I know this has been done before, but I just finished putting a bare star (w/o optics) into a double barrel. Finally, an LED flashlight that will light up the house accross the street. This thing really projects a beam; beats the **** out of a brand new minimag with fresh bateries. The reflector really focuses a parallel beam. No more multi-LED lights for me (unless I can fit 3 or 4 Luxeons into something..........)
Luxeon Star in a Energizer AAA Double Barrel
- Thread starter lambda
- Start date
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Ok, I hope to post the mod tomarrow with instructions, including a simple change to the switch assembly that allows you to get 4.5 to 6V out the Double Barrel. The Luxeon was mounted with it's leads bent down through the circuit card so the front of the board could be coupled to a heatsink made out of a washer. Works really great, these are some real bright LEDs. Even beats my overdriven 8 LED light.
Ok here's the link to the instructions: http://lambda10.tripod.com/ . Sorry about the quality of the photos, but I don't have a digital camera, and had to make do with screen captures from a video camera.
Comments, suggestions, and even critisim welcome.
Enjoy..
Comments, suggestions, and even critisim welcome.
Enjoy..
This should take you right to the source http://www.future-active.com/results.asp?txtSearch=lxhl-bw01
D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
This is a very nice mod - congratulations! Do you know what the battery life is like?
No, I have not done any battery run time test, but I've got some NiMh AA cells that are 1.8Amp hour, so figuring the AAA alkyline would be 1.2Amp hour, or so, at 250mA it should run 4-5 hours. I'll get around to doing the real world test in few days and post the results.
Update - Did the battery run down test and after 4 hours it's about 60% brightness. However, if you give it a rest between every hour or so, the batteries recover a little. So, with itermittent use, 4-5 hours of reasonably bright light; not bad for 3 AAA. Now, since the resistor pack takes the place of one of the batteries, I think I'll try replacing it with an aluminum bar and see how much more I can suck out of these batteries...........
Ran the batteries for another hour (5 hours total) and then switched the resistor for a zero ohm cell and it ran another 1 1/2 hours before getting noticeably dimmer. Still useful to walk around inside, and throws a faint spot on the wall from 10ft in a lit room. But not very bright. So, 4-5 hours with resistor, another 1 1/2 with the zero ohm cell, that's 6 1/2 hours of straight burn on 3 AAA. They would probably give much better life is not drained so hard, so fast. 250-300ma is a lot for little old AAA cells. If used for short periods like most flashlights, you may even get 7 or 8 hours.
Last update:
After the batteries dimmed out, the flashlight went into "nightlight mode" (bright as a nightlight if pointed at wall or ceiling) as it stayed the same brightness for two days (50 hrs), and by the third day has started to dim out. You could still read with it, but pretty dim. Battery voltage down to 0.9V, so they're pretty DOA. I think this mod is pretty good on batteries despite how bright it is for the first 4 hours....you could still find your way out of some place in the dark with it after 3 days continuous use. I'm happy...........
After the batteries dimmed out, the flashlight went into "nightlight mode" (bright as a nightlight if pointed at wall or ceiling) as it stayed the same brightness for two days (50 hrs), and by the third day has started to dim out. You could still read with it, but pretty dim. Battery voltage down to 0.9V, so they're pretty DOA. I think this mod is pretty good on batteries despite how bright it is for the first 4 hours....you could still find your way out of some place in the dark with it after 3 days continuous use. I'm happy...........
D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
WOW!!
I just finished the AAA DB conversion, and it sure is BRIGHT
. I am very impressed with the color of the LS as well as the appearance of the final product. A friend of mine asked me where he could buy it!! Thanks alot for a great write-up.
Eric
I just finished the AAA DB conversion, and it sure is BRIGHT
Eric
Neat, isn't it....hard to beat for brightness, even though the Luxeon is underdriven.
I've also located (in the clearance stuff at Kmart) it's big brother, the six AA cell. Basically the same mod, only you don't have to mess with the switch, the light was made for 4.5V! Two nice big washers fit under the PC board this time, and used 2.75ohm (3 - 10ohm + 1 - 15ohm) resistor; limits current to 350ma with new batteries). Big, bright and long lasting; I've run it 3 hrs and it's not dimmed any noticeable amount yet. Definetly a serious light that really projects a nice beam several hundred feet. I'll try to post the mod with the other one in the next few days.
I've also located (in the clearance stuff at Kmart) it's big brother, the six AA cell. Basically the same mod, only you don't have to mess with the switch, the light was made for 4.5V! Two nice big washers fit under the PC board this time, and used 2.75ohm (3 - 10ohm + 1 - 15ohm) resistor; limits current to 350ma with new batteries). Big, bright and long lasting; I've run it 3 hrs and it's not dimmed any noticeable amount yet. Definetly a serious light that really projects a nice beam several hundred feet. I'll try to post the mod with the other one in the next few days.
D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
Hmmmmmmm......
Now I will only have four LS's left. Darnit', quit giving me ideas
Now I will only have four LS's left. Darnit', quit giving me ideas
