Enter the Dracula - A XPE Keychain light

[ma_sha1]

Dracular: The Draco Kila :rock:

A Keychain light that is

• Small
• Powerful
• Simple &
• Cheap!

Start with a $5 Keychain host, just 2" long. Similar size to Draco or Keymate.

Followed by two drilling-jobs.
1. Bore out tail cap to fit 10280
2. Enlarge the 5mm led opening hole to 10mm to hold Lisa optics.
All done with just drill bits on a cord-less drill.

A Q2 Neutral tint XPE on 10mm pill was fit under the floody Lisa Optics.
A positive center contact & negative ring are made out of solder blobs & wires.

The finished goods on my key ring, with 10280 battery running direct drive.

Wola, the little light that could!

Another beam shot: The little monster is able to lit-up the whole stairs all by itself

 

[pmoore]

Nice for some reason I am liking smaller lights these days.

 

[Gryloc]

I always seen that light in stores thinking I can mod it, but then I decide not to because I thought it may be a silly mod. Now I will have to pick one up! I have a solitaire modded with a rebel 0100 and a McR10R reflector powered DD from a 10340 cell, but it was a pain to mod and the operation is problematic at times.

Could you tell us what the "Lisa optics" are? I have a spare McR-10R and -12R reflectors (10mm and 12mm OD). Would those fit in the head of this host flashlight? I will have to grab another Rebel or XP-E for this, though.

Finally, how well does the 10280 cell fit in the light? Does it rattle much or too tight, or is there room for some extra heat-spreading material? I would think that adding a resistor would help lower the output current a little to keep from damaging the li-ion cell. The Rebel in my solitaire drew over 900mA from that poor little 10340 li-ion cell, and I want to avoid that again.

-Tony

 

[toby_pra]

Very nice...!

 

[Beamhead]

Saweet.....:thumbsup:

 

[ma_sha1]

Could you tell us what the "Lisa optics" are?

Lisa optics is a floody XPE optics sold by Cutter

I have a spare McR-10R and -12R reflectors (10mm and 12mm OD). Would those fit in the head of this host flashlight? I will have to grab another Rebel or XP-E for this, though.


Yes, as you drill your own hole, you can drill up to 16mm I think.
You only have about 10mm depth for anyting (optics or reflector), that'll be the limitation for whatever you want to put there.

Finally, how well does the 10280 cell fit in the light? Does it rattle much or too tight, or is there room for some extra heat-spreading material?

battery goes into the tail cap, which bored out just enough,
no rattles. There's some space in the tube that I put some thin
layer of material, not really need it.


I would think that adding a resistor would help lower the output current a little to keep from damaging the li-ion cell. The Rebel in my solitaire drew over 900mA from that poor little 10340 li-ion cell, and I want to avoid that again.


I tried but didn't have any room left for resistor.
So far after a few re-charge cycles, the DD 10280 seems to be fine.
Somewhere I read that 10280 & 10180 has limitted discharge ability anyways,
thus less likely to burn-out like the bigger li-ions. So far it's not killing itself under DD.

Also, perhaps that XPE has higher Vf than your Rebel?
I don't think it's doing 900MA on mine. Judging by the heat out put I'd say 500-700 MA range?
I built & sold quite a few 400MA Soli. XPE with 1.5 Ohm resistor+10440; theses are just a bit warmer but not by much.


-Tony