think2x
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've been thinking of this one for a couple weeks so late last night boredom set in so out came the tools. :shakeheadI bought this florescent light to go with my drill set and have been less than thrilled with it's output for a while, then one day this idea hit me out of nowhere. I don't really have build pics but I did take it apart to get what I could for this thread, it's a pretty straight forward mod.
First, remove old circuit board and lamp.
Next I used a 1 amp buck driver with a 23 volt max input. Solder the original wires to the input side of the driver and solder 8" leads to the output side. I used a hot glue gun to hold the driver in place.
I measured where I wanted the emitters and used Arctic Alumina to attach them on an 8mm thick 5 3/4" long section of aluminum I salvaged from an old torched car audio amplifier. The two XM-L's are wired in series to the driver.
Then I drilled the holes in the reflector, not perfectly lined up but it still works great.
I used self tapping screws through the front of the reflector into the heatsink to hold them together.
Here's the light put back together.
Conclusion:
Before the mod the output was mediocre at best. Current draw was right at 500ma and I did a test and it was still running at the 90 minute mark, not bad.
After the mod it is EASILY twice as bright and the best part is, not only does it have more output but it also only draws 365ma! Brighter AND less draw is a win,win IMO.
First, remove old circuit board and lamp.
Next I used a 1 amp buck driver with a 23 volt max input. Solder the original wires to the input side of the driver and solder 8" leads to the output side. I used a hot glue gun to hold the driver in place.
I measured where I wanted the emitters and used Arctic Alumina to attach them on an 8mm thick 5 3/4" long section of aluminum I salvaged from an old torched car audio amplifier. The two XM-L's are wired in series to the driver.
Then I drilled the holes in the reflector, not perfectly lined up but it still works great.
I used self tapping screws through the front of the reflector into the heatsink to hold them together.
Here's the light put back together.
Conclusion:
Before the mod the output was mediocre at best. Current draw was right at 500ma and I did a test and it was still running at the 90 minute mark, not bad.
After the mod it is EASILY twice as bright and the best part is, not only does it have more output but it also only draws 365ma! Brighter AND less draw is a win,win IMO.
- Heatsink..........................FREE
- 2-XM-L T6 emitters...........FREE (left over from neutral swapping other lights)
- 1000ma buck driver..........$5.25
- Labor time.......................about 1 1/2 hours total.
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