in this video i'm going to show you how tobuild a phenomenally bright 1000w equiv. led flashlight.it's designed to be operated with just one hand, with easy control of brightness, andcan be powered by either batteries or an ac adapter.it has two modes, flood light mode and spot light mode, which makes it very useful fora variety of different situations. just like with my diy led panel it uses avoltage based dimmer, making the it suitable for video or photography work due to a completelack of flicker. as it's such a bright light you can get some really interesting shotswith it, whether you want to illuminate a scene to emulate moonlight, or add some drama,or raise the suspense with some ufo invasions...
for indoor shots it can be bounced off wallsto act like a giant softbox, or used as a rim or hair light. the possibilities reallyare endless. non-photographic uses range from using itas a work light to help visibility while working, to just using it as a super bright portablefloodlight rather than those puny little flashlights most of us have. handy if you ever go camping!you can find a complete parts list in the description, along with purchasing links.this is going to be a long video so grab a drink and let's get going.so the first thing we need for this build is obviously the led itself. these leds areextremely bright, but they also get extremely hot. so to keep it cool we'll be mountingit to a computer processor heatsink. these
vary in size and shape depending on whichyou buy, but you should be able to adapt the design if you can't find the one i used.as the led requires around 30v, we'll be powering it with a voltage booster so that we can uselower voltage power sources, like batteries or laptop adapters.as this voltage regulator will be handling a lot of power we need to enhance its cooling.to do this, we could simply put a fan on top of it, which would make the build simpler.this however would add more noise, so instead, what we'll be doing is mounting it betweenthe main heatsink's heatpipes so that the voltage regulator can be cooled by the mainheatsink instead. as it's a bit of a tight fit we need to re-arangesome components.
we'll start by removing the regulator's ownsmall heatsinks. to do this we need to remove the screws holding them in place and meltthe solder on the supports underneath, using a screwdriver to pry them off the board.once they're both removed we need to also detach the ics they were screwed to. we canjust rock them back and forth until they come free, but as they aren't identical we'll workon one at a time so that we don't mix them up.once the first one's off, we can get three short lengths of wire, around 6cm long, anduse them to re-attach the ic, making sure that each pin gets connected to its originalcontact point. it's literally just an extension. we need to repeat the process for the otheric as well.
as the capacitors are also a bit too tall,we can desolder them as well and, using some stiff wire to extend the contact points, mountthem horizontally instead. we need to keep the polarity same by connectingthe pins marked by the striped edges to the sections marked with diagonal lines. the regulator is now thin enough to slot inbetweenthe heatpipes with plenty of room to spare. now it's time to work on the dimmer controls.the first step is to remove the regulator's trimmer potentiometer.to do this, we need to add plenty of solder to the three pins underneath so that theyjoin up, and pull the trimmer away from the board at the same time, being careful of anyflying solder. once the trimmer is disconnected,
we can make sure that the pads on the bottomare no longer joined up by the extra solder that was added. so now what we're going to be doing is buildingthis simple circuit, which is basically an adjustable resistance divider.we'll start with the actual brightness knob. so we need to get a 10k potentiometer andsolder a coloured wire to its left most pin, with the shaft facing upwards. now we cansolder an 11k resistor to the middle pin, adding a black wire to the other end afterwards.next we can twist some additional wire lengths to the ends, keeping the colours the samefor consistency. this leaves two exposed points to which we can solder to in a second.now we can get the trimmer potentiometer that
was removed from the voltage regulator andagain solder an 11k resistor to its middle pin. now we can solder the exposed sectionof the black wire to the other end of this resistor, and solder the exposed section ofthe green wire to the pin underneath the golden adjustment knob. it's now ready to be connected to the voltageregulator. so we'll solder the green wire to innermost contact point where the trimmerpot used to be, and the black wire to the outermost point, ignoring the centre pin.the next thing to do is extend the input and output connections using reasonably thickwire. an old mains cable is perfect for this. we need to take careful note of the polarityso we don't accidentally connect it up the
wrong way later. the polarity is written onthe top of the pcb, but when looking at it from underneath, the two sets of pins on theleft are the output set, which get connected to the led later, and the two pins on theright are the input set, which will be hooked up to a power source.the last thing to do is crimp an additional pair of wires to the input connectors. theseare for adding a fan later. so that's pretty much it with the electronics.now we can mount it to the heatsink. so let's slide it between the heatpipes anduse a sharp object to mark the centre point of each of the screw holes in the aluminiumfin below. now we can use a 2mm drill bit to drill throughthe fins at these points, using a screwdriver
afterwards to push out the waste.as we don't want anything on the bottom of the voltage regulator to get shorted out whenit's mounted to the aluminium fin, we can cut out a piece of clear packaging plasticand again punch holes through it corresponding to the holes on the voltage regulator.now we can push some m2 (2mm) screws through the regulator into these holes, with a nylonspacers in-between. once that's done we can now screw it in place.before doing so we need to add the retention bracket that came with the heatsink as wewon't be able to add it later. now we can use some pliers to hold some m2nuts in place and use them to firmly attach the voltage regulator.so that just leaves the ics, which can now
be mounted to the heatsink base using someheatsink plaster, which is essentially thermal glue.we need to use a decent amount as the metal backs on the ics does not want to make electricalcontact with the heatsink base. we can clamp them in place and use a multimeter to checkthat the metal pads really are isolated from the aluminium they're glued to. if all iswell we can leave them to dry for around 10 hours.after which we can remove clamp and again confirm that the metal pads are indeed isolatedfrom the aluminium. now we can hook the input wire up to a dc power source, and monitorthe output wires with a multimeter. we have to make sure the main potentiometer is turnedfully clockwise, and then adjust the trimmer
potentiometer until the multimeter reportsthat the regulator is outputting exactly 30v. adjusting the main potentiometer should nowslide the output voltage up and down between around 26v to 30v.before we start working on the frame we might as well sort out the power source for thefan. the power source is going to be a mini voltage step down regulator, which we canuse do finely adjust the fan speed later. so we need to take off the top fin of theheatsink, and drill two holes in it for the mini voltage regulator. now we can screw iton with two nuts and two bolts, again using some packing plastic to prevent it from touchingthe fin. the fin can then be mounted back on the heatsinkand secured in place again with a small amount
of superglue. now it's time to start on the metal frame.to make it we'll need four 60cm aluminum right angle lengths.the first thing to do is get one length and use a knife to mark its centre. now we need to make four marks - two 8cm fromthe centre, and the others 25.7cm from the centre.now we can use a right angle to score a v shape at each of these marks, with the pointof the v meeting the central edge of the aluminium bar.we can now cut out these v shapes using a hacksaw, smoothing the edges off afterwardsusing a file.
the next step is to position the heatsink'smounting bracket at the center of the bar, but on the side without any v cutouts, andmark its hole points using something sharp. we can then use an m3 bit to drill throughat these points, making sure that we don't drill into the table by using some scrap woodunderneath. in addition to the bracket holes we need todrill two holes on either side of the vs, about 1cm out from their central points, againon the uncut side. the last step is to drill a hole at each endof the bar about 1cm from the very end. we need to do all this twice so that we havetwo identical bars. now we can get a spare piece of aluminiumbar and use it to bend the v cuts against
a table. we need to use plenty of pressureto make the bends as tight as possible. once they're done they should look somethinglike this. now we can cut a 16cm length off one of thespare bars and drill a 10mm hole in its centre for a quarter inch to 3/8 inch adapter screwto fit through, and use a 3/8 nut to bolt it in place, tightening it up with a penny.this can now be screwed to the one of the frames using m3 nuts and bolts, forming the base.next we can cut out four 11cm uprights for the base, but before screwing them on we needto cut down the edges and then file them down so that they fit nicely inside the bends.as you can see here, i already drilled a matching pair of holes in the uprights for the screws.this was done using the same 3mm drill bit
so that the screws can just go right throughand get secured in place with m3 nuts. the last step is to add some rubber feet,and that's the base completed. now it's time to work on the handle whichattaches to the upper frame. the first thing to do is make the supportsfor it, so what we need to do is get a 17cm length of aluminium bar and cut out a 90 degreev in its centre, and drill two m3 holes on the opposite side.lastly we can make two 130 degree cuts, both 1cm from either end.using a clamp on the 1cm offshoot we can then bend up the bar so that it becomes parallelwith the adjacent cut. now we can bend the v-cut and screw it tothe upper frame. we need to make two of these
supports, one for either side.now the supports are in place we can work on the handle itself. what we need to do forthis is cut off another length of aluminium, this one 17.5cm long, and cut two large holesin it for the potentiometer and a power switch. the diameters of both of these holes dependon the size of the components you choose, so use your own judgement here. the powerswitch i'll be using is a high-current circular one, which required quite a wide 15mm hole.just like with the uprights, each end has to have its corner filed off for when it getsscrewed to the supports. to make the padded handle we need to get adishcloth and roll one end up a few times to fill inside the aluminium bar and thenwrap the rest of it the whole way around,
using gaffa tape to hold it in place.to make it look a bit neater, we can get a piece of false leather and fold it in on itself,with the underside of the material facing outwards. now we can staple it together alongthe outer edge, and then invert it so that we're left with a cylinder.we can now fold over the edges and use some superglue to hold them in place.the whole thing can then be pulled over the padding and held firmly in place with cableties. now we can add the switch, but before securingit in place we need to solder two thick wires to it. again, an old mains cable is perfectfor this. now we can add the switch and pull throughthe main potentiometer, securing it in place
with its nut.the handle can now be screwed to the supports. as you can see, i used some cable ties tohold the wires in place, and to secure the trimmer potentiometer so that it can be adjustedif needed. so now we're at the point where we can placethe heatsink inside the bottom frame, and screw the upper frame to it, encasing theheatsink inside. now we can finally add the led, but beforedoing so we need to add a small strip of electrical tape on each side of the base. this is toprevent the led's contacts from accidentally touching the heatsink and shorting out. wewon't add any heat paste yet, but instead solder the voltage regulator's output wiresonto it.
it's important that these are connected theright way around as the led simply won't light up if they aren't.after the wires are soldered on we need to add some more electrical tape on top to protectagainst shorts. now it's time to add the heatpaste to helpthermal conductivity. so we need to lift up the led and add a pea-sized amount to thecentre of the base, and squash the led back down on top. we don't need to press it downmuch as that'll be taken care of when we tighten up the brackets which we can now add.the brackets may vary depending on what heatsink you use, but the process should be similaroverall. once they're in place they can be very tightly screwed together, ensuring asecure mount and good thermal contact for
the led.with the light now almost complete, there are only a few small jobs left.the first thing we can tackle is the power connection. for this all we need to do isconnect a female xt60 connector to another length of thick wire, and then have the negativewire of this connect directly to the voltage regulator's negative input wire.the positive wire can be routed through the switch before connecting it up to the regulator'spositive input wire. it's important that you don't get the polaritymixed up as it can damage the regulator and pop the capacitors if it gets hooked up thewrong way around, so double check before powering it on for the first time.we can also add a knob to the potentiometer
at this point.so now we can try it out! all we need to do is hook it up to a power source capable ofdelivering at least 100w. an old laptop adapter is ideal for this, and it's just a case ofeither making a little adapter with a male xt60 connector and a female round connector,or by chopping of the end and soldering the xt60 connector directly to it. we will begoing over more power options, including batteries, in more detail in just a minute.as it's very bright be careful not to look at the led directly.we mustn't have it on full brightness for very long at the moment as we still need toadd the fan to keep the heatsink cool. so what we can do first is solder the additionalfan wire connectors to the mini regulator's
input, again being careful of the polarity.now we can mount the fan, but before soldering it to the mini regulator we need to poweron the light again and turn the regulator's trimmer potentiometer counter clockwise untilits blue light goes off. this just means that we won't fry the fan with too much voltage.we can now solder the fan's red and black wires to the mini regulator's output, ignoringthe yellow wire. the mini regulator's trimmer potentiometercan now be adjusted clockwise again until the fan starts spinning. we need to adjustit so that it keeps the led cool whilst not making too much noise. a good way to checkwhether the led is cool is by simply touching its aluminium base. you should be able tokeep your finger on it indefinitely even after
10 minutes of being on full power. don't touchthe front of the led whilst it's on as the light output itself can warm up your hand,giving you an inaccurate perception of how hot the led really is.as the heatsink is so large it's possible to have the fan barely make any noise at allwhilst keeping the temperature under control. so, as this is a flashlight it'll be prettyuseful to have it run off batteries, so what we'll work on now is the battery mount. theway this is done with elastic allows the light to be used with many different battery sizesand shapes, and it also allows you to strap on an ac adapter if needed.so to make it we'll get small aluminium sheet, just big enough to cover the back, and cuttwo groves in each side. i cut mine too close
together; ideally they need to be the samedistance apart as the height of the battery we're planning on using.after cutting them we can smooth them off with some sand paper.now we can drill four holes in the corners, corresponding to the spare holes on the backof the flashlight. we can also prepare an aluminium angle to act as a support for thebattery. the fifth hole in the middle is to allow adjustment of the fan speed, as it goesthrough to the mini step down regulator. to make the straps it's just a case of gettingsome elastic and stapling them into loops, then slotting them into the groves and gluingthem in place. the whole panel can then be screwed to theback of the flashlight.
lastly we can mount a battery low voltagealarm, so that we can avoid over discharging li-po or li-fe batteries, should we chooseto use them. although, if you'd rather have the battery disconnect itself automaticallyrather than just beeping, i have actually designed a circuit that can do just that.you can find a link to an extensive guide on how to make it in this video's description.the light can be powered by any source that has a voltage between 12v to 24v, so longas it can supply 100w. if you want to use an ac adapter, you can check its output wattageby multiplying its output voltage by its output current.as for batteries, rc lipo or li-fe batteries are a good cheap option, and are readily availablefrom webstores like hobbyking.
my particular battery didn't come with theright connector, so it's just a case of carefully soldering on a male xt60 connector, takingextra precautions against short circuits, as the battery can be killed if the wirestouch. now that it's wired up we can plug it in.before we turn on the flashlight we can press the button on the voltage alarm to cycle throughthe trigger voltage. we can set it at 3.6v, as when lipo batteries hit this voltage they'remore or less empty. i found the beeper to be way too loud so ibunged up the horns with some blue tack. now we can try it out.as you can see, the light is incredibly bright. the throw is also quite wide, like a floodlight,which is handy for some situations but not
when you need it to shine into the distance.so, what we can do is make a removable lens to focus the light.to do this we'll need a reflector and lens - both of these are designed specificallyfor the led we used and aren't very expensive. the problem is that when the lens is put infront of the led it brings the led's yellowish rim focus, which looks pretty ugly. so whatwe can do before fitting it is sand down the flat part of the glass element, using somewater to help the process, until it becomes finely frosted.here's what it looked like before. and now after. much better. now we can get the reflector and file offthe noggins on the bottom. once they're removed
we can glue the lens to it.to allow the lens to be removed we can tie some thin elastic into a loop and thread itover the heatsink's bracket, and then insert the glass.now we can glue the elastic to the lens's rim.this makes it easy to attach and remove, allowing you to quickly switch between flood lightmode and spot light mode. anyone else think it's looking like the shipfrom flight of the navigator? anybody? no? just me then. so that's the light completed! as i mentionedearlier it's useful for many different things, making it a very versatile light.
so i think this is the longest diy perks videoi've done so far! if you've enjoyed it don't forget to hit that like button and maybe considersubscribing. i hope you stick around for my next videoin which i'll be showing you how to make some really charming led mushroom lights. they'revery fun to make and you can create a great variety of designs for either indoor or outdooruse. you can watch it by clicking the annotation on screen or by following the link in thedescription. so, stay awesome guys. i'll see yuh next time.