Luxeon III TV1K Tap Light

[EvilLithiumMan]

Inspired by reviewum's LED Tap Light mod posted in November, all I needed was a host. 99 Cent store just started carrying this Tap Light clone:

It uses 4 AA cells. The first one I modded with three white LED's, each with their own 47 ohm resistor. This drove the LED's with 50ma each on a fresh set of cells. I wasn't happy with the stong blue tint, however.

I had a Luxeon III TV1K Star lying around and was curious as to how much I could under-drive it and still have decent illunination. So I fitted another Tap Light clone with the TV1K:

I powered it with 2200mah Powerex cells and a 10 ohm, 3/4 watt resistor. (Three 30 ohm in parallel). Under load, the NIMH cells were delivering 5.1 volts. The Vf of the LIII is 3.1 volts at this level, so I have exactly 2 volts across the 10 ohm resistor - 200ma of drive.

Once again, the digital camera shots don't show the colors quite the way I percieve them. The LIII is a very clean white and the brighest of the group:

I'm really eager to try a 1 watt Warm White Luxeon, as the LIII is truely being wasted here.

Possible future mod - by leaving off the battery cover and using some aluminum slugs, this device can be fitted with CR123A lithium cells:

 

[BentHeadTX]

Evil,
Why not put a large aluminum slug under the star for a large heatsink? It would cool the light much better. As far as the lithiums go, just rewire it so 4 lithiums can be installed series-parallel for 6V with twice the run time.
I wonder what an R2H would do direct drive or maybe a Pilia Lithium-Ion 3.6V with some resistance? Those tap lights are great for emergency lighting.