Unkillable, hand-made, homemade flashlight

Foreword

I got carried away night games, namely Encounter . It brings together many genres (species), but the most common in our city were points and fights. This meant that at night it was often necessary to be in various places (from sewers and basements to abandoned factories and workshops). Often had to be at height or knee-deep in water.



And it was extremely annoying at the most crucial moment to lose one of the most important things in the game, to lose that ray of light that helped you in the darkness of the night to look for the cherished codes and tags. I'm talking about a flashlight. During the time that I was playing, not one luminous friend passed away, for various reasons (made is China what you wanted): they crashed when falling, drowned, could not withstand plastic in the cold, etc. And there was a case that the flashlight died due to the fact that I was not charging it correctly (thanks to the manufacturer who wrote the wrong instruction for the flashlight). Plus, the devices for 300-400 rubles, did not differ in high performance, which also did not please: they shone no more than 200 Lm and with a cold, giving out blue light. I didn’t want to go broke on brands, and I didn’t want to buy Chinese analogues from abroad either (I know our Russian Post, I came across it). In general, I fired up the desire to make a friend with CREE myself. And then it started!

Housing

There was something powerful, strong in my head. But I also wanted him to be normally obsessed with his hand and was, if not waterproof, but was not afraid of rain and short-term contact with water. From the beginning it turned out like this:
')

As a result, the body was made of:

• Extension (sgon) on 1/2 80mm, chrome
• Extension (sgon) by 1/2 40mm, chrome-plated
• Adapter from 1/2 to 3/4
• 1/2 plug
• 3/4 cap

And what we have inside?

After surfing the world wide web, reviewing a bunch of flashlight reviews with different characteristics and digging up a field of thematic forums (not the whole field). Approximately decided what I want:

• LED for 3-5w, about 500 Lm and warm daylight
• a driver who can pull it will be able to report low battery and minimum modes
• lens or reflector degrees 10-40
• Wires, glass, button and other trifle

The search for electronic components led me to a wide variety of online stores. I stopped at www.fasttech.com (not advertising, purely for reference). And my choice fell on it (it was my first self-made flashlight, so I didn’t want to waste much):

• Driver
• Lens
• Button
• Light-emitting diode

A little and separately about the driver

I have already said above what criteria I want in my driver, and they almost coincided with those that the driver I chose had, but here's the annoyance - 5 modes. Among which are strobe and SOS, well, how can I without them (sarcasm). And indeed, they are not used in games - this should be corrected as it is. The great GOOGLE, who guided me here on such material (not advertising, purely for reference) came to the rescue. Upon arrival of the parcel, the procedure for closing the contacts on the driver was made and I safely got rid of the "rescue modes". Go ahead.

We are preparing a future hull for the transplant filling

The tasks are as follows:

• Ras-drill holes for buttons and lenses in plugs
• Make contact "+" inside the case
• Plan and make a system for removing heat from the LED

But first things first.

Ras-drill holes for buttons and lenses in plugs

Drills and cutters for metal come to the rescue.


With the cap under the button all the same.

Make contact "+" inside the case

Like most buildings of lanterns, the contact "-" is allowed on the hulls, and the "+" on the core of the body. We will do the same. It remains to decide how to spend the same "+". Having thought about it, I decided to make a plug of EPOKSILIN two-component glue in the sgone (80mm), drill a hole in it and start the wire.

Plan and make a system for removing heat from the LED

LEDs tend to warm up and overheat them is not worth it - everyone knows that. I decided to cut the radiator out of the radiator (aluminum radiator for cooling the bridges of some kind of motherboard). And then solder it into the drift (40mm), or rather pour it with tin in this very straightening.



Insert the radiator, fill it with tin and drill 2 holes for the wires to connect the driver and the LED.

Getting started

Preparatory work completed, let's collect. We collect digging, we collect the head. All components are glued for waterproofing.



Install the driver and LED. The driver is soldered to the drift (80mm). LED (with pre-soldered wires) are put on the thermal paste.


Now all our components are ready and it remains only to assemble them. We connect the soldering iron driver and LED and forward. For waterproofing on the threads of the components we wind tape FUM.

What I did not take into account and in consequence ran into it.

When I ordered the components, I did not find all the sizes, and accordingly I could not calculate everything, and the end result in my head was a little different. As a result, the head with the lens turned out to be far away from the LED and, accordingly, it did not normally light. It was decided to shorten the head with an engraver and cutting discs for it, and then adjust it with a grinding machine.

Result

And so the result turned out to be satisfactory (well, I’m surely pleased).



It should be noted, the heat from the driver is relegated to the “URA”, after 15 minutes of work at full capacity, the LED substrate was a little lukewarm.

Plans for the future (dream)

This is my first flashlight, do not judge strictly. At the moment I plan to test the flashlight in the condition of the games (for them, it was actually intended), I will make changes. In the future, I plan to collect something light for the headrest, and something powerful for a corner lamp on the strap of a backpack. And accordingly I will tell you.