Giving old components a new life.

[pe2er]

I Had some parts laying around, left over from previous builds. Instead of binning them, I decided to build yet another bike light
Intended for road use. Not the brightest, but still usable.

This is the host; a nine-LED flashlight, powered by 3 x AAA:

Out go the nine LEDS and battery pack, in go:
SSC P4 U-Bin
Driver, 800mA 3,6 - 9 VDC
Lens, ~10°

LED and driver are glued to an aluminium disk, pressed against the lens in the head by the main body of the flashlight. The end-cap switch is made waterproof and re-used.

The shiny disc in the beam is the old 9-LED light engine.

This is the 'Pre-mod' output:

Versus the 'Post-mod' output:

To complete the lighting system, a 6xC NiCd battery pack with Tamiya connectors. At 2400mAh it should provide ~200 Lumens for 3 Hours +.

 

[MMACH 5]

Nicely done.
Fry's has those flashlights in their bargain baskets for $2.99.

 

[BrianMc]

Yeah. TSC has them at that price too. I have a plastic bodied one from years ago that seem to have better LEDs and I think works better by the in store test. I can pick my way home with it. So I picked one of these up knowing thanks to Pe2er that it can be a host down the road and maybe if the plastic one IS better, do a parts swap, and let Kathryn have the lesser for her purse. How much throw do you need to see to the bottom of a purse, anyway? The three name brand triple A's are $1.95 bought in an eight pack, so there is likely $1.50 worth of batteries in it.

Is there a flashaholics anonymous?

 

[pe2er]

Is there a flashaholics anonymous?

Must admit that I have been bitten by the bug also. Have more bike and flashlights than a person needs. My son does not mind

Our local "Blokker" and "Action" also sell these lights for around €2. The LEDs in them are not so bright as the light from Dx, but that would not be an issue when you plan to convert it. The head however doe snot unscrew from these cheaper lights, so that would change the design some.

Like this light:

 

[BrianMc]

Mine is red too. The one I bought yesterday has a slightly larger more uniform beam than the red one. So Kathryn gets the red one.

 

[pe2er]

I Like the red light. Looks good on my bike.

Unfortunately, I sold it There is now a Magicshine MJ-808 mounted in its place.