EverLED Mod?

[darkzero]

Has anyone ever modded one of these? I found one in my old box of parts. Has a side emitter & has very low output. I searched but could not find anything.

 

[AlexGT]

Arcmania sold some here

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=159918

 

[darkzero]

Thanks for the link Alex. I take it mine is the older one since it uses a side emitter? Now that I know it can be done I'm going to mod mine since it's worthless in stock form. I'll post here when finished.

I forget, can anyone tell me what's the max number of cells it can use? Anyone know what the current ratings are?

Thanks

 

[VidPro]

EverLED Classic (1.2w, side-emitting Luxeon Star I) (1.5-9v)
current varied with input voltages see http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/everled.htm

i suspect about 150-200ma , based on its ability to heat conduct, but cant be sure.

 

[darkzero]

Thanks VidPro. I can't imagine anyone using the side emitter version in stock form. Well maybe when closer to 9v it may be brighter, I haven't tried.


With a SSC P4 it's so much nicer & is actually worth using. I used a spacer too but I don't think as high as the ones Arcmania's look. Focus is fine in a Minimag style PR base light that I have.

So then I got bored...

Then I got really bored...
Before:

After:

 

[nanotech17]

Dang!I sold mine.
That is one bloody nice modded LED bulb i have ever seen - shoot....

 

[VidPro]

Then I got really bored...
Before:

After:

lol

 

[darkzero]

lol

Yup I laughed too after I lit it up. Totally useless but I had leftover mix when applying the ring so I thought hey why not? :laughing:

 

[Phaserburn]

Why Everled hasn't upgraded the emitter at all is a mystery to me.

 

[JamisonM]

Why Everled hasn't upgraded the emitter at all is a mystery to me.

Absolutely. Why we haven't seen any of the many luxeon based drop-ins upgraded to soul is an even bigger mystery IMO.

 

[Gunner12]

GITD is really cool, especially if it's not the normal green.

I've heard the EverLED wasn't as easy to mod as some of the other modules.

 

[Burgess]

:wow:


What a Beautiful job ! ! !


:kiss:

_

 

[JamisonM]

Darkzero, how did you remove the epoxy that was around the original luxeon I?

 

[darkzero]

I probably heated it. I do remember that you must be very careful not to destroy the leads when removing the epoxy.

 

[JamisonM]

I probably heated it. I do remember that you must be very careful not to destroy the leads when removing the epoxy.

I bet trying not to destroy the leads was the hardest part. how did you determine polarity? Can you recommend a way to heat it. I've read about using a heatgun and a pot of boiling water. I like the boiling water method, besides being the cheapest, it seems like the easiest.

 

[JamisonM]

Used the hot water method today. I didn't get every last bit that I could, but I think it did fairly well at getting most of it. I think enough of it is gone that I can swap out the luxeon I far a seoul p4 pretty easily.

 

[JamisonM]

Wow. Was it really that long ago. Am I reviving a two year old dead thread or what? Anyway, the dirty deed is finally done. I actually did this a couple times. I first used a Seoul P4, but wasn't really happy so I used the last XP-G I got from csshih at Illumination Supply. I'm going to have to get some more of those now. The one thing I learned from this is that I won't be doing it again. Anyway, pictures are below.


Here we have the original LED removed as well as the potting compound. The fin scratches you see are from where I scrapped all the potting compound off. To remove the LED, I used my dremel and cut it out. I used the thinnest cutting disk I had and cut into the LED just behind the LED's legs so as not to damage the wire soldered onto them. If you look close, you can see where I went a bit too deep near the red wire.


This is just another view of the above. I desoldered the legs that were still attached from cutting the LED out and straitened the wires. The wires are really small and are solid core. I tried my best not to bend them at all. The less you touch them, the better. You also have to be mindful of the heat from your soldering iron.


Here's the dirty and used donor LED. It's an XP-G R5 on a 10mm MCPCB. The wires next to it are wires I stripped and tinned that connect to the lead wires coming out of the drop-in shown above. The reason for the wires are to jump the gap that's between the lead wires in the MCPCB's holes and the solder points for the LED.


Here the wires I cut, stripped and tinned are soldered on. I thought about different ways to mount the LED, but settled on just one. Well, that's kind of obvious isn't it. I saw the holes that were already drilled into the MCPCB and wondered how the lead wire would fit into them. Turns out, they fit pretty darn good.


Here it is finished. The copper spacer came from a piece of 1" copper pip that I cut and flattened. I used a pair of wire cutters to form the basic shape and my dremel to finalize it. I then used the locking pliers pictured to hold it and the MCPCB together so I could used a 1/16 drill bit to drill matching holes into the spacer. On went the spacer and then I cut two very small pieces of heat shrink and put them on the leads so I wouldn't have to worry about them shorting on the MCPCB. You can see where the heat shrink on the red wire is a bit too long. The LED went on last. I bent the wires into place and soldered them.

All in all, it was a pretty tough project. Let me just say it again, but I won't be doing this to the other one I have. It's too much trouble. I did this mostly to prove to myself I could do it. Anyway, that's another project I can check off the list. Time to have some tea.