SL4AA with Scorpion bulb?

[Alan]

Hi folks,

Have anyone out there tried Scorpion bulb in a SL 4AA? If the size fits, how is the light quality?

I will be using rechargeable batteries so the high current drain might not be a problem.

Any suggestion would be greatly welcome.

Alan Chan

 

[artar]

would the slc3 bulb perform also with alkaline batterys ?

 

[Alan]

Okay, I've tried it and found that the scorpion bulb is too small for the SL4AA. Since I will be using NiMH, it will only have 4.8v. I then put a SL3C bulb in (they're exactly the same size). it is VERY bright and AT LEAST twice as bright as the original bulb. It's brighter than SL3C due to the little overdrive (4.8v vs 4.5v). It's MUCH brighter than the Scorpion and E2. Not only the hot spot is brighter and throw a lot farther, the 2nd peripheral light is also larger than that of its original bulb.

Albeit it is brighter, it didn't eliminate rings that the SL4AA originally has. Now, I have a non-aluminum, bright, rechargeable and waterproof with tailswitch 4AA light

I believe it would be the brightest 4AA light around. Did I say that it is cheap? The SL3C bulb is around $4 if purchase on the net.

Alan

 

[Alan]

No, 4 alkalines will blow the bulb real fast. In fact, overcharged NiMHs will blow the 3C bulb easily. In order to get longer life bulb and prevent from blowing bulbs due to overcharged batteries, I will be exploring with bulbs from UKE C4 (6.6W) and D4 (5.8W) to see how it works.

Alan

 

[artar]

Alan, can you tell me how i can disassemble the bulb from the reflector ?

 

[Alan]

I assume you're referring to SL4AA. You hold the reflector and pull it off the bulb holder. The bulb and reflector will be off altogether from the bulb holder. As you will see, the bulb will still be sticking on the reflector. You then push the pins of the bulb from the bottom of the reflector against a table. The bulb will pop off from the reflector.

When you push those pins of the bulb against the table or a book, make sure to push both pins together. If not, you might bend the pin. Besides, make sure not to drop the O ring that underneath the reflector.

In fact, it's a very good industrial design and it allows SL a lot of room for improvement without dumping the entire lamp module. For instance, they could simply change its reflector with non-smooth alumimum one like SF or Scorpion, its light quality will be a lot different.

Alan

 

[artar]

like in the pic above i could disjoin bulbholder and reflecor. The buld is sticking in the bulbholder. The 2 pins of the bulb are inside the bulbholder. there is no way to push the bulb by the 2 pins of the holder.

 

[artar]

alan, i forgot to say that this is a sl2aa. maybe the sl2aa and sl4aa have different bulb/reflector units.

 

[artar]

the bulb is out now! i hold the bulb with a kerchief and pulled it just out of the holder.

 

[LEDagent]

Hi i was just browsing for topics on the UKE SL4AA and hapily stumbled upon your post. By the way, VERY interesting mods yer doing to this light.

Here's my question(s)

Is the SL4AA the same as the UK4AA model that is sold on Brighguy.com?

Is the SL3C bulb the same buld used on the UK300 which is rated at 3.1 watts?

By changing to a higher wattage, how much battery life would u be sacrificing?

Thanks for your time. I'm stuck between the surefire E2 and the UKE 4AA. Everyone recommends the UKE 2L to me but i don't want to deal with the hasle of looking for Lithiums. But since u said that the UKE with the SL3C lamp compares to a E2 output and the size of a MAG, i was VERY excited about that!

Please convince me in getting one

 

[Alan]

Is the SL4AA the same as the UK4AA model that is sold on Brighguy.com?


SL4AA and UK4AA is 2 differnt products. SL4AA is brighter and UK4AA is smoother. SL4AA has tail switch which is very convenient.


Is the SL3C bulb the same buld used on the UK300 which is rated at 3.1 watts?


I don't have UK300 that I couldn't say.
By changing to a higher wattage, how much battery life would u be sacrificing?


Thanks for your time. I'm stuck between the surefire E2 and the UKE 4AA. Everyone recommends the UKE 2L to me but i don't want to deal with the hasle of looking for Lithiums. But since u said that the UKE with the SL3C lamp compares to a E2 output and the size of a MAG, i was VERY excited about that!


E2 and UK4AA is no comparison at all due to its size and brightness. However, it would be tough when it comes to UK2L and E2. Although UK2L is not as bright and smooth as E2, it's lighter, small, tough, reasonably bright and long runtime. It all depends how you use your light. Even I have both, it's tough for me to decide which one to carry when I go out. Eventually, I carry both of them (E2 and 2L) all the time:-(

Although the modifed SL4AA (w SL3C lamp) is very bright, its light quality is far from E2.

I like the tail switch of SL4AA (is any other 4AA light out there has tail switch and is waterproof?), its ring (many of them) does bother me a bit.

Alan

 

[Gandalf]

Say Alan,
Your conversion of the SL4AA, using the SL3C
lamp, and NiMH batteries, is very clever indeed! I have 3 UK 4AA's, and now I want to try the conversion! Wish I had bought a SL 4AA, now!
Do you have any idea of the run time using the NiMH batteries? I think anything under about 40 to 45 minutes makes carrying a flashlight this large, relative to a Surefire, for example, kind of impractical; although the light output has to be really good!

I'm thinking of the 1600 mAH batteries; are you using the same capacity?
Thanks!

 

[kb0rrg]

This is a very interesting post.... I am strongly considering trying this for myself. Thanks for the tip

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Alan, great stuff. I've been considering another 4AA light ever since my UKE 4AA got lost on a hike. I dislike the twist head switches, so the streamlight rear-mounted switch was attractive. The other two things that are attractive about the UKE are that they are typically pretty small (look at the size difference between the UKE and Pelican 4AA lights), and that the UKEs are divelight-quality water resistant.

I don't know much about rechargeables -- I've avoided them since I've never had much luck with them. The ones you're using are AA-sized but have a lower voltage, I see. You've had good luck with the batteries?

How does running the regular SL4AA with alkalines compare to running them with your rechargeables, with the same bulb? Anywhere close?

thanks!

Joe

 

[Alan]

Gandalf, I didn't test the runtime. Althought alkaline will actually has longer runtime, it dims down very quickly while rechargeables maintain its brightness for longer time. Nowadays, I only use rechargeables and lithiums for flash light due to this reason.

kbOrrg, for SL4AA conversion, make sure that the rechargeables is flash. Fully rechargeables will have 1.41 to 1.45 v and will blow the bulb real fast:-( I normally fully charged a few sets of batteries and put it aside for 2 weeks or so before I used it in this conversion. Yes, I use 1600ma rechargeables (only Sanyo and Panasonic).

Joe, you're right that rechargeable has lower voltage than alkaline. Despite of that, alkaline has less *bright* runtime than rechargeables for high output bulb. Most 4 AA flash light will only draw around 0.5A for reasonable bright runtime. If you want to upgrade your bulb to 0.8A or above, rechargeable AA is almost a must.

Alan

 

[LEDagent]

After CAREFULLY reading the original post again...i FINALLY found out that the SL in SL4AA meant STREAMLIGHT...

sheesh, no wonder i couldn't find it under UKE...

I went shopping for the Streamlight 4AA Pro Polymer the other day and REALLY DIDN'T like the dark ring in the center where a hot spot should be. It has VERY good light output for its size, but i HATE those damn rings. Rings get in the way when u're looking for stuff.

Anyway..just thought i'd share..

 

[Gandalf]

Alan,
I wonder if the lamp from the SL4 (4 C-cells)
would work in the 4 AA? Less chance of blowing the lamp, and possibly a bit higher output? Maybe use with alkalines, or lithiums, rather than rechargeables.

I have one of the SL4's, and for it's size, is very, very bright. Too big to carry much, of course; it's nice to have in the car, etc.

I've ordeed a SL4AA, so I'll be able to try out the SL4 lamp in it. Your 'conversion' of this light to the 3C lamp, and rechargeables, is very clever!

Thanks for your information regarding rechageables. With the NiMH now offering up to 1700 mAH, they have enough capacity for real practicality. I know that the NiMH's don't have the memory effect that the NiCads do; what is your 'real world' impression of loss of capacity over time? I've never really see this aspect of NiMH's addresed, or I joined the forum to late to see when it was under discussion; perhaps I should try running a search (?).

I found a web site you may be interested in: http://www.aspencer1.com/

They specialize in nothing but rechargeable batteries, and chargers. Right now, I can pick up 4 Ray-O-Vac 1600 mAH AA NiMH at my local Target store for $12, so I haven't ordered any yet. I did order some 2700 mAH sub C cells to make a battery pack for my UltraStinger, and I received an E-mail acknowledging the order, and another one when they shipped it; so far their service looks OK. But they did nick me for $8 to ship 8 sub C cells, which is pretty steep!

 

[Mr Ted Bear]

Gandalf

I had to ditch my SL4 a few weeks ago, severe damage from leaking batteries. I don't remember the SL4 having a bi-pin bulb like the StreamLight ProPolymer 4aa or the UK 300.

I hope I am not suffering from Alzheimers (sp/)