DIY 2 Level Peak Rainier (or any momentary enabled peak)

[MWClint]

Inspired by Blindasabat's original 2 Level Peak mod. thank you!

requires a few parts,
A peak light with keyring body,
A peak momentary switch,
1/4 watt resistor of your choice,
and a Brass Finial from a lampshade. (preferably acorn style nut or flat topped nut)

the hole in the nut from the brass finial is a perfect shape to fit around the
spongy foam in the peak switch.

you will need to grind the top surface of the lampshade finial to a few
thousands of an inch. to do this quickly, I taped the finial to a dremel bit
and spun it against a metal file. checked it periodically with a micrometer
until i got it down to .015" This is plenty thick and yet still thin enough
to allow you to use the original sized battery in your light.

then grind the base of the finial, so that it's 1/2mm shorter than the height of
the spongy battery spacer.

now, remove the plug and spring from the tip of the momentary switch.
(comes out easily with a twist)

grab a 1/4 watt resistor(value depends on your intended decrease in
brightness) and cut off both leads. sand the ends of the resistor flat.
wrap resistor with a little tape and twist it firmly into the momentary switch.

press the brass finial over the spongy battery spacer and then screw the momentary back into the light.

A twist of the head will yeild the original brightness of the peak light...while a
press of the momentary will yeild your lower resistored brightness.

(if a twist of the head makes it come on low instead of high, you need to
sand down the ends of the resistor a bit more.. the top of the resistor needs
to sit BELOW the top of the sponge; you can sand the resistor down pretty
far before you ruin it.)



video of the 2 modes in action. :devil:
http://www.v6power.net/clint/lights/rainier/rainier.wmv


Rainier w/2AA body and momentary. (will work with the rcr123 body w/
momentary as well..or any peak light with the momentary)
14500 + AAspacer works great in the 2AA for 1 amp seoul p4 goodness.
2 14500's wired in parallel would be killer in this body with the 2 level
momentary.

pic of the momentary. the 2aa momentary is larger than the single
cell momentaries. probably to allow peak to easily drill the brass tube from
both ends for the multi cell lights. the momentaries all work the same anyway.

brass finial cap - cut down to size

finial installed showing required gap.

momentary switch with the plug and spring removed from the tip.
resistor is in the background.

resistor securely in place.

showing the required gap between resistor and top of sponge.

momentary with resistor and finial cap installed.

Now to order more momentaries to do the rest of my peaks!!!! :naughty:
:thinking: hmmm.. will have to drill some holes in the base of the lights for lanyard + split ring attatchment. Luckily, the keychain bodies have plenty of
meat in the tail.

 

[Snow]

That is freakin brilliant. Nice work!

 

[Blindasabat]

Very flattered with the mention and impressed with your mod. I have thought periodically about how to slim down my mod to use CR123's in with my old mod, but have not had luck. I even bought SMT resistors to try a few very thin switches, but with no success. Congrats on making it work. I will definitely dig out my old bag-o-resistors to see if I can do this one.

One thing I was able to do as I built more and more of the ones I made was to get the stages so close as to be able to access both levels with one press of the momentary switch a-la Surefire L1. I have a video I took of it in action if you want me to email it to you (PM me).

Inspired by Blindasabat's original 2 Level Peak mod. thank you!

 

[MWClint]

One thing I was able to do as I built more and more of the ones I made was to get the stages so close as to be able to access both levels with one press of the momentary switch a-la Surefire L1. I have a video I took of it in action if you want me to email it to you (PM me).

nice. pm sent.

here's a CR2 keychain body that is now a dual level twisty using only a resistor. no other parts. The key is to shape the resistor leads so they act
as leaf springs.

drop it down in.

resistor poking out.

screw the plug in. adjust plug so that twisting the head on will allow the resistor to hit the base of the plug first- this is low mode. continuted
twisting will press the leaf spring end of the resistor to hit the base of the
body, bypassing the resistance, and giving full brightness.

showing low(my camera makes everything blue. the p4's pacifics are actually stark white...comparing to my bare p4 emmitors, i beleve the peaks are SWO tint..)

showing high

and a pic of all my newly modded 2 level peaks. also have a cr123a body modded for the rainier/mckinley.

2xAA Rainier, AA Pacific SP, AA Pacifc SP w/ HA, CR2 Pacific XLR <-awesome light)

this is my current edc. drilled a hole in the base of the momentary for a
lanyard. doesnt impede switching.

 

[rcdavis]

That is a fabulous idea, a very creative solution. Good going!

I was impressed with the copper looking lanyard on the flashlight

"CR2 Pacific XLR <-awesome light)"

What kind of a lanyard is this? Something you made?

I own about 25 Peaks, and they are just incredible flashlights. Very well made, and the brass and stainless steel designs are so beautiful.

Thanks!

Richard

 

[MWClint]

Richard,

It's brass chain (actually brass plated steel chain) from a local Tru-Value Hardware store. runs about 1$ per foot. matches up well with the brass peaks and is very durable.

anyone know of a good brass lanyard bead? Ive seen the brass skull at
lighthound, but the hole was meant for paracord. i guess the skull could be filled with copper rtv and then it would grip the chain well.

the peak brass lights have a very old world nautical feel to them. i call the 2xAA rainier my pirate light.

That is a fabulous idea, a very creative solution. Good going!

I was impressed with the copper looking lanyard on the flashlight

"CR2 Pacific XLR <-awesome light)"

What kind of a lanyard is this? Something you made?

I own about 25 Peaks, and they are just incredible flashlights. Very well made, and the brass and stainless steel designs are so beautiful.

Thanks!

Richard

25 peaks!

 

[LED_Thrift]

What resistance do you recommend for the Rainier? I would love to extend its runtime. I use protected cells and it only lasts about 30 -35 min. That's 30 - 35 min of fun though!

 

[MWClint]

What resistance do you recommend for the Rainier? I would love to extend its runtime. I use protected cells and it only lasts about 30 -35 min. That's 30 - 35 min of fun though!

1/4 watt 10 ohm (brown-black-black-gold)seems to do the trick for a nice usable medium beam on the rainier+rcr123.

 

[83Venture]

Very nice. :twothumbs I long ago gave up waiting for Peak to give us a variable power light. Hopefully Peak or someone will provide this option on their lights in the future.

 

[LED_Thrift]

Peak has at least two multi-level lights: the First Responder and a recent model that is smaller. Neither is a small single cell light typical of most Peaks though. It did take a ..l o n g. time. I'm still waiting for a clickie, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Blindasabat]

I highly suggest 0.5W or higher for 10 ohm in high power lights like the Rainier using RCR123. You can still use 1/4 Watt if using 20ohm or higher. I have several very small resistors if people need them. Smaller than you will find at radio shack. I used them for my previous mods mentioned above.

1/4 watt 10 ohm (brown-black-black-gold)seems to do the trick for a nice usable medium beam on the rainier+rcr123.

 

[gunga]

I'm digging up an old thread.

Clint, any chance you have any 2 level switchs for sale?