Anyway I can put a Q5 into a C3 from DX? Also does Q5 work well on Nimh AAs?

[guy121]

Was wondering how well a Q5 works with nimh AAs?

Also any way I can mod a Q5 to put into a C3 from dealextreme?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1993

I am new to LED flashlights and just got my C3 and it is the brightest light I've ever seen in a tiny handleheld. However, I have just read some more info on different LEDs (So complicated!) that the Q5 is something like 110 lumens and the P4 that I have is somewhere around 80 lumens. So I was wondering if I could swap it in and what would it take to swap?

It looks like I just remove the old "star" and put in the new Q5 star, solder the + and - . Add some arctic silver or arctic silver ceramique to dissipate the heat. I think thats the extent of it?

 

[mmmflashlights]

You are correct on swapping the LED, the current drawn from the AA will be the same and the efficiency of the Q5 is improved over the P4. All that you need to do is unsolder the old P4 and replace it with the Q5 and use something like Artic Silver as you mention to transfer heat from the LED and star to the metal 'pill' that the star sits on.

 

[guy121]

Cool thanks.

I have read a little more and have one more question regarding power regulation. The C3 aparently is regulated so that a single AA battery will provide the same amount of light as when 2 x AA are inserted. So in this case should I get a different light to try to mod a Q5 into?

Just trying to figure out how these things work.

 

[mmmflashlights]

Cool thanks.

I have read a little more and have one more question regarding power regulation. The C3 aparently is regulated so that a single AA battery will provide the same amount of light as when 2 x AA are inserted. So in this case should I get a different light to try to mod a Q5 into?

Just trying to figure out how these things work.

No, you'll still see the same kind of improvement either way. The circuit will supply the same current and voltage that it did to the P4 (approximately anyway), and the Q5 is about 30% brighter than the P4 at equal current. For example, say that the circuit supplies 300ma to the LED, around 1 watt of power. The P4 produces about 80 lumens of light at 1 watt, while the Q5 is rated to produce around 107 lumens of light from that same 1 watt.