Giving old components a new life.

pe2er

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Messages
380
Location
Europe - Holland - Almere
I Had some parts laying around, left over from previous builds. Instead of binning them, I decided to build yet another bike light :D
Intended for road use. Not the brightest, but still usable.

This is the host; a nine-LED flashlight, powered by 3 x AAA:

Out go the nine LEDS and battery pack, in go:
SSC P4 U-Bin
Driver, 800mA 3,6 - 9 VDC
Lens, ~10°

LED and driver are glued to an aluminium disk, pressed against the lens in the head by the main body of the flashlight. The end-cap switch is made waterproof and re-used.
169mhhe.jpg

The shiny disc in the beam is the old 9-LED light engine.

This is the 'Pre-mod' output:
e6x3xi.jpg

Versus the 'Post-mod' output:
30299aw.jpg


To complete the lighting system, a 6xC NiCd battery pack with Tamiya connectors. At 2400mAh it should provide ~200 Lumens for 3 Hours +.
2evzp79.jpg

296f2ut.jpg

261cdab.jpg
 

MMACH 5

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 14, 2006
Messages
74
Nicely done.
Fry's has those flashlights in their bargain baskets for $2.99.
 

BrianMc

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
940
Yeah. TSC has them at that price too. I have a plastic bodied one from years ago that seem to have better LEDs and I think works better by the in store test. I can pick my way home with it. So I picked one of these up knowing thanks to Pe2er that it can be a host down the road and maybe if the plastic one IS better, do a parts swap, and let Kathryn have the lesser for her purse. How much throw do you need to see to the bottom of a purse, anyway? The three name brand triple A's are $1.95 bought in an eight pack, so there is likely $1.50 worth of batteries in it.

Is there a flashaholics anonymous?
 

pe2er

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Messages
380
Location
Europe - Holland - Almere
Is there a flashaholics anonymous?
:D Must admit that I have been bitten by the bug also. Have more bike and flashlights than a person needs. My son does not mind :)

Our local "Blokker" and "Action" also sell these lights for around €2. The LEDs in them are not so bright as the light from Dx, but that would not be an issue when you plan to convert it. The head however doe snot unscrew from these cheaper lights, so that would change the design some.

Like this light:
 

BrianMc

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
940
Mine is red too. The one I bought yesterday has a slightly larger more uniform beam than the red one. So Kathryn gets the red one.
 
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