Unveiling: "The Phobos 405" [Pic Heavy]

Hello everyone, after much impatient waiting for things to arrive in the mail I'm proud to present my latest build. This is my first build using a torch style host, and a custom one at that. Previously I've always worked out of hobbyist boxes, so this is a real step up.

The host is called "Phobos" and made by Eudaimonium. To my knowledge I'm the first to complete a build with it and present it so far, though someone else could have finished a build and not posted about it. Truth be told I would have had this done about a month ago but there was a mix up in shipping and delays followed. I got someone else's parts and they got mine, but Eudaimonium did everything he could and went out of his way to make things right again. Still though, if something could go wrong, it did. There was the initial shipping mix up and wait for replacement parts, then the focusing ring was discovered to be threaded too deeply, then the clicky switch turned out to be defective, then the contact board's sping too short, and finally the 12mm hole for the module was about 0.5mm too small (or my module too large) in diameter.

I extended the spring's length with solder and coiled copper wire, and fashioned a plastic sleeve to prevent it from shorting out with the case in the event the spring got pushed to one side by the battery and tension. I used a combination of teflon tape and arctic silver thermal epoxy to make the focusing adapter less squirrelly and to set the lens at the correct depth. I sanded out the interior diameter of the head unit by hand so that the aixiz module (diode mount section only) would fit in and then used Ceramique 2 thermal compound to give the best heat transfer. There was just barely enough room for the flexdrive between the diode and the contact board, I'm glad I went with a direct-to-diode mounting of the flexdrive. I don't anticipate heat problems at only 450mA. I had to Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive the contact board in place in the head because it was about 0.5 to 0.75mm too large in diameter to actually sit in place by itself, and if it got pressed in the recess the flexdrive would not have fit properly. I couldn't figure out a way to safely clamp it so I held it in place the entire liquid to soft gel to thick gel curing time - about 20min. Lastly, I'm waiting on a new clicky switch from ARGLaser, so I'm using a wad of aluminium foil for the negative contact from battery to host, and unscrewing the tailcap as a switch. I remove the battery when not in use.

So far I have tested it to a three minute on time, and the host stays <85F. This host is amazing heatsinking, really incredible. Before I tested it I thought I'd make a second with a PHR-805 or Osram450 with the spare head, but now I think I may do an M140 build instead. All this heatsinking with a low power diode will be a waste.

Parts List:
Phobos Host
12x Blu-Ray Diode
405-G-2 Lens
Flexdrive V5 Driver
AW IC 16340 Battery
Aixiz Module
17mm bare flashlight driver board + spring

Gaaahhh THAT is a beauty right there!!! It looks like a giant heatsink, duty cycles don't seem like they'd be a problem in such a host. Congrats on the build, it looks just awesome!! +:beer:

Just awesome man!! I can't wait until I get a day off to build in mine! :topic:

That is one sweet build:drool: Very nice work.

Indeed, as far as I know, you are the first to post a review of the host so far.

I have to say it again, I'm really sorry for all the mixup with shipping and all, I did my best trying to save the situation.

In the end, I'm glad you're happy with the build, let's hope that the switch arrives very fast so it can be finished finally.

No worries, Eud, you did great in my book. Accidents happen, it's how we handle them that shows our true colors. =)

I'm definitely going to build another one of these as 445nm. It's going to have to wait until DTR can get more Flexdrives in though. The trick will be finding a way to heatsink the flexdrive or running it at <500mA since there is no pill and not much spare room inside the head. The host is absolutely beautiful and is an outstanding heatsink.

:drool: amazing work :beer:

Wow pure epicness *__*

:gj: on your build. Worked out nicely..

Jerry

Keep us updated on the 445nm build, I'm curently waiting on a phobus to be built right now for me but I got him to extend the battery barol to fit an 18650 battery and I too want to build a nice M140 diode build but not too sure how I'm gonna go about heat sinking the driver myself if you have any ideas let me know. I'm currently ordering all the parts little by little and waiting for them to all come in.
This 405 build you did came out amazing these really are giant heat sinks seeing your completed build is making me really look forward to getting mine in to start building it.
I hope I can get him to build be a few more to hold an 18650 battery so I can do the 445nm build hopefully get 1w+ with a G-1 lens and I also want to try and do a 400mw green build in one of these I think it would be perfect for keeping it cool for longer duty cycles.
Any input you have for your plans on the 445nm build would be greatly appreciated if you would let me know so I can possibly get some better ideas and improvements and make sure I'm on the right track with ordering the right parts to get what I want out of it as these will be my first fully custom builds. As for the driver are there any alternatives you would recomend that run on 3.7-4.2v that would get me to my goal of 1w+ with the m140 diodes besides the flexdrives that are not available right now as I don't want to wait a month possibly months to get the driver I can always change it when they are in stock but for now what's a cheaper driver I could use? I see a lot like the boost drives and o-like makes a 1-1.5a adjustable driver its really cheap, would this be a good option to use in place of the flex drive for now and would it actually get me to my 1w+ in output or are they over rated?
Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me.

great build, host looks amazing. very nice indeed.

nexbox360 said:

Keep us updated on the 445nm build, I'm curently waiting on a phobus to be built right now for me but I got him to extend the battery barol to fit an 18650 battery and I too want to build a nice M140 diode build but not too sure how I'm gonna go about heat sinking the driver myself if you have any ideas let me know. I'm currently ordering all the parts little by little and waiting for them to all come in.
This 405 build you did came out amazing these really are giant heat sinks seeing your completed build is making me really look forward to getting mine in to start building it.
I hope I can get him to build be a few more to hold an 18650 battery so I can do the 445nm build hopefully get 1w+ with a G-1 lens and I also want to try and do a 400mw green build in one of these I think it would be perfect for keeping it cool for longer duty cycles.
Any input you have for your plans on the 445nm build would be greatly appreciated if you would let me know so I can possibly get some better ideas and improvements and make sure I'm on the right track with ordering the right parts to get what I want out of it as these will be my first fully custom builds. As for the driver are there any alternatives you would recomend that run on 3.7-4.2v that would get me to my goal of 1w+ with the m140 diodes besides the flexdrives that are not available right now as I don't want to wait a month possibly months to get the driver I can always change it when they are in stock but for now what's a cheaper driver I could use? I see a lot like the boost drives and o-like makes a 1-1.5a adjustable driver its really cheap, would this be a good option to use in place of the flex drive for now and would it actually get me to my 1w+ in output or are they over rated?
Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me.

Click to expand...

As for drivers; you'll need to heatsink any driver very well at those currents, so no matter what you choose you'll need to make something apropriate. Half-moon heatsinks work best, but there is not a whole lot of room, so it will certainly be a challenge.

Personally there are only a few drivers I trust to use in my builds; Flexdrive V5, Mohgasm round pcb, X-drive, Groove 2.

Great build looks awesome. Great job!!