Avatar28
Enlightened
Looking around the board got me thinking. I have an "old" (4 yrs or so) headlamp that I'm really not very happy with at all. It was made by Eveready or Rayovac I think. I got it at Wal-Mart back when I didn't know better. I was just like, "Ooh, LEDs. Cool."
The light has a smallish krypton (?) bulb in a reflector and 3 "white" LEDs. I put white in quotes because the LEDs are junk and have a VERY blue tint that I really can't stand and makes it rather hard to see. The Kr bulb, likewise, isn't particularly good. With a fresh set of alkaline batteries it has an okay whitish light but the color quickly starts sliding after a few minutes of use. The LEDs also dim pretty quickly so I'm guessing they're probably direct drive as well. It runs off, I think, three AAA batteries. One the top is a two position rubber push switch. One side turn the LEDs on and off, the other the incandescent. I don't think either one dims the light, pushing the switch a second time turns that light off and turning on one turns the other off. Basically, it is teh suck.
Anyways, in another thread someone had said something about upgrading other headlights and posted a link to the LED Guy store. Thinking about it, I realized it might be possible to make something better out of that light. If it goes wrong, well, I'm not really out much money. Unfortunately, I still haven't learned much about what to look for or even how it might be possible to upgrade the light. This isn't exactly it, but it's pretty close. I can post up a pic of it if it would help but the above should give you a pretty good idea of the size and form factor.
At the least, I would like to replace the LEDs with something brighter, whiter, and more efficient, Nichia CS maybe? The Kr bulb I would like to replace with another LED, maybe a Cree or P4 I think. I would also prefer to regulate it if I could, especially with how fast it wants to suck the batteries down. And speaking of batteries, the battery compartment looks like it would probably be about the right size for a single CR123 cell (which I would like to standardize on along with AAs if I could).
Likewise I've got a Dorcy Super 1 Watt that, while pretty decent, could maybe go for a more efficient LED that would give me even more output if possible. And maybe a better switch that won't turn on in my pocket and run down the batteries on me.
I was hoping maybe some of you more learned folks could provide some feedback or suggestions.
The light has a smallish krypton (?) bulb in a reflector and 3 "white" LEDs. I put white in quotes because the LEDs are junk and have a VERY blue tint that I really can't stand and makes it rather hard to see. The Kr bulb, likewise, isn't particularly good. With a fresh set of alkaline batteries it has an okay whitish light but the color quickly starts sliding after a few minutes of use. The LEDs also dim pretty quickly so I'm guessing they're probably direct drive as well. It runs off, I think, three AAA batteries. One the top is a two position rubber push switch. One side turn the LEDs on and off, the other the incandescent. I don't think either one dims the light, pushing the switch a second time turns that light off and turning on one turns the other off. Basically, it is teh suck.
Anyways, in another thread someone had said something about upgrading other headlights and posted a link to the LED Guy store. Thinking about it, I realized it might be possible to make something better out of that light. If it goes wrong, well, I'm not really out much money. Unfortunately, I still haven't learned much about what to look for or even how it might be possible to upgrade the light. This isn't exactly it, but it's pretty close. I can post up a pic of it if it would help but the above should give you a pretty good idea of the size and form factor.
At the least, I would like to replace the LEDs with something brighter, whiter, and more efficient, Nichia CS maybe? The Kr bulb I would like to replace with another LED, maybe a Cree or P4 I think. I would also prefer to regulate it if I could, especially with how fast it wants to suck the batteries down. And speaking of batteries, the battery compartment looks like it would probably be about the right size for a single CR123 cell (which I would like to standardize on along with AAs if I could).
Likewise I've got a Dorcy Super 1 Watt that, while pretty decent, could maybe go for a more efficient LED that would give me even more output if possible. And maybe a better switch that won't turn on in my pocket and run down the batteries on me.
I was hoping maybe some of you more learned folks could provide some feedback or suggestions.
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