greenLED
Flashaholic
I think I remember seeing this a while back, but can't find it now. Anybody hacked an ArcAAA circuit and powered the LED off a D cell? I'm guessing it'd run forever and then some more. I'm thinking it'd be a great SHTF light.
ArcAAA circuit off a D cell?
- Thread starter greenLED
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KeyGrip
Flashlight Enthusiast
I'm sorry, I don't know if it would work, but I got the funniest image in my head when you brought it up.
Edit. Why would't it work? It's just a difference of capacity, right?. Say you take a D cell Mag, chop of the last two and a half inches or so giving you a tailcap attached to an empty tube. Thread the inside and machine an adapter that fits an Arc head to the mag body. Make contact with a spring or huge ball of solder or something. Bam, there you go. It's just that simple, right?
Edit #2. Why stop there? Once you have the 1D body, why not make adapters for other heads? Peak Pacific, CMG Infinity....
Edit. Why would't it work? It's just a difference of capacity, right?. Say you take a D cell Mag, chop of the last two and a half inches or so giving you a tailcap attached to an empty tube. Thread the inside and machine an adapter that fits an Arc head to the mag body. Make contact with a spring or huge ball of solder or something. Bam, there you go. It's just that simple, right?
Edit #2. Why stop there? Once you have the 1D body, why not make adapters for other heads? Peak Pacific, CMG Infinity....
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chimo
Flashlight Enthusiast
According to the Energizer datasheet, if the input current stayed constant at about 180mA over the battery life (it doesn't), it would run about 70 hours at which time the battery would be around 0.8V.
In reality, since the input current drops as the battery voltage sags, you would probably get double or triple that time with a very long moon-mode tagged on the end.
Paul
In reality, since the input current drops as the battery voltage sags, you would probably get double or triple that time with a very long moon-mode tagged on the end.
Paul
greenLED
Flashaholic
Thanks, Paul! Yeah, a looooong runtime light like that is what I'm after.
KG, I wasn't thinking fancy machining stuff. I have some of those 1D "survival" lights. They're military surplus and power (dimly) a single incan bulb. I was thinking I could hack some ArcAAA boards, solder some wires to the appropriate contact points in the bulb socket, and run a 5mm LED that way.
KG, I wasn't thinking fancy machining stuff. I have some of those 1D "survival" lights. They're military surplus and power (dimly) a single incan bulb. I was thinking I could hack some ArcAAA boards, solder some wires to the appropriate contact points in the bulb socket, and run a 5mm LED that way.
ROK
Enlightened
If you can disassemble the ARC AAA head, you can get the circuit as follows.
Sorry for crappy pics.
Sorry for crappy pics.
greenLED
Flashaholic
Thanks for the pics, ROK. I have a couple of bare boards laying around.
greenLED
Flashaholic
I just found this at ticey's place. I hadn't thought about screwing the ArcAAA head into the bulb socket... I must be missing something. 
georget98
Enlightened
greenLED
Flashaholic
I like that!! Doesn't get any simpler than that, and is along the lines of what I was thinking about - a KISS, long runtime emergency light.
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Illum
Flashaholic
now THAT is a hotwire
Bimmerboy
Flashlight Enthusiast
Please forgive me, but I couldn't resist mentioning it. On first glance, I thought you said a great STFU light. Hadda' do a double take there.
Now I have a name for a new mod. :laughing: Thanks, green!
Illum
Flashaholic
well...calling it a 
light wouldn't be incorrect either
it simply demonstrates to the critics of the design that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE:devil:
light wouldn't be incorrect eitherit simply demonstrates to the critics of the design that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE:devil:
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moeman
Enlightened
IsaacHayes
Flashlight Enthusiast
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/11/make_a_joule_thief_weeken_1.html
Joule Thief circuit is what you need. That and a bright LED... Nichia DS or GS
Joule Thief circuit is what you need. That and a bright LED... Nichia DS or GS
greenLED
Flashaholic
Dood!! ...down to 0.35V, heh? That's friggin' crazy! :thanks:
:thinking: I know the ArcAAA powers up down to 0.8V, but I'm not sure how low it can go after that once it's running. Anybody know?
Fallingwater
Flashlight Enthusiast
Illum
Flashaholic
GreenLED, heres the Joule thief schematic
http://www.joulethief.com/kit.php
I dunno, how big of an inductor can you fit in arc?
Anyone know how low does an inova X1 [genII] can go?
I did something similar: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2101/2213075505_0f4776c888_b.jpg
but the footprint is huge...slightly bigger than the size of an AA cell.
My original plan is to make a boost circuit of some sort and run a stock minimag with only 1 AA [boosted to 3V] and make it shine like a regular minimag on new batteries, but unfortunately I think I can only convert 2C mags to 1Cs
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greenLED
Flashaholic
Thanks, Illum.
I'm not worried about cramming this into an Arc. I have a couple of lights that look like this and there's plenty of room under the plastic dome:
It'd be nice if I can fit the circuit inside the screw bulb thingy, but I don't have a problem with the circuit just "laying there" under the dome. I'm not worried about making this one look nice, for a change.
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