Mag Solitaire mod

[neil.pritchard]

As a quick and dirty first mod I decided to cannibalize a Mag Solitaire and fit a 3mm LED while retaining the original reflector. For power I used 2 x A11 batteries which are more or less the same width as an AAA but nearly a third of the length and produce 6v each. To reduce the voltage, I soldered one end of a 510 Ohm resistor to the a round headed phillips screw, and covered them with heat shrink wrap, leaving the other end of the resistor out. The resistor is inserted into a longer spring (see below) which fits into the spare bulb holder that sits in the tail cap. The screw head then presses against the battery when the whole lot is assembled, reducing the voltage from 12v to 3v.

Now while this works fine and produces noticeably more light than a standard Mag solitaire using a single AAA and bulb, the power arrangement is not ideal. as the voltage drops a little on the cells, it drops significantly over the LED, so wasting the batteries.

I'd like to fit a voltage regulator instead, and while I'm at it, a brighter LED, with or without a reflector.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated for voltage regulation that will fit the tiny space of the solitaire, but what I need most advice on is which is the brightest LED that I can fit in there.

Cheers guys,

Neil

 

[foxtrot824]

I forget what the inside diameter is on those guys but something like this
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_49_61&products_id=521
might work to drive a brighter LED at about 1 watt

 

[moderator007]

This one here should work. Its the smallest driver that i know of. It works with a AAA battery.
One reviewer on dx says it also works with 10440 li-ion. Paired with a cree xp-g it should make a bright little AAA light.

 

[PCC]

I forget what the inside diameter is on those guys but something like this
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_49_61&products_id=521
might work to drive a brighter LED at about 1 watt

Two problems: those boards are 14.5mm in diameter which is too large; the second problem is that this particular board won't work at all with 1.5V.

 

[gearhead1972]

Just put an mn21 battery in it, they are 12 volts and actually is 8 button batteries that all add resistance to the whole battery. That's what I have in my solitaire

 

[The_bad_Frag]

This one here should work. Its the smallest driver that i know of. It works with a AAA battery.
One reviewer on dx says it also works with 10440 li-ion. Paired with a cree xp-g it should make a bright little AAA light.

This driver from DX sucks. I used it and it has the lowest efficiency ever and pwm flicker on low. I replaced it with this driver http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-176/3-dsh-Mode-Regulated-Circuit-Board/Detail which is really good but I think too big for this flashlight.

 

[DFiorentino]

See if anyone still has the 10.55mm FluPIC available for sale. Combining that with a 10440 li-ion and the LED of your choice on a 10mm MCPCB will make a potent combo. I still have 3 FluPICs left in that size, but they aren't for sale... :devil:

-DF