Hurricane light suggestions
If you've no objection to the naked 5 mm parts (and I don't either), what's the problem with the bare star lens? You could counter bore the box from the inside ending in a .320 or so dia hole for the bezel of the LED to fit.
I too have been fiddling with the concept, but have a different perspective. First off, unregulated drive seems entirely wrong to me. It goes against the very nature of a hurricane light. You want light levels you can control and known run time (like the kerosene lamp offers). I don't think it needs to be all that bright and cosmetics interest me only a little. My current solution (pun intended) has a 4 AA holder and HD star *inside* a clear plastic snap top box from Tap Plastics about 2.75 square and 1.35 high. A rotary switch through the side controls the current regulator with levels at a bit under 2 mA, 8 mA, 30 mA and 120 mA. There's an off at each end. Even on high, the star's heat sink is plenty at this current level, it's bright enough for my needs, typically at 30 mA (the sort of level you get from an Ultra or Arc AAA). Real continuous run times are 1000 hours, 200 plus, 50 and a bit over 10. Although I've never measured the 1000, something always 'crops up' in the *month* at this level involved, I've done quite a number of 30 mA (50 hour) and 120 mA (10) runs and a few 8 mA ones without any problems. I'm quite confident of the 'overnight', 'two day' and 'all week' settings at least. I'm pretty sure the 'one month' one works as well.
Any such light without regulation is sure to be at the right level only at on point in time. Otherwise it's too bright (wasting energy) or too dim (pretty useless) for the task at hand. Fixed regulation simply limits what you can do with the light. The only proper solution seems adjustable regulation. Steps make more sense to me than continuous for a lot of reasons.
An 'protected outside mount' I'd been thinking of for another might be of interest to you. A large bore washer (or two) with a couple of smaller screw holes drilled through it would space a round Lexan cover up. The cover has mating screw holes and screws go through it, and the washers to the mounting surface. A bit of seal would make it waterproof (my use is outside, in an exposed spot). Putting a metal disk on the bottom of the 'sandwich' would give you good heatsinking out to the washers if you want to push for extra light (at the expense of the battery).
Doug Owen
