I think I have a problem!?

[Wylie]

Okay I think I got a problem.

I pulled an all nighter last night and when my girlfriend got up this morning she was looking at me kind of funny as I had a bunch a parts spread all over the coffee table and my immediate vicinity.

I started goofing around with this AA Mag housing I had and got caught up in it. I knew it was bad when I heard the coffee pot start up this morning but I just kept doing what I was doing.

I made a late run over to the Home Depot before they closed last night and was one of the last people out the door as I felt I had to pick up some o-rings, batteries and washers for my little Mag project I had in mind. That is were I got started, I had the parts and I wanted to see how this thing was going to come out. While at Home Depot I got some N cell batteries, not knowing until I did done the tongue test they got no oomph but that didn’t stop me. I figured I could down size the cylinder of the AA Mag housing I had and get 4.5 volts with the N cells and not have to go through much pain with the housing I had. I was right the mod as far as that part was easy.

The trick was all of the anodes and cathodes and training them into the right position to make the connections to the two 10 ohm resistors I used. I took a sharpie and colored all of the anodes and arranged them in a circuit board in the best manner I could think of. I had to carved a couple of Popsicle sticks to take up the space between the outside leds because when I tried to wrap the rubber band on them to epoxy them in place everything went to heck, no cooperation at all I am telling you. So I got over that little hurdle anyway and then it was on to the insulating between the anodes and cathodes. I punched holes in the plastic container I got the parts in and trained the cathodes out of the way, slipped the anodes through and then trained them into two groups. I did my soldering, grabbed another piece of the plastic from the packaging and punched a hole in the center were I trained the ends of the resistors up through. Next, I folded the cathodes over that piece of plastic and cut the ends even with each other and soldered a little ring for a connection point to the battery cylinder I sand the anodizing off the end of of, twisted, cut the anodes and solder them too. Mixed up the epoxy again and filled the rest of the space between the two pieces of plastic the resistors and the anodes made. It really sounds a lot easier then it was at the time. A 3/8 inch delrin fitting the spring from old pen, the housing of the pen and some latex tubing end the battery cylinder was finished after a little soldering of the spring in the delrin. That part was too easy it must have been the chocolate getting the synapses crackling or something.

I slapped my cluster of 8 leds into the lens housing glued that and the pen I cut a little off of into the battery cylinder to down size it for the N cells and what do you know it worked.

I am not sure what the battery life is going to be but it’s not a lantern so I think it will work fine for spooking bears or whatever while camping.
Oh, it seems as though I fell for something that must have been a mistake made by a retailer of leds on a website as I cannot find any 15,000 mcd white leds like I had posted previously. Go figure, it could have been me too, stuff happens.

I have posted a link to some pictures of this mod for anybody that might be interested; this is a pretty bright flashlight. Yep bright enough to dot my eyes, dope!

http://www.imagestation.com/mypictures/inbox/view.html?id=4243268179&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imagestation.com%2Fpicture%2Fsraid42%2Fp35a4fba5308b0a155f33d5a5c5bb9e39%2Ffceb2253.jpg&ca ption=red%20aa%20composite%202

 

[Wylie]

Hi all,
I thought I would let you folks know that this has to be my best mod yet. I have mixed up some fishing rod thread coating epoxy with some glow in the dark pigment and filled the lens housing right to the edge of the dome on the leds. This makes for a neat little touch.
I went fishing and stayed the night at a lake last night; this gave me a chance to test my new toy in an area where there were hardly any lights. I didn’t have a normal AA Mag light to test against but from what I saw this mod is at least as bright as an AA Mag light if not brighter. I have thought that if I were able this would be a great mod kit for AA Mag owners. I may be able to set them up so that the original lens could be used and would hold the led cluster in place making it water proof without the hassle of the epoxies to waterproof the unit. I would like to get some feed back on this idea if any of you would be so kind.
I have noticed my last post here was really a mess and may be hard to follow. Please excuse me as this was done after an all tinker fest.
Keeping it real, bright

,
Wylie

 

[Deleted member 684]

So what's the run time likE?

 

[Wylie]

Hi Nerd,
Let me get some new batteries and take the time to kill them. I have not used up a set of batteries as of yet but I have not used this flashlight a lot either. I figure I should get at least 10 hours of good light from a set of three Ns but will have to see.
Thanks for your interest Nerd,
Wylie

 

[Deleted member 684]

Hey, I'm a flashaholic too! I am interested in anything remotely related to lights..

Ya know, I have a feeling you are going to squeeze a 1 watt LS into the Minimag soon and run it off 4.5 volts...

 

[Wylie]

Nerd,
I will have to look into the 1 watt futher and see if they seem to be feasible for me. The light output of a 1 watt is not much greater then a nice cluster of 5mms nichias. I am still trying to get things straight with the 5mms to tell the truth, some people say the nichia puts out 10,000 mcd some say 9,900 and some say even less. I figure if a guy were to be able to get the same surface area of phosphorus in the same compounds and keep the battery drain lower than the 1 watt what would be the use, space permitting. I am still a newbie really and it will take a while before I am confident in any of the larger leds as toys. I do have to admit I have been looking into 1 watts just a little but with intentions of clusters of them. I feel as I do not know enough about the 1 watts to justify any clear cut statements at this time to tell you the truth. As a matter of fact with the internet knowledge I have of leds as a whole there is a lot that is in question.
Wylie

 

[INRETECH]

LEDs should be rated in Lumens, not Cd

I have a LED with a 0.550 inch lens on it that a friend of mine brought back from Japan; it is just a normal LED die with a super lens on it - it makes about a 1/2deg output pattern which is almost useless for most applications

 

[Wylie]

Hi INTERTECH,
Strange that you have brought this up! Honestly I couldn't have found much use for an LED like that myself but just yesterday I got phone call from a person that may just be using something very similar to that type of LED.

I build fishing rods that illuminate and indicate when the fish is taking the bait.

I use a laser pointer type module pointed through the interior of fishing rods to illuminate them. When the fishing rod bends the light moves, pretty simple but a very effective application.

I have won an award for my patent and have had a pretty rough time getting them mass produced even though the product has shown great interest by the public.
Anyway I get this call from a David Alley (I may have spelt his name wrong) yesterday and he has done what sounds to me like he has taken an LED similar to what you have told me of and pointed it into the interior of a fishing rod to illuminate them.

(Been there done that)

He may get more colors cheaper into his fishing rods but the illumination will never compete unless he can finds some five watters with a 1/2 degree viewing angle.

Here's the funny part, I have searched the patent office because his message on my machine told me that he had a patent on this product and I have found nothing as of yet.
With a product such as he had mentioned I could see a use for an LED like you have mentioned but not many others to think of at this time. Fiber optics, nope, seismic indicators, nope, defused lighting, I doubt it.

Must be some use out there for a manufacturer to take it on.

Go figure!

Keep it real, bright, INTERTECH
Wylie