PT Matrix - old but upgradable!

[Quickbeam]

I recently found a source for the old PT Matrix modules. The store I went to had some very old stock that wasn't (in my opinion) reduced enough so I found the manager and ****ered (yes - in a retail store!) and got the price down to a reasonable level. I picked up two.

I was stunned at how dim they were! Three 5mm LEDs with a boost circuit and they only registered 150 on my lightbox. This is dimmer than many single 5mm LED headlamps!

The module was actually easy to take apart with a small plastic tool to separate the halves and a pair of needle-nose pliers to pull out the threaded rivets that hold the circuit board down.

Cutting off the LEDs made desoldering the pins very easy, and desoldering braid removed the solder from the holes.

I dropped three new Q-bin Nichia LEDs from the Sandwich Shoppe into the reflector and placed the board over the top of them and soldered them in place, and clipped off the excess leads. After tapping the rivets into place, the rest of it just snapped together. I'm not the best with a soldering iron but it was a very easy project.

The result was a 4-fold increase in output - 600 on the lightbox, as a result of 4-5 years of advances in LED technology (not exactly sure when the Q bins came out, but it was in the last year or two) since the Matrix came out in 2001 . The three LEDs provide a nice wide beam and plenty of light for a headlamp.

This was a fun project, rather easy, and produces very acceptable results for a 3 LED headlamp powered by two AA cells!

 

[PhantomPhoton]

I haven't even thought about trying to mod that matrix module. Good idea. :thumbsup: I don't have any 5mm LEDs laying around, so now you've got me thinking about what I might want to get. Hmmm decisions decisions.
I agree looking at them now they are awfully dim. And to think I was so excited when I got them brand new. The silicon industry is simply amazing right now.

 

[Quickbeam]

Glad you like the idea! I don't know how many people have these modules, but you can't get them any more and they are very dim as-is. These were new technology when they came out, but are in desparate need of an upgrade now. I got the Q Bin 5mm LEDs from the Sandwich Shoppe (theledguy.com).

FYI, the "threaded rivets" are the + and - contacts on the one side of the board, and are the same rivets as the ones found in the bottom of the switch in some Surefire (C2, M2) lights. They have ridges with a very steep twist (about 1/2 - 3/4 of a turn down their entire length) so they're easiest to remove by gripping around the outside and giving a slight twist counterclockwise - it will lift up a little bit. Then re-align your grip and keep twisting and it will quickly twist right out.

 

[ACMarina]

I still remember the thrill of dropping an Everled in the Incan piece for my Matrix - what a difference that puppy made as a dropin..

 

[cave dave]

I believe the original matrix ran the leds at the suggested 20mA level. I think it was fully regulated for around 50 hrs or something like that. I still have a module somewhere. I remember when I got one of the ARC LE's from ~2001 and it was brighter than the matrix.

Try dropping in some fastcar diffuser material for a nice reading light!

 

[Supernam]

How's the tint? Do 5mm's get tint codes like higher powered leds?