small/portable shop LED light ... turbo modded

[wquiles]

I recently bought two of these on special, because it looked like an LED light wanting to be modded, and I liked the flexible arm, the strong magnet base, and the fact that it can be run from 2x AAA cells or the included wall-wart.

AC power input:

Internal "circuit" - the resistors are there to drop the low current 9v DC from the wall-wart to about 3.2V DC:

So I started to look how it was put together:

So I decided to replace the 7x small LED's with a "single" package of 4x LED's - a warm tint, low vf P7. Basically I am going to use the P7 "way underdriven" since I don't have a good thermal path for the heatsink:

I made a small heatsink/platform to raise the LED and to isolate from the electrical board (using epoxy as insulator):

And after wiring it, I put it back in the head:

I played with various lenses, and I settled on a plastic Aspheric lens I got from Asia (DX, I think). I used the lathe to make the right size hole in the original 7x "lens" to allow for a press fit on the lens from DX:

Then I used the lathe again to make the back of the DX lens fully open:

After final assembly:

How does it work?
Turbo light OFF (manual exposure):

Turbo light ON (manual exposure):

Turbo light OFF (manual exposure):

Turbo light ON (manual exposure):

Turbo light OFF (manual exposure):

Turbo light ON (manual exposure):

and perhaps the best pictures, the new Turbo light on the left, and the ugly original 7x LED on the right - which one do you rather have? Even underdriven, the P7 LED gives a great beam in shape/color - a definitely improvement in my book :devil:

Of course, only a complete crazy flashaholic would put $30-35 worth of parts, plus a couple of hours of labor on a $35 light, but I guess that is what makes us flashaholics, right?


EDIT: Current draw with the P7 LED with 2x AAA alkaline cells is right at 200mA and slowly dropping, but a steady 260mA with the AC wall-wart.


Will

 

[darkzero]

Nice light Will! :twothumbs Looks like it should be very useful for boring & threading operations!

Of course, only a complete crazy flashaholic would put $30-35 worth of parts, plus a couple of hours of labor on a $19.95 light, but I guess that is what makes us flashaholics, right?

Will

Huh, what do you mean? I don't think so & never crossed my mind..... oh wait, I think I'm one of those crazy people as well.

 

[precisionworks]

Nice job

Think a P7 or an MC-E (or maybe SST-50/SST-90) would mod into my Makita 18 v light? Battery is Li-Ion 1500 mah.

 

[wquiles]

Nice light Will! :twothumbs Looks like it should be very useful for boring & threading operations!

Huh, what do you mean? I don't think so & never crossed my mind..... oh wait, I think I'm one of those crazy people as well.

Thanks Will. Yes, it is a disease ...

Nice job

Think a P7 or an MC-E (or maybe SST-50/SST-90) would mod into my Makita 18 v light? Battery is Li-Ion 1500 mah.

Absolutely. I would recommend a hipCC (2.8A) and one of the smaller reflectors (like the ones I use in my Barbo lights), and more importantly, a heatsink that is not confined to the plastic casing, so that you can release heat to the air - this might be the more challenging side of the project - but still totally doable

Will

 

[TorchBoy]

Wow. Top marks for thoroughness of your report, except I'd really like to know how many milliamps you're running it at.

I have a 5-way lens that I want to drill out like that.

 

[wquiles]

Wow. Top marks for thoroughness of your report, except I'd really like to know how many milliamps you're running it at.

I have a 5-way lens that I want to drill out like that.

Thank you

Current draw with the P7 LED with 2x AAA alkaline cells is right at 200mA and slowly dropping, but a steady 260mA with the AC wall-wart.

Will

 

[cmacclel]

Stop modding the $20 LED lights and try out that $500 powedercoating system already!!! I should talk I picked up a Tig Welder yesterday!

Mac

 

[darkzero]

Stop modding the $20 LED lights and try out that $500 powedercoating system already!!!

:laughing: I almost squeezed s@%t out of my flux bottle! :laughing: :laughing:

 

[wquiles]

Stop modding the $20 LED lights and try out that $500 powedercoating system already!!! I should talk I picked up a Tig Welder yesterday!

Mac

I know, I know ... working today on the VFD for my knee mill ... soon I will be playing with the powder coating system

 

[wquiles]

Well, I got the second one of these little gems modded today. Also with a warm white, low vf P7 like before, but this time with a pure aspheric lens.

Here is the original one (wider dispersion):

And here is the new one, with the tighter beam:

Both side by side:

Close up on the tight beam:

Close up on the original, wider beam:

but here is where the new tight beam really shines. Here is the original, wide angle light - note that you can't see much inside the chuck:

but the new one with the tigher beam (although a little over exposed) allows you to see "deep" into the chuck. The photos don't do justice - it is even more dramatic in person:

Now I have the best of both worlds - one wide angle, and one with lots of throw
Will

 

[Vinniec5]

That light with the new lens in it reminds me of the Death-Ray eye from The War of the Worlds The original one LOL

Nice mod, Like the wider beam for a work light

 

[wquiles]

Absolutely - very helpful.

Here I used it to light the wiring terminal and motor during my VFD conversion:

Mind you that I had full lighting in the "shop", but you still had some dark spots because of shade, so with this little light it was easy to get light exactly where I needed it for the job

 

[Speedball]

What a perfect light for my stereo system, want to sell it?

The wider softer light is seems great compared to the original by a long shot.

 

[donn_]

Very interesting mod.

A question:

When it's sitting on one of your machines, is it susceptible to vibration while the machine is running?

 

[wquiles]

What a perfect light for my stereo system, want to sell it?

The wider softer light is seems great compared to the original by a long shot.

I did not build them with the intention to make more for sale, but to recoup the the cost of the parts, and then my own labor I would have to charge close to $100-120 for them, so I think these would be too expensive to offer for sale.

Very interesting mod.

A question:

When it's sitting on one of your machines, is it susceptible to vibration while the machine is running?

I leave them all of the time in the lathe and milling machine. There is nothing loose in them - all parts are screwed together, so I don't anticipate any problems. The neck is flexible enough to turn/position with one hand, but it simply stays put - I am really happy with them.