven by a Maxflex @ 600 mA, powered by 14.4V 4800 mAh Li-ion.


----------



## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Couple thoughts....

Naming: D-Star (DeeStar) Andromeda 3(R, P or C...for X*R*E, X*P*E or M*C*E) to be a little more precise yet.

So far, my thoughts are 3x Cree XRE R2's on mcpcb stars, bFlex using the multimode and 1000mA as the top setting, same switch and mount Deesta used, still deciding on the connector to the head unit, likely Tamaya connectors for battery and charger, 4-cell 14.8V Li-ion 4400mAh. Optics will be Ledil LC1 (1x RS, 1x Rect and 1 x D). I'll be using geokon instrumentation cable for my wiring (stripping out sections of conductors for internal work as it is great quality 18ga multistrand, pairing conductors and using it "as is" for external to keep the waterproofing and temp/insulation properties). Will likely use a Leynze stem bag to mount the batt under the stem or on the top tube near the headtube. I'm thinking I may try to blue or gunkote my head unit


----------



## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Well I already had some bits as I was originally going to build an achesalot light.

LEDS: 3 x XR-E R2
Optics: I brought 4 LC1's from Bram to try a couple of combinations: 2 x RS, 1 x M, 1 x D
Driver: bflex in duo mode. 1000ma top.
Battery: I have a 11 x 4/3Af Nimh pack (13.2V 4500mah) pack that I soldered up for my first home build (2 x MR11 & plastic plumbing fixtues). I'll use that for now.
Connector, switch and mount as per deestas.

My upgrade path is to start replacing one or more of the XR-E's with triple XP-E's on a 20mm star. 

But I'd be happy to get this one finished before I have to wait until next winter to get use of it


----------



## dms1 (Apr 18, 2008)

Hallo, first of all my english is very bad, I had buy the mce version and this is my first bikelight. I have to buy all the parts , but I have some questions for you

I´m thinking in 3 mce´s with 14,8 V

- what is the CMC-SS angle ?, for bike this optics is correct or CMC ( S,D,M ... ) is better?
- what driver maxflex or hipflex ?
- what tint WH, WG or WC ?

Thanks


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi David,

Your english is very good :thumbsup:

Fromm the test troutie has done, I'd go for the CMC SS. That's what I'm having in mine.
Here's the Ledil link for some more info: http://www.ledil.fi/datasheets/DataSheet_CMC.pdf

The maxFlex would be ideal for the 3 MCE's and colour is really down to personnal preference but I'm pleased with the WG R2 LED's I've got.

Steve


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

dms1 said:


> Hallo, first of all my english is very bad, I had buy the mce version and this is my first bikelight. I have to buy all the parts , but I have some questions for you
> 
> I´m thinking in 3 mce´s with 14,8 V
> 
> ...


Dont worry about your english

The hipflex would have been good but it is far to large for the housing , which was designed before the hipflex came out. , maybe a hipflex design is on the board .

Maxflex is next best with 6s 2p then you can get 600ma to the leds

optic choice is the bad bit and upto the user .
and these are only my findings .
with the mce being a flood monster getting lumens far down the trail is the issue for me
and the CMC ss is the best I have found 
the CMC rs may be better but I dont like the hole down the middle as it is a mud trap 
and hard to clean .

all the so called narrow optics for the mce have plenty of side spill so so worries there .

You will be very happy with 3 MCE and any of your suggested optics combinations

Trout


----------



## crisillo (Jul 3, 2004)

deesta, I haven't been following the thread (saw it back at the beginning but didn't follow)

I would like to ask you to please buy a classified ad to comply with the guidelines.


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Oooopppsss....BIG sorry!!!*

Hey crisillo,

Really sorry, I did mean to do a classified ad but totally forgot about it. Will do one now..

Steve

http://classifieds.mtbr.com/showproduct.php?product=31171&cat=500


----------



## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Steve, 

Have you received everything that you need now to enable you to ship?

Mark


----------



## Calina (Apr 8, 2008)

deesta said:


> Hey crisillo,
> 
> Really sorry, I did mean to do a classified ad but totally forgot about it. Will do one now..
> 
> ...


I think you should post some pics in your classified ad and maybe also a reference to rhis thread.


----------



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

......... and a link to your ad. in your sig line


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Mark,

Just waiting for the mounts :madman: :madman: Can't wait to get these out to those that have ordered one.

Calina/HHH: good idea....how do I do it?????


----------



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

Select the pic you want to post
put your cursor on the pic and right click your mouse
from the menu that drops down, select (left click) properties
the image properties will be displayed (location)
if you copy and paste this `image properties` and insert between









example

https://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1521/dstartriplerx0.jpg[/img$]

the image link above will not work because i have inserted a $ sign [/img$]
take this out and a pic will be linked....

and, copy and paste this into your `Signature` .. take out the 2 $

[URL=https://classifieds.mtbr.com/showproduct.php?product=31171]DStar CNC Light housing for sale[/COLOR$][/url$]

and it will turn into a clicky link :)
.......... [url=https://classifieds.mtbr.com/showproduct.php?product=31171][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]DStar CNC Light housing for sale[/URL]


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks, Graham,

Trial post to see if it comes up in my sig????


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Sneaky $ sign....take 2


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Quick update..*

Hi all,

The housings are all ready for shipping but the bloody mounts are yet to arrive :madman: 
They should have been here on Wednesday but I have been told today that I should have them tomorrow or Saturday at the latest. Apparently, "the order didn't get processed properly" and they had to re-do it after I phoned them to see what was going on....

I do apologise for the delay but as soon as I get them, they'll be in the post to you guys..

Cheers, Steve


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Shipping Today...*

Hi all,

I fianally had the mounts arrive on Saturday...postman delivered them at 11.55am, damn post office shut at 12pm :madman:

I'll be posting the housings today....

Sorry for the delay, it's been a bit of a learning curve with suppliers. Farnell were great with the switches - came next day. The people I've ordered the mounts off said they would be with me last wednesday, then it was thursday, then friday....aarrgghh!!! Won't be using them again.

Hope you're happy with them..

Cheers, Steve


----------



## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

I'm really looking forwards to the housing. But I'm not sweating the minor delays- I've left my other orders (LEDs, batteries, etc) so late that I'm sure the housing will be the first thing that actually arrives 

I'm just going to sit back and watch everyone else's builds with anticipation.


----------



## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Steve,

Hey lets face it. Compared to DX or cutters they've been fast as lightening.
I'm sure we all understand your delays. Can't wait to get my hands on it now.

Mark


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

peteoheat said:


> Hey lets face it. Compared to DX or cutters they've been fast as lightening.
> Mark


Thanks Mark, very true...It's just annoying when someone tells you it will be with you one day and it finally arrives 3 days later. At least they're ready to go now :thumbsup:


----------



## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

SWEET!!! I can hardly wait.


----------



## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

Wunderbar! My light keeps going off over bumps, so I'll be happy to get things rolling!


----------



## crux (Jan 10, 2004)

deesta said:


> Thanks Mark, very true...It's just annoying when someone tells you it will be with you one day and it finally arrives 3 days later. At least they're ready to go now :thumbsup:


Think it is all about expectations. If you place an order with X company or person and they bill your card you assume it has shipped as it is illegal to bill with out shipping prior. Many companies do this covering their expenses up front. Ever notice the little disclaimer 3-4weeks handling or shipping? This is their lead time.

With the guys on this forum it is really a don't care if they were to bill up front, as long as I know it is in work. If they have delays for what ever reason be upfront about it and there are no issues.

Sorry for my little rant and it is not to pick on Deesta here. This is just one of my issues when dealing with large companies and the games they play.


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

I now have a new problem 

A load of stuff arrived today for some XPE builds for my customers 
and some MCE s , I bloody forgot to have them on stars and Deestas housing is setup for them on stars , So a bit of thinking is required


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Oh no.....:madman:


----------



## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

troutie-mtb said:


> I now have a new problem
> 
> A load of stuff arrived today for some XPE builds for my customers
> and some MCE s , I bloody forgot to have them on stars and Deestas housing is setup for them on stars , So a bit of thinking is required


How about some AA and _really _careful soldering?


----------



## mtbdawgJeff (Jul 27, 2004)

troutie-mtb said:


> I now have a new problem
> 
> A load of stuff arrived today for some XPE builds for my customers
> and some MCE s , I bloody forgot to have them on stars and Deestas housing is setup for them on stars , So a bit of thinking is required


I was successful in transferring 2 MCE's from one star to another after DX sent the wrong type. I wanted serial stars and they sent individual wired stars. It was a pretty delicate operation, but you can solder the MCE's to stars if you're careful.

I got the bare stars also from DX. First, I flowed a little solder onto all the pads including the large center one that the MC-E sits on top of. Then, I clamped the star in a vice and placed the MC-E on the star exactly where I wanted it. The next part might make you cringe, but I used a blowtorch ever so carefully on the underside of the star... just enough heat to melt the solder on the star and then remove the torch immediately. So you're basically soldering all the leads simultaneously along with the LED body. One or two of the MC-E leads needed some touch up with a soldering iron, but otherwise they came out fine. I have to admit that I was pretty nervous subjecting my expensive Cree's to that treatment but in the end it all worked out.


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

pinkrobe said:


> How about some AA and _really _careful soldering?


Yep Pinkrobe I have done the AAAing 
I used the strip of waste mcpcp from the round XPEs and removed the coating 
and perfect the same thickness as a star

Just need the carefull soldering next.


----------



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

mtbdawgJeff said:


> ...It was a pretty delicate operation
> I clamped the star in a vice The next part might make you cringe, but I used a blowtorch, I was pretty nervous...


............ :lol: :lol: lol


----------



## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

mtbdawgJeff said:


> The next part might make you cringe, but I used a blowtorch ever so carefully on the underside of the star... just enough heat to melt the solder on the star and then remove the torch immediately.


I have used this method to remove stars with no ill effects yet, but I have been recently reading about SMD reflow soldering using a cheap hot plate, seems that there is a recomended temperature curve, which takes several minutes to get to full soldering temp. This I believe is for the benefit of the parts, so they do not get heated too quickly. I have read one post where a guy used a hotplate and watch with the temp probe to get a similar profile to what is recommended for reflow soldering, it did not seem that difficult.


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## LTrane (Feb 25, 2009)

Hey deesta, I've been lurking on MTBR for awhile now and was told by a friend over at CPF Forums that you were building an awesome CNC host for a mtb light so I thought I'd check it out. WOW! This looks fantastic!

I currently have a 3xSSC P4 build run with a bFlex but would like to add another handle-bar mounted light and this low-profile setup looks amazing. I would definitely be interested in being added to the list for one of these hosts and, if you are still gathering names of those interested, I currently ride with a crew who may be interested in upgrading their lights (which range from Cygolites to L&M Solo's / Arc's and Dinotte's).

Please let me know if you can add me to the interest list. Cheers!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks LTrane,

I'm really pleased with the final product  I'm going to be waiting for some feedback off my initial run and will, hopefully, be doing some more in the near future. I've started to compile a list of intersted parties and will gladly add you to it :thumbsup: 

Cheers, Steve


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

woohoo woohoo mine arrived today ....
i`m gobsmacked, it really is stunning,
....Techno art in metal, beautiful, 
Deesta, and troutie, you make a great team, thank you for sharing this light with us all,
and thanks also for the countless unpaid hours of hard work behind this light, all of the running about, all the problems and headaches you both have overcome,
we appreciate it :thumbsup:


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi all,

I have an apology to make...

My other half was supposed to post these out on Monday before she went to Switzerland on business....she told me last night that she didn't have time to do it but didn't want to tell me because she thought I'd go mad :madman: which I did. As a result, the housings are in the boot of her car at Birmingham Airport. She's back tomorrow evening so I will send them on saturday.

My sincere apologies....

Hendo got his as it was shipped earlier beacause he didn't have a mount. That was a complete nightmare too...they should have arrived the middle of last week but arrived on Monday.

Steve


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

I guess it's best to tell you that whilst she's in Switzerland. Gives you a couple of days to calm down 

It's a shame about the delay but no big deal.

Mark


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## chargerfan32 (Aug 12, 2008)

Steve.. no apologies needed bud... I appreciate the update... take it easy on her or she might hold the cases hostage...

Thanks again for all the hard work and everything,

Wayne



deesta said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I have an apology to make...
> 
> ...


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## crux (Jan 10, 2004)

All gets back to the question how much would one pay for a ready made housing...

Guess that depends upon your outlook. I have spent the pat few evening chewing up several blocks of 6061 on a mini mill and still don't have a viable housing to show for it. It has been quite the learning process even though I could of bought Deesta's and Trouts light and saved money. Still waiting on cutter to deliver the optics finalizing dimensions for the square XPE optics. Design has been simplified and revamped for my limited skills.

Having said all of this I would give Deesta design a consideration next time around.


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## LTrane (Feb 25, 2009)

deesta said:


> Thanks LTrane,
> 
> I'm really pleased with the final product  I'm going to be waiting for some feedback off my initial run and will, hopefully, be doing some more in the near future. I've started to compile a list of intersted parties and will gladly add you to it :thumbsup:
> 
> Cheers, Steve


Thanks for adding me to the 2nd run Steve. Looking forward to hearing feedback about your design. :headphones:


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Well, I now have optics, stars (which I'll need some pointers on later) and I'll be ordering my bFlex soon. I'm getting closer to my first DIY and I can hardly wait for the casing. 

Keep us "posted"  Deesta


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*All housings dispatched.*

Hi all,

You'll be pleased to hear that all the housings have are currently winging their way to various parts of the world as I write this. Apologies again for the delay's...
They should be dropping through letter boxes very soon. Hopefully, you'll all be happy with them and will have some nice new lights for your nightime riding.

I'd appr3ciate any feedback you've got :thumbsup:

I may look at doing another run in the near future if these are a success, so, if you might be interested in one, drop me a PM.

Cheers, Steve


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## turboferret (Apr 1, 2008)

Splendid news, I thought I'd have a look here to see how progress was, delighted to hear they're on their way :thumbsup:

I suppose I need to start thinking about LED's, optics and drivers - anyone got some they'd like to flog me to avoid the inevitable interminable wait from Australia?

I hope the wife escaped without significant injuries  

Looking forward to trying a proper light, although the P7 is fantastic value and pretty bright, it'll pale in comparison to this beauty 

Cheers, Rich


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Mine just arrived!

Damn this thing is gorgeous. I can't wait to start assembling. I have everything except the thermal paste so I can make a start tonight.

Mark


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Glad you've got it Mark, good luck with the build :thumbsup: 

Rich: I'll have a look to see what bits I've got spare...I've got a box full of stuff, need to have a sort out of what's good. I'll let you know :thumbsup: 

Steve


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## turboferret (Apr 1, 2008)

Steve, my housing was waiting for me when I got home from work, and it looks fantastic :thumbsup: 

I hadn't quite appreciated the scale from your pictures, but it's really compact, and should work a treat!

Let me know what your searching and sorting turns up, and hopefully we can come to an arrangement 

Much appreciated, Rich


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

*How do the LED's mount to the backing plate?*

I started the build last night. I got the switch, blex and power socket mounted. But I can't for the life of me figure out how the LED's mount to the backing plate. They don't line up with any of the holes as far as I can see.

Here are some fairly rubbish photos that I took on my phone to try to illustrate this.


__
https://flic.kr/p/3328035686


__
https://flic.kr/p/3327201863

What am I missing here?

Mark


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

HiMark,

I'm still trying to do the planning sheet....sorry!! Basically, you use the washers to hold the centre LED and inner holes for the outer LED's. I think troutie had a better idea of using some thermal paste on the underside of the LEDs and then poitioning the LED's onto the optics by having the optics in the front plate. I'm not explaining this very well am I???

Use 1 screw in each of the outer LED mounting holes. Then use the other 2 screws and the washers to hold the centre LED AND the inner holes of the outer LED.

I'll do some pics when I get home....

Steve


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Have a look on here for trouties recommended method using the thermal paste :thumbsup:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=493687


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Assembly Instructions (rough draft)*

Here's my rough assembly instructions.....still need to do some photo's though:madman:


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Thanks Steve. I knew I was missing something.

Troutie actually used thermal adhesive rather than paste i believe. I didn't want to use that as it's pretty permanent. i want to be able to upgrade one or more LEDS to tripe XPE's in future. So I'll use thermal paste (when it arrives).

Anyway I'll probably be finished on Thursday night as we're off to see Al Murray tonight so builds will be temorarily suspended.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi Mark, how you getting on with your build?

Anyone else received their housing yet?


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## brum (Dec 19, 2004)

Mine arrived yesterday! Looking great, hopefully this weekend I'll have it fully anodized, will post pictures then.


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## legio176610 (Oct 17, 2007)

mines here aswell, took it to work and everyone agrees its the Yoda of light housings!!!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Bram: Glad you've finally got it:thumbsup: Can't wait to see the anodised finish...

Steve: Have you got al the bits for your build? Would be nice to see it with the XPE's in...


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

Hey Deesta  you see the tiny step machined into the switch hole .....










would this be easy to do around the 3 optic holes ?
i have some mini maglight glass lens 22.5 x 1mm








maybe these could be set in to protect the optics from dust dirt and make the front smooth/flat and easy to keep clean
i can send you one to check out see what you think ...... pm me


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

deesta said:


> Hi Mark, how you getting on with your build?
> 
> Anyone else received their housing yet?


Almost done. I should have it finished tonight. Those small metal split washers are too fiddly though. So I'm going to try to find some larger plastic ones today. Then it won't matter if they contact the LED +/- VE terminals and should be more secure.

Still haven't received my thermal grease though so probably won't run it for long this evening.


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## yetibetty (Dec 24, 2007)

> Still haven't received my thermal grease though so probably won't run it for long this evening.


Please don't run it without thermal paste, it will last about 10 seconds.


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

yetibetty said:


> Please don't run it without thermal paste, it will last about 10 seconds.


I'll have to make do with Marmite (can't get any vegemite) for today then


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

peteoheat said:


> I'll have to make do with Marmite (can't get any vegemite) for today then


I managed to pick up some silver based thermal compound (not arctic silver) in Maplin today so I can save my marmite for the sarnies.

Looks like I need to fashion my own plastic washers though as I can't find any anywhere local. Looks like a CD case might bite the dust tonight.


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## legio176610 (Oct 17, 2007)

deesta said:


> Bram: Glad you've finally got it:thumbsup: Can't wait to see the anodised finish...
> 
> Steve: Have you got al the bits for your build? Would be nice to see it with the XPE's in...


BITS NOT HERE YET WILL POST WHEN BUILT


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

*....... it lives!*

woohoo got mine finished this afternoon, triple MC-E / M bin....
yay its bright!  aint had chance to play with it yet
Thanks to trouties build thread everything went smooth and problem free,
a couple of pointers ...
i used arctic silver thermal paste on the back of the stars and a dab of adhesive on the edge of the stars to keep them in position
heating up the heatsink will make soldering the stars so much easier, and
*.................excerpt from the TaskLED maxFlex overview*
Note: There are 2 GND connections provided on the PCB, but most installations will require 4 connections to ground (Battery negative/ground, LED-, SW ground and ground for the STAT LED- if used). It is recommended to wire LED- and Battery negative to the same PCB ground hole and wire STAT LED- and SW ground to the other PCB ground point. Both PCB ground points are equivalent.
it is way easier to wire the LED- straight to the DC- supply socket, instead of the the same hole in the PCB


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Well done Graham....I think we need the compulsor beam shots asap  

Glad the build went without any problems, the troutie thread is useful. Hope you have fun with it out on the trails:thumbsup:


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## davew255 (Oct 25, 2005)

HEY HEY ITS HENDO said:


> *.................excerpt from the TaskLED maxFlex overview*
> Note: There are 2 GND connections provided on the PCB, but most installations will require 4 connections to ground (Battery negative/ground, LED-, SW ground and ground for the STAT LED- if used). It is recommended to wire LED- and Battery negative to the same PCB ground hole and wire STAT LED- and SW ground to the other PCB ground point. Both PCB ground points are equivalent.
> it is way easier to wire the LED- straight to the DC- supply socket, instead of the the same hole in the PCB


Found exactly the same on my Troutlight build: there was no way I was going to get 2 wires into each of the holes on the Maxflex (I also used a Stat LED).

So I wired the LED- and Battery- to the Maxflex, then the Stat LED- and one of the switch wires direct to the -ve of the power socket (as well as the Battery-). Works fine. Most 2.5mm DC sockets have 2 negative terminals: one disconnects when the plug is inserted. If you bridge these 2 (with a small piece of wire) both will be at Battery- and therefore you've got another contact to solder the wires to.


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## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

did anyone in the states get there housing yet?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

One was delivered in Hong Kong of Friday, I thought delivery should be about the same:madmax: 
Hopefully the US ones will be there real soon..


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## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

Actually, the HK delivery happened on Saturday morning- the postal system here works pretty hard!

Also, bear in mind that the States is just a _tiny _bit bigger than HK.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Anyone else's arrived yet?


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

Canada post left a little something on my doorstep [and it wasn't the usual bag of flaming ****]. I can't believe how small these things are!


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## Village (Sep 8, 2008)

Mine arrived today - I'm in Texas. The housing looks great and quite compact. Has anyone drilled and tapped the body yet for the bar mount? What size tap did you use? I got the mount and bolt with the housing but need to find someone with a drill press and tap set to put it together.


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

The body is already drilled and tapped But I am not sure on the mount he has supplied 

Pics??


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## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

Texas huh?? I'm on the East Coast, so I'm not sure what the holdup is. Hopefully I'll see it this week sometime

Edit: I just got it in the mail. Very nice, Just one question... What are the e-clips for?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

*Mount - mounting description*

Hi all,

Here's a description of how to mount the mount!!
1st pics shows all the bit.
2nd shows aluminium spacer in place (line up the flat with the TOP of the mount lugs)
3rd shows the screw/spacer in place
4th shows mount in the vertical position
5th shows the mount horizontal (my preffered)
6th is the underside view of the assembly.

Hope that helps..Steve


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey rollertoaster,
Glad you've got it now 
The e-clips are used to hold the LED's in place, there's a rough assembly instruction list a little down the thread.Any questions, please ask..

Cheers, Steve


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## mracer (Jul 27, 2008)

pinkrobe said:


> Canada post left a little something on my doorstep [and it wasn't the usual bag of flaming ****]. I can't believe how small these things are!


Got my housings in Canada yesterday too (Gatineau, QC)!! I checked my mailbox yesterday and was initially disappointed to see that the Postman hadn't left that special key for the package box. But there they were... in a neat little package carefully assembled by Deesta!! Unbelievable that 2 housing sets + mounts could fit in such a small package. Need to learn how to solder now.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Fantastic.....looks like the carrier pigeons are finally earing their money :thumbsup:


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## mracer (Jul 27, 2008)

Can anyone help me with some additional info in ordering my MCE star leds from Cutters, so many options I am getting dizzy. One the Cutters site, I went to CRE Leds > CRE MCE Multichip. Am I at the right place (i.e. http://www.cutter.com.au/products.php?cat=47) ??

If so, I am then prompted to "Select MCE Multichip Bin" which I think is:

MCE4WT-A2-0000-000M01 Cool white, 430 min lumens, WH Tint

and then need to "Select MCPCB for Mounting MCE". I know I need the 20mm star, but there is the option of:

- 20mm Star- Individual Die Access
- 20mm Star- Series Wired
- 20mm Star- Parallel Mount

Which option is the right one?

Also, when WNY, troutie and others talk about 2s2p (which i assume means 2 in series, 2 in parallel), this has to do with the wiring of the stars with the driver and has nothing to do with the star itself, correct?

Thanks for your help


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## ocean breathes salty (Oct 1, 2006)

mracer said:


> Can anyone help me with some additional info in ordering my MCE star leds from Cutters, so many options I am getting dizzy. One the Cutters site, I went to CRE Leds > CRE MCE Multichip. Am I at the right place (i.e. http://www.cutter.com.au/products.php?cat=47) ??


yes, you are in the right place.



> - 20mm Star- Individual Die Access
> - 20mm Star- Series Wired
> - 20mm Star- Parallel Mount
> 
> Which option is the right one?


What are you driving it with? This will ultimately determine what is the correct option.

I am 99%sure the "parallel mount" will be 4p i.e all four dies in parallel - not what you need.

If you are looking for 2s2p you will need to order the individual die access and wire a little bridge across some of the pads to obtain 2s2p



> Also, when WNY, troutie and others talk about 2s2p (which i assume means 2 in series, 2 in parallel)


Correct - 2s2p is 2 dies in series, in parallel with another 2 die string.

[/quote] this has to do with the wiring of the stars with the driver and has nothing to do with the star itself, correct?[/QUOTE]

this would be correct if you were talking about stars with a single emitter on each and wiring multiple stars in parallel

For MCE where there are more than one emitter per star the statement is a bit ambiguous.

For example.

Lets say you had a single MCE on a star. You wanted to run the dies 2s2p to better fit with your driver/ battery preferences. You can solder a jumper across some of the dies on the star and get a 2s2p configuration (I have seen an MCE on a board that is wired 2s2p somewhere, but i don't think it was cutter)

Now there is only a single wire coming from the driver and a single wire returning to the driver so I guess you could say it was actually being done on the star. Not via the wiring path for the driver.

I hope this helps a little and doesn't just cause more confusion.


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Hmmm...now I can't wait to get home and see if my postie left me something


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

.............  jeez, that black ano looks awesome!


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## mike1980 (Nov 6, 2008)

I got my housing today and it looks fantastic - the quality of work far exceeds what i expected, looks better than commercial products.

The black anodising does look awesome - and looks even better in person than the images indicate.

Couldnt be any happier with my casing, cheers Deesta!


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Deesta....mine was waiting for me for when I got home...looks sweet, man! Great job!! I think Mike and you are right...the black ano is pretty sweet looking...may need to look into a local anodizer.


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Mine has been up and running for a few days. I haven't had a chance to get a proper night ride in with it yet. But I've done some commutes with the light on low power (350ma) flashing mode and it seems to let people know I'm there 

I do think it would be useful to ship with nylon washers rather than metal ones. I made my own out of some plastic that was laying around as I initially had a short on one LED.

Other than that the thing is great and beautiful build quality Deesta.

Now I just need to buy some 18650 Li-ion cells to replace my NiMH cells then I'll have a pack 1/3 the size of the current one.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

POH: Glad it's working well for you. I did try to get some nylon washers but failed this time. I've learned a lot about how to plan this sort of thing and will be doing things slightly different if I do some more. Thanks for the tip though :thumbsup: 
I took my MCE version out for a test run last night and nearly killed myself as I found I could ride nearly as fast as in the day....Great fun.

Glad yours has landed Mike, the black anodising looks awesome, much better than the red one I've got IMHO. I might look into getting them all anodised if do some more in the future.

Steve


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## turboferret (Apr 1, 2008)

I wish I wasn't in Italy with work, and could get my casing anodised and start fiddling about with it 

*Blatant plug alert* 
Have a look at my battery holders if you want a nice simple solution to replace your current NiMH source.

Cheers, Rich


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## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

I tried to try my 2 mc-e out last night but I got a flat before it got dark. I'm gonna have to desolder an MC-E and put it on another pcb, I ordered the wrong wire configuration. right now I'm running 2 series wired pcb's in parallel. I must say its pretty damn bright as is.


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## mracer (Jul 27, 2008)

Thanks OBS, this is super helpful!! I was initially wondering what the advantages of wiring the MCE stars as 2s2p but realized it is to divide the current into half so that each die gets 600mAh when driven from a Maxflex at 1.2A. (For other newbies I found a great interactive refresher tutorial on electronic circuitry from U. Texas at http://utwired.engr.utexas.edu/rgd1/index.cfm)

My 2nd housing set is likely going to be setup as either 3 x XPE triples or an XPE triple sandwiched between 2 XREs. The odd number of LEDs on the XPE triple is throwing me off though, akin to troutie's query last month. I will probably follow Ortelius's recommendation:



ortelius said:


> I think you more or less have only one viable option with those 3x3 XPEs. Go with series stars (three LEDs on a star wired in series) and then wire all three stars in parallel.
> 
> Thus the Vf of the complete system will be 3 times individual LED's Vf, and each led will get one third of the total current. Meaning, if you run maxFlex @ 1.2A, each XPE will receive 400 mA and the total Vf of the light will be somewhere between 9 and 9.5V.


I am less sure of StevelKnivel suggestion sending of full current to one star (which would exceed the max of the triple by at least 50%) and then splitting the rest between the two side-stars, but then I am newbie so what do I know.

Cutter gives the option of ordering the XPEs wired in series or "as is". Given that I wasn't sure of the wiring options when I placed my order, I requested the XPEs "as is", assuming this meant "individually addressable dies" so I could then wire them as I please. Was I wrong with this assumption, should I have gone with "wired in series"?


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## rollertoaster (Jun 11, 2007)

mracer said:


> Thanks OBS, this is super helpful!! I was initially wondering what the advantages of wiring the MCE stars as 2s2p but realized it is to divide the current into half so that each die gets 600mAh when driven from a Maxflex at 1.2A. (For other newbies I found a great interactive refresher tutorial on electronic circuitry from U. Texas at http://utwired.engr.utexas.edu/rgd1/index.cfm)
> 
> My 2nd housing set is likely going to be setup as either 3 x XPE triples or an XPE triple sandwiched between 2 XREs. The odd number of LEDs on the XPE triple is throwing me off though, akin to troutie's query last month. I will probably follow Ortelius's recommendation:
> 
> ...


you can order them indiviually addressable, or get 2 series and one addressable. as long as you end up with 2 strings of 6 dies it doesn't matter


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## StevelKnivel (Jun 23, 2007)

mracer said:


> I am less sure of StevelKnivel suggestion sending of full current to one star (which would exceed the max of the triple by at least 50%) and then splitting the rest between the two side-stars, but then I am newbie so what do I know.


There is some risk involved with that arrangement... but it will be the brightest option. To be sure it's safe you could set the max setting of the driver to 700mA so you'd have 3 XPEs running 700mA and 6 XPEs running 350mA.

I've thought about this a fair amount and to tell the truth I have concerns with both options. Controlling thermal runaway with 3 parallel strings could be a problem, unless the 3 strings are very closely Vf matched then there will be an imbalance. This is true for the 1 star into 2 star arrangement too, but balancing 2 strings is easier than balancing 3.

I sat down and did some rough calculations for power and output for the different driving options. I assumed Vf = 3.5V for each LED and 90% driver efficiency. Someone should check my math because I'm full of benadryl right now and a little groggy...:shocked: Stupid allergies.

Running all 3 of the 3 XPE boards in parallel:
-Maxflex @ 1.2A (400mA/die)
-Power consumption ~14 watts
-Output ~1130 lumens

Running 1 XPE board and then splitting the current to the other two:
-Maxflex @ 700mA
-Power consumption ~16 watts
-Output ~1280 lumens

Running 1 XPE board and then splitting the current to the other two:
-Maxflex @ 1A
-Power consumption ~23 watts
-Output ~1640 lumens

Its a tough call..Assuming you don't overdrive any of the LEDs there isn't much difference between the two options. Wiring the 3 boards in parallel is probably easier than any of the other solutions, which is nice for easy assembly. I'm interested to see what you everyone ends up doing. No matter what, these lights are bada$$!


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## mracer (Jul 27, 2008)

I have learned so much already from SK and OBS responses, much appreciated.



StevelKnivel said:


> I've thought about this a fair amount and to tell the truth I have concerns with both options. Controlling thermal runaway with 3 parallel strings could be a problem, unless the 3 strings are very closely Vf matched then there will be an imbalance. This is true for the 1 star into 2 star arrangement too, but balancing 2 strings is easier than balancing 3.


Wouldn't it be a good idea to install limiting resistors to guard against an imbalance between the 2 remaining strings? (see http://ledcalculator.net/)



StevelKnivel said:


> I sat down and did some rough calculations for power and output for the different driving options. I assumed Vf = 3.5V for each LED and 90% driver efficiency. [...]
> 
> Running all 3 of the 3 XPE boards in parallel:
> -Maxflex @ 1.2A (400mA/die)
> ...


I like your second option above. (BTW your calculations are correct IMO). If we split the current into the 2 remaining XPE triples, the Vf of these 2 strings (3 LED per string) would be 10.5V, 350mAh each. With a 15V power source, feed this data into ledcalculator.net would indicate that 2 x 13ohm 2 watt resistors would be required. The total power consumed by the resistors would appear to be 3.1W over and above the 16W consumed by the LED circuit, but this is just a small price to pay to avoid an imbalance and potential failure at a less than opportune time.

One drawback I see is that the resistors might generate heat themselves. But perhaps they could be installed on the face of the heatsink (LED mounting plate) that faces the back-housing, isolated from the LED-side. Again, note that I am newbie and surely do not pretend to know what I am doing at this stage. Any views?


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## j5ive (Sep 24, 2005)

that looks great. I have very little knowledge though and would like to know what I need and the final costs...

So I need?
unit
leds trees
optics
driver
battery
switch
cables?

Little lost.. haha


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey j5ive:

Thanks:thumbsup:

Here's a list of things you would need...

Casing (either XRE, XPE triple or MCE LED specific)
LED's: 3 x Cree XR-E, MCE, or XP-E triples. Available from Brum (on here) or www.cutter.com.au
Optics: Ledil LC1 for XR-E, Ledil CMC SS for MCE (all available from Brum) and Carlco Optics for XP-E triple (cutter)
Driver: Either a bFlex or maxFlex (available from www.taskLED.com)
Battery: Various types available. I'm using a 15v 5.4aH Lithium Ion from 'smudgemtb' on here. Also available from www.batteryspace.com
Switch: I can supply the switch for £3.00
Mount: I can also supply a handlebar mount for £3.00
Cables: I've used some ptfe coated but I don't think there is any specific cables to use.

Costs: 
Casing: Either £45.00 or £55.00 depending on LED used (+delivery)
LED's: XR-E approx £6.00 each, MC-E's approx £15.00 each, XP-E triple approx "=£15.00 each
Driver: Approx £25.00
Battery: Can vary hugely depending on spec.

Hope that lot helps..

Cheers, Steve


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## Konish (Dec 26, 2006)

Got my case today and I have to say it looks *much* better in person, which is saying a lot since the pics were awesome as well. Now I have to order up the guts and get it wired up. This will be my first light and I'm not too confident about my soldering skills...I'm hoping it'll go well.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey Konish,

Glad it's arrived ok and glad you're pleased with the quality..:thumbsup: Good luck with your build, any help you need just drop me a line.

Steve


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

deesta said:


> Good luck with your build, any help you need just drop me a line.
> 
> Steve


Glad to hear you say that, Steve...I just sent you a question  It shouldn't be that hard...but I'll admid my noobie-ness is showing a bit.


----------



## Calina (Apr 8, 2008)

A second run is in the works: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=501898

Steve you've got to read a bit about publicity and marketing. .


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks, Cal.

I am only an engineer, marketing is a bit alien even though my fiance is a Marketing Director  She does talk about it but it goes in one and out the other...maybe I should pay more attention:thumbsup: 

Yes indeed, I looking to do a second run of these babies so, if you're interested, drop mea PM.

Steve


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## dustjunkie (Mar 20, 2009)

deesta said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Here's a description of how to mount the mount!!
> 1st pics shows all the bit.
> ...


deesta,

I have been working on a similar project, but with a plastic injection molded housing. Yours is AWESOME, nice work!

One question, where did you find that mount? Finding a good handle bar clamp has been a bit of a problem.

Thank you!

dj


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey DJ,

Thanks mate....injection moulding? Any pics...sounds interesting!!

I got my mounts from Chain Reaction Cycles in the UK. It's for an electron light. EHD310?? I think that's the light code.

Hope that helps mate,

Steve


----------



## Calina (Apr 8, 2008)

deesta said:


> Thanks, Cal.
> 
> I am only an engineer, marketing is a bit alien even though my fiance is a Marketing Director  She does talk about it but it goes in one and out the other...maybe I should pay more attention:thumbsup:
> 
> ...


I'm just teasing you .


----------



## dustjunkie (Mar 20, 2009)

deesta said:


> Hey DJ,
> 
> Thanks mate....injection moulding? Any pics...sounds interesting!!
> 
> ...


I will post a picture of the model from Inventor tonight.

Thanks for the info!

dj


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## super-fast (Sep 28, 2006)

A plastic housing is a bad idea for high power leds...


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

Triple mc-e m bin, maxflex @600ma per die ....enjoy 

DStar Altair LED light vid #1

DStar Altair LED light vid #2

.


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## dustjunkie (Mar 20, 2009)

super-fast said:


> A plastic housing is a bad idea for high power leds...


Do you say this because of the heat? That can be designed around, and without compromising the longevity of the LED.

dj


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## dustjunkie (Mar 20, 2009)

deesta said:


> Hey DJ,
> 
> Thanks mate....injection moulding? Any pics...sounds interesting!!
> 
> ...


Here is a picture of the first one in its current revision. There are still some tweeks I am making to it.










Jake


----------



## frozen (Aug 29, 2008)

I looks very nice, but without fins it will have overheating problems. You have to add some cooling sistem.


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## brum (Dec 19, 2004)

dustjunkie said:


> Do you say this because of the heat? That can be designed around, and without compromising the longevity of the LED.
> 
> dj


Seeing your (very lovely) design, I don't immediatly see any features that work around this problem.. Can you enlighten us how this is done? Or will it be a carbon housing, that has pretty good thermal properties if I recall right.


----------



## Jim Z in VT (Sep 9, 2007)

dustjunkie said:


> Here is a picture of the first one in its current revision. There are still some tweeks I am making to it.


Nice. Ram air cooling? Temp. sensing driver to manage heat at low speeds?

JZ


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## dustjunkie (Mar 20, 2009)

The air vents are for effect only, not meant to do any good... The Led Modules that I am using are rated for 20,000 hours without a heat sink at 350mA. I am working on another design that will have a heat sink built in, and will need it as it will have an option of running at 350mA, or 1000mA

Sorry Deesta, I don't meant to hijack your thread.

Jake


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## super-fast (Sep 28, 2006)

Blow molding is cheap, but the best material for a housing isn't plastic, but a metal like alluminium.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

super-fast said:


> Blow molding is cheap, but the best material for a housing isn't plastic, but a metal like alluminium.


Die casting is the metal equivalent to injection molding of plastic. It would be a very nice method of producing complex yet cheap housing pieces in large volumes. Tooling costs are high and need large runs of parts to amortize.

There are thermally conductive plastics so DJs idea has merit. See this link.

http://www.coolpolymers.com/faq.html

Injection molds are not as expensive as Die cast molds since they can be made of aluminum, but they are still costly. $5000 does not go far at a tool and die shop.


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Deesta, I had the first chance at seeing what sort of light it'll throw out (got the LEDs soldered up and ran some voltage across them in the housing with the optics in place). Dang, this is going to be quite the light!


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Looking at the datasheet for the Coolpolymers, it looks like the one they show for a heastsink (E5101) has a thermal conductivity of 20 W/mK, and according to this, aluminum is around 250-255 W/mK. It would seem to be better to use cast aluminum since it is cheap and should throw off the heat quicker.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

HuffyPuffy said:


> Looking at the datasheet for the Coolpolymers, it looks like the one they show for a heastsink (E5101) has a thermal conductivity of 20 W/mK, and according to this, aluminum is around 250-255 W/mK. It would seem to be better to use cast aluminum since it is cheap and should throw off the heat quicker.


Yes, aluminum would certainly be the easier/better material choice, but with a proper design and material choice a plastic housing may be workable. I don't know how to do it so I'm building my lights from aluminum. I certainly like to see the creativity that comes from everyone's ideas and builds on this forum. An attempt at a plastic housing would be interesting to see. Go for it DJ!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

That looks really DJ :thumbsup: 

PMike: Glad you're happy with the light output. Have you been on the trails yet??

Hendo: Great video's mate, top job. I need to find a space on my bars for my camera and do a vid too. I've got 2 of my housings working now. One has 3 MC-E's (Cheers Troutie for wiring that up) and one has 3 LC1 RS optics. It seems to have a really good throw. Can't wait to try then out together...

I'm still taking names for a second run, if anyone is interested in one of these lights??

Steve


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Deesta,

Nope...just getting it together and made sure I got the stars put together right. I have to wait a little bit yet to get the last of my bits (getting put in the post tonight) and then beg my way in to use the company drill press to get a hole drilled for the power connector.

What are you using to pot the bFlex, if anything?


----------



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

the first vid with my casio compact was way under exposed
so i got a cam like trouties from www.rfconcepts.co.uk 
i`m off out tomorrow night, this time i`ll aim the light higher i`m sure that will stop the flare
oh yeh, i stuck mine to my helmet, easier to keep steady


----------



## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

My light build's been delayed for a couple of weeks- anodizing is going to take ages. Working on a revived achesalot clone in the meantime.

To echo Mike- are you guys potting/coating your flexes? I'm going to use a conformal coating spray.


----------



## turboferret (Apr 1, 2008)

My build is about to commence - swung by the anodisers on the way into work this morning, the housing will be ready on Tuesday 

Received my optics and bflex (thanks Steve :thumbsup and stars from Bram.

I think I might be already sorted for batteries 

Just need to get some time to ride my bike now!

Cheers, Rich


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## Surfr (Dec 28, 2008)

What happened with that nice looking helmet light on page 2? It looks a lot like a tigerlight housing and I'm quite keen to make something similar but have no tools. Is this going into production? Have you got any specs/measurements? other photos?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey Surfr,
The helmet light was just something I knocked up to use some spare bits. It's got a triple cutter board in, carlco triple medium optic and a cheap ebay driver. I've now got a remote switch fitted to it for ON/OFF operation. It's now reundant as I've made a helmet mount for one of the production casings which I'm going to be using from now on. Might be interested in selling the old one, if you're interested? I can give you some dimensions if you like too?

Cheers, Steve


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## Surfr (Dec 28, 2008)

I'd definitely be interested in some more details and may well be interested in taking it off your hands if it's truely redundant


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Here's some more pics of the helmet light for you....It's definately redundant now. I've got a triple MCE on my bars and a triple R2 (Real spot optics) on my helmet. :thumbsup:


----------



## crank feen (Sep 25, 2008)

Hey Deesta, don't know much about LED's but definitley want one of your setups.
Which of the setups will be the brightest?
How much for a complete setup already assembled (everything except the power source)? Ready to mount and turn on?
Thanks


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

deesta said:


> Here's some more pics of the helmet light for you....It's definately redundant now. I've got a triple MCE on my bars and a triple R2 (Real spot optics) on my helmet. :thumbsup:


:arf: koff koff :arf: unwanted present :cryin:


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

troutie-mtb said:


> :arf: koff koff :arf: unwanted present :cryin:


It'll help fund future developements :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: and has served me well!


----------



## crank feen (Sep 25, 2008)

Deesta, did you see post # 315?


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey Crank,

I did see it, sorry for the late reply. 
I'll work out a complete price over the weekend for you, need to get some prices for LED's etc. As for brightest, it depends on what sort of light you want...tha MCE version is good for alot of light but is quite a floody beam. The triple XRE is a very good, general purpose light. I ran and XRE version all winter with no complaints at all. The optic choice is much better also and you can use different angled optics to give a very useable light.
Whay sort of power supply would you be using? I use 14.8v Li-ion batteries.
If you let me know which option you'd like, I'll work out a price for you. As a rough idea, the MCE LED's are around £15 each, the XRE around £7 I think but will get some proper prices.

Cheers, Steve


----------



## crisillo (Jul 3, 2004)

deesta said:


> Hey Crank,
> 
> I did see it, sorry for the late reply.
> I'll work out a complete price over the weekend for you, need to get some prices for LED's etc. As for brightest, it depends on what sort of light you want...tha MCE version is good for alot of light but is quite a floody beam. The triple XRE is a very good, general purpose light. I ran and XRE version all winter with no complaints at all. The optic choice is much better also and you can use different angled optics to give a very useable light.
> ...


Guys, please handle this sort of thing by PM, this is "transaction information" (aka SPAM).


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Sorry mate, was just trying to give a little info. Will stick to PM's.


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## crisillo (Jul 3, 2004)

deesta said:


> Sorry mate, was just trying to give a little info. Will stick to PM's.


No prob, Steve. As we discussed before, general info (compatibility, etc) is fine, but once pricing, etc. are involved, better take it to PM.

Thanks


----------



## crank feen (Sep 25, 2008)

crisillo said:


> No prob, Steve. As we discussed before, general info (compatibility, etc) is fine, but once pricing, etc. are involved, better take it to PM.
> 
> Thanks


Sorry bout that.

Thanks deesta. PM sent


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## pinkrobe (Jan 30, 2004)

After the better part of a month, I finally had the bits to get this thing put together. My soldering skills are improving - I didn't burn myself at all!  I won't bother posting pics, as the light looks like every other one out there [except for my very ugly power port mount ].


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## Psycho Mike (Apr 2, 2006)

Hehehe...mine is getting there....just need Turboferret's battery holder to show up, then I cna finish all my assembling (just have to drill my power hole, mount my connector and do some soldering yet.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey Mike,

You could solder it all all up ready for when the battery arrives  then all you've gotta do is plug it in....

I've gotta try and solder 3 XPE triple and a hipFlex up tomorrow


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## turboferret (Apr 1, 2008)

Mike, I'm surprised it hasn't arrived yet - it went in the post on the 23rd, I'd have though a week would be enough for it to arrive - none have got lost in the post so far, and one got to Singapore posted the same day as yours a few days ago - lets hope the postal service hasn't let me down :madmax: 

If it doesn't arrive in a few days let me know, and I'll send another one out :thumbsup: 

Cheers, Rich


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## uoficowboy (Apr 2, 2009)

Steve - does it look like you'll be making another run of these? I'm looking for a housing for 3 MC-Es - so this seems perfect. I had been planning on milling it myself - but yours looks great!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi mate,
Yes, I'm going to be doing another run of these. MCE version will be available too :thumbsup: 
If you're interested, drop me a PM. There's pricing info further down this thread.

Cheers, Steve


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

I can't remember whether I posted to let you know I had mine working Deesta but I have and very impressive it is too. Even if it is only a measly triple R2 and note MCE ;-)

I do need to do something about my battery though and will probably go with a turboferret holder and some cells from DX. But may leave that until next winter.

My colleagues are all rather jealous that my light is at least as bright as theirs that they paid £600 for! I took it to coed-y-brenin with them last week but sadly didn't get a night ride in.

Coed-y-brenin. Now there's a story for another forum 

Mark


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

_My colleagues are all rather jealous that my light is at least as bright as theirs that they paid £600 for! I took it to coed-y-brenin with them last week but sadly didn't get a night ride in.
_
Brilliant stuff, Mark. I'm glad you're pleased with the final result. Shame you didn't get tod o a night ride though. I've been running am MCE on the bars and a XRE with RS optics on my helmet...that's a brillian combination. Loads of flood and a beam that goes a long, long way :thumbsup:


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## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

Hi all, i finally managed to get around to post pics of my Altair project. There's a comparison with my 3X ssc P4 torch/light. The pics are @ 500mah and 1000mah for the triple ssc (blueish tint) and 270mah (don't know how this happens but it's the reading in the battery) and 1760mah @ high (Less than the speculated 600mah per led if you count in losses) . Battery pack is from another forum member, turboferret. I used two ss MCE optics and one oval diffuser (which prooved unecessary as troutie had warned me....) 
Also, i picked one warm white 475 lumens led and two whites WH tint...... The remote PTT button is a great touch for on the fly mode switching...... Enjoy!


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## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

*more....*

This is the triple ssc lighting a house.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Oooh, looks great!!! Great beamshots too. Just a quick point: It looks like you've got the front and back housings the wrong way round, there shouldn't be an edge visible where they join:thumbsup: 
What are your thoughts on the performance? How does it work with turboferrets battery pack?
Top job mate

Steve


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## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

Interested in the build also, as I have bought the turboferrets pack and waiting for deesta so say : Send the money : so i can get the housing. 

How hard is the bflex to wire?

Those beam shots dont look as bright as troutie's... Is that because yours are pointed more towards the ground it seems?


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## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

deesta said:


> Oooh, looks great!!! Great beamshots too. Just a quick point: It looks like you've got the front and back housings the wrong way round, there shouldn't be an edge visible where they join:thumbsup:
> What are your thoughts on the performance? How does it work with turboferrets battery pack?
> Top job mate
> 
> Steve


Looks great mainly because of you buddy! Your sharp eyes are right, i know i got it wrong but a) i dread the moment i will need to open it again because all of that thermal compound all around and the led wiring! and b) i figured that this way i have increased the cooling surface by two tiny "fins" heheheheheeh, about 0,0003 sq cm!!!!! 
I think that my main contribution is the remote switch from PMR ptt button, it is really neat with just one cable and very very handy!
The battery holder works superb so far. I have also tied a knot at the one side of the hole , were the cables go in , so that i don't stress the solder pads.....:eekster:


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

I'm waiting to be able to say 'send me the money, I send you the housing' too  

If you have not already ordered your bFlex, I may be worth contacting George @ taskled to see if he could 'pre-wire' it for you. I've had him do it for a couple of drivers in the past and it saved me a lot of hassle as my wiring skills are pretty rubbish.

Steve

G-L: that remote switch does look neat, any links? Good thinking about the extra heatsinking


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## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

mroneeyedboh said:


> Interested in the build also, as I have bought the turboferrets pack and waiting for deesta so say : Send the money : so i can get the housing.
> 
> How hard is the bflex to wire?
> 
> Those beam shots dont look as bright as troutie's... Is that because yours are pointed more towards the ground it seems?


Beam shots are moslty a matter of camera settings and lens. I could delay the exposure and get a brighter picture. However, i had some obstacles nearby and did not want to burn these parts of the picture. the house that is illuminated is about 35-40 metres away. That's why comparison pictures are always "illuminating"! Moreover, as i stated, the middle oval lens does not add much to throw.
Something i would like to see, is the possibility of using a middle reflector optic with a glass from DX to seal it. But to be honest, i don't actually need more throw for trail riding.....
I am using a *Maxflex *driver. The hard part of wiring is the leds, if you don't get them already wired 2S2P.


----------



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

Stevie, i`ve just had a search for the push to talk swirtch
very nice but aint cheap....
ebay link


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Beam shot wise it may also be that I used SS optics and as Giant said also advised against the oval . but having said that I have just recieved a carclo eliptical optic from Mark at Cutters ( thanks Mark ) and early testing is looking very promising .with a very interesting beam in my garden I will post more details when I get the time to rig a proper beam shot .

also looking at Giants pics it would appear that the oval optic is in the wrong orientation 
and needs rotating 90 degrees . the ribs should be vertical for the light to spread sideways.

You should be close with the camera settings if you use the standard mtbr setting 
which is f4 @ 6 seconds with white balance set at daylight if you have a manual setting on your camera.
but this setting is proving to be a bit too bright for the multi MCE lights..

My Best beam results to date are from 3 ledil SS optics they seemed to pip the boom reflectors for punch while still having good spill


----------



## smudgemtbuk (Jul 13, 2008)

lookin good. But please double check you have the polarity right when popping the cells onto the holder.


----------



## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

Is it better to use thermal grease or adhesive? and if so what brand? Arctic Silver?


----------



## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

hey Deesta, are you going to produce instructions with info on wiring up the driver? (bflex to be exact ) I just need to know what wires go to what part on the board. I emailed George and he said no... haha


----------



## WeLight (Aug 12, 2007)

Giant-Lander said:


> Looks great mainly because of you buddy! Your sharp eyes are right, i know i got it wrong but a) i dread the moment i will need to open it again because all of that thermal compound all around and the led wiring! and b) i figured that this way i have increased the cooling surface by two tiny "fins" heheheheheeh, about 0,0003 sq cm!!!!!
> I think that my main contribution is the remote switch from PMR ptt button, it is really neat with just one cable and very very handy!
> The battery holder works superb so far. I have also tied a knot at the one side of the hole , were the cables go in , so that i don't stress the solder pads.....:eekster:


Just a tip guys, all the builds I look at here and CPF etc show enormous amounts of thermal compound, I understand the tempatation that more is better however there is an inherent problem whereby increased material mass actually adds thermal resistance, you want to have thermal compounds or adhesives, paper thin


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

WeLight said:


> Just a tip guys, all the builds I look at here and CPF etc show enormous amounts of thermal compound, I understand the tempatation that more is better however there is an inherent problem whereby increased material mass actually adds thermal resistance, you want to have thermal compounds or adhesives, paper thin


Point well taken Mark , but I am quessing here and G_T is most likley meaning thermal grease between the 2 halves of the housing and the led heatsink .
which gets squeezed when the casing is bolted together


----------



## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

mroneeyedboh said:


> hey Deesta, are you going to produce instructions with info on wiring up the driver? (bflex to be exact ) I just need to know what wires go to what part on the board. I emailed George and he said no... haha


It is all printed on the Bflex but a magnifier helps


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## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

what does SWB/SWA,STAT, J1,

LED+/- is for the LED positive and negative leads
SW1 i would assume is the switch terminals
IN-/IN+ is for the power leads ( from battery )

And what are those two open holes ( below SW1 ) used for?


----------



## znomit (Dec 27, 2007)

mroneeyedboh said:


> what does SWB/SWA,STAT, J1,
> 
> And what are those two open holes ( below SW1 ) used for?


There are multiple switch contacts. You can use A/B or the two on SW1.
Stat +/- is the status led. 
J1 is for master/slave configuration


----------



## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

troutie-mtb said:


> Beam shot wise it may also be that I used SS optics and as Giant said also advised against the oval . but having said that I have just recieved a carclo eliptical optic from Mark at Cutters ( thanks Mark ) and early testing is looking very promising .with a very interesting beam in my garden I will post more details when I get the time to rig a proper beam shot .
> 
> also looking at Giants pics it would appear that the oval optic is in the wrong orientation
> and needs rotating 90 degrees . the ribs should be vertical for the light to spread sideways.
> ...


My two side lenses are the Ledil 20mm SS square optics.
I can't find the specs for the oval optic -which provide a nice,tight beam pattern, so i can't check about alignment. I though i had got it right though.....Well, it's hard to change it now as i have epoxied them without holders. If the oval spread is not vertical, it might actually be more useful to light down the track ,no?
Sorry about the exposure settings, i didn't know that and as i said, i didn't want to troch the picture. My actual settings were F2.8 with 2 seconds xposure @ 100 ISO.
I have used the modest amount of arctic silver thermal compound and arctic slvr glue on the stars, it's just the housing design that makes you cover multiple surfaces, as troutie said.
I made a quick check on ebay, you can find PTT switches here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Earpiece-Mic-Wi...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
http://cgi.ebay.com/Earpiece-Mic-w-...CC%2BCRS%2BIA%2BUCI%2BSI%2BUS-BWR&otn=4&ps=33
http://cgi.ebay.com/Remote-PTT-Push...hash=item110299788721&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

They're pretty cheap and all you need is a triple core cable and a single hole and cable gland on the housing....Leaves more space in the back to add some cooling fins or cpu cooler....:thumbsup:


----------



## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Great idea using the PTT as a remote switch. Do you know if they are they momentary or latching?


----------



## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

The PTT will be momentary since you have to hold it to talk. 

Hendo, nothing 'aviation' is ever cheap in my experience :-(


----------



## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

nice, So if i wanted to add in a status LED ( a light showing that its on ) I would use those terminals? and J1 isnt needed in my case I dont think.

Thanks Znomit.


----------



## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

Oh, and if i may offer another couple of cents for the weight-weenies, i managed to scrape off some grams by replacing the "heavy" steel M6x40 bolt with an alloy one. Could have been titanium also!!! I think it's about 5-6 grams gain. Actually, the new bolt is about 2 grams heavy....


----------



## Village (Sep 8, 2008)

znomit said:


> There are multiple switch contacts. You can use A/B or the two on SW1.
> Stat +/- is the status led.
> J1 is for master/slave configuration


I *think* he was referring to the two larger holes below the SW1 diagram - those are for the option of securing the PCB-mount momentary switch that comes with the bflex.


----------



## Surfr (Dec 28, 2008)

deesta said:


> Here's some more pics of the helmet light for you....It's definately redundant now. I've got a triple MCE on my bars and a triple R2 (Real spot optics) on my helmet. :thumbsup:


I've been giving these a runtime test tonight and they're currently 4 hours 38 into it. They would still get me home on singletrack and don't seem to be dropping much per hour! Colour me very impressed.


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey Dan,
That sounds like a really good runtime. I've never done a full one so it's great to know 
Are you pleased with the light output too?
Steve


----------



## Surfr (Dec 28, 2008)

Surfr said:


> I've been giving these a runtime test tonight and they're currently 4 hours 38 into it. They would still get me home on singletrack and don't seem to be dropping much per hour! Colour me very impressed.


Very much so Steve It'll be my only light for a while and It will do just fine for all the trails I can think of riding at Nant-yr-Arian and the surrounding area.

PS 4 hours 52 now and it's still lighting up rooftops several houses away


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Sweet Be interesting to see how long it goes before lights out??


----------



## Surfr (Dec 28, 2008)

Some of us have work tomorrow you know!  

5:12 runtime and still picking out rooftops at 100M. Unbelievable.


----------



## Surfr (Dec 28, 2008)

Deesta I'm not going to be able to run this test any longer tonight I'm afraid, but here's a couple beamshots taken with MTBR settings (f4, 6secs, Daylight WB). Lens was at 10mm and resting on ledge to conservatory floor (3-4 inches off ground maybe). Rear bushes are probably 15M away.



















Stopwatch now running at 6 hours 17 seconds... shame I'm too tired to go out to the woods and get a long distance photo... Still thought you might be interested.

What LEDs/driver is this?


----------



## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks Dan, I'm gobsmacked as to how long it's been running...6+ hours on full tilt. Hopefully the Altair should give the same performance as it's XRE based too:thumbsup: 

Great looking beam shots too mate..hope you enjoy your 1st ride with it tomorrow night 
Steve


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## Surfr (Dec 28, 2008)

I don't doubt it would have easily broken the 7 hour mark if I could have stayed awake any longer.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Bloody hell 7 hours:thumbsup: The driver is off ebay:5w LED Driver and the LED's are, I think, Cree R2's on a triple cutter board.


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

.... UK Ebay 5w Driver link
Approximate size, 23 x 20 x 6mm......
.....Surfr what battery pack you got?


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## Surfr (Dec 28, 2008)

It's the one photographed with the head light earlier in the thread. a 14.8v 3600mAh labled with a DStar Altair sticker.


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Seems a good little driver and dimable too with the appropiate resistor 
I have 2 and am just waiting for a switch to arrive and am going to put them in a troutlight
running 3 XPEs each .


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## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

that driver going to be better than tasks? I just bought the bflex...


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

mroneeyedboh said:


> that driver going to be better than tasks? I just bought the bflex...


No none of them come close to the flex`s for user interface / thermal protection 
the flex`s are the best .:thumbsup:

they are just a basic no frills driver but when the budget is tight they work and not been tested for longevity but I have a few in some lights out there and had no complaints yet.


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## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

Cool,
I hope that driver ( bflex ) isnt hard to wire up.. Doesnt seem like it.


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## Giant-Lander (Feb 13, 2009)

Hey guys, i did my local 23km 500 ascnt loop tonight to check out the Altair on mtb conditions (prior rides were on the road-lizzard bike). Apart from the fact that i've pulled two yellow cards on the DX ultrafire 18650 batts -they are in the conditioner/charger now- as 2 of them kicked the bucket toooooo early, i felt i needed a little bit more throw on the fireroad part of the ride. Singletracks were ok, as they are tight and narrow. Coming home, i checked the oval lens (ledil cmc O) and as troutie said i've got it the wrong way (vertical). Nevertheless, side spill was satisfactory, so it's not needed indeed. Should i replace it with an SS optic -as the side ones- or there's anything new on the block now?????What about those reflector-collimator combos?


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## troutie-mtb (Sep 20, 2007)

Giant-Lander said:


> Hey guys, i did my local 23km 500 ascnt loop tonight to check out the Altair on mtb conditions (prior rides were on the road-lizzard bike). Apart from the fact that i've pulled two yellow cards on the DX ultrafire 18650 batts -they are in the conditioner/charger now- as 2 of them kicked the bucket toooooo early, i felt i needed a little bit more throw on the fireroad part of the ride. Singletracks were ok, as they are tight and narrow. Coming home, i checked the oval lens (ledil cmc O) and as troutie said i've got it the wrong way (vertical). Nevertheless, side spill was satisfactory, so it's not needed indeed. Should i replace it with an SS optic -as the side ones- or there's anything new on the block now?????What about those reflector-collimator combos?


I am not aware of anything that size any better than the SS . or a RS 
My Choice would be 3 RS but they have a hole in the middle and gleaning a blob of mud out would be a pain which is why I went for the SS
Imho those reflector/combos are Ngombi and too large anyways.


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Surfr said:


> It's the one photographed with the head light earlier in the thread. a 14.8v 3600mAh labled with a DStar Altair sticker.


Yep, it's one of smudge's creations and a bloody good one judging by the run times....

I'd also agree with troutie that the taskled stuff is the best for user configuration. These cheap drivers do do a good job though...


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## mdsjack (Oct 26, 2007)

... I think you guys who have a CNC machine should get down with more casing designs, maybe putting each project on poll and decide which ones to manufacture.

Casing is the hardest thing to find/make.

For example, I'm looking for ideas on a 3x mc-e w/ boom light with horizontally aimed side leds, to be used with hipflex (and its button); no power jack (outcoming cable); bar mount (Expousure?).


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Mdsjack, did you see Troutie's light with the 45 deg side LEDs? That could be built without a CNC machine and sounds like it could do what you are looking for.

Deesta's case has evolved with input from people here so that seems close to what you suggested (for a design based on input from the forums).

The poll is a cool idea though. It would also be cool to see what designs people have thought of, even if they are just on paper (vapor-lights?).


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## Village (Sep 8, 2008)

Has anyone incorporated the low-battery warning from the TaskLED drivers into their Altair™ build? I'm thinking of possibly routing a 3mm red LED into the void of the optic area of the enclosure so that either the project light would tint somewhat red, or, with the primary light off it would glow red. I could also drill a small hole in the rear of the enclosure to expose the warning light but I'd rather not put more holes in it.


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## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

How could you put in a low battery warning light ? I'm interested in this, Can you do whatever time left? like say 45 mins left ect?


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

mroneeyedboh said:


> How could you put in a low battery warning light ? I'm interested in this, Can you do whatever time left? like say 45 mins left ect?


Battery voltage monitoring is a function of the flex series drivers. You program voltage levels for mid, low and shutoff. The stat LED or the main LED is selectable to flash when the mid and low voltage levels are reached.

There are a couple of other threads where voltage monitoring circuits for other drivers is discussed.


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## Village (Sep 8, 2008)

Vancbiker said:


> Battery voltage monitoring is a function of the flex series drivers. You program voltage levels for mid, low and shutoff. The stat LED or the main LED is selectable to flash when the mid and low voltage levels are reached.
> 
> There are a couple of other threads where voltage monitoring circuits for other drivers is discussed.


D'oh! I didn't realize you could select the main LED as the status light - will do that pronto!


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## mroneeyedboh (Sep 24, 2006)

haha I am going to have one hell of time programming that bflex. I can see it now...


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## EPDP99 (Jul 24, 2008)

deesta and troutie,
seriously considering these housings for a group of 4 of us. I am looking into buying both XRE and the MCE models personally. MCE(flood) for bars and XRE(spot) for helmet, right? also i want to make sure I look at the right optics. I know the ledil cmc ss since thats a spottish flood for the MCE but the LC1 for the XRE have 4 options. Which do I choose for a spot pattern for helmet based? I'm looking for the best all around uses as this will be mine as well as the others first Build. We arent looking at upgrading(yet I should say) so we are trying to build the best use for deesta's housings. Also, should we be concerned about heat with them since we regularly see 110* heat in the summer( not likely quite that high at night while the light will be in use)? This will be a slow build for me as I cant afford to buy everything at once... I will start with the XRE housing, then buy the leds, and drivers then get the housing together.... then work on a battery pack and charger based on what people have built using the lights. I will also be looking for info on how to wire the leds correctly(dont worry i've been doing plenty of searching) but want to make sure I'm right when I get to that point... as for the driver, which is better the bflex or max flex? also will this be something a similar battery pack(2 like packs) will be able to run these lights so I wont have 2 different styles and can use the same charger? or will they be 2 entirely different battery packs and 2 different chargers? 3 hour runtime on high is needed for our packs(not necessarily used on high the entire time). Thanks in advance to all who throw up their knowledge and builds so we newbs can learn!!


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hey mate,
The MCE/XRE combo is really good. I use that set up and am really pleased with it. The best optics for the MCE are the Ledil SS's and I use LC1 RS's in my helmet light. There is a slight issue with the RS's as they have a small hole in the middle that can catch the crap in but I've not had a problem as it's high enough to keep away from flying mud etc but I doubt you'd have that problem with mud anyway:thumbsup: 
With regard to heat, I've not used them above about 80 degrees but alot of guys have bought them for your kind of riding and I've not heard anything back that says they can't cope with it.
Driver wise, I use the bFlex for the XRE's and maxFlex for the MCE's. 
Batteryspace is a good place to look for batteries, you should be able to get 2 batteries that would use one charger no problem.
A 3.6aH battery was tested with a similar set up to the triple XRE and it ran for over 7 hours on full power so you could get away with something like a 2.2aH for the XRE and , maybe, a 3.6 for the MCE. Not too good on run times as I only tend to do a couple of hours riding.
The wiring side of things is relatively simple. You'd have 2 wires from the LED's to the driver, 2 from the switch and 2 from the power socket. Then you just need to link the LED's.

Hope that helps for now?

Steve


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## gbcircle (Jun 2, 2008)

*Bar mount for the deesta light*

Does anyone know of a stateside source for the bar mount bracket on the deesta light? Hate to get a $4 part shipped from the UK, but I can't find a US Dist. for Electron lights.


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

I have to admit that my Altair has sat unused during the summer as my riding has been exclusive done in daylight. But with the nights beginning to draw in I took another look at my Altair last evening. I've noticed that the lenses don't seem to sit properly flush with the front of the unit.

Has anyone discarded the O-rings and fixed the lenses in with something like silicon sealant? 

Also, has anyone helmet mounted their Altair? If so what mount was used?


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi Pete,
Which version did you get? If it's the XRE version, you need to remove the small tags on 2 sides of the optics. These are designed to locate the optic in the plastic holders that you don't need to use either.
The o-rings drop into the round counterbores in the bottom of the optic seat, then the optics sit onto of them.
Drop me a line if you need any help.

I have made some helmet mounts that work with the Mk2 version that could be modified to fit the 1st run if you're interested?

Steve


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Steve,

I have the XRE version. I did cut off the tabs and found I still needed to file off a little around the edges of the lenses before they would sit into the counterbore? Are the lenses actually supposed to sit within the counterbore when the o-ring is in place or just flush with the top of the bore?

anyway with the o-ring in when I assemble the light the lenses aren't quite pushed to the front enough to form a water tight seal. Hence I was thinking of siliconing them in instead of using the rings.

I could well be interested in a helmet mount. Do you have prices/pictures? I've also purchased one of the DX SSC P7 lights and want to put one or the other on the helmet. I believe the DX light is reasonably floody so would prefer the Altair on the helmet as I can more easily change the beam by fitting the different lenses.

Regards
Mark


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## deesta (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi Mark,
I thought you'd had the light up and running before? Hmmm....can you send mer some pics of the inside of the housing where the optics seat? The o-rings go in 1st then the optics. The optics should sit inside the counterbore slightly to locate them. Are the LED's or any cables stopping the mounting plate seating into it's pocket correctly?

Here's a pic of the helmet mount: http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=5823696&postcount=118

I'm sure silicon would be ok but I can't think of any reason why it won't fit with the o-rings. All of the housings were checked for fit before being sent out :madman:

Steve


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## peteoheat (Sep 29, 2008)

Hey Steve,

There's 'up and running' and theres 'up and running' ;-) I threw everything together so that I could get out and riding with the light. But at the time I only had an 11 cell 4/3af NiMH pack that I made to power it. For some reason I dediced to reconfigure the pack by soldering the cells together again. Let's just say that's the last time I used it. I've got some 18650's from DX now so just wanted to review how I put the light together previously now that I can use it again.

I'll see if I can get some pics of how i've put it together. I don't think there's anything at all wrong with the case. Of course it's fantastic. It's bound to be my shoddy assembly that's the problem.

Those helmet mounts look great. I assume they fix to the helmet with velcro straps? Do you supply those or is there a known source for them? Is the mount £10 as mentioned in that thread?


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## psylence (May 29, 2009)

Hey guys 2 questions for you all.

Firstly, has anyone found a bar mount solutionstateside for this bar? I want to mount it off my stem as my bars have no room left. Right now i am using a bolt/nut, 2" aluminum frame bracket which i bent and 1 pipe clamp. works ok in a pinch. i want somethign i can adjust on the fly though.

Secondly, i am overheating with my kit. I spoke to Troutie and he gave me something to try on the maxflex. What temps do you guys have set for the maxflex warning? Right now it is set to 50f on mine and i get 1 min of high before it drops to low. I took the bike out last night it was roughly 85f. Going to try 70f on the mxflex today, curious what you guys have yours set to?


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## psylence (May 29, 2009)

repost


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## znomit (Dec 27, 2007)

psylence said:


> What temps do you guys have set for the maxflex warning? Right now it is set to 50f on mine and i get 1 min of high before it drops to low. I took the bike out last night it was roughly 85f. Going to try 70f on the mxflex today, curious what you guys have yours set to?


I think you mean C?


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## psylence (May 29, 2009)

yeah your right, it's c.


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## EPDP99 (Jul 24, 2008)

Just recieved my housings!! Man packaging was great and quick to the States, and upon opening the box and unwrapping them WOW!! Nice work Steve!! Your housings look sweet and I cant wait to get started aquiring parts to build these things!!


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