DORCY, Unexpected Seoul Host

[FlashCrazy]

My inlaws use a Dorcy Hawkeye (3 x AAA) light for dog walking duties. They bought theirs in a two-pack from Costo for twenty-something dollars. It's a decent, no-frills light, but could be brighter. I found one on the for sale forum here, and decided to get it to try to modify it and give it to them. The head is secured by Loctite, and strap wrenches weren't enough to get it loose. I carefully heated the area with a heat gun, and with leather gloves on I was able to loosen it. A threaded plastic ring holds the star board in, pretty straightforward. The board itself was secured to another round thin disk of aluminum with a metal tang. Not much heatsinking ability here...really none, as there's no contact with the flashlight housing. Shouldn't be a problem, however, as I don't think this light draws a whole lot of current. Due to the design of the battery holder, I'm unable to get a current measurement. Well, I could, but didn't want to take the time to string wires to do it. Ok, the end results...not bad! A big improvement over stock....way better tint, and of course brighter. Now it's a very useable light, and should provide ok runtime (for AAA's anyway). The beam has some rings to it, same as it was stock...not at all noticeable during normal use. This write-up wasn't meant to be a review, just letting other owners of this light know that a Seoul is a straightforward and worthwhile swap. Enjoy!

 

[Long John]

Hello Flash

It looks like a "brother" of mine :

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=158070

You can also mod it for 1x18650 cell = big improvement.

Best regards

____
Tom

 

[ace0001a]

Yeah, I've done several Dorcy Metal Gears. Probably similar in internal design. The battery carriers are horrible in these Dorcy flashlights and I think it's due to the steal spring conductors they use in the carriers. My quick measurements using a Multimeter directly contacting to it (not a good idea) get about 100-200mA tops. The other battery carriers in flashlights that you can get from DealExtreme and Kaidomain put out anywhere from 500-700mA. The Metal Gear's internal metal disc does make contact with the body and so it has decent heatsinking capabilities I think. I've put Cree-XREs (pain in the butt to get properly focused) and SSCP4s in Metal Gears. The plastic compartment inside where the circuit board lies has space for a converter. I've also used the other mentioned battery carriers for better performance. All in all, Dorcys are fairly modable...

 

[lightinsky]

Now why doesn't Dorcy just do what you did and multiply it and make everyone happy by marketing their leds with some real punch. Good work by the way.

 

[FlashCrazy]

Hello Flash

It looks like a "brother" of mine :

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=158070

You can also mod it for 1x18650 cell = big improvement.

Best regards

____
Tom

Very interesting! How do you like the output of it? Must be quite a "sleeper" light! Good job.

 

[FlashCrazy]

Good info, ace0001a. These lights do have a lot of room in them. I see what you mean on the battery carrier, not the best looking in terms of conductivity.


Lightinsky, thanks for the compliment. Yeah I agree with you, these manufacturers can easily improve their lights with the new LEDs. I'm sure we'll start seeing it due to customer demand, but probably not for awhile. The general public doesn't know what they're missing yet!

 

[ace0001a]

Now why doesn't Dorcy just do what you did and multiply it and make everyone happy by marketing their leds with some real punch. Good work by the way.

Because companies like Dorcy aren't exactly known for being leading edge on technology. If you hadn't noticed, there aren't any brands like Dorcy that have SSCP4 or CreeXRE emitters. And I think Dorcy only recently release a flashlight with a Luxeon K2 in it. Basically what were into is either for higher end branded flashlights. Luxeons are cheap now and I'm sure Dorcy likes that coupled with the relatively high price their lights are sold for at department stores (you can buy comparable lights from China dealers for less--and that's where Dorcy's flashlights are made), gives them a good profit margin. Also, these lights are marketed to regular people, not flashaholics like us. But hey, that's why we modifiy these because we want leading edge...

 

[2xTrinity]

Good info, ace0001a. These lights do have a lot of room in them. I see what you mean on the battery carrier, not the best looking in terms of conductivity.


Lightinsky, thanks for the compliment. Yeah I agree with you, these manufacturers can easily improve their lights with the new LEDs. I'm sure we'll start seeing it due to customer demand, but probably not for awhile. The general public doesn't know what they're missing yet!

For the time being I think Mag, Dorcy, and the other "big name" flashlight companies would like to keep things that way -- even though a Cree or Seould would dramtically improve the usefulness of the light, it will cost the company more money, and the typical customer won't know the difference anyway, so they won't be able to sell it for a premium. Im sure they'd rather saturate the market with their old stock first, THEN upgrade to something new much later, most likely when the old luxeons are gone/no longer available. I imagine that Lumileds etc. would prefer things to stay that way too, so they won't end up stuck with tons of old stock every time they come up with some new breakthrough.

Often I've pulled out modded flashlights running ~1A into a Cree or Seoul and people have said things like "I got two of those at Costco for only 30 bucks, just as bright as that one!" referring to these Dorcy lights that probably put out 20% of the lumens of my Cree/Seoul light. The non-flashaholics most impressed with the Cree/Seoul lights are generally those familiar with Surefire flashlights from time in the military, and expect nice LED lights to cost $100++.

 

[FlashCrazy]

Yep, good points about the manufacturers.

On the non-flashaholic side, I've noticed that too. One guy saw one of my lights, and after looking at it said "You want to see a flashlight?, I'll show you a flashlight!" He proceeded to pull out his light...a solar powered light with 8 5mm LEDS.

 

[Long John]

Very interesting! How do you like the output of it? Must be quite a "sleeper" light! Good job.

Thank you very much. The light is a "sleeper" but switch it on.......an all people awake:lolsign:.

The output is impressive. For the size unbeatable:rock:.

Best regards

_____
Tom