Brinkman AAA x 2

I have a Brinkman 2 x AAA which is similar to a penlight but it has a wider, adjustable head like this: http://www.brinkmann.net/products/flashlights_and_spotlights/flashlights/details.aspx?item=800-2001-0


The incan bulb is a 2 pin version. The reflector and head are different than the mini mag of similar size. Not sure how the switch portion comes apart.

Would like to know if there is a simple drop-in that fits for this flashlight . . I just want to reduce battery use, don't care if this light produces a lot more light but I'd like it to be at least similar output.

You may consider the nite ize 3 led drop in as it is bi pin and if it can be made to fit the output should be about the same but nicer and about 5 times the runtime or more.

Lynx_Arc said:

You may consider the nite ize 3 led drop in as it is bi pin and if it can be made to fit the output should be about the same but nicer and about 5 times the runtime or more.

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I'm guessing like this?
http://www.niteize.com/collections/flashlights/products/led-upgrade-kits

The other bi-pin minimag options, I assume are brighter and with heavier battery draw?

The 3 led might work if it has enough height and I can run the leds against the lens (or have enough room to make a collar to fit in above the assembly.

The challenge on this beautiful little Brinkman may be the reflector and switch. The reflector has a collar around it's base that sits on 3 pressure sensitive nipples. With batteries in when you remove the lens ring the light comes on. Depressing the reflector turns it off . . looks like the height of the assembly is designed to allow zoom focus of the beam and when fully tightened it also turns the light off by pressing the 3 nipples fully down.

My calipers aren't available, but height is about 10mm under the lens and the front diameter of the reflector is about 15mm with maybe 1-2 of space inside the head. The NiteIze website doesn't give size specs - - drat.

I have a mini mag with a nite ize in it, the dimensions of the module + LEDs is about 13mm height (minus the bipin leads) diameter is about 15mm. The collar/reflector is about 23mm diameter and 10.5mm tall. The module+collar height is slightly under 15mm. The collar is made of plastic so you could sand it down if needed and to be honest it doesn't really help a lot using 5mm LEDs. I have another light that is a cheap 2AA incan using a bipin bulb that I modded to use a niteize in it that has a separate switch so I didn't need the collar for it to work.

OK, I've got the 3 LED upgrade in the Amazon cart. The 23mm diameter will need to be cut down or discarded. The module alone might do it, perhaps with ring washers under or over as a spacer so that it is tall enough to turn the light off (then it would be twist on/off with no focus). Would it throw a floodlight beam? The ican produces basically zero throw without the reflector.

Wish there was something inexpensive more like this one (which is wrong voltage)

http://www.amazon.com/BULB-SOLITAIRE-MAGLITE-KEYCHAIN-FLASHLIGHT/dp/B003BJNFVS/ref=sr_1_11?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1332975300&sr=1-11

That, or maybe if there was something that could run on the voltage with a couple 10440s . . . but I've assumed it would be better to spend much more on a new light that can throw out a lot more light while also being able to be turned down to save power.

GottaZoom said:

OK, I've got the 3 LED upgrade in the Amazon cart. The 23mm diameter will need to be cut down or discarded. The module alone might do it, perhaps with ring washers under or over as a spacer so that it is tall enough to turn the light off (then it would be twist on/off with no focus). Would it throw a floodlight beam? The ican produces basically zero throw without the reflector.

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most 5mm LEDs are mostly throw with very little spill that is typically hard to utilize with a reflector.

Wish there was something inexpensive more like this one (which is wrong voltage)

http://www.amazon.com/BULB-SOLITAIRE-MAGLITE-KEYCHAIN-FLASHLIGHT/dp/B003BJNFVS/ref=sr_1_11?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1332975300&sr=1-11

That, or maybe if there was something that could run on the voltage with a couple 10440s . . . but I've assumed it would be better to spend much more on a new light that can throw out a lot more light while also being able to be turned down to save power.

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I doubt you will find any other dropins for it unless you can use the solitaire dropin and a dummy AAA (which IMO is not worth the effort). I think the biggest problem is once you get close to $10 for a dropin you are about half way towards the price of a decent light new.

Perfect, thanks!

Found a Nite Ize LED Combo II package for <$5 at Lowes . . module, reflector and tailcap . . works great in a minimag but strangely I don't like the tail clicky . . . instead of only 2, it's now 30 lumens for 25 hours!

Unfortunately, the module is a bit too wide to drop into the head . . it is maybe 2mm too wide at the top and it may narrow down a little inside the head . . a little more than just removing the knurling, so it could require cracking the case all the way around . . not sure what I'll kill if we turn it down, but I may give that a try over at a friend's who has a lathe instead of trying to grind it down. Worth it if it works . .

Unless, does anybody have the 3 LED module or the 1 watt version (LRB1W) who can check the diameter with calipers or to see if either are smaller than the LED II (LRB2) module if you have that too?

The cheap tailcap switch that comes with the 3LED modules is not very good, in fact I have one that failed quickly. I had one of my modules lose an LED (burned out) and I took a dremel and ground the plastic off the bottom enough to desolder it and replace it. I think you could grind off the black plastic on the bottom of the module and even a mm or two in diameter off the board also.

Thanks. Playing around with the light tonight I really like this upgrade for the $5. Nice to keep the zoom. Don't think the 1W upgrade is worth 3X as much. The specs suggest this version is the most efficient, too.

Not sure if we'll be able to chuck the module in the lathe, so it may have to be sanded/ground . . I might try a drum on the Dremel tomorrow and see if I can just buff the knurling off and avoid going too deep all the way around.

LOL, I guess I could put the minimag xenon in the Brinkman and maybe gain 1 free lumen! I saw the thread on overdriving them with lithium . . but a one hour bulb isn't worth it.

GottaZoom said:

Thanks. Playing around with the light tonight I really like this upgrade for the $5. Nice to keep the zoom. Don't think the 1W upgrade is worth 3X as much. The specs suggest this version is the most efficient, too.

Not sure if we'll be able to chuck the module in the lathe, so it may have to be sanded/ground . . I might try a drum on the Dremel tomorrow and see if I can just buff the knurling off and avoid going too deep all the way around.

LOL, I guess I could put the minimag xenon in the Brinkman and maybe gain 1 free lumen! I saw the thread on overdriving them with lithium . . but a one hour bulb isn't worth it.

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The 3LED upgrade is a decent emergency light option it is not impressive for the output but will run a long time and even operate off of just one battery decently so you could drain a pair of alkalines down to nothing. I think I will probably never use a light with a tiny bipin bulb again as LEDs have made them obsolete. I even replaced a bipin bulb in a telescoping magnetic light with a 5mm LED and am direct driving it using a pair of L91s.

Current at the tailcap is ~250mA for the bi-pin incan in the Brinkman and ~100mA for the LED II module. The current is fairly steady with the incan but it varied more with the LED . . was even down to about 90 part of the measurement. So LED draw was only about 40% of the incan.

NiteIze says the 3 led version runs 20 hours, so draw is slightly higher. Do you know the lumen rating?

GottaZoom said:

Current at the tailcap is ~250mA for the bi-pin incan in the Brinkman and ~100mA for the LED II module. The current is fairly steady with the incan but it varied more with the LED . . was even down to about 90 part of the measurement. So LED draw was only about 40% of the incan.

NiteIze says the 3 led version runs 20 hours, so draw is slightly higher. Do you know the lumen rating?

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I know the niteize isn't regulated so it will slowly get dimmer as the batteries deplete. As far as lumens I am guessing about 20-30 but that too can vary some as LEDs have gotten better over the years it would depend on when the module was made and what LEDs were in it. I noticed the LED I replaced in my niteize is a little brighter at full power and stays much brighter when the batteries deplete so I am guessing it is just a newer more efficient one but I did not want to try and replace all 3 LEDs that would have had me essentially ruin the black plastic shroud around the module as it seems to be molded around the power leads such that it would be difficult to remove it.

Pulled the 3 blue LED module from a 2AA Coast. It doesn't have the plastic shroud, just a circuit board with a spring underneath and the LEDs soldered on top. The LEDs are about 8.5 mm apart from each other. They fit into a reflector with a hole for each LED

Turned upside down, the LEDs just barely fit inside the head, rubbing the sides of the optic as they slide down. It looks like I'd have to cut through some of the solder on at least one, possibly two, of the LEDS. Maybe the NiteIze model has them closer together?

I recall making some PR base LED bulbs using 5mm LEDs. I made 3 and 4 LED versions and I would grind off the bottom lip of the LEDs so they could be put together closer the 4 LED version I had to ream out the reflector of the light it went in to fit. The nite ize are jammed up against each other with only the bottom LED lips keeping them from touching each other at the top (if they are straightly aimed).

Thanks, yet again. I'll keep looking around . . hoping maybe I can find a TLE-20 old stock around town somewhere . . that had the smaller reflector in the kit with a little nicer LED.

Finished up my flashlight mod on this light (my first).

1. Ground the sides and part of the base off of a Nite Ize LED II module designed for a 2*AA mnimag so that the module base dropped free into the head of the Brinkman.

Needed a little over 1.5mm off the stock module diameter; it's now in 3 pieces (cover plate, driver/LED board, base) that drop in and press fit under the lens to operate the oem pressure switch.

2. Bored the stock reflector to slightly over 1/4" and then cut the nipple off the back of it so that the twisty functions still work.

Cost $4.97 with parts left over

Spare parts:

- Reflector by Nite Ize (may use with 2*AA Minimag mod)
- Tail switch, clicky (gave to son for his minimag)

Results:

- 30 lumens up from 2 lumens with the incan
- 170mAh draw vs 250mAh with some old Alkys pulled from a dead remote
- Flood to zoom works
- Looks like it came from the factory with this LED

Satisfaction: Priceless

Enjoy it while you can, if you are like a lot of us over time we buy better lights with high power emitters and the 5mm based lights
sit idle for the most part. I liked my niteize upgraded brinkman 2AA a lot but when I was given a streamlight luxeon junior 2AA and started using I put the niteize in a newer minimag host I got for cheap and retired it as when I stumbled across it the light was beat up good such that the threads were flakey making for sometimes it had to be tweaked with to get to work.