EZ headlamp mod, Ray-O-Vac 3 stage $12.95

[cy]

EZ headlamp mod, Ray-O-Vac 3 stage $12.95 at Wallyworld.
all you need is a Luxeon star at least Kbin to match the 3x AAA cells for direct drive. I used a TWOK star.

the star bolts in with the existing 3 screws. simply solder two small length of telephone wire from board to star. Then remove aprox. 1/4in of the reflector to fit star.

that's it.. you now have a three stage led light.

1. two red led's
2. one white led
3. Luxeon for high

headband is fairly comfortable. luxeon beam is useful for close work. Don't know the runtime yet...

[PhotonBoy]

Nice, easy mod, cy. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif[/img]

Do the 3 mounting screws and underlying material provide sufficient heat sinking? Any idea if it runs too hot on new cells? I imagine that the internal resistance of the AAA cells would prevent too much of a problem.

[LightObsession]

I bought 4 of those headlamps for $5.95 each when they were on sale at Menard's. I don't like the beam of the incandescent lamp. Is the beam any better with the Luxeon?

Where did you get the Luxeon star and how much did it cost?

David

[cy]

light so far doesn't even get warm, but I have not done long runtime test yet. just put it together tonight.

very impressed with the quality of the head harness.

of course with the luxeon, hi beam is much improved. You should be able to get some nice high bin stars without any problems for aprox. $18.

Kbin was the highest bin I had on hand. it matchs voltage of nmh AAA's I plan on getting.

[mrme]

So, how is it heatsinked?
It looks like the Star is srewed down to a piece of plastic, so the only thermal paths are around the edges of the star and through the plastic. That would hold all the heat in the light where you wouldn't feel it and lead to a short lived Luxeon.

Otherwise, it looks like a nice mod.

If you want a more serious headlamp mod, check out what I did with my Balck Diamond Headlamp Mods.

[cy]

Kbin luxeon is only drawing 394 milliamps. I purposely matched luxeon's vf to power source.

AAA alk's internal resistance is also limiting current. will remeasure draw after getting nmh AAA's.

[cy]

OK, just did a 35 min runtime test.

after 15 minutes body was 91 degrees, star was 141 degrees F
as measure by Raytek IR gun

at end of test body was 78 degrees, star was 128 degrees with reflect assembly removed.

luxeon apeared to remain at same brightness thru entire test. We'll see how this holds up under real life conditions. light is O-ring'd and apears to be at least water resistant.

this mod was never meant to be a high end headlamp. just a EZ rugged 3 stage headlamp w/decent head-straps mod. besides, if you don't like it. simply recycle your star.

[Marconi]

Great Job cy, Just what I was lookin for .. I just pick two of these up for work today..Talk about timing !!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
Gonna mod mine now.
Marconi

[StuU]

You can further mod these Ray-o-vacs besides setting in a luxeon. I replaced the 2 red leds with white leds so that I have 3 white leds running at 30ma each. That is the first switch setting. I like red leds but not on a headlamp...

The second switch runs the luxeon at about 130ma. The 3rd switch setting runs the luxeon on direct drive. The board on this light is pretty easy to work with. You can get all these settings just by bridging around the board with different resistors.

A very useful light.

[Marconi]

Thank you StuU , I was thinking the same with the Red LEDS.
Im set on modding it tomarrow.
Happy New Year guys and thanks
Marconi