Help request for a total flashlight modding virgin!!

OMCHamlin

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
29
Location
VAs Eastern Shore
OK guys, I confess, I am flat out dumb as a stump when it comes to the arena of modding flashlights, but I am faced with a real desire to turn a "lemon into lemonade" so to speak. My older Streamlight Key-Mate crapped out so I sent it into them for repair/replacement. The initially sent me a replacement but it has a GREEN LED, not exactly what I was looking for so I called them and they said "sorry, we'll send you a white one, keep the green one anyhow" (I would have been happy to return it and told them so). So, now I am stuck with a green Key-Mate, which I can't think of a great use for, so I am thinking, if I could get some guidance from some of the many knowledgeable folks here, perhaps I could swap out/upgrade my green unit to a white one. I read through searches here that I may want to look at a Nichia CS 5mm LED, but can't find a source, and once I found it, I would appreciate a bit of guidance on making this happen. I am not without skills, but this is not my area of expertize and one skill I have is (sometimes at least) knowing when and where to ask for help! I think I'm in the right place so could someone spare a few minutes to point me in the right direction?
Thanks!
OMCHamlin
[email protected]
 

AnAppleSnail

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
4,200
Location
South Hill, VA
It's like most other electronics. Unscrew everything you can see, take note of how to put it back together, and then replace the parts you mean to replace. You're likely going to be carefully de-soldering the green LED and putting a new LED in its place. The Nichia CS is probably the best 5mm LED, but you can only buy it in bulk lots (a few thousand at a time). Radio Shack has a pretty decent 5mm white LED in stock.

Fortunately, green and white LEDs seem to have similar forward voltages, so you won't have to change any of the electronics around. You might stick to AG13s, which leak less often than LR44s when run through the wash. Finally - and don't get me wrong, I dislike monochromatic LEDs for 'night vision' mall-ninja tacticool purposes, but the green is pretty good for seeing your way around in the dark.

I suspect with the KeyMate you'll need some way to unscrew the LED stuff from the head. Look for teensy holes to stick pegs into, these will let you unscrew the electronics. Then it's down to soldering!
 
Top