Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

[M@elstrom]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Yes maelstrom, the original intent was to make a "safe" battery vampire...and the first part you mentioned, of a long time runtime/low output light, kind of goes hand in hand with 5mm's.

Kinda' like a Gerber Infinity/Fenix EO1 but in a P60 capable host, definitely makes a great format even MORE flexible IMHO, the environmental impact reduction is a definite bonus also! :thumbsup:


Good luck taking on the Legal department at SF to extract something for your emotional distress! 😛

 

[Kestrel]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

OK, we’re getting there. After unsoldering the two wire connections, removing the springs, and ‘popping’ the bulb inside of a Ziploc baggie, I drilled out the potting compound from the rear of the lamp assembly. I found that a 5/32” bit worked well for going completely through the lamp assembly, during which the adhesive holding the plastic lamp base to the aluminum reflector parted. This was good, because I was able to then use a 1/4” bit to gently remove the rest of the potting compound from the aluminum reflector component by hand, i.e. holding the drill bit with my fingers and slowly reaming out the remainder of the potting compound, leaving the hole in the aluminum reflector completely undamaged. So now all of the potting compound is removed from all of the necessary component parts without damaging any actual lamp assembly part.

Two questions,

• The long wire and the short wire on the Radio Shack LED, which one was positive again?
• My first focusing attempt will be merely seating the LED on the pedestal of the plastic bulb holder, neither removing material from the holder (to seat the LED more deeply) nor elevating the LED further toward the front of the lamp assembly. Is this a good place to start for best focus or should I be further in either direction?

Thanks,
K

 

[jchoo]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Wow, I didn't realize you guys were treating this as such an undertaking. I just pulled the springs off of the back of my P60 and pushed the bulb out through the back with the blunt end of a round bamboo chopstick. It came right out, and I trimmed the skirt off of a Nichia GS and put it in from the back. I put power to the emitter, and gently started nudging it forward a mm at a time or so until I was happy with the beam. I actually wound up breaking the whiteish plastic base of the P60 - half of it came apart, exactly opposite of the cut where the negative spring keys in - but I just superglued it back in place.

 

[M@elstrom]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

The long wire and the short wire on the Radio Shack LED, which one was positive again?

Go get 'em killer! :thumbsup:

 

[Kestrel]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

The LED is seated to reference off the plastic riser, without further elevation modifications. I tried adding a washer between the aluminum reflector and the plastic bulb holder (to seat the LED 'deeper' into the reflector), but the only visible change was a slight donut. I also added a single layer of paper to better center the plastic bulb holder inside the hole in the aluminum reflector.

I am happy with the beam quality, it is virtually perfect to my eyes. 🙂

Regarding tint, it is slightly warmer than most of my LED lights when doing side-to-side comparisons. 🙂
Edit: I updated the beamshot photo as I was able to better represent the actual tint in a subsequent photograph.

This will be a great bedside light.🙂

 

[angelofwar]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

The LED is seated to reference off the plastic riser, without further elevation modifications. I tried adding a washer between the aluminum reflector and the plastic bulb holder (to seat the LED 'deeper' into the reflector), but the only visible change was a slight donut. I also added a single layer of paper to better center the plastic bulb holder inside the hole in the aluminum reflector.

I am happy with the beam quality, it is virtually perfect to my eyes. 🙂

Regarding tint, it is slightly warmer than most of my LED lights when doing side-to-side comparisons. 🙂
(The above photo (from my point&shoot camera) makes it look a little bluish compared to its actual appearance.)

This will be a great bedside light.🙂

Wow kestrel! This one turned out really nice! Now you'veinspired me to go back a re-seat mine! Did you frost the bulb at all?

I'm glad more of these are getting done and you guys are getting your stories posted...others are beginning to "see the light"...

You all can thank Kestrel for getting me to post this! Thanks again, and keep-em comin' guys! I'll get some more pic's up once I "kestrel-cize" 🙂sick2🙂them...:twothumbs

 

[angelofwar]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Wow, I didn't realize you guys were treating this as such an undertaking. I just pulled the springs off of the back of my P60 and pushed the bulb out through the back with the blunt end of a round bamboo chopstick. It came right out, and I trimmed the skirt off of a Nichia GS and put it in from the back. I put power to the emitter, and gently started nudging it forward a mm at a time or so until I was happy with the beam. I actually wound up breaking the whiteish plastic base of the P60 - half of it came apart, exactly opposite of the cut where the negative spring keys in - but I just superglued it back in place.

Yeah, my first few build's were kinda "violent"...I just turned the LA away from me and "popped" the lamp with some needle nose pliers, and proceeded to literally "rip it out"...but after seeing the nice beam on kestrel's, I'm gonna re-accomplish them with more care, and actually try to make them more permanent, and try to center the bulb to get the best beam at about 3'-4'.

Kesterl, how far away is the beam in that beam shot you took?

 

[Kestrel]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Wow kestrel! This one turned out really nice! Now you've inspired me to go back and re-seat mine! Did you frost the bulb at all?

Nope, I didn't do anything with the LED, just the good ol' SF orange-peel reflector doing its thing. Yeah, I couldn't believe how good the beam quality was, better than any light I own outside of my SF KT-2 w/ SSC P4.

Kestrel, how far away is the beam in that beam shot you took?

About a foot.


I used this for a 'covert mission' last night and it was nearly perfect, slightly toward the higher end of the range for an optimum ultra-low for me.

The LED seems nice & warm to me, I saw that one reviewer on the Radio Shack LED page had noted the same thing. Sometime I'll try to get a better photo posted. I particularly noticed better color rendition than my P7 on low (~10lm) or my LD01 on low. I'll also be comparing it to my warmish M60/120ohm and my neutral L1 Cree on low, but I'm pretty sure it will compare very well indeed.

This will certainly be one of my four most-used lights from now on. :thumbsup:

 

[gallonoffuel]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Just so I'm clear here... no one is using a resistor for this? Literally direct drive right from the battery? I purchased a pair of red 5mm LEDs from RS and mechanically bound the leads to the spring terminals on a (now) dead P60 but before I solder them up I just want to clarify.

 

[M@elstrom]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Just so I'm clear here... no one is using a resistor for this? Literally direct drive right from the battery? I purchased a pair of red 5mm LEDs from RS and mechanically bound the leads to the spring terminals on a (now) dead P60 but before I solder them up I just want to clarify.

I use a 130Ω resistor to create an ultra low-low mode in my 5mm LED host but generally yes, keep in mind these use what were previously considered as expended **123a cells as they would no longer power up a conventional flashlights (with the exception of a low mode on the likes of a SF L1) 😉

Were you to be creating this as a primary Ultra low output flashlight then you may need a resistor dependent on the Vf of the LED chosen & power source selected, because of the host opted for by Kestrel he's now got one of the sweetest looking Ultra low lights about :thumbsup:

 

[gallonoffuel]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Roger that. I used a Ratshack 276-017 and it definitely lights up on a 'depleted' primary, and is actually quite pleasant on a new primary. I couldn't find the data sheet on this particular part so I wasn't sure of the I/V curve but if I blew up a $1 LED i wouldnt have been too upset. I accidentally soldered the leads backwards so I need to fix that but otherwise its a very cool mod. I need to find my other P60 and make another, maybe in red.

 

[M@elstrom]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

I need to find my other P60 and make another, maybe in red.

Yeah red's the go... I'm going to swap out the SB blue in my MTE for an UB red, another thing you need to check is the LED's radiated angle :thumbsup:

 

[jchoo]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Quick update... I've been running my Nichia GS off of two fresh CR123s, with no resistor. No , no angry blue (well, any worse than the Nichia GS' already are!), and it is a great deal brighter than it was on 3v or 3.7v. Current draw at the tailcap is 160ma on fresh cells.

 

[angelofwar]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Yeah red's the go... I'm going to swap out the SB blue in my MTE for an UB red, another thing you need to check is the LED's radiated angle :thumbsup:

The red's are definitely nice...and definitely alot "stealthier"

 

[angelofwar]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Quick update... I've been running my Nichia GS off of two fresh CR123s, with no resistor. No , no angry blue (well, any worse than the Nichia GS' already are!), and it is a great deal brighter than it was on 3v or 3.7v. Current draw at the tailcap is 160ma on fresh cells.

I'll be PM'ing you with questions once I get enough time to put one of these together...not real "up to snuff" on putting resistors on, etc., but I definitely want to make a "BV-Deuce"!

 

[NE450No2]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

Yep, these are the kind of tasks I had in mind for this light!

Just a couple of nights ago I was in the woods, heavy pine trees, and the A2 white led's on low was plenty bright to walk amoung the trees, even when I was not on a trail.

Just now I tested my G2L with 2 different sets of batteries that will not light up a 60 bulb. They are quite a bit brighter than the 3 lumen led's of the A2. And have quite a bit better throw.

I also have the advantage of dropping new fresh batteries in the G2L if I need it to be brighter.

However I have a question. Will "driving the 60L with "spent" batteries shorten the life of the bulb?

 

[M@elstrom]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

The red's are definitely nice...and definitely alot "stealthier"

Only downside of the Ultra Bright red LED is it's 6 degree radiation pattern, the SB blue I've used has a much wider 20 degree pattern whilst the Super Bright 10,000mcd white's put out a glorious 43 degrees of luminescence :thumbsup:

However I have a question. Will "driving the 60L with "spent" batteries shorten the life of the bulb?

No your not overdriving it at all... I would NOT use mismatched lithiums in it though ONLY cells that have existed as a pair in another light, no point tempting fate using varied voltage cells together :duck:

 

[NE450No2]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

M@elstrom

Thanks for the info, I will keep the batteries in pairs.

I think I will start using my Vampire around the house and save the batteries in the A2 for more serious stuff.

 

[M@elstrom]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

The red's are definitely nice...and definitely alot "stealthier"

After this undue pressure from angelofwar, I've given the Super Bright blue LED the flick and upgraded to an Ultra Bright Red 5mm LED supposedly rated as 2.1v @ 17,000mcd (638nm) with a 6 degree optic range :thumbsup:


Emitter in "ultra low" mode @ 2ft from w/shop wall

Same emitter in "turbo" mode @ 2ft from w/shop wall

My revamped 2 stage red LED CR123a battery vampire (ultra low mode)

Just for comparisons sake here's the MTE up against the Jet3M's 2 Lm output underexposed to help display the difference 😗

 

[gallonoffuel]

Re: *Beamshots-Post #36*Build yer own "Battery Vampire" with a P60

How are you driving @2.1V or are you overdriving these LEDs? I'd like to make a 2-cell vampire module but getting a resistor in there looks nearly impossible. 6V supply with a 20mA drive current @ 3.2Vf yields a 150ohm resistor. Not sure how long it will run on that though.