my Maglite Solitaire LED mod

[teststrips]

ladies and gentlemen, the wonderful mspaint.exe

Here's another reference to baisically the same mod. http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/solitaire.htm

 

[Turbo_E]

BTW testrips, i used the meathod in your link and it fries LEDS. i dunno about Nicha LEDs but mine went up in smoke.
be warned.

 

[Pila_Power]

Wow!!! Thanks for going to all that effort Turbo_E! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Seriously, it must have taken SECONDS to slap that together! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Just kidding, I feel bad that I kinda made you go to the trouble to draw stuff for me, thanks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Honestly, thank you.

*print*
*hunt down my Soli*

 

[kevino]

Can anyone tell me where I can purchase the rechargeable lithium ion AAA 3.6v battery?


also i'm going to use a 10 mm led on my solitaire. What kind of resistor should i use? if I use a higher rated resistor does that mean lower light but longer battery life?

thanks.

 

[davidefromitaly]

AW have li-ion AAA

and yes with a higher resistance you have less light but more runtime

why you want to use a 10mm led? how many mcd output and at how large spot?

 

[kevino]

the specs on the led are
EMITTED COLOR : WHITE

SIZE (MM) : 10 MM

LENS COLOR : WATER CLEAR

MATERIAL : INGaN

LUMEN : 13

just figured the bigger led, the more light. I'm new at this flashlight stuff so if i'm wrong, please correct me. I understand battery life will suffer with such a large led, but hopefully i can aquire the lithium AAA battery. Any other suggestions?


-Kevin

 

[Bimmerboy]

Excellent thread. Too bad I just came across it a few minutes too late. I just ruined a brand new MJLED with a 14500 Li-On AA in a cut down single cell Minimag, and no resistor. Yes, I feel rather retarded now. It looked great for about 6 seconds, then quickly started dimming and turning a strange greenish blue color. Panicked, and started turning the head the wrong way, which delayed shutting it off. Now it's permanently tinted green and not as bright as fresh out of the bag (I just tested it with 2 fresh alky AA's, which I believe provides the proper voltage and current with no resistor).
I only bought two of these because I wanted to do two mods, and now I'm down to one. That's what I get for trying to save money. I'd really like to put the remaining good one into a Solitaire, but have some questions first:
A) I'm not clear on how to hook a resistor into the tailcap. Could someone describe how or point me to the info?
B) What's the brightest combination of battery and resistor in a Solitaire while staying in a safe range for the emitter?
C) If I can get another MJLED for that second mod, does anyone know what resistor to use for a 14500?
Man, screwing up that nice LED put a damper on my evening. I'm gonna' go make a new thread in the LED forum and whine about it there.

 

[Turbo_E]

if it makes you feel better I smoked my LED too. i dont see how a LED has enough resistance to drop 12V down to 3 or so V.

 

[Anglepoise]

The trick is the 12 volt battery , MN23.

Now in the posts ^^^^^, we seem to be talking about two separate batteries.

If you use a MN 23, 12 volt battery, you can dispense with the resistor because of the very high internal resistance peculiar to this one battery.

You can get a 23,000 mcd LED and stick it in the Solitaire and using a MN 23 12 volt battery, and a longer spring in the tail cap and no resistor.

The output is excellent, but continuous run time is not good but intermitant gives the battery time to recover. Fun , cheap mod.

 

[Turbo_E]

ahhhh...i assumed it was a regular 12 from a car alarm pager.

 

[Flashlike]

Turbo E--
In your original post with your instructions for modding the Solitaire your said in step number 4:
[ QUOTE ]
4. get a 12V A23 battery or similar. Make a dummy spacer with a resistor. I used a 470 ohm -1/4 W resistor (100 ohm is also safe, but your battery and LED will die faster i imagine, although mine hasn't)...

[/ QUOTE ]

In the follow up post you said [ QUOTE ]
EDIT 100 ohm seems to work way better--so bright..it hurts


[/ QUOTE ]

Then in another post you said [ QUOTE ]
if it makes you feel better I smoked my LED too . i dont see how a LED has enough resistance to drop 12V down to 3 or so V.


[/ QUOTE ]

I have a Mag Solitaire that I'd like to outfit with a 5mm LED. I have a 100ma I.S.P. 5mm LED made in Korea. But I really don't want to "smoke" it like you smoked yours!!

Does anyone know how to make it work with the 12V A23 battery without toasting the LED? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

 

[Turbo_E]

nono, i smoked one when i tried to power the LEd without ANY resistor. 100 ohm is perfect IMO. You're welcome to try a little lower like 75-80 ohm but i never tried so don't blame me if your LED goes *Poof*

my instructions with the hurting diagram works fine.

 

[Flashlike]

Turbo_E--
Thanks for the clarification. I'm going to try the 100 ohm 1/4 watt resistor, too. Maybe I can pick one up at a Radio Shack store.

You said in your original post that you used an "A23" 12 volt battery.

But AngelPoise said [ QUOTE ]
If you use a MN 23, 12 volt battery, you can dispense with the resistor because of the very high internal resistance peculiar to this one battery.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm confused. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Isn't the A23 Eveready's version and the MN21/23 Duracell's version of the same battery?

Anyhow, I think that you're better off to go with a resistor because of the 12 volts.
I'm going to epoxy the back side and "neck" of the reflector (except for the opening, of course), then drill it out slightly after the epoxy cures to accomodate the 5mm LED. Otherwise I think the reflector would be weakened too much.
It's a lot of fooling around, but the end product will be worth it if it's done right!
This comment is a bit off-topic, but I've done this mod on a little Streamlight KeyMate flashlight:
SL KeyMate Mod.
It involves quite a bit because you have to press out the reflector, resolder the replacement LED, etc. But WOW what an impressive light it is after it is done!

 

[Turbo_E]

[ QUOTE ]
Flashlike said:

You said in your original post that you used an "A23" 12 volt battery.

But AngelPoise said [ QUOTE ]
If you use a MN 23, 12 volt battery, you can dispense with the resistor because of the very high internal resistance peculiar to this one battery.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm confused. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Isn't the A23 Eveready's version and the MN21/23 Duracell's version of the same battery?


[/ QUOTE ]

i couldnt tell you, but i do know blowing expensive LEDs isnt cool. use a resistor first. I think the a23 is a more common battery.

anyways I have 2 premodded Solitaires if anyone wants to take em off my hands for $20 shipped? one blue and one gunmetal/silver. I also have a bunch of "resistor/spacers" + 20,000 MCD LEDS for $6 shipped if you want to mod the reflector yourself.

 

[Pila_Power]

My LED holder part disintegrated /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

It was very old but it's going to a much better home on mondat - into AWR's workshop!!

I have a feeling he's going to get the honor of being a subject in one of Andrews new ideas /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Anyone ever make or buy a glass lens for the soli?

I 'dented' mine from the inside by screwing the head on too tightly with a 5mm LED in there which sits up too high.

 

[Analog]

http://www.shoudian.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=28&ID=4530&page=1
Check this out, wish I knew how to read it, sorry I can't convert to English.