Using glow paint and powder

[Rees]

Well, i'm willing to take that risk for now with this cheap light and if i feel lucky move up something better.

 

[FRITZHID]

well Good Luck in your endeavor! we await your results!

 

[Rees]

Me too i'm excited to try this out. I will buy a few maybe and try different things for best results and have a control light to compare if adding glow to the optic messes with the light output.

 

[Rees]

Well here's a little update, added the glow paint to the back of the optic. It now has a large smooth flood instead of having a concentrated beam. Ill post pics when I get home. I can't say the beam is undesirable, but I honestly didn't think it would change the beam pattern, but you learn as you go I guess.

 

[hank]

Now, if you could paint the inside of another cone -- slightly _bigger_ than the outside of the optic -- you can preserve the air gap.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

A paper cone with GITD paint should work nicely.

 

[MikeAusC]

. . . . but I honestly didn't think it would change the beam pattern, but you learn as you go I guess.

. . . or you could have listened to those who understood how TIRs work, and predicted the result you saw - "Anything applied to the outside of a TIR cone will stop the internal reflection"

 

[AnAppleSnail]

. . . or you could have listened to those who understood how TIRs work, and predicted the result you saw - "Anything applied to the outside of a TIR cone will stop the internal reflection"

There's something to be said for experimenting - indeed, I did not know to what extent it would affect it. Rees, if you buy another Duramax, would you post comparative beamshots? I'm curious to see them side-by-side, nothing fancy needed. I would also like to see a "Macro Mode" shot of the GITD-painted TIR sitting on a table, if it comes out. Thank you!

+1 for trying things.

 

[FRITZHID]

There's something to be said for experimenting - indeed, I did not know to what extent it would affect it. Rees, if you buy another Duramax, would you post comparative beamshots? I'm curious to see them side-by-side, nothing fancy needed. I would also like to see a "Macro Mode" shot of the GITD-painted TIR sitting on a table, if it comes out. Thank you!

+1 for trying things.

I Agree, experimentation is how many of todays inventions came to be. there's nothing wrong with messing something up unless it hurts someone as long as you learn from it!
i self educated myself on electronics from the age of 5 until collage and most of that was trial and error (mostly error! lol) and now have a deg in electronics engineering, but i wouldn't have gotten that far without the experiments in my youth.
keep it up i say! and post what you learn here so others can learn with you, offer advice, and take other approaches to find their own results!

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Okay, i bought one and experimented - I put a GITD O-ring from my Solarforce in, wrapped around the optic. It works fairly well. Pics later.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

It works fairly well. I can't get a decent photo of it without my DSLR, but here is what I did:

Green peeking through

Blurry shot of O-ring wrapped around. It shines through the optic fairly well. In pitch darkness I can pick up the light by seeing the glow, blast light into my closed palm, and then see to get to the bathroom and back with the light off.

 

[Rees]

Ok well here the only photo i got of the light with glow paint on the optic before i removed the paint.

left is painted one, it made it a flood light and lost throw, and right is control light.

Im going to post pics shortly of my new work I did right after I took the paint off last week (been kinda lazy).

 

[Rees]

Heres two lights I did with some small tubing I found at joanne fabrics.

Some glow shots

my 2D maglite glowring

 

[greenlight]

If the project is more important than the flashlight, then paint away. I use nail polish and just dust the top with the GID paint until it's covered. You want to get it as close as possible to the LED.