Black Diamond Apollo Pictures

[uplite]

Too bad the smaller lantern uses Rebel, less easy to work with...

By the way...why do you think the Rebel emitter is less easy to work with?

I haven't worked with any Rebels yet, but if you're doing reflow, I'd guess the larger emitter board of the Rebel would be even easier to place than a tiny XPE board. Not true?

-Jeff

 

[gunga]

I reflow using a frying pan and a gas range.

As for ease of use, I suppose you are right. I've never reflowed a rebel, I am just more familiar with XP-E/XP-G (having done a few dozen).

I have never popped anything, tho I have knocked off a few domes...

 

[uplite]

I have never popped anything, tho I have knocked off a few domes...

Same thing.

The datasheet for these components specifies a fairly constrained reflow profile. If you skip the preheat stage (60-180 seconds at 100°-200° C, depending on the solder) or you exceed the rampup rate (3° C/sec max), or you exceed the times or temperatures in the critical zone (183°-260° C), you may cause the trapped gas between diode and dome to expand too fast and "pop" the dome.

The damage to the diode and phosphors is harder to assess, since it is a gradual degradation. The LED may end up dimmer or tint-shifted, but you won't know unless you have a decent integrating sphere and spectrometer to measure it afterwards.

You can hack a toaster oven with precise temperature control to reflow some components, but it's still a gamble with these LEDs. The phosphors and dome are especially sensitive.

Ymmv.

-Jeff

 

[lemlux]

I looked at the Apollos at the Adventure16 store in Solana Beach, Ca yesterday and was surptised theat the packaging read 50 Lumens. Previously I bought a closeout 56 lumen version at REI before they restocked with what I thought was the current 80 lumen version.

What gives with the 50 lumen version?

 

[Ellie]

Hey, thanks for showing your deconstruction! Amazing! I personally love this lantern, and the whole Black Diamond brand really...i always think they come up with innovative, if not a little pricey products.
I am researching for a university project this particular lantern and i've stupidly misplaced the instruction booklet!! i've looked all over the web for one, but no one has seemed to upload one...

so i was wondering does anyone mind looking in their instruction manual for me and telling me the patent number?
i would be forever grateful!!
Thanks!!

 

[dark_hood]

The Black Diamond Apollo lantern has been on the market for about a year now.

Has been on the market ? And if I want to buy one of these now, i will not find it anymore ? :|

 

[afraidofdark]

Edit of my earlier edit: the XP-G warm white emitter works fine. What didn't cut the mustard was my lousy soldering on the positive lead. After I took the lantern apart and discovered this, I resoldered the lead--doing a much better job--and now the Apollo shines with perfect, warm light. I've run it at max for 65 minutes, no problems.

I hope I didn't dissuade folks from trying this particular emitter swap, apologies if I led you astray.




<DISREGARD!>Edit: In real-world use, the heat sinking on the BD Apollo wasn't sufficient for the XP-G. My XP-G went poof after about 30 minutes of use on high

Back to the drawing board.</DISREGARD!>

---

I also modded this lantern, I used a 20mm Indus star with a warm white XP-G from LED Supply. You have to clip one edge of the star to get it to fit but it works great once it's epoxied on, and not too much trouble to center.

Three bits of advice:

(1) don't mess with the screws just under the battery compartment lid, all they do is hold the legs on and they're really easy to strip out. The screws you want are at the bottom of the battery compartment. I took off the screws on the top of the globe also, so that I could handle the reflector separately and test the centering of the star before I epoxied.

(2) the wires from the PCB are really delicate, go easy with them. I broke one and had to solder in a replacement.

(3) leave a bit of the plastic posts that retained the original square LED mount, they help hold the heat sink in position. But you need to trim them down so that the surface of the heat sink is flush.

I love LOVE this lantern with a warm tint :thumbsup:

 

[netprince]

Such a shame about the heatsinking. That warm tint in your picture looks so nice. If you want to try to get it working again, I would test that LED just to make sure its not the driver that died. I use a 2AA battery holder from radio shack, just touch the leads to the LED star for a split second and see if it lights up. (Make sure to get the + and - right!) If the driver died it is possible to to install a nicer driver. I have a b2flex from taskled in my apollo. I have to run it under 500ma due to heat buildup. Good luck!

 

[afraidofdark]

Edit of my earlier edit: the XP-G warm white emitter works fine. What didn't cut the mustard was my lousy soldering on the positive lead. After I took the lantern apart and discovered this, I resoldered the lead--doing a much better job--and now the Apollo shines with perfect, warm light. I've run it at max for 65 minutes, no problems.

I hope I didn't dissuade folks from trying this particular emitter swap, apologies if I led you astray.

 

[Moonsnake]

I had gotten the Apollo largely because I was intrigued by the charger input. I would like to be able to use this product with my solor panels. What is the voltage that goes into the charging port, the typical 5 V typical of USB? So then I'd be able to plug my 5.5 V Brunton panel directly into it? The charging kit doesn't include a 12 V plug, something I like seeing on a portable device.
Just a detail, I like the lantern so far, just trying to see if the battery kit would work for my purposes. How much would it take to recharge the batteries I have in it now directly in the lantern w/o the kit.
thanks,
Moonsnake

 

[Moonsnake]

Has been on the market ? And if I want to buy one of these now, i will not find it anymore ? :|

Easy to find right now

 

[mtang2]

I'm tempted to grab an Apollo and outfit it with a neutral XM-L - I've noticed the Apollos on sale in a few places, and I also noticed that neutral XM-Ls are available at LEDgroupbuy.com. Any thoughts about this?

Also: any advice for a first-timer at modding his own lights? I've been bitten by the flashaholic bug badly!

 

[ama230]

do i as its a fun project that will get great results. The lantern is a great tool and an absolute must have just by itself. Have fun and post pics please. BTW, I had put an XML T6 in mine and its bright but would like to do a warm tint.

 

[Moonsnake]

Got rechargeable battery kit and car charging kit for that at REI, input is 6V, so far working so good, will get outside to really check out hopefully too long.

 

[Arthur]

Great pics and review!

I love the Apollo. I grew up with unusable battery powered lanterns and held the belief for years that gas was the only way to go. About a year ago I needed a lantern for a camping trip and decided to take a chance with the Apollo. Awesome little lantern with great lighting. I didn't know about the rechargeable battery kit for it until I saw this thread, definitely have to check that out, although my batteries are still going strong after a couple of camping trips and use around the house.

One of the better pieces of kit I've bought in a while. Nice for the porch or if your closet has bad lighting.