Help me mod my Electron LED light!

[ConorM612]

Hello.

Finally got my login activated!! I hear there have been some server issues!!

Hope this is in the right place, sooo many forums here.

I have an old (two years old) basic Electron LED bike light powered by 4X AAA batteries. While burn time is epic, output is poor! As I don't commute by road any more I'm thinking I may as well upgrade the torch so I can use it off road along with my triple Cree lamp.

I've taken it apart and this is what I have:

img src: http://www.mournemtb.com/conor/misc_images/electron8.JPG



Here is the head that takes the LED module: The ID is 27mm. The length is 29mm (from the inside of the lens lip).

img src: http://www.mournemtb.com/conor/misc_images/electron2.JPG



Here is the current LED module. Basic 10 LED array. OD is 26.5mm, length is 27mm.

img src: http://www.mournemtb.com/conor/misc_images/electron3.JPG

img src: http://www.mournemtb.com/conor/misc_images/electron4.JPG



And Finally, here is the battery module:

img src: http://www.mournemtb.com/conor/misc_images/electron6.JPG


What sort of LED module can I stick in there? The current one is 27mm long, but I'm sure I can fit something that is a couple mm long in.

Would I be able to put something like this in if I remove the springs?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14442
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11836

Any other suggestions? BTW, I've tested the output from the switch, it seems to have three modes, full voltage, half and off. It's not just a simple on/off (that I can tell). Does this matter at all? The current module has two modes, on and 1/2second flashing. I'm not fully educated in LED drivers etc so I'm not sure how things work...

Cheers.

 

[TheBigYin]

First of all :welcome:

Second, from the thread title, thought I might have something useful to pass on to you - might not be 100% applicable though...

you see, I've just finished modding a electron lighting system myself using drop-in modules, thing was, mine was the EHP315 with the separate light heads and bottle battery like this...

My first observation is this - the drop-in modules produce quite a bit of heat. I started off using two of these and a aluminium shim to take up the gap between the drop-in and the lighht case. This wasn't the best solution and i ended up purchasing a pair of 35mm reflectors to suit the case. After a bit of dremmeling, they fitted/worked great. Also had the added benefit that I could leave one of the emitter/regulator slugs unscrewed half a turn and get a far "floodier" beam pattern. But they DO kick out quite a bit of heat. On the bench indoors, the case is noticeably hot to the touch. Outdoors and on the bike they are fine - cold as a traffic wardens heart after 2 hours of run-time. Not sure that the small body of the lamp you are using is up to dispersing this heat to be honest.

Other point, which someone far cleverer than I can possibly help better with, is that the multi-mode drop in will be switched from mode to mode by quickly toggling the power off-and-back-on-again. Again, i'm not to sure that your lamps power switch will be up to it.

For what it's worth, the drop-in is less than a tenner. If you want to have a few hours interesting fettling, and maybe get a usable light out of it, give it a go - if you want a useable light, then put that tenner to one of these instead. I enjoy fettling stuff, and ended up with a set of these... excuse the lousy photograph - camera battery failed on me after i'd taken one badly exposed and blurry shot

Edit...
Thats A bit better...

 

[ConorM612]

Cheers Big man.

Aye, I've jsut bought two 50mm drop in units for my main lights. Really good so far, big improvement over the halogens. Bit owrried about heat sinking though, as only the narrow part of the drop in lip is in contact with the case. might need a lump of metal between the heat sink and the case. But when you are out riding through cold air it doesn't matter so much!

Re the Electron switch... I'm certain it has three modes: 1. nominal voltage, 2. full voltage, 4.4v and 3. half voltage, 2.2v.

As I've said I don't really understand why it's like this or how it effects the driver on a after market drop in unit. I think I'll paly it safe and get a single mode drop in rather than multi mode. I could easily repalce the switch with an on/off but the switch in mounted on a PCB and it's attached to the top of the battery caddy. It would probably end in tears as I'm not really that adept at fine work or soldering...

I'm NOT buying another torch! May as well re-use what I have. I'm not worried about heat dissipation as the case is a good solid lump of alu and will get rid of heat well.

 

[TheBigYin]

if the case of the Electron is Alu, i'd give it a go, tbh. Wasn't sure if it was that silver coloured plastic or something more substantial!

Good luck with it, and don't forget to post results when you've finished

 

[ConorM612]

Aye, it's a proper solid little light, that's why I'd rather spend £10 upgrading it rather than buying a new unit. Thinking of the environment as well

I just picked up a Light & Motion Commuter light set from a mate last night... it uses a MR11 bulb... I might get two sku.11836, one for the elctron and one for the Commuter. Do the 35mm reflectors simply replace the 26.5mm reflector that comes with sku.11836?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=3839

 

[TheBigYin]

The emitter/regulator slug (the brass/copper bit at the back) unscrews out of the drop in and will screw into the 35mm reflector. I found that they wouldn't actually screw far enough into the 35mm reflector to get the dome of the emitter through the hole in the reflector though, so rather than faff with the slug, i took the dremel to the back bit of the reflector and cut a few mm off the back. This got the emitter dome through the hole in the reflector, and had the added bonus of shortening the reflector enough to fit into the electron head unit :thumbsup: (it would have been just a smidgin too long without!)

 

[robthehungrymonkey]

The emitter/regulator slug (the brass/copper bit at the back) unscrews out of the drop in and will screw into the 35mm reflector. I found that they wouldn't actually screw far enough into the 35mm reflector to get the dome of the emitter through the hole in the reflector though, so rather than faff with the slug, i took the dremel to the back bit of the reflector and cut a few mm off the back. This got the emitter dome through the hole in the reflector, and had the added bonus of shortening the reflector enough to fit into the electron head unit :thumbsup: (it would have been just a smidgin too long without!)

Hi BigYin,

I'm actually looking to do EXACTLY what you've done!

I have the same electron lights, and the battery has died. Did you do anything with the battery pack? Or are you using it as it was?

Also, is it literally a case of trimming the 35mm reflector screwing it on to the drop in unit and then dropping it in the Electron case, connecting it to the + and - ?

 

[TheBigYin]

My battery was fine - I used the 3.7-18v modules to give me scope for swapping the battery for pretty much anything, when the battery did eventually die. The module is pretty much bomb-proof and works at full output at anything over 6v iirc - higher voltages just getting a bit less efficient and making a bit more heat. I'd probably say that a 7.4v RC car pack or similar would be fine.

The reflector needed around 3mm dremeling off the threaded bit - i'd measure the ones you get shipped though - DX has a reputation for shipping different sourced items every other week. Obviously, you'll need to remove the contact springs from the back of the module, and solder the wires from the internal contacts in the head unit, ensirung + to +, - to - (or as my old dad used to say red to red, black to black, blue to bits!).

Other than that, it was a fairly simple job to fit them to the electron lamp head - I may have had to give a bit of "relief" to the case near the plate where the screw holes go that hold the 2 parts of the head together, and maybe a bit of a grind to the bolt that goes down into the bar clamp, but other than that, it was a tight but not difficult fit. I'd put a couple of wraps of insulating tape over the end of the module after all the wiring's done, just in case anything shorts against the metal case.

Oh - and you need some glass lenses to cover the open end of the lamp - these were the best fit ( I ended up with 3 different sizes to find the right ones!)


Parts list:

Drop in
Reflectors
Glass Lenses

 

[TheBigYin]

Oh - but watch out - building lights is addictive - this is the one i've just made this afternoon...

Bit more complicated build though

 

[robthehungrymonkey]

Brilliant.

That's everything that i need i think!

Many thanks!

 

[TheBigYin]

if there's anything you're not sure of, give me a shout. Might be able to save a bit of head-scratching

 

[robthehungrymonkey]

Cheers Pal, will do.

Is there a way to PM on this forum, or am I being dumb!?

 

[TheBigYin]

Click on the user name in a message and on their profile page, just under the name is a option to send message.