Energizer Hardcase Tactical mod

[ambientmind]

I got this light about a week ago, and although i liked it as it was, I just cant leave things alone! Nothing special here, just swapping out the luxeon I emitter for a seoul. I do have to give the luxeon I credit in the fact that it was one of the best colored white leds i've seen, ever! Just a great white tint just barely to the warm side for great color rendering. On the negative side, output was low by todays standards. so heres the process, nothing too complicated...

first, remove all the screws from the body and head, the three o-rings at the end of the battery tube then separate the two halves

then you can get to the led assembly with the reflector

then pull the reflector off (there was some glue on mine that just peeled off, not shown)

then desolder the luxeon I and solder on the seoul

then reverse the process getting it all back together and test it out!

and the IR

then compare to another light so other people on cpf don't get mad that there aren't any beamshots! lol. energizer tactical with seoul on left, jetbeam cle v2 on high on right

now its much more up to the "tactical" name it bears. this light is built very well, lots of rubber gaskets and seals all over the place. it doesnt look like you could run the led at much more current, as there is minimal heatsinking with a plastic flashlight. also, the driver circuit in this appears to integrate all four leds on the same board. you could however, switch the small leds out for something else like maybe a uv? i'll try that next time...

a pic of the driver board

 

[dw51]

Great idea and great tutorial. It looks like I've got another project in my future. Thanks!

 

[TJ 47]

Class idea i should do that, it makes it a lot brighter.

Its a shame im rubbish at soldering though.

aw well its still a really good idea in my eyes.:twothumbs

 

[X_Marine]

Dang dude, I was gonna say I didn't need a tut on it.. lol

Great job and looks like it really performs well. My friend will love it and now he even has a full fledged tutorial to follow. What a deal. :twothumbs

I know I have some soul already not sure if I have one on a star but I got stars and AA so we in business.

I just noticed the HF flyer in the bg.. He like myself is a HF hoe.. lmao

Many thanks again..
X/BillyD..

 

[supasizefries]

I wonder what the max V-input is for that circuit board.

 

[pec50]

Update to this old thread ... Picked up a hardcase tactical for about twenty dollars at a recent Woot. Since I don't have night vision goggles, I decided to swap the 5mm IR led with a nichia white GS or DS. I'm adding this addendum as the mod did not quite produce the results I excepted nor did I find the quite the same situation as described above.

1. after removing the tail cap, the rotating IR switch can be pulled from the body. There are four o-rings under the rotating switch. The largest o-ring is actually a band that appears to be clamped. Do not unbend the clamps as they are actually the contacts for the rotating switch and manipulation with affect the ability to replace the switch and may also affect the circuit continuity -- ask me how I know. Rather work the o-ring from under that clamps with a toothpick or other tool.

2. On dis-assembly of the head, the main led was epoxied/potted to the reflector assembly unlike the unit shown above. As I really liked the particularly fine quality of the white light, I did not have intentions of replacing it. But, expect a bit of work if that is your intention.

3. On replacing the IR led, the three led assembly can be removed from the epoxied main led assembly by removing the two screws that hold the heat sink in place -- difficult to explain but evident once you examine the head. The lead lengths on the nichia must be spot-on for the right angle fit as there is very little room when refitting in the head assembly due the proximity of the gaskets.

4. Regarding testing the unit after reassembly. Based on the intensity of the white, it appears that the white nichia is definitely being under-driven. I did measure voltages across the red and blue and found them to be in the 3V range. But, I was unable to measure across the original IR led due to the complicated switch assembly that had to removed. I am not disappointed as I wanted a low intensity white that would run for a very long time. But, be aware of my results.

Finally, this is a really rugged weatherproof light with an abundance of gasketing and o-rings. Would make a great bug-out or emergency light, particularly with a IR to white led conversion.

 

[Chrontius]

You have no excuse not to buy night vision, now.

I've got the same light from the same Woot. That strobe is actually quite bright when looking at it, but not very bright when looking with it.

 

[LED Zeppelin]

Is the Woot light a Luxeon or Cree?