defblade
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2006
- Messages
- 65
I bought an ultrafire 1watt AAA torch as an EDC
But fell foul of the regulator design (since improved?) which would mean the torch wouldn't light up when the battery fell below 1.2v, which happens rather too quickly even on new Duracells. So I did some more research, and being a bit nervous of rechargable lithiums (I still am), replaced it with a Fenix P1
Having discovered the modding area here, got me thinking about my discarded Ultrafire...... if it's the battery voltage that's the problem, and it can be run on a 3.6v lithium, then 2 AAs should keep the voltage above 1.2v and let the regulator work.
I've had a Petzel Zoom for more years than I can remember, and it's been sat around of late, doing very little, due to poor amount of light it puts out unless you pay for the big batteries, which not many shops carry anyway. The 3xAA adaptor doesn't give great results with the higher power bulb.
So, decided to see if I could make one useful torch from 2 less than great ones. Or, as I hacksawed the threaded section off the bottom of the Ultrafire's head, having already pulled the Zoom apart, maybe wreck 2 working torches
Battery pack was easy - just make a jumper for the empty slot in the AA adaptor:
It's not till you try and change things that you realise how well designed they are; the Petzel bulb mounting is simplicity itself...... for a threaded bulb! But I decided that I wanted to keep the bezel twist as the on-off, rather than mount a switch somewhere (probably would have been easier), so I had to work with it.
I removed the whole lot (had to drill the melted securing mounts off the base), soldered the earth wire to the metal clippy-bit that normally earths the bulb and provides the thread for screwing the bulb into. Then I ran some bare wire from the clip , into the white section and over the top. This would then contact the earth ring on the bottom of the Ultrafire's PCB once it was mounted.
The Ultrafire head needed some serious filing to allow the yellow collar on the Zoom to move, this collar is the switch mechanism as it pushes the live contact down, breaking circuit, as the Zoom's bezel is tightened. But to start with, it wouldn't move up..... Talking of filing, the hole in the reflector had to get a fair bit bigger.
The live wire then needed to make contact with the centre of the PCB's bottom, where the battery button would normally touch. I kept the original copper plate with spring, but drilled a small hole and added a small screw through, pointing up. With tweaking of the length, it made contact to the middle just fine.
Then I epoxied the Ultrafire head to the bulb mechanism of the Zoom (making sure that the moveable yellow collar didn't get stuck too). Then the whole lot had to be epoxied back the the base of the torch after its destructive removal.
The stack height of the LED is a lot higher than the original position of the bulb fialment, so when the light comes on, it has a big hole in the centre of the beam pattern, but keep turning the bezel and it goes to spot then flood. The quick and dirty beamshot (Zoom left, Fenix P1 (which is 3 watt, so a bit unfair) on the right) is adjusted to about half-way flood. While there is a daker middle, it's useable. You can get a reasonable spot if required. It does get hot, but I've run it upto about 30mins constant with no problems.
Overall, I got my aim of making a useful torch out of the 2. It's much more useful than the original Zoom, and now visibly drops out of regulation, without getting the start-up issues the Ultrafire had. It's seen a lot of use working on my car recently, and also performed nicely as the only light in our bathroom for a week when the transformer for the ceiling lights packed up.
I know that compared to a lot of stuff on here, it's a not big mod, but it's my first, it works, and I still get that extra glow of knowing I did it myself
But fell foul of the regulator design (since improved?) which would mean the torch wouldn't light up when the battery fell below 1.2v, which happens rather too quickly even on new Duracells. So I did some more research, and being a bit nervous of rechargable lithiums (I still am), replaced it with a Fenix P1
Having discovered the modding area here, got me thinking about my discarded Ultrafire...... if it's the battery voltage that's the problem, and it can be run on a 3.6v lithium, then 2 AAs should keep the voltage above 1.2v and let the regulator work.
I've had a Petzel Zoom for more years than I can remember, and it's been sat around of late, doing very little, due to poor amount of light it puts out unless you pay for the big batteries, which not many shops carry anyway. The 3xAA adaptor doesn't give great results with the higher power bulb.
So, decided to see if I could make one useful torch from 2 less than great ones. Or, as I hacksawed the threaded section off the bottom of the Ultrafire's head, having already pulled the Zoom apart, maybe wreck 2 working torches
Battery pack was easy - just make a jumper for the empty slot in the AA adaptor:
It's not till you try and change things that you realise how well designed they are; the Petzel bulb mounting is simplicity itself...... for a threaded bulb! But I decided that I wanted to keep the bezel twist as the on-off, rather than mount a switch somewhere (probably would have been easier), so I had to work with it.
I removed the whole lot (had to drill the melted securing mounts off the base), soldered the earth wire to the metal clippy-bit that normally earths the bulb and provides the thread for screwing the bulb into. Then I ran some bare wire from the clip , into the white section and over the top. This would then contact the earth ring on the bottom of the Ultrafire's PCB once it was mounted.
The Ultrafire head needed some serious filing to allow the yellow collar on the Zoom to move, this collar is the switch mechanism as it pushes the live contact down, breaking circuit, as the Zoom's bezel is tightened. But to start with, it wouldn't move up..... Talking of filing, the hole in the reflector had to get a fair bit bigger.
The live wire then needed to make contact with the centre of the PCB's bottom, where the battery button would normally touch. I kept the original copper plate with spring, but drilled a small hole and added a small screw through, pointing up. With tweaking of the length, it made contact to the middle just fine.
Then I epoxied the Ultrafire head to the bulb mechanism of the Zoom (making sure that the moveable yellow collar didn't get stuck too). Then the whole lot had to be epoxied back the the base of the torch after its destructive removal.
The stack height of the LED is a lot higher than the original position of the bulb fialment, so when the light comes on, it has a big hole in the centre of the beam pattern, but keep turning the bezel and it goes to spot then flood. The quick and dirty beamshot (Zoom left, Fenix P1 (which is 3 watt, so a bit unfair) on the right) is adjusted to about half-way flood. While there is a daker middle, it's useable. You can get a reasonable spot if required. It does get hot, but I've run it upto about 30mins constant with no problems.
Overall, I got my aim of making a useful torch out of the 2. It's much more useful than the original Zoom, and now visibly drops out of regulation, without getting the start-up issues the Ultrafire had. It's seen a lot of use working on my car recently, and also performed nicely as the only light in our bathroom for a week when the transformer for the ceiling lights packed up.
I know that compared to a lot of stuff on here, it's a not big mod, but it's my first, it works, and I still get that extra glow of knowing I did it myself
