Rayovac Extreme 300 Lantern - replacing the LED (Mod)

coachclass

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I decided to start a new thread for this since the previous thread was 150+ replies but had different conversation topics. I wanted a thread that stuck to how to modify the LED on the Rayovac Extreme 300. How to take it apart, how to remove the original LED, and how to soldier in a new one.

This is the original post, which you can read for more info.

I just recently replaced the original LED with a Cree XP-G neutral-white. Here's the two parts I brought:

LED from Shiningbeam:
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-24/**NEW**-Cree-XP-dsh-G-R4/Detail

Arctic Silver Alumina Thermal epoxy
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009IQ1BU/?tag=cpf0b6-20

The basic steps are to take the thing apart, remove the old LED, and resoldier the new LED. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. Sorry. But here's a few pictures from other CPF users. I'll just put them all here for ease of reference. Credit goes to the original posters:

Taking apart pictures from <netprince>
http://oneitguy.com/blog/rayovac-sportsman-extreme-xml-upgrade

Another picture:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/706/xpgneutralsolderedin.jpg/

Amazon customer picture of LED:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018S4XIS/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Details:
Ok, like everyone saids, you start by taking out the three screws inside the battery compartment. Pretty simple.

Next, you remove the outer housing from the inner housing, revealing the LED. I'm really stupid, because at first I thought you have to yank on the globe diffuser. You don't. If you look carefully at the rim of the battery compartment, you'll see two plastic walls. The outer housing (holding the globe diffuser) is actually slipped over the inner housing holding the LED/battery housing. You just put your finger on the wall of the battery compartment and slide the two plastic cases past each other. <netprince>'s first picture shows this well.

Next, removing the LED. This was tricky for me. If you look at the Amazon picture dated Feb 2011, you can see that the original LED is on a green PCB. If you look at <netprice> second picture, his original LED is on a white PCB. Both the green and white PCB picture show two "rivets". Others have said you have to drill this out to take the PCB off.

But, the Rayovac lantern I brought in November didn't have rivets. It had a white PCB, but no rivets. It was glued onto the aluminum heat sink. It looked like <netprince>'s picture of the white PCB, but no rivets. I ended up using sand paper to just sand the whole darn thing down to the aluminum heat sink underneath. Not the most graceful solution, but I'm not very handy.

Next, I used the arctic silver thermal epoxy to glue the new LED to the aluminum base. You basically mix the compound together to create a paste, which sets in a few minutes. You want to put a nice layer of it on the aluminum heat sink and plop the new LED on top, squishing it down a bit to get as much contact as possible.

Next, soldier the two wires, and you're done. Note, I had to unsoldier the two wires from the control circuit in order to fish them through the hole on top of the heat sink. Also, I tested the LED before spreading the adhesive, just in case I got a dud.
 
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coachclass

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I'm somewhat satisfied with the results. Again, wish I had taken pictures to show you guys. I wish I went with a warmer LED. The top reflector on the Rayovac seems to filter out some of the "warm" spectrum of the LED, leaving the light more white/cool white.

As far as thermal dissipation, I'm not sure. I've had it on the lower setting (it only has two settings, high and low) for a few hours. Hasn't burned up. I've had it on the high setting for 20 minutes or so (edit: had it one over 1hr now). It's still going, but I don't feel any heat at the base, which might mean that I don't have enough thermal conduction, I'm not sure. I also didn't take any voltage measurements to know how hard the LED is being driven, so I'm not sure how much heat to expect. I'm using 3 eneloop AA's inside AA to D battery adapter.

Note, you can get AA to D battery adapters that hold two AA per adapter, so it's possible to fit 6 AA batteries in the battery compartment. That should run a long long time. But, note that the three D-cell slots are wired up in series, so if you use the double AA adapters, you HAVE to use 6 AA batteries (three pairs), which makes matching batteries more difficult. You can't just use one 2xAA, and two 1xAA adapters; no mixing and matching like that.
 
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Vesper

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Great info coach, -it's been on my to-do list to get a warmer led in mine. Where do you get the AA to D adapters?
 

coachclass

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The ones I have came with a battery charger. I've seen them at the usual suspects - ebay, meritline, buy.com, etc for cheap.
 

Doogman

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I just ordered some 2AA -> D adapters from ebay.

[link removed]

From the pictures, they seem a little nicer than the adapter DX sells but are a bit more expensive.

Ideally, it would be nice to get cheap 3AA -> D (parallel) adapters, but they don't seem to exist.
 

Kif

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Wow, thanks for the instruction.
Time to get the parts and start my first mod :)

BTW, the light works great with my Eneloop AA batteries + Eneloop AA->D adapters
 

CyberCT

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I wonder what the runtime is starting on high and keeping on high for about six hours? How hot would six hours get? I have dual AA to D cell adapters, so I could fit 6 eneloops in there. As long as it does not not get too hot I am excited about doing this as my first mod. It looks pretty easy. How much brigher is it now than with the stock three LEDs?
 

CyberCT

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Well I just bought the Arctic Silver Alumina Thermal epoxy, one more lantern, and 2 of those neutral white XPG-R5s. This is my first mod and it looks easy enough. I find this lantern to be the best I have come accross for camping. It hinges on both ends, the output is great, it's very rugged, and the ability for the top to come off and hang the lamp upside down works great in situations like hanging it on a branch from a tree, pointed to the BBQ grill or fire for cooking.

I also want to get a better driver than the stock. I know SHining Beam makes some, but I don't know what would be the best driver for the XPG-R5. Can anyone help?
 

Chrisdm

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I just bought the lantern and a xpg star, going to try my 1st mod this weekend... btw why are all you guys converting to aa batteries? I got a few Tenergy Centura D cells, this seems like a better option: more capacity plus more convenience not having to mess with converters right?
 

CyberCT

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... cause we have a crapload of eneloops I guess. But let us know how your conversion goes. I will be doing the same shortly.
 

Chrisdm

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Hmmm, i just made my 1st attempt. The led lit up when i tested it. But i was afraid one of my solders would come loose, so i hit it again with the solder gun. While the gun was to the solder point, smoke came out from the board where the switch is (is that the driver board?)... i may have fried it, i had to run out the door... what do you think?
 

Chrisdm

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Update: I played with the solders again when I got home, got it to come back on.. But it flickers... :shrug:.. And sometimes the high is low and the low is really low. And it still flickers. My optimistic nature imagines the flickers are the dancing flame of an elegant old wicker lamp... But I would prefer if this one didn't do that... Anybody have any ideas?

However I did get the modding bug with this attempts, so I ordered a bunch more (warmer) led's, another Rayovac 300 and a couple Colemen High Tech lantern models to mod... By the time I've butchered all 4 of these lanterns I'll probably have some idea what I'm doing... But this the best way to learn.. :)
 
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CyberCT

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My LEDs are in the mail, and the Arctic SIlver compounds and other Rayovac lantern will be shortly. I'll give it a stab too and see what happens.

I read this somewhere before, but someone used a Shiningbeam driver with 3 or 4 modes regulated. I wonder which one I should buy and attempt ot install.
 

CyberCT

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Everything should arrive in the mail today. If I have time tonight, I will attempt my first mod.
 

Chrisdm

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One mistake i made was i bought artic silver compound, not adhesive. Theres a separate compound that is the adhesive... so my 1st attempt had the new led board sliding around loose on the heatsink (because i used "compound", not "adhesive" )... take two...
 

CyberCT

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Well I did not get my "Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive (Two Tube Set)" in the mail today. I did get the LEDs and the Lantern in the mail though. I have an older Rayovac SPortsman Xtreme 3D lantern. The older one I would consider "neutral white" from the factory. The new one I just got though, WAAYYY too blueish purple. Need to get these new LEDs installed ASAP.
 

Megacam

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can't wait to see the difference...please post some pics of before and after. I knocked mine off a 4 foot tall wall onto concrete the other day and it took it like a champ. Didn't even scuff it up thanks to the rubber guards on the top and bottom. :)
 

CyberCT

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Just curious, what would be a quick way to test the LEDs before I install them? How do I make a circuit out of a battery and some wires? What would I use as a resisitor?
 
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