These are the current/latest "gen4" Dorcy 1AAA - lensed/spot with brighter LEDs (packs with batteries 2013 or later).
I call these gen4 - even though the board is essentially the same as the gen3 (lensed/spot) these newer ones have noticably brighter LEDs - so "gen4".
Please see A Classic Revisited - Dorcy 1AAA for background and discussion leading up to these mods.
The mods have been done by Doug S - and for any better names - I've called them -
stage 1 - an increase in brightness without decrease in runtime
stage 2 - more of stage 1 with a hi/low tail-switch
Cree Mod - this is a special Doug S has done for himself - has a Cree XR-E with a hi/low tail-switch.
Physical views -
One is simply not going to see much from the physical views that these all have been mod'ed - except perhaps slightly for the Cree mod - Doug S has moved the lens out more to get better focus(?) - so it actually protrudes a bit from the front bezel - so it only just manages to stand on the head.....
If one looks very carefully in the size shot the Cree mod seems slightly shifted lower in the pic that's because I used a ruler to push/line-up that lights and since the lens protrudes on the Cree mod the whole light is shifted dow a bit.... (now, who's retentive?
)
On two of these mods the tail-switch has been mod'ed to allow for Hi/Low settings - I show the insides of the tail-cap FWIW
hard to see any difference - I am not going to disassemble any for now as Doug has warned me that it may be difficult to reassemble - so I'll not chance it yet......
Looking carefully one can just see a different colored center below the spring for the mod'ed versions.... (still retaining.....
)
Board Views - (or was that Bored Views?)
How do the mods perform?
Stage 2 and Cree mods set on High
Looks like improvements in brightness levels for the stagew1 over the stock and stage 2 is better than stage 1
Low for Stage 2 and Cree mods only -
Shows the low is still useful for stage 2 and pretty low for the Cree.
Overall I am very impressed with these mods - and am very grateful to Doug S for the opportunity to test these.
Note: this is not all - Doug suggested I take further beamshots after some time passes - I am planning to take shots after 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours total.
So the beamshots are at Zero hour or just a few minutes into use of a matching set of 4 fresh AAA batteries -
Current draw readings -
AAA alkaline 1.586V open circuit
Stock = 0.15A
Stage 1 = 0.13A
Stage 2 = 0.13A
Cree Mod = 0.31A
So it does looks like the stage 1 & 2 are lower in current draw with noticable improvement in brightness - can't be bad huh?
Separate full comparison review of Doug S's Stage 2 mod -
Dorcy 1AAA gen4 - Doug S Stage 2 Mod
I call these gen4 - even though the board is essentially the same as the gen3 (lensed/spot) these newer ones have noticably brighter LEDs - so "gen4".
Please see A Classic Revisited - Dorcy 1AAA for background and discussion leading up to these mods.
The mods have been done by Doug S - and for any better names - I've called them -
stage 1 - an increase in brightness without decrease in runtime
stage 2 - more of stage 1 with a hi/low tail-switch
Cree Mod - this is a special Doug S has done for himself - has a Cree XR-E with a hi/low tail-switch.
Physical views -
One is simply not going to see much from the physical views that these all have been mod'ed - except perhaps slightly for the Cree mod - Doug S has moved the lens out more to get better focus(?) - so it actually protrudes a bit from the front bezel - so it only just manages to stand on the head.....
If one looks very carefully in the size shot the Cree mod seems slightly shifted lower in the pic that's because I used a ruler to push/line-up that lights and since the lens protrudes on the Cree mod the whole light is shifted dow a bit.... (now, who's retentive?
On two of these mods the tail-switch has been mod'ed to allow for Hi/Low settings - I show the insides of the tail-cap FWIW
hard to see any difference - I am not going to disassemble any for now as Doug has warned me that it may be difficult to reassemble - so I'll not chance it yet......
Looking carefully one can just see a different colored center below the spring for the mod'ed versions.... (still retaining.....
Board Views - (or was that Bored Views?)
How do the mods perform?
Stage 2 and Cree mods set on High
Looks like improvements in brightness levels for the stagew1 over the stock and stage 2 is better than stage 1
Low for Stage 2 and Cree mods only -
Shows the low is still useful for stage 2 and pretty low for the Cree.
Overall I am very impressed with these mods - and am very grateful to Doug S for the opportunity to test these.
Note: this is not all - Doug suggested I take further beamshots after some time passes - I am planning to take shots after 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours total.
So the beamshots are at Zero hour or just a few minutes into use of a matching set of 4 fresh AAA batteries -
Current draw readings -
AAA alkaline 1.586V open circuit
Stock = 0.15A
Stage 1 = 0.13A
Stage 2 = 0.13A
Cree Mod = 0.31A
So it does looks like the stage 1 & 2 are lower in current draw with noticable improvement in brightness - can't be bad huh?
Separate full comparison review of Doug S's Stage 2 mod -
Dorcy 1AAA gen4 - Doug S Stage 2 Mod
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