Cheap Ebay 5Watt Lux

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Jenova

Jenova

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 22, 2007
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201
Just brought a cheapy off ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI...m=300167674663&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=020

Nice metal feel + looks good
claims to be 5w ill honostally for the price im impresseed
not much throw but still bright ;)
runs of 3 xAAA in a little convertver
What i wanna know is would like to know if i can up the voltage to get more light
maybe modify it for 2 x cr123's (will have to mod the tail cap etc

also are all lux's the same voltage ?
thanks
 
Jenova said:
runs of 3 xAAA in a little convertver
Click to expand...
Gah. I hate 3xAAA-carrier lights...

What i wanna know is would like to know if i can up the voltage to get more light
maybe modify it for 2 x cr123's
Click to expand...
Your best bet would be to get a proper driver circuit and drive it with a 18650 if it fits; otherwise a 18500.
While you're at it you also probably want to swap the emitter with a SSC.

And at this point you might as well just buy a light that works like that to begin with...
 
It's the same as this light on Dealextreme. For $15 USD, I think you would have been happier with this which is only $1.50 more.

I also dislike 3 AAA lights but they do have one good thing, since almost all of them are unregulated, you will get a low level of light for many hours.

You can easily take off the head of the flashlight and install a Seoul P4 in there for double the output.

A white LED usually takes 3.3-3.7v so 6v of two CR123 batteries might fry the LED. There are drivers(like this one) that will lower the voltage so the LED can run properly.

Take the light apart, see how much space you have to work with. If 2 CR123s will fit, it might be better to use a rechargeable 18650 battery and a multimode driver.
 
It's not the lack of regulation that I dislike, it's the cells. AAA are ok for powering small numbers of 5mm LEDs, but for more output you really want AAs.
 
just pulled apart the switch and thier is room for 2 x cr123's so thats the go for now
just ordered all the parts from deal extreme
should be done by christmas
 
Jenova said:
just pulled apart the switch and thier is room for 2 x cr123's so thats the go for now
just ordered all the parts from deal extreme
should be done by christmas
Click to expand...

Despite the flack that people give to 3AAA carriers, using 3 rechargeable NiMH batteries will still total 3000mA (if you use the 1000mA AAA NiMH batteries). From what I understand, CR123s have around 800mA each and so doubling that is 1600mA total capacity out of 2. As with all 3AAA flashlights, this one is direct drive and some would argue you couldn't get any more efficient. With 2 CR123s, you'll need to add a buck driver or a resistor. I personally have found that using 3 NiMH batteries with such 3AAA flashlights have provided fairly constant output along with fair runtime. I bought one of these from DX a while back and swapped out the LuxIII star with an SSCP4 U-bin star. I use 3 NiMH AAAs with it and it works great. If you're going to go with Li-Ion batteries, you're better off using a single 18650 rechargeable. Most people who've switched battery configurations on 3AAA flashlights usually go that route because of the higher capacity (around 2200mA).
 
Last edited:
ace0001a said:
Despite the flack that people give to 3AAA carriers, using 3 rechargeable NiMH batteries will still total 3000mA (if you use the 1000mA AAA NiMH batteries). From what I understand, CR123s have around 800mA each and so doubling that is 1600mA total capacity out of 2. As with all 3AAA flashlights, this one is direct drive and some would argue you couldn't get any more efficient. With 2 CR123s, you'll need to add a buck driver or a resistor. I personally have found that using 3 NiMH batteries with such 3AAA flashlights have provided fairly constant output along with fair runtime. I bought one of these from DX a while back and swapped out the LuxIII star with an SSCP4 U-bin star. I use 3 NiMH AAAs with it and it works great. If you're going to go with Li-Ion batteries, you're better off using a single 18650 rechargeable. Most people who've switched battery configurations on 3AAA flashlights usually go that route because of the higher capacity (around 2200mA).
Click to expand...

mAh don't are not additive when cells are run in series, so 3 AAA cells don't give you 3000mAh, unless you have them in parallel. using 3 1000mAh AAA cells in the holder this type of light uses will give you 1000mAh at ~3.6V. also, one non-rechargeable CR123A is ~1500mAh at 2.7V or so. RCR123 cells (rechargeables) are typically 750-800mAh at 3.6V
 
ace0001a said:
Despite the flack that people give to 3AAA carriers, using 3 rechargeable NiMH batteries will still total 3000mA (if you use the 1000mA AAA NiMH batteries). From what I understand, CR123s have around 800mA each and so doubling that is 1600mA total capacity out of 2
Click to expand...
You're not considering cell voltage in your calculations.
AAA cells have a voltage of 1.2V, while CR123s have a voltage of 3V.
A single 1000mah AAA has about 1.2 watt-hours of capacity (watts equals volts times amps), while a 1500mah primary CR123 has 4.5 watt-hours, or almost four times the energy.
Three 1000mah cells in a carrier won't give you 3000mah. They'll give you 1000mah at 3.6 volts.
A single 18500 is good for about 1600mah at 3.7 to 4.2 volts, which makes it a clearly superior choice.

If you're going to go with Li-Ion batteries, you're better off using a single 18650 rechargeable. Most people who've switched battery configurations on 3AAA flashlights usually go that route because of the higher capacity (around 2200mA).
Click to expand...
A 18650 won't fit in most flashlights that use a 3AAA carrier without at least some modifications to the contacts.
A 18500 is shorter and thus fits in place of the carrier. All you have to do is add some padding to it to make it thick enough (bubble wrap works well).

I can't speak for everybody else, but the reason I hate 3AAA carriers is that AAA cells aren't good for powering high power LEDs or large groups of 5mm ones. Then again, if you want a direct-driven light that's powered by easily available cells and isn't too thick or too long (as it would be if using AAs), there really isn't much of a choice...
 
Fallingwater said:
Gah. I hate 3xAAA-carrier lights...


Your best bet would be to get a proper driver circuit and drive it with a 18650 if it fits; otherwise a 18500.
While you're at it you also probably want to swap the emitter with a SSC.

And at this point you might as well just buy a light that works like that to begin with...
Click to expand...

On second thought just get something else.
Walmart & Target have some nice lights. And I think it was at Home Depot that I saw a 3 watt 2 D light.
You'll get lousy battery life & questionable quality with that light.
And he's in Hong Kong so it's gonna take any where from 7 to 21 days for you to get the light.
 
MorePower said:
mAh don't are not additive when cells are run in series, so 3 AAA cells don't give you 3000mAh, unless you have them in parallel. using 3 1000mAh AAA cells in the holder this type of light uses will give you 1000mAh at ~3.6V. also, one non-rechargeable CR123A is ~1500mAh at 2.7V or so. RCR123 cells (rechargeables) are typically 750-800mAh at 3.6V
Click to expand...

:oops: Ah I see...sorry admittedly I'm not really well versed in battery specs...I just read somewhere here that 3 AAAs are "capable" of having more capacity than 2 123 batteries. As for the 18XXX battery, I didn't get the exact model of the battery and just went by what I found at Battery Juntion's website...I just know that people swap out their 3AAA carriers with an 18XXX Li-Ion battery. And my preference still lies with the easily available AAA batteries in these kinds of flashlights as I feel they were intended for inexpensive use. I use NiMH in mines as they do offer good performance in these setups.
 
just done the upgrade
running 2 x cr123 with the seoul u-bin led and the 3.6~8.4V 5-Mode 3W Circuit Board

Runs sweet and is way brighter
i have a massive issue with the ground because its a little tight in the aluminum housing it doesn't always contact
any ideas on how to solder onto aluminum ?

Thanks

Will post pics when everything is up and running
 
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