Anyone still using a Streamlight Enduro/ River Rock 2AAA headlamp?

Just wanted to see if people are still using the SL Enduro / River Rock 2AAA headlamps, and if so, what they are using it for.

I was also curious to see if anyone had tried swapping out the emitter for a 5mm led. I remember seeing posts that described swapping the emitter for a Cree, a Seoul, and a SMJ led, but nothing about a regular 5mm led.

I had been using mine as a backup light on night hikes, but have recently stopped and just use a PT Pulsar, which is just as bright these days. Since then it's just been sitting unused and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.

robostudent5000 said:

Just wanted to see if people are still using the SL Enduro / River Rock 2AAA headlamps, and if so, what they are using it for.

Click to expand...

SL Enduro used to be the utility/tasklight 'biggest bang for your buck headlamp' champion IMO. My Enduros used to see frequent use for nighthikes and for around the campsite. One was always carried as a backup light in my rucksack.


Nowdays I tend to use my EDC Maratac 1AAA keychain light clipped to the hat brim for casual hands free lighting needs. Quick. easy, and always with me when I'm out of the house. More output too if needed.

One of my SL Enduros lives in a kitchen cabinet where it's handy to grab when going out the back door or down into the basement. That Enduro is perfect for taking the trash out when I need hands free light for sure. Also handy for when I have to deal with the furnace, which can sometimes be a tempermental PITA.

Two other Enduros {loaded with lithium AAAs} are stored in vehicles. Perfect hands free light for roadside repairs - plenty of runtime and plenty of light for closeup work.

My SL Enduros have seen a fair amount of use over a period of several years without any issues - they've all been completely reliable.

Sorry, can't help with any Enduro emitter mods. All of mine are stock except that I've added diffusers to improve output for close range work.

Can't see the advantage in changing emitter to a 5mm LED. Maybe reduced output for longer runtime? Runtime is very good with the stock emitter.

.

I don't use it, but have a SL Enduro in the garage for my son and he loves it. It is rugged, cheap and basically kid proof. It is bright enough to make him happy, and decent for night time navigation.

I replaced the 5mm LED in the headlamp with a Nichia GS, or DS. I do not remember which. I also added some glow epoxy around the base of the LED while I was in there. From what I remember, it was a pretty easy mod. I did not notice a big improvement in brightness, but the intense blue tint of the original LED is gone.

Using a quality LED should keep your runtime the same, or make it slightly better. It will likely give you a few more lumens, and will certainly improve the tint.

datiLED said:

I replaced the 5mm LED in the headlamp with a Nichia GS, or DS. I do not remember which. I also added some glow epoxy around the base of the LED while I was in there. From what I remember, it was a pretty easy mod. I did not notice a big improvement in brightness, but the intense blue tint of the original LED is gone.

Using a quality LED should keep your runtime the same, or make it slightly better. It will likely give you a few more lumens, and will certainly improve the tint.

Click to expand...

Can't recall the stock emitter used in the Enduro, but it has too much output on High to be the old style 5mm LED which were limited to around 5 lumens max.

Yes, the Enduro output is quite bluish. In actual use, the tint has never bothered me but it does look terrible on a white wall.

Replacing the stock emitter with a modern 5mm LED outputing around 10 lumens should extend the runtime. Whiter tint would be a bonus and the 10 lumen output would still be fine for many close up tasks.

The stock Enduro is rugged, reliable, watertight, lightweight, compact, and CHEAP.

The newer version Enduro even has a clip built into the housing for clipping it to a hat brim.

If Streamlight would update the emitter to improve the output and tint, the Enduro would be a great headlamp. Even so, for a tasklight used for closeup work or an automotive backup light you could do far worse than a stock Enduro.

.

ringzero said:

Can't see the advantage in changing emitter to a 5mm LED. Maybe reduced output for longer runtime? Runtime is very good with the stock emitter.

Click to expand...

I wanted to try installing a green 5mm LED. I agree that the stock emitter isn't all that bad in actual use, just wanted to try a different color.

datiLED said:

I replaced the 5mm LED in the headlamp with a Nichia GS, or DS. I do not remember which. I also added some glow epoxy around the base of the LED while I was in there. From what I remember, it was a pretty easy mod. I did not notice a big improvement in brightness, but the intense blue tint of the original LED is gone.

Click to expand...

so I guess that means that standard 5mm LEDs will light up on the Enduro's driver. I was concerned the voltage wouldn't be high enough. thank you, that's very good to know.

robostudent5000 said:

I wanted to try installing a green 5mm LED. I agree that the stock emitter isn't all that bad in actual use, just wanted to try a different color.



so I guess that means that standard 5mm LEDs will light up on the Enduro's driver. I was concerned the voltage wouldn't be high enough. thank you, that's very good to know.

Click to expand...

Optimum Vf varies with white and differing color LEDs all having different values.

Don't recall the typical Vf for a green LED offhand, but I'm thinking it'll be lower than Vf for white LEDs generally, so you could overdrive the green LED and destroy it.

Check the Vf for your green LED first.

.

I've still got about 5 or 6 of the River Rock flavor. I actually don't use a headlamp that often, but I appreciate them and still consider them a great value. I've used them camping a couple times, and I have one living in each car, my pack, and around the house.

They've always been sufficient for me, and I'm trying to get myself more into the mindset of "The best is the enemy of the good" - these are quite good, especially for the price point. The only thing I'm looking for now in the headlamp department - the only thing I think I'd replace them with - is a single-AA headlamp with adequate, 2-level (or more) settings. I've had my eye on the Icon Irix, which looks like it would work for me - I love the adjustable output. I'd just like to get my hands on one and see what the output's like.

I love the River Rock 2xAAA headlamp. I've modded the one I always use with a Seoul P4, just like I did to the RR 2xAAA penlight, with the same fantastic results. It pulls the same current as the stock cut-down 5mm LED did, is at least several times brighter, has a much smoother beam and is snow white. I will say it is a bit of a pain to put a power LED in the headlamp, more so than the penlight, because the leads have to be mashed under the base of the LED, requiring good insulation from the slug, in the case of the Seoul. I used old 5mm LED legs flattened on an anvil for leads. I also added a layer of Glad Press'n Seal to the lense, oriented so the resulting oval is horizontal.

I've used it on camping and biking trips, hiking out of the woods at night, finishing the lawn mowing after dark and many home repairs. I have several other well-liked headlamps in rotation, like a simillarly modded Rayovac 1xAA (even harder to do), a Streamlight Argo HP on 17670 and a Zebralight H30, but this one really has a nice balance of levels, runtime and size/weight.

Hondo said:

I love the River Rock 2xAAA headlamp. I've modded the one I always use with a Seoul P4, just like I did to the RR 2xAAA penlight, with the same fantastic results. It pulls the same current as the stock cut-down 5mm LED did, is at least several times brighter, has a much smoother beam and is snow white. I will say it is a bit of a pain to put a power LED in the headlamp...

Click to expand...

Good job getting the SSC P4 into your headlamp!

A few years ago someone here posted an SSC P4 Enduro mod, including step by step pics on how to do it. Maybe that was you.

Was tempted to try, but it looked too difficult for my modest modding abilities. However, I'd love to have an Enduro with SSC P4, or any modern emitter for that matter.

Its compact size, light weight, and robust design make the Enduro an outstanding little host. The fact that it runs on 2AAA instead of 3AAA like most headlamps is also nice.

Hopefully Streamlight will eventually get around to putting a better emitter in the Enduro. Even an emitter from a MicroStream or StylusPro would be a huge improvement over the present setup.

.

so, i finally modded one of my RR 2AAA headlamps. but instead of using a 5mm LED like i'd planned, i used a Lux 1 i took out of a PT Eos. i popped the reflector out of the bezel and, combined with the Lux, ended up with an almost neutral tint, flood lamp just bright enough for close work and reading in bed. the Lux is only marginally brighter than the stock LED, but the color is much better. much better.

here's the stock RR in progressive states of disassembly starting with the bezel removed. the PCB was a little tricky; had to depress the button and keep it down to pull out the board:
(dead pic link removed)

i desoldered the stock LED, and soldered in some wires. the + and - terminals are clearly marked on the board:
(dead pic link removed)

i glued a nut to the retaining plate to mount the star onto, then reassembled the lamp. reinstalling the PCB also involved depressing the button and keeping it down while sliding the board into place. the lamp didn't light up the first couple tries and i realized the springs on the board weren't making contact with the contacts on the battery holder:
(dead pic link removed)

glued the star to the nut, soldered the wires to the star:
(dead pic link removed)

finished product with a spare bezel w/ sanded lens.
(dead pic link removed)

the reflector has to be removed for the star to fit. the reflector and lens can be pushed out through the front of the bezel by hand.

i thought about doing this with a Seoul cuz i think doubling the output would make this a really useful utility light, but then nixed the idea. i like the low as it is. it's just right for looking for stuff in the tent in the middle of the night without bothering anyone.

Edit (6/22): went ahead and did XR-E, then XP-G versions of the mod. pics of updated versions are here.

I think I still have 2 or 3 of the River Rock 2xAAA version laying around. I have one in the basement by the washer and dryer in case I ever need additional light there, but I don't really use them any more because the blue tint is so annoying. I have been wanting to try my hand at modding, one of the River Rocks would probably be a good starting point. Since I have never done any modding, never even done any soldering, I don't want to start on something I really like so the River Rock would be a good learning platform. I didn't realize there were threads here about modding them; I will do some searching and go from there. Thanks for the idea!

rumack said:

I think I still have 2 or 3 of the River Rock 2xAAA version laying around. I have one in the basement by the washer and dryer in case I ever need additional light there, but I don't really use them any more because the blue tint is so annoying. I have been wanting to try my hand at modding, one of the River Rocks would probably be a good starting point. Since I have never done any modding, never even done any soldering, I don't want to start on something I really like so the River Rock would be a good learning platform. I didn't realize there were threads here about modding them; I will do some searching and go from there. Thanks for the idea!

Click to expand...

this is just my second mod. i didn't have a soldering iron either until i did my first mod a few weeks ago. i did my first mod with a super cheap $5 30W soldering iron and didn't use flux. that was the wrong thing to do. the cheap iron didn't heat evenly and there wasn't enough flux in the rosin core solder for the job. for this mod, i bought the $9 Radioshack 25W iron and a tub of flux. made things a thousand times easier. in fact, i went back and redid my first mod to clean up the crappy work i did on that one. also, i recommend using a solder pump instead of solder wick for de-soldering. you can get decent solder pumps on eBay for a couple dollars. good luck!

Just for clarity, this mod can be done with the reflector, as I did, when using just a bare emitter. It is a pain, as you have to have very skinny wires, I used flattened 5mm LED leads. I also had to dremel a notch in the LED base to clear one of the SMD components on the board. Because the Seoul emitter I used has a positive slug, I had to coat the bottom with some sort of insulation, I used Arctic Alumina adhesive, plus a bit of specialty electrical tape, to keep it from shorting against the bare leads. It barely packages, but I did not have to mod the reflector, and it still focused nicely. There is no way to get any heat sinking either, other than what goes out through the wires, but this light runs at such low currents, it is not a problem.

Hondo said:

Just for clarity, this mod can be done with the reflector, as I did, when using just a bare emitter. It is a pain, as you have to have very skinny wires, I used flattened 5mm LED leads. I also had to dremel a notch in the LED base to clear one of the SMD components on the board. Because the Seoul emitter I used has a positive slug, I had to coat the bottom with some sort of insulation, I used Arctic Alumina adhesive, plus a bit of specialty electrical tape, to keep it from shorting against the bare leads. It barely packages, but I did not have to mod the reflector, and it still focused nicely. There is no way to get any heat sinking either, other than what goes out through the wires, but this light runs at such low currents, it is not a problem.

Click to expand...

pics?

Sorry, I had not even figured out how to post pic's when I did this one. Not much to see when it is mounted, just an emitter mashed flat on the PCB, with flat bare leads curling up from beneath the emitter's base to the leads. It's all about how little space you can use to get the power out from the PCB holes under the LED and up to the LED leads. What ever the little component was that I was notching the LED base for (looks like the transistor, just above "R2" in your photo), I should have done a bit more, as it still sits a little high, with the Seoul dome actually touching the edge of the reflector hole, but the beam was fine, so I called it done.

Nice work. Nice pictures too, especially the 3rd from the end!

gcbryan said:

Nice work. Nice pictures too, especially the 3rd from the end!

Click to expand...

thanks man. i've had this camera for over 5 years and i only recently learned how to use the "extreme closeup" function so i've been looking for excuses to use it.