How to make an old Arc LS new again

[tschwei]

Hi all,

I often prefer fixing up/improving old things rather than just replacing them with a newer (and not always better) version.

So thanks to all the detailed info and products available by the awesome people here on CPF, I decided to update my old (but still-loved) Arc LS with newer guts, and I am very pleased with the results.

Thanks to a tip here on CPF, I dug around in my old box of plumbing parts for the start of the heatsink (a copper pipe fitting). A little dremmeling made it round, and I was amazed to discover that the inside "lip" of it fit a penny perfectly (another CPF tip). The penny got sanded flat where the Cree XRE LED (from a CPF member) got epoxied onto it, but I wanted to keep some of the original "one cent" look. The piglet board (from CPF member goldserve) got epoxied into place on the back of the penny. The o-ring on the bezel serves 2 purposes- it pushes the bezel out 1mm for LED clearance and it keeps the bezel waterproof.

On "low" mode it is almost as bright as the original Arc circuit & LED. On high it puts out just as much light as my Surefire L4! (really!!!) Runtime is 70 min on high with a RCR123a (it makes a nice handwarmer after about 10 minutes). Needless to say, I won't be using my bigger L4 very much any more (which was a kick-*** light when I bought it 2 years ago)!

Thanks to the recent amazing progress in LED technology, LED-based lighting is quickly maturing into a "commodity" industry with lots more companies, competition, and choices.

But I want to express a big THANK YOU to all the folks here that take the time to provide the info & products that help keep this an enjoyable and exciting hobby (hopefully for many years to come). CHEERS TO YOU!

Enough talk, onto the pics. FYI, that's an old "glow ring" hangin on the back...

Feel free to ask any questions!
-Tim

(PS. I also have an Arc 4+ that I would like to similarly mod, but the circuit board is expoxied into the bezel really, really well, so I'm probably going to leave it alone.)

 

[DaFABRICATA]

VERY NICE MOD!!!

 

[ZuluWhiskeyFox]

Very nice.

You are entertaining the idea of modding your arc4. As a rule the guts don't come out cleanly. I tried one and failed miserably. So I went to plan B. See here. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=160675

Have to admit I'm happy with the results.

cheers,

zwf

 

[nightshade]

Zulu, your Arc 4 recovery and subsequent mod is way cool. :rock:

 

[bombelman]

Hi all,
I often prefer fixing up/improving old things rather than just replacing them with a newer (and not always better) version.
-Tim

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:
Welcome to CPF, Tim !

I am VERY pleased to see you started here and posted this VERY awesome mod !
I did a similar mod to my first ever Arc LS (First Run) too !

I do have some tips for you to save some real-estate in the First Runs...
1) Try sanding down the penny, making it flat (on both sides).
2) You can also get thinner FluPIC boards, to make the complete assembly less tall.

I see you have used the stock optic. You might consider using a sanded
McR-18 reflector for "that perfect beam".
If you are not yet familiar with these reflectors, check them out
in the links I've posted below.

I know you be having a lot of fun with more Arcs to come too !

Cheers !!

Here are some resources for ya:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=163870
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=154563
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=109380

 

[tschwei]

Hi,

Thanks for the nice comments!

Bombelman:
Actually it was mostly your great posts (and also mosport) that inspired me to do this! I did sand the back of the penny flat and the center area of the top (where the CREE is), but the top area didn't appear to touch anything (the bezel appears to screw down on top of the outside ring only) so I left it as it was for that "custom" look.

I knew that the flupic would be easier to do, but as I am also going to use this light backpacking etc. and wanted full brightness on regular 3.0v 123s (to get a good look if something goes "thump" in the night!), I decided to try going with a thicker "boosting" piglet, and revert to a flupic if it was too thick. Luckily, the bezel screws down pretty far when the light is on, and is still 1mm past the o-ring when it's off. I also prefer having an o-ring on the bezel since it allows it to be waterproof and I can still unscrew it whenever I want.

I don't know much about the McR-18 reflectors, but I like the "floody" beam from the orig. optic (I also use this light as a home-made headlamp). Is the McR-18 more of a spot or is it floody like the optic? Is the same length-wise or is it longer?

ZuluWhiskeyFox: That was a nice story about your Arc 4... I've poked a bit at the epoxy around the Arc 4 board, but as the epoxy is all around and below the threads, I'm pretty sure I would also destroy the board if I continued. I would like a brighter Arc 4, but I'm not sure I have the "guts" to do what you did! Do you think there would there be enough room to replace the orig circuit board with a piglet?

-Tim

 

[bombelman]

I don't know much about the McR-18 reflectors, but I like the "floody" beam from the orig. optic (I also use this light as a home-made headlamp). Is the McR-18 more of a spot or is it floody like the optic? Is the same length-wise or is it longer?-Tim

Stock, the McR-18 measures 12mm tall.
For it to properly work with the Cree XR-E, you need to take off 1.0mm off from the back (narrow) end of the reflector.
This combo will produce a narrow hotspot and have quite a bright
and very usable (side)spill.

More info, methods and the resulting beam can be found here and here.

Cheers !

 

[ZuluWhiskeyFox]

Hi,


ZuluWhiskeyFox: That was a nice story about your Arc 4... I've poked a bit at the epoxy around the Arc 4 board, but as the epoxy is all around and below the threads, I'm pretty sure I would also destroy the board if I continued. I would like a brighter Arc 4, but I'm not sure I have the "guts" to do what you did! Do you think there would there be enough room to replace the orig circuit board with a piglet?

-Tim

I'm not familiar with the piglet. So I can't comment.

I can say that the bbflex fits in there almost like it was made for it once the switch issue is delt with. And of course the capacitor that needs to be repositioned. One thing to consider is the current demand the bbflex on high will place on the battery. A single 123 or Li-ion 123 is not much battery for that sort of demand. I guess if one were to keep the high settings to short bursts it would do fine. Don't forget I'm using a 2 x 123 battery tube with a 17670 Li-ion.

cheers,

zwf