E1E - NewBeam

[McGizmo]

OK, encouraged by Lambda to attack an E1E bezzel, I went for the back side and regulated low level, longer burn time LED mod:


A little more info is available at: E1E-NewBeam

Aside from a no-go solder issue, mechanically, the parts went together very well with some mod time on the lathe.

I sure like the little red "reserve" light [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

- Don

[bucken]

Thanks for a really interesting and practical mod. I can already start to see something like your earlier mod, with a Luxeon on one end, and the NewBeam on the other! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Both sharing the same battery!

[Darell]

Sweet!

Doug if you're out there watching - that's what I want mine to look like [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Josh]

way cool!!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[McGizmo]

Bucken,
I think it would be nice to have a double ended light with the New Beam on one end. I think I'll wait and see what's up with the Luxeon 5W. Might be a good choice for the other end. The SF A2 might be the ticket if and when it comes out.....

I have found that I prefer the SF beam shaper
on the New Beam. Has anyone tried Write Right on a New Beam Mod?

I wonder if I could get Opalec to consider going to 312's and maybe even adding a couple of more.........

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Don,

I see you and Lambda are beating SureFire to the LED punch...as Elvis would say, "Vernoss, vernoss indeed".

[JollyRoger]

Don, if I come over and pound on your door, will you make me one of these?

[Sean]

Great Mod!

Any idea how many hours you get before regulation drops out from 1 123A battery?

[DSpeck]

Oh, gee, thanks a lot, Don - now I have to make Darell's custom Newbeam look like an E1e. What have you gotten me into!?! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Well, Darrel, if you want to send me an E1e to install the Newbeam into, be my guest... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I'd be more than happy to accomodate. ...Makes it an expensive light, though... [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Don't worry, I'll come up with something nice - and it will be nice shiny aluminum, not that dull old anodized stuff. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[lambda]

McGizmo,

Great mod!!!!

Did you need only bore the hole out for the Newbeam to fit? What size hole? Does the Newbeam module drop in/out easily? Maybe we can make the Luxeon and Newbeam mods interchangeable in the E1e?

Sorry for all the questions, but that looks really interesting.......

Ok, trying to calm back down now....... [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[McGizmo]

Hi Lambda,
Thanks.
The only modification to the E1E head was boring out the hole. I don't recall the dimension but I went for about .005" or .010" over the OD of the New Beam. Fortunately, I didn't need to remove the bezel or lens like you did. It looks like you're stuck with the optics of the LS to going in from the front; bummer.

I wasted time as well as a LA by fitting the NB module to the LA base. Had I known that you can't solder to the contacts of the LA, I would have turned a plastic adapter base for the NB module.

There is a lot of lattitude with the NB module and I reckon that it could be easily adapted to conform with an E1E head that has been modified for your LS module. The NB module will fall right out of the head. Does yours come out easily as well? You might be on to something here! If SureFire had left the head and bezel an open tube, with the reflector loose, one could put a NB module, your module or the standard LOLA in the light. I really like my SF M2 and hope to make some kind of simple drop in LS 5W lamp assembly for it when the 5W's come out. Since the LA on the M2 includes the reflector, I think this will be a pretty straight forward proposition.


- Don

[John N]

So what is the runtime on this beast?

Also, it might be cool to coat the newly exposed AL with GID paint ala Mr. Glow's "getting a great glow".

-john

[revolvergeek]

Does anybody know if there is enough room in an E1 to do this mod????

[McGizmo]

revolvergeek,

There is plenty of room in the E1 head. Since the head can be bored from the backside, there is no need for removing the lens which doesn't look possible on the E1 anyway. A suitible adapter for transfering the electrical connections from the NewBeam to the SureFire chassis needs to be designed. I reckon that this is a project that DSpeck could easily handle if so inclined.

Frankly, for owners of Arc LS's this appearantly expensive mod can make sense because you can take an E1 and modify it such that it will host the Arc LS along with choice of 123 or AA battery and you can modify the E1 head for the NewBeam.

Result: LOTC power supply with both a LS head for bright spot and a NB head for extended run time and lower level of light.

- Don

EDIT: [ there is one major issue; the new E1 heads have a riveted pocket clip that would need to be removed prior to chucking the head in a lathe and this may be problematical. The rivet head can be ground down and the clip will come off but you are left with a silver nub showing on the head.]

[revolvergeek]

Don,

Funny that you should point that out. My spare E1 bezel/reflector assm. just showed up in UPS this morning. The clip is VERY much indeed riveted on. My original one had a screw holding it in place, but apparently the screw was broken off before i picked it up used (looks like a little bitty helicore down in the hole).

Guess that I may just pick up an E1e-SG ( I prefer the cylindrical bezel to the no-roll) and have that modded instead.

[John Frederick]

Any ideas on the runtime with a 123?

[McGizmo]

John,

Well beyond my attention span as well as bed time. I figure I'll see the red light one of these days. Some one could probably calculate or project this based on the ampacity of the 123 compared to 2 AA cells.

- Don

[dilettante]

Wow! This is a sweet mod! I was thinking about buying an E1e to go with my E2e Outdoorsman and KL1 and have been kicking around the idea of making a DIY Opalec headlamp.

Now that I've stumbled accross this, I think I'll just get the E1e and an Opalec and either do this mod in my brother-in-law's shop or see if I can get one of the modders here to do it for me! I'll have an "extra" EXe head, so I'll be able to choose between Incandescent, LS or Opalec illumination using one or two 123s.

Neither EXe is aimable up and down like a true headlamp, but an EXe clipped to the bill of a baseball cap is "close enough" for most purposes [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[McGizmo]

Dilletante,

If you do go for the mod, leave a slight shoulder in the counter bore to catch the black sleeve of the NewBeam and keep it from passing all the way into the reflector area. This shoulder will bear the battery train compression load and keep the LED's from hitting the lens. The New Beam works real nice on an E2 with the two cells and I would expect the runtime to be very significant!

- Don

[dilettante]

Originally posted by McGizmo:
. . . I wasted time as well as a LA by fitting the NB module to the LA base. Had I known that you can't solder to the contacts of the LA, I would have turned a plastic adapter base for the NB module . . .

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">McGizmo, can you elaborate on this? If I use an adapter base, it seems like I could just do the following:

1. Bore a hole for the newbeam.

2. Design the adapter base to bear the battery train compression load and position the Newbeam correctly in the bezel.

3. Attach the Newbeam to the adapter base.

4. Install the Newbeam and adapter base in the bezel.

[McGizmo]

Dilettante,

Sounds like you have things well in hand. As long as your ground or cathode ring has a tube mating surface that is just under 1/4" within the head and your anode mating surface is flush or slightly within the head, you're good to go. At the time I made a couple of these, I didn't realize that the Opalec could in fact handle 2 123 cells. That was a nice surprise!

- Don