Feuerhand hurricane lamp conversion.

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
Hey all, I am converting an old Feuerhand hurricane lamp to electric and would value some electronics advice.

23bcc4560f0d2302fa9c0ee8e99f902b_zps0thpi78u.jpg


I sprayed the inside of the glass with white paint and it gives a great diffused light!

fc7ef30980d453528a803f12b89f799d_zpsqtzandfw.jpg


Ok so I have mounted a Cree XML 10 watt led to a big heat sink that is also held by the metal frame so heat shouldn't be a problem.

1a8dc506389a7a15b67afd3051fb991a_zpsasvktrqb.jpg


Im using 3 x 18650 batteries in parallel for long runtime.

443ee5b4830218c0ce9d0ec5168fe865_zpskejmhdzo.jpg


I used this buck converter, eBay no. 191592089525 to adjust the brightness and it works a treat other than the fact the tiny adjustment screws on the blue potentiometers are a fiddle.

d369ccb63609808268114d98cd69a1a0_zps04zgcsnz.jpg


I took the voltage pot off and soldered some wires to make it fit into the old filling port of the lamp. It sort of worked using the filler cap with a turn screw spigot that fitted the pot screw but needs to work better!

65f8e0bd7a4a5de971d3d0b5e1632540_zpstoxcxjsv.jpg


So im after some form of voltage potentiometer that can be turned like a house dimmer switch? I would like to make full use of the 10 watt led that drives at 3 amps at 3.35 volts so something that could dim from nothing to full would be cool?

Any advice on what electronic wizardry I need to get is greatly appreciated.

steve
 
Last edited:

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
Thanks, it would work fine as is on one brightness setting although I still need an on/off switch! My DIY dimmer worked ok for a bit until the tiny brass screw started to get graunched up.....bit hit and miss now.
 

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
Ta Bishop, I did see these type things but was getting really confused with the Ohm ratings? Also a lot of them stated a value of 0.4 Watts like the one you show and I didn't know if I needed a 10 Watt version as my led is 10 Watt?
 

pysen78

Forager
Oct 10, 2013
201
0
Stockholm
Really cool, this is. I don't like LED 'faux' kero lanterns as a rule, but I'd make an exception for this one!
I'd advice you to make a new fake burner assembly to put around that copper thingy, and incorporate a regulator into that, maybe with a component like the one Bishop suggested.
You can put an on/off switch under the filling cap instead.
 

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
I really wanted to use the old wick adjuster to regulate the light, that would have pretty cool! There just wasn't room for the electronic bits as well as the copper heat sink and to be able to get it all back together :(

I bought another tiny led lantern a while back and didn't like the white light. I found that the yellow/orange chocolate wrappers out of the old Chrismas selection tin made the light much more akin to a flame so I need to now invest in another tin of Quality Street or Roses ;)

85289a5f25e133ffe42348768ae073f4_zpskowz5it7.jpg
 
Last edited:

Bishop

Full Member
Jan 25, 2014
1,716
691
Pencader
Ta Bishop, I did see these type things but was getting really confused with the Ohm ratings? Also a lot of them stated a value of 0.4 Watts like the one you show and I didn't know if I needed a 10 Watt version as my led is 10 Watt?

The power rating of the replacement potentiometer you will not need to worry about, all the heavy current work will be handled by the chip & toroidal coil in a circuit such as this.
Getting a finger controllable one with the exact same resistance value may be a bit tricky (try RS components ) but if no joy then using the PCB mounted trimmer pot in conjunction with a lower Ohms value replacement will get the numbers pretty close.
 

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
Thanks again! One more question if I may, any idea of the Ohm value I should go for? I can't see any specs of the blue pots on the Buck board?

There is this one with handy pre wired leads at 5000 Ohms......any good?

685b876d83b429ffd5fef6bb52d4e986_zpszcnekchd.jpg


There are plenty of others in the 1k ohm to 1M ohm if this one is not ok, just this one had the wires on!!
 

Bishop

Full Member
Jan 25, 2014
1,716
691
Pencader
Difficult to say for sure, if you cannot see a resistance value printed on the blue pot and googling the shiznitz out of the part number doesn't help then you need to unsolder it from the board and take a reading across it with a multimeter. You'll need a meter to also figure which lead of the replacement pot matches up with the one in the circuit board as often the centre pin is not the variable wiper.

As a fudge joining the old and pretty much any new 10K pot together like this below should work but the of brightness control may be limited to a smaller range like 50-100% or 0-50% brightness depending where the blue pot is set.
firehand-flamp_0_o.jpg
 

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
Cheers again, I appreciate it, and the diagram!

I will have another look at the pot to see if there is a value. I never thought to actually measure the old pot so can give that a try too!
 
Last edited:

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
I sort of got it working but encountered a few problems.

To get full power out the LED I will need more volts so will have to get a series 18650 battery box.

I couldn't measure the pot resistance as removing it with all the glue destroyed it so went for a 10k. It worked ok on a single battery but two in series did some funny things! With lots of messing about I eventually melted some components on my board.

Never mind I also had one of these...

https://www.flickr.com/gp/139209899@N04/40292F

I tested the CV pot and was getting just above 2K ohms??

The handy thing about this board is the lcd display that tells you your output values! So after stripping all the guts out I wired in the new board with 2 batteries in series cobbled together. Whereas with the single battery I was getting about 1.2 Amps to the LED with this I can get near 3 Amps.

So I'm now waiting on some 2k pots and other bits and hope to get this lamp working properly. Will update if successful!
 
Last edited:

mick91

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 13, 2015
2,064
7
Sunderland
I'm pretty sure guitar volume pots would work? Just a variable resistor surely
 

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
Yes maybe those will work. It's finding the correct pot to replace those tiny blue pots on the board without messing up the function too much is the problem I'm having!
 

ateallthepies

Native
Aug 11, 2011
1,558
0
hertfordshire
Yes still attached to the new board. I tested between all pins, some combos gave me zero and others that 2k figure. Would I need to take a pot off then to test?
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE