Help with TrustFire clone

[FutureOne]

Hey guys.

I just got a chinese TrustFire 12XT6 clone given to me. It has a burnt driver bu the LED's are ok.

So my understanding is that the driver for this light is a current controlled driver that supplies a constant 3A, with an input of 12vdc.

I've seen a couple of replacement drivers on the web, but I'd like to build a better driver for it (or source a good driver from someone else.

Ideally I'd like to bump the current a tad (let's say 3.6A) and have a strobe feature.

Is there a driver you guys might recommend me for this?

 

[RYDorDIE278]

First of all you should open the light a remove the driver, then get the diameter and depth of space available for a new driver, without dimentsions no one wil recomend anything, take note of how the LEDs are wired as they might have 4 paralel sets of 3 series leds or something, chances are you wil be changing the LED wiring setup, also how much space do u have for batteries? 2 or 3 18650s or? I would do the copper braid mod to the switch just to avoid any bottleneck once you get it going again,
Well theres a start for you anyway
Excuse grammar and layout im using a cell phone

Edit: how did you estimate driver current and voltage with a burnt driver? Lol

 

[FutureOne]

Ok cool thanks for the info man. I've already taken the bad driver out.

The diameter/circumference seems to be about the same as a 28650 style battery.

there's probably a good 2" depth available as well.

I'll take specific measurements tomorow. As for the LED's, a quick tracing of the wire seems to show 3 rows of 4 LED's. I will also confirm tomorrow.

The flashlight is designed for 3 28650 batteries in series. 18650s can be used with the plastic adapters.

 

[RYDorDIE278]

Ok cool thanks for the info man. I've already taken the bad driver out.

The diameter/circumference seems to be about the same as a 28650 style battery.

there's probably a good 2" depth available as well.

I'll take specific measurements tomorow. As for the LED's, a quick tracing of the wire seems to show 3 rows of 4 LED's. I will also confirm tomorrow.

The flashlight is designed for 3 28650 batteries in series. 18650s can be used with the plastic adapters.

*26650* you mean? yea once you get accurate dimensions and space for driver measured we will be able to point you at a driver or two, tell you one or two ways to configure the LEDs depending on driver and the best battery configuration, does the battery tube split up into 2 or 3 bits? like as if you were going to run 1 , 2 , or 3 batterys you could?

 

[FutureOne]

Ok bumping this one up.

I've been busy and haven't had time to look into this.

Anyway I have some time now, and I've found some of the information you have asked for:

In between the LED piece and batteries, there's a cylindrical space of height: 1.75" vs a circumference of 4.5"

The 12 LED's are wired in sets of 3, for a total of 4 sets, as you predicted.

And yes, the batteries it can take are 26650's, I apologize for the mix up.

And the battery tube is split into 3 pieces, to take one 18650 battery per tube, in series.

I can, however, get another tube if needed, that's not a big deal.

Appreciate the help on this one.

 

[RYDorDIE278]

If possible do the driver space in "mm" and just measure the depth of the pill from where the driver board will sit to the far inside of the pill X the diameter instead of the circumference, any idea how much current you want to each LED?
There may be different ways the LEDs will be wired depending which driver we go towards

 

[FutureOne]

If possible do the driver space in "mm" and just measure the depth of the pill from where the driver board will sit to the far inside of the pill X the diameter instead of the circumference, any idea how much current you want to each LED?
There may be different ways the LEDs will be wired depending which driver we go towards

Hey there. I'm not sure what you are asking me to measure. In this model, the original driver is sandwiched in between the main head casing and a circular washer, right where the batteries meet the head casing unit. Not sure how many mm's, but I think the best thing to do is to take some pics.

I will take some tonight for reference.

I believe the stock driver is 3A. So theoretically all LED's in this unit should be getting 3A of power (I don't believe current is affected whether LED's are connected in serial or parallel, but it's been a while since I've done anything with electronics)

Ideally I'd like to bump them to 3.4A.

I found a 5A driver that will fit, but I'm weary of going that high. Even if the LED's survive it for a few mins, I'm sure the heat would get overwhelming pretty quickly and burn them out anyway.

 

[RYDorDIE278]

Yea take a couple photos of the old driver and the space left for a new driver,
just have a quick read or refresh yourself a bit on series and parallel wiring with LEDs as your understanding is a bit off ATM,
you need to also know what the output voltage range is for the driver too, if you left the LEDs wired as Is you will need a driver that can supply somewhere around 12V (for XML), then if the current was maybe set at 5A, then each set of 3 LED would get 5A to share so each LED may get approx 1.65A,
Some drivers can have many LEDs setup in different ways with different pros and cons,

 

[FutureOne]

Yea take a couple photos of the old driver and the space left for a new driver,
just have a quick read or refresh yourself a bit on series and parallel wiring with LEDs as your understanding is a bit off ATM,
you need to also know what the output voltage range is for the driver too, if you left the LEDs wired as Is you will need a driver that can supply somewhere around 12V (for XML), then if the current was maybe set at 5A, then each set of 3 LED would get 5A to share so each LED may get approx 1.65A,
Some drivers can have many LEDs setup in different ways with different pros and cons,

Hey man, got busy again, but have some time right now, and some new info.

I assume what's called the "Pill" is the little circular screw-in "washer" type holder.

Soooo.... the driver on it's own is 26mm in diameter. The depth of the driver is approx 1.5mm, the pill on its own is exactly 3mm in depth, and together of course, the depth is 4.5mm.

The original driver is supposed to output 3A of regulated current. I have no idea how much voltage, but the input voltage was probably around 12v, as 3 18650 batteries are 3.7x3 = 11.1, and usually these batteries can output up to 4.2v with a fresh charge, which would make the total voltage 12.6v

I'm looking at the schematic for these CREE XM-L LED's, and it looks like the foward voltage is 3.1v, and max current is 3A. (Wattage is 10W max)

Ideally, it would be nice to drive each individual LED at the full 3.1v - 3A. I know the original driver probably didn't even get close to that. (I wish I knew what the total current draw was originally, I do know that the "12" LED's were maybe half as bright as my Nitecore TM26 with only 4 LED's)

So that would mean looking into a 12v 9A driver like this one:

Constant Current LED Circuit Driver - 3 Modes, 5.5-12V,9A,SST90

But I doubt the LED's would survive that long the way that they are heatsinked into the Flashlight head (which is to say, almost zero, lol) and I'd definitely have to rewire with beefier wiring.

So instead I was thinking of going meeting it halfway, with something like this:

5 Mode 26mm LED Driver Board 3V 18V 5A for Phlatlight Luminus SST 50 | eBay

So I understand that at 5A, once that current is redistributed thru all the 12 LED's (in the current set of 3 parallel rows of 4 LED's in series) each LED is probably only going to get around 1.1A - 1.3A?

Am I correct in assuming this?

So what direction should I take with this? Should I just get the driver on the ebay link? Or is there something better you could recommend?

 

[RYDorDIE278]

The forward voltage of the XML Led is 3.1V when they are fed 1.5A, but it increases to 3.35V if they were fed 3A(according to spec sheets) you might be pushing it to find a driver that can drive 12 x XML to their full potential,
like you said earlier 10W is max sugested power for these LED so you would be asking for a circuit to push 120W which is a fair whack!
RHD made a driver for a similar light here http://laserpointerforums.com/f67/m...it-more-honest-rhd-buck-18a2ch-v02-92023.html

when i refered to the "pill" i meant the piece the driver attatches to, your light may not have one, please take a pic! ilm have a look around for a good driver when i get the chance

 

[FutureOne]

The forward voltage of the XML Led is 3.1V when they are fed 1.5A, but it increases to 3.35V if they were fed 3A(according to spec sheets) you might be pushing it to find a driver that can drive 12 x XML to their full potential,
like you said earlier 10W is max sugested power for these LED so you would be asking for a circuit to push 120W which is a fair whack!
RHD made a driver for a similar light here http://laserpointerforums.com/f67/m...it-more-honest-rhd-buck-18a2ch-v02-92023.html

when i refered to the "pill" i meant the piece the driver attatches to, your light may not have one, please take a pic! ilm have a look around for a good driver when i get the chance

Wow that's an incredible mod! He has exactly the same light I have, but I have the extension tube to allow 3 batteries instead of 2.

So if he's running two 9A drivers, I'm probably safe running one 9A. I was worried about the tremendous heat this light is going to make, but if he's running his successfully with so much power, I'm sure mine is capable of handling it as well for short durations.