Military AngleHead Flashlight LED Drop-in Mod....

[kosPap]

Here is a drop-in mod for the legendary Anglehead Flashlight, the Fulton MX-991\U.

(My specimen was circa 1993 so please check for design changes if you go ahead with this mod yourselves. (There is a reference pic below)

Assembling The Drop-In

The main core is a reflector pill assembly found in DX, the sku 18073 - Aluminum Textured/OP Reflector with Copper Heatsink Base for Cree MC-E LED Emitters (41.5mm*35.1mm)

Eyeballing it, it seemed it would fit so for the price I gave it a go. Well it fits VERY well and tight....And it is a hefty thing! And though it is marked to be a MC-E reflector I tried it with an XR-E Q5 (old EZ900 die) and it has a Glorious tight beam!

And then I found a driver that is close, the 21mm - 1AA Boost Current Regulated 0.8V-3.3V 750mA Flashlight PCB - S008844 from Kaidomain.

Unfortunately it is only yesterday after a month of wait that the drivers were shipped, so in the meantime had to do with a piggyback driver and case. A rare P60 pill with a 16mm !!!!! driver socket and a DX 4382 2AA driver....

I had to make an isolator of the reflector bottom and here is the method I used. Of course I installed another KD 21mm isolator over the Cree board

These are layers of kapton tape stickied on self-sticking labels carrier...being made to allow easy removal it work with the tape well... then I used a No11 scalpel blade to open the LED hole.

now comes the hard part....the P60 pill droped lower than the bigger module rim so I used two brass washers as a spacer. Soldered as seen they allow tight fit in the module and clearance for the driver wires....

Of course the whole mess is removable once I get the new proper drivers.

Fitting the Module in the Flashlight

The drop-in might fit but there are 2 things to be taken care of...

First A bare module would short the positive contact as seen above and it requires the contact being to be bent backwards some....

So here is the way the positive contact spring is bent and how it mates with the drop-in

Secondly, there is a chance of the positive contact leaf spring to touch the board negative rim...The arrow on the right picture points on a transparent isolator I made just in case....
I also soldered a small spring from another DX board...In the next mod I will be changing it to a regular P60 module spring.

And here is finished and installed....

Beamshots

All beamshots were take at auto-exposure...I know this is not proper for showing the beam intensities but the purpose was to show beam shape and characteristics and not compare output...

DX18073 Drop-in (XR-E Q5 EZ900 die)

Left Auto-Exposure, Right -2 stops from Auto-Exposure

Electrolumens AngleLux (Wayne's Anglehead mod with SSC P4 and IMS-27 reflector)

Left Auto-Exposure, Right -2 stops from Auto-Exposure

Dereelight 3SM-1 Drop-in on high

Left Auto-Exposure, Right -2 stops from Auto-Exposure

So there you have it.....

I will update this mod with the new driver as soon as I receive it....enjoy, Kostas

 

[Andrewr05]

That looks very nice, I just obtained one of these lights today and I'm just about appalled by the pathetic amount of light that it puts out even with brand new batteries.

I like the looks of the light so I'll be keeping it around, I might even get a drop in LED "bulb" for it.

 

[kosPap]

hmmm time for an update....

the expected ALM1AA driver is no longer available....

Also, I have second thoughts on the viability of the P60 pill "fix"....

I sed the light to paint a dark corner somwherer in the house and it was good as long as the driver llived (DX4382)

Something die on it and it is either a driver heatsinking issue (have measured efficiency of 50% ONLY) or it was a lucky incident....

Metal mass of the module is way above wayne's anglelux mod so that may not me the case....(boths mods running the LED at 700-750mA)

I am in the process of seting up a way to use Sandwichsjoppe 2AA drivers and they will be tested n this mod too!

 

[ace0001a]

Great idea. There have been a few different forum member mods on these Fulton Angle lights that I've seen in recent years. I was thinking though, that is someone with machining skills could make an aluminum tube or collar that could fit a standard P60 module and simply adapt it to fit, that could work as well.

 

[kosPap]

hmmm...anothweer good approach... aplug is not that difficult to machine.....boring the center and threading it is achievable too...

the plugs deapth is about right about the portion of a P60 pill that is bellow its reflector..screw on , screw off....

and one could use a D36 module too!

But honeslty unless one HAS to use this flashlight (need for D batteries) these mods are only ego booster projects for me....(including mine of course)!

 

[ace0001a]

hmmm...anothweer good approach... aplug is not that difficult to machine.....boring the center and threading it is achievable too...

the plugs deapth is about right about the portion of a P60 pill that is bellow its reflector..screw on , screw off....

and one could use a D36 module too!

But honeslty unless one HAS to use this flashlight (need for D batteries) these mods are only ego booster projects for me....(including mine of course)!

Personally I think the Fulton MX-991 is a flashlight that has stood the test of time. And if you think about it, you can use a P60LED module with standard driver and 2 3AAA-to-1D series adapters (giving you 7.2V-9V) and it would work great. The aluminum Tube/Collar would serve as a good heatsink. Or if you want to stick with 2D batteries, just make a P60LED pill with a boost driver. In any case, I still have lots of love for this classic flashlight.

 

[kosPap]

LOL I cannot blame no one for his quirks!

LOLOLOLOL

seriously now, I have an Anglelux in my em-com ham club kit...it is there cos it can afford my a 1-2 nights use with a single battery pack....But as a carry light for milirtary and outdoors it is gone (in my world)