Things I want: April 2008

..to modify my Dive light Part 5 (Enhancement)

Ok, the dark 'O' on the beam thrown from the LED due to its position to the reflector, I've decided to take out the assembly. Perhaps, with care and remove I'll be able to save the LED. However, thru sheer neglience, the epoxy stuck to the LED gave me a larger area to break it and it's broken.

Yeap, now there goes the cost of one. Anyway, now embark on a more ambitious mod, a P7 LED with a proper regulator. This will make this little diving torch surpassing the lumen by a UK C4 eLED.

The C4 runs on an Luxeon V LED side emitter. Wait a minute a side emitter? Now I had to see this LED and looks like a diamond mounted on top.

This LED with side emitter, can produce a nice 80 lumen. However ambitious me want more but until I experiment with HID, SSC P7 LED is the answer for now. Can't wait for it's arrival for me to assemble the little monster into a tiny housing.

Yes, 700 to 900 lumen with this 8 x 7135 regulator.

..to modify my Dive light Part 4 (Light Test)

I could not use the light for too long due to the heat produced. Therefore, just a short 5 minutes test.

About 1 meter from the floor. Now the problem of the LED placement coz the little black 'O' in the middle.

30 cm from the wall.

On the floor to see the brightness at estimated 1100mA & 3.7V.

About 10ft away from the torch.

Direct at into the light. Wonder if it'll spoil the camera.

Still need regulator, else the heat can reshape the battery holder or even the battery EN-EL5 itself. Dangerous.

..to modify my Dive light Part 3 (Construction)

Two of the SSC P4 LED arrived last week and no time to wait for the 7135 regulator. Immediate start on assembly. Took me quite some time due to my lack of skill in handling a solder and dealing with +ve & -ve points.

As clearly shown, the bulky soldered LED on the heatsink I salvaged from an old P3 PC.

A little metal epoxy as recommended by the a young talented MAS engineer

Thin out the funnel at the reflector but with still a little over 1.5mm left.

Here is the LED sitting inside the reflector after the epoxy harden solid. If look closely, the LED is still 1.5mm inside and this will pose a problem . Well can't do much, damn thing is already stuck.

Went to pick up a 50cent battery seat and some Alkaline battery from Jalan Pasar for less than RM4.

Cheap stuff no good. I left it over night stuck to that battery holder and below was the result. Sad , RM4 gone.

Therefore, back to original idea of using Nikon's EN-EL5 Lithium Ion battery from my Nikon Coolpix digital camera. Each battery came with a plastic cover to protect the connectors. I mod the hold by placing 2 wires with soldered points for c0ntact.

All went well, plug in the battery and presto! And there shall be light! Noticed the rubber band? Connection not so good once inserted, need enhancements there

The pros of powering with Li Ion battery will be;
1) Good power source.
2) Rechargeble with the same charger for the camera.
3) Compact.

Now the cons;
1) Running at 3.7V 1100mAH, the life hours of the LED should be lower.
2) Heat, the heat sink was smoking after just 3 minutes of operation. Something got to be done.

Light test next entry and the finale will be a dive test to see it's performance. Special thanks to the young MAS engineer for the tips and free advise.