It is a bit of work, but you can fit a Rebel in there and power it off of a 10440 li-ion cell. I found an aluminum rod on the McMaster Carr website to work as a heatsink pill, and I cut it down to size. I had to bore out the Solitaire (where the pill is) with a Dremel (and a bit of imagination and a lung full of aluminum powder). I soldered a Rebel 0100 to the 10mm round MCPCB available at the Sandwich Shoppe, and mated it behind McGizmo's McR-10R (10mm) reflector. I had to drill a wire through that little aluminum heatsink for the positive wire to pass through (I had to create a positive contact at the base of the heatsink). After applying plenty of AA paste and epoxy in certain spots, I carefully assembled and dropped in a li-ion cell.
The results are amazing. Before I accidentally knocked off (sheared off) the dome on the Rebel, I estimated that it spewed out slightly over 200 lumens out the front (using a light box to compare against other lights). I was playing with other reflectors (The McR-12R) when I bumped off the dome. The beam had a warmer tint afterwards, but the output dropped a bit (30% or more). I need to get a fresh Rebel 0100 emitter and breath some new life into this light. I wonder if I can mate a R2 XP-E behind the same reflector and still create a decent beam.
Unfortunately, over 1A coming from the 10440 cell is quite a bit past 2C, so you only get full brightness for a couple minutes, then the output drops linearly. By
15 minutes of constant on, it is just a faint glow that is less than equivalent to a cheap keychain light. :laughing:
Oh well, it was a fun mod, and it blows away non flashaholics when initially turned on. Some day, I would like to fit in one of those AMC linear current regulators in there (only one 350mA IC) to make the thing practicable, but it will be too much work. I replaced the light with that KD buckle light which produces a decent amount of light for much longer from an ordinary AAA. I still never experienced a LOD in person, though.
I guess I am saying that you can mod your solitaire to do whatever you want, but you are restricted by LED efficiency, and battery capacity. Heat can be an issue, too, but my hand worked well to provide liquid cooling.
I did get a nice gift Solitaire that has a "Harris" company logo on it (Harris Corp Broadcasting Division -where I worked as a co-op). I think that the 3mm or 5mm LED and a 12V or more battery will work in there. I just may get enough of those "MN12/23" cells to fill the length of the tube (same length as a AAA), but toss in a resistor to drop the voltage down a bit. That way, there is less wasted space and less stress on the poor cells. Is there a super bright 5mm LED that is still as white as the high power emitters we have grown so used to? How would that LED compare to the SMJ LEDs available at the Sandwich Shoppe?
Thanks for the inspiration. I heard about this mod years ago, but never thought about trying it!
-Tony
