Home made lamps

[Turner]

just wondering what people had used?

LED bulbed of course. just wondered how people went on with housings etc? was thinking of using composites to construct a new housing.

personally wanting to use surefire type lights after the success with their weapons lights, i want that kind of illumination underground.

anywhere where you can get waterproof battery boxes etc?

 

[AndyF]

I think the question is more "why".....

It can't be to save money, there are loads of good lamps around now to suit all needs

Making you own is generally going to be less reliable than something off the shelf, and it takes ages to put something good together. Mnay people start such a project, most give up and buy something after spending quite a bit of money. Modern LED lamps and chargers are quite sophisticated electronics, difficult to compete with that...

 

[Turner]

why? because i'm after some serious light.....

as for reliability, i've watched my fair share of blue peter + theres a lot of it on youtube so thats not a worry.

 

[owd git]

Looking at your post in for sale/ wanted, i thought you'd already seen the light.
Or are you upgrading?
BTW how much light DO you want? 3 Crees or similar, see Francis' posting.
I make do with a converted oldham / smart light combo'
It rivals my van headlights! ( shit van tho.)
Regards Owd Git.

 

[ttxela]

I made my own lamp as I wanted something powerful enough for underground video, it's not helmet mounted though and really needs an extra person along to carry it. The bulbs are 6 50w halogen lamps powered by 3 12v lead acid fire alarm batteries.

No lighting project would be complete without comparison shots so;

1/4 second exposure with normal garage flourescent lighting (4no. 5' tubes) approximately 1000 lumens each.

Same exposure but with only the good old Oldham providing illumination

The same but with my new Raptor II LED lamp

The same exposure again but with my bespoke video lamp

We've used it underground and it lights up fair size passages reasonably well, it's a bit of a pain to lug around though.

 

[Peter Burgess]

Another "Show and Tell" session, Alex?

 

[Turner]

sorry but ttxela..... that is FTMFW!!!1!1!11!!! awesome

Owdgit, keeping my old petzl lamp just want to add some power + range

 

[ttxela]

Another "Show and Tell" session, Alex?

Yeah, bit nerdy isn't it?  :ras:

 

[ttolyaj]

The one I am making has an aluminium body, LEDs create heat and you need alloy to disapate it, thinking about a carbon fibre battery box though.

 

[owd git]

Owdgit, keeping my old petzl lamp just want to add some power + range

Which Petzl? Just out of curiosity!

 

[Turner]

my trusty.... and i'll stand by this comment.... BOMBPROOF myo XP its had full submersion the lot + never given up

+ ttolyaj CF is the way mate, just need to make some moulds for battery box, going to be using x3 cr123A per lamp

 

[ttolyaj]

Been looking at 18650's myself, and even AA's which work great with a single cree XR-E Q5 dont know how they would cope with 3 though. Its a nice standard size to work with though.

 

[Turner]

thinking of using the following

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Spiderfire-R2-CREE-300-Lums-5-Modes-LED-Bulb-4-Surefire_W0QQitemZ250437334241QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches?hash=item3a4f3a74e1

my "other" lamp has the same bulb but single operation

 

[Servo]

Been looking at 18650's myself, and even AA's which work great with a single cree XR-E Q5 dont know how they would cope with 3 though. Its a nice standard size to work with though.

Just ordered an 18650 900 Lumen, it's the P7-F15 SSC WC. Will let you know if it's any good when it arrives.

 

[ttolyaj]

thinking of using the following

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Spiderfire-R2-CREE-300-Lums-5-Modes-LED-Bulb-4-Surefire_W0QQitemZ250437334241QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches?hash=item3a4f3a74e1

my "other" lamp has the same bulb but single operation

My Cree's came from Dealextreme best price I could find.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2394

My lenses came from Kaidomain.

http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=5253

They take a while to arrive but delivery is free which is a good job as they come from China I think. You could get 2 in a Oldhams case, but 3 would be a bit too much I think as they would get too hot. Driver I would recommend a Maxiflex for the best results. Switches are the hardest part to source I have found. In fact any suggestions?

Been looking at 18650's myself, and even AA's which work great with a single cree XR-E Q5 dont know how they would cope with 3 though. Its a nice standard size to work with though.

Just ordered an 18650 900 Lumen, it's the P7-F15 SSC WC. Will let you know if it's any good when it arrives.

I would like to know how you get on with them. They sound good from all the blurb about them.

 

[Turner]

finally had a crack at this needs some tidying up of wires etc (aesthetically anyway)

chuffed as hell with the light out put, used 2 weapon lights as had prior success in this application using a surefire 6p.

This is the light output of the petzel myo XP with Duracells that have done about 1.5 hrs.

And this is the new lamps running cree q5's each using x2 cr123a 1000mah batts.

a huge improvement, only thing i think will let me down is the cheep azn batteries. may have to purchase some branded rechargables.

 

[pete_the_caver]

bring back carbide!!!!