This of course is not about building anything equivalent to the new Niteflux Redzone. However it is a little bit inspired by this very nice new light, hence the post title. Several years ago I purchased a small, non-flashing Zetex-based conversion board from BikeCurrent list member Jonathan Edelson. It provided my old Vistalite VL300 tail light with 6 Nichia superflux LEDs - 4 red and 2 orange - and turned it into the brightest rear light in my bike shed at the time. Inspired by my recent positive experience with the very bright but rather expensive RedZone I decided I'd have a go at rejigging another old Vistalite I had at the very bottom of my parts box.
As some may recall, the VL-300 has a strong 80mm X 55mm rectangular domed case and is powered by 2 X AA batteries. The original had a nice quality clicky switch with a yellow rubber boot over it. I retained all of this, removing only the internal 3-LED board and swapping around the battery contacts (which just push-fit onto plastic flanges). I used a bit of Veroboard, 6 red superflux leds from Topbright (supposedly 100ma, 50,000mcd) and a Lumidrive 500ma Micropuck from Cutter Electronics with all leads cut to 25mm. It's all held in place quite nicely with hot glue as I couldn't be bothered with using the existing screws and fasteners. Works well.
Here are the new internals. The Micropuck is just glued to the projecting non-drilled end of the board:
And here's a comparison with the Visalite Edelson board (on the right):
The Edelson board used 2 orange LEDs in the central position which may give it a slightly brighter or more noticeable cast, but there's probably no real difference - both are very bright. Results below:
I have a bit of a 'waste not, want not' philosophy and am pleased I've been able to give the light a new lease on life. I have a couple more of these old VL-300s and will probably have a go at modding them as well, maybe with white superflux leds for the front (I have a clear front for one of the lights). These two will go on the back end of my new Big Dummy cargo bike as the Vitsalite handlebar brackets I have seem a perfect fit for the BD's rear pannier frames.
Sam
As some may recall, the VL-300 has a strong 80mm X 55mm rectangular domed case and is powered by 2 X AA batteries. The original had a nice quality clicky switch with a yellow rubber boot over it. I retained all of this, removing only the internal 3-LED board and swapping around the battery contacts (which just push-fit onto plastic flanges). I used a bit of Veroboard, 6 red superflux leds from Topbright (supposedly 100ma, 50,000mcd) and a Lumidrive 500ma Micropuck from Cutter Electronics with all leads cut to 25mm. It's all held in place quite nicely with hot glue as I couldn't be bothered with using the existing screws and fasteners. Works well.
Here are the new internals. The Micropuck is just glued to the projecting non-drilled end of the board:
And here's a comparison with the Visalite Edelson board (on the right):
The Edelson board used 2 orange LEDs in the central position which may give it a slightly brighter or more noticeable cast, but there's probably no real difference - both are very bright. Results below:
I have a bit of a 'waste not, want not' philosophy and am pleased I've been able to give the light a new lease on life. I have a couple more of these old VL-300s and will probably have a go at modding them as well, maybe with white superflux leds for the front (I have a clear front for one of the lights). These two will go on the back end of my new Big Dummy cargo bike as the Vitsalite handlebar brackets I have seem a perfect fit for the BD's rear pannier frames.
Sam
