Sold/Expired Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *CLOSED*

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Mighty fine people we have in this community - my hat's off to all of you.

lovecpf

Chongker, run4jc and scout24, your rings have been shipped! :twothumbs

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

3 more rings created, 2 more PM's sent!

Canada Post didn't reach an agreement and tonight at midnight all shipping stops. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/06/02/canada-post-strike.html

This means I can't mail these 3 rings tomorrow, and there's an excellent chance the rings I mailed yesterday haven't cleared the border yet and are now stuck in the mail system.

The last time we had a strike it lasted 2 weeks before the government ordered everyone back to work, so this might be a similiar situation. Let's give it a few days and see what happens. If it looks like they're in for the long haul, I'll switch to courier service. Fedex Ground offers 5-day shipping to the US for $18. Give me a day or two to research prices and I'll post here after.

If anyone was thinking of ordering, feel free - I'm going to continue making them and just stockpile them for now.

 

[copperfox]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

If I sent you some 5mm LEDs, could you put them into the LED ring? Or alternatively, how hard would it be to replace the LEDs with my own? I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron. I would imagine it would be a little tricky to make sure that the LEDs are at the same height after modding.

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

If I sent you some 5mm LEDs, could you put them into the LED ring? Or alternatively, how hard would it be to replace the LEDs with my own? I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron. I would imagine it would be a little tricky to make sure that the LEDs are at the same height after modding.

I've never tried modding the stock LED's. When I was starting the project, this thread had lots of good info on that. The biggest problem will be the leaf springs as if you don't remove them, you can't lay the ring flat and soldering will be quite difficult. Make sure to mind your resistors too - I wouldn't put red LED's onto a cool white ring since they have such different forward voltages.

I trim the leads on my LED's to exactly 5mm - when dropped through the PCB holes it puts them at just the right height. Make sure they don't lean side-to-side in the holes and I'd recommend trimming the skirts.

I say give it a try! Alternatively, if you're worried about botching your factory ring, I could ship you a ring without the LED's attached. You'd just need to put your own LED's on and then attach the brass springs. Fire me a PM if you want to do that.

Best of luck!

 

[Chongker]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

3 more rings created, 2 more PM's sent!

Canada Post didn't reach an agreement and tonight at midnight all shipping stops. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/06/02/canada-post-strike.html

This means I can't mail these 3 rings tomorrow, and there's an excellent chance the rings I mailed yesterday haven't cleared the border yet and are now stuck in the mail system.

The last time we had a strike it lasted 2 weeks before the government ordered everyone back to work, so this might be a similiar situation. Let's give it a few days and see what happens. If it looks like they're in for the long haul, I'll switch to courier service. Fedex Ground offers 5-day shipping to the US for $18. Give me a day or two to research prices and I'll post here after.

If anyone was thinking of ordering, feel free - I'm going to continue making them and just stockpile them for now.

That's unfortunate, but seems like there's nothing we can do but :candle:

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

That's unfortunate, but seems like there's nothing we can do but :candle:

We're in luck - they're "rotating" strikes and are currently happening in a different province. If I'm reading this correctly, they're still accepting/sending mail everywhere else.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/06/02/canada-post-strike.html

"Despite the walkout, "it's pretty much business as usual today across our network," Canada Post spokesperson Jon Hamilton told CBC News in an email. Even in Winnipeg, things are still open. We haven't sealed anything in Winnipeg at this time. I just don't want people to think we'll shut things down during the union's rotating strikes."

I'm going to swing by the Post Office tonight with a few rings. Everyone who has one in the mail should still receive them as usual. :thumbsup:

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

1pt21 and jsmitty1967 your rings have been shipped! :twothumbs

 

[DavidS]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Mike - ring turned up very quickly, especially as had to get to the UK! Nicely packaged, and swapped in easily, all holes nicely aligned. Colour match is much better than the "angry blues" of the original, and I feel a lot happier now as I'm using my A2 with rechargeables.

Well done on a brilliantly designed and executed product.

DavidS

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Not So Bright, your ring has been shipped!

DavidS, glad to hear it arrived and you like it! Thank you very much for the kind words.

 

[SemperAptum]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Got mine Friday. Haven't gotten around to installing it...can't think of where my mini screw drivers went.

Great soldering job, by the way! First thing my 3-year-old did was grab the ring off the table and say "What's this?" while bending the hell out of one of the LEDs. - Everything looks fine.

Hopefully, I'll try to get around to testing it out tonight. Thanks!

 

[shomie911]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Now that I have a Kroma-Milspec, the warm-white LED ring is just what I need to keep my yellow-green Aviator from becoming redundant. :thumbsup:

Anxiously awaiting my payment PM. :laughing:

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Shouldn't be too much more of a wait shomie911. This week's been super busy but I'm hoping for a free hour one evening after work to get some more made.

And SemperAptum, your story made me grimace and laugh at the same time. :duck:If anything doesn't work, let me know and I'll get you a replacement. You're one of the only people to order a red, so I'm curious to hear what you think of the tint.

 

[Maxbelg]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Hi Calipsoii! My ring arrived today and I've already installed it twice: the first time took 5minutes but I took it out again and roughened up the LEDs with the finest grinding paper, so now I have a VERY smooth beam. (I did the same thing with my stock red LEDs). The tint looks almost exactly like the incandescent main beam. This has changed my A2 into a favorite again and is worth much more than the $17 + shipping that I paid. As a matter of fact I have sent you the $5 difference to your current price: I hate to think you didn't even make a nice profit when making me this AMAZING upgrade for my A2. I hope you are prepared to continue this great service to A2 owners!!!

 

[nanomu]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Hi! I'd like

1x Warm White
$22 +7 = $29

PM when ready, of course, and thanks!

 

[run4jc]

My ring showed up today - yay! Took all of 2 minutes to make the swap with the original ring, and oh what a difference! Coupled with an FM Strion socket and bulb that showed up from a friend, and my A2 is now just about perfect. Mike does a great job with these rings and is great to deal with. Now I just need 2 more!!

Fantastic!!!

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

PM's have been sent.

Thanks to everyone who posted with their comments. It really makes me happy to hear that you guys are liking them so far. As always, let me know if you have any questions or suggestions once you use them a bit.

 

[Knuckles]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Is it safe to use 16340 3.7v rechargeables in this light? I know the OEM LED ring overdrives the LED but I don't want to fry the circuit or blow the incan bulb by putting 7.4v in it.

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Is it safe to use 16340 3.7v rechargeables in this light? I know the OEM LED ring overdrives the LED but I don't want to fry the circuit or blow the incan bulb by putting 7.4v in it.

Yep, you bet it is. On the ring I sent you, the black box with 3 legs is a linear voltage regulator. It'll take anything up to 16V and drop it down to 5V. The resistors take care of the rest. Below 5V, it just runs direct-drive right down until 3.2V when the LED's won't light anymore.

The body of your A2 has an even more advanced voltage regulator in it (that's why one end is closed off). It powers the main bulb and will accept 9V or higher as input.

The only thing I really recommend is that you use AW's protected RCR123 cells (black /w silver label) instead of his IMR16340 cells (red). Reason being, the LED ring currently has no way to indicate when the voltage on your li-ions is getting low. It'd be VERY easy to discharge them too far, permanently damaging the cell and making it unsafe to charge/discharge. On protected cells, the circuit will trip, shutting off the cell and preventing damage.

If you're extremely studious about checking your IMR16340 voltage, you might be able to get away with it, but I wouldn't risk it personally.Always use the same two cells, always ensure they go into your light with the same voltage, and recharge them fully at the same time. Don't let them drop below 3.75V resting voltage.

4.2V – 100%
4.1V – 87%
4.0V – 75%
3.9V – 55%
3.8V – 30%
3.6V – 0%

Hope that helps!

 

[shomie911]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Paypal Sent!

 

[calipsoii]

Re: FS: Homemade Surefire A2 Aviator LED rings (2nd Run) *OPEN*

Solscud007 your rings have been shipped! :thumbsup: