The Junky "7 watt super bright" that has a single luxeon

[The Fred]

Please don't waste your time here unless you actually have the urge to help me a little!

I bought this piece of chinese junk of ebay a while ago. :twothumbs
Thought it was fantastic as it was the first luxeon flashlight I had ever owned and that was a while ago too, so naturally I had also been completely ripped off.

To cut the long story short, the flashlight takes 2 CR123A"s
Its not waterproof at all.
It gives out a very pink coloured light.
It gets extremely hot after about 5 mins of use.
The reflector deteriorated.:green:

Im looking for any possible simple way to upgrade it, to a CREE with the suitable driver and regulated circuitry.
There is a small single circuit plate under the LED at the top.

I am not very well informed on all those driver boards out there today.
Is there anyone who actually bothered to upgrade this flashlight into something usefull other than its current use of a hand warmer?
I suddenly got the urge to make something usefull out of this thing, but I need a new an LED together with a board and I'm not entirely sure of what to get. Its running at about 7.2v peak with 2xCR123A 3.6v batteries.

Length: 5.39 "
Height: 1.34 "
Width: 1.34 "
Weight: 4.31 oz

Length: 13.7 cm
Height: 3.4 cm
Width: 3.4 cm
Weight: 122.3 gram

:duh2: can I get anything I need for this tremendously dangerous upgrade operation from DX?

oh and by the way, Fenix TK10 I got is slightly more efficient......

Cheers all!

 

[LukeA]

If the reflector is bad, you might as well recycle the thing.

 

[kramer5150]

Various www sites sell the different parts you need... Q5 emitters are ~$7, drivers are in the ~$3-5 neighborhood, and around $5-10 for a replacement reflector. Toss in some new O-rings for a buck or two. So you are looking at a $25 refurbish. It can be done, providing you can find a reflector that fits.

If you are handy with a soldering iron just swap the emitter for a later-BIN seoul, for $5 I think thats your best option. You should be aware that Cree emitters used in Luxeon designed reflectors can have a very ringy output. If the current reflector is Aluminum you can polish it to a near-mirror finish with your hands, dremel and some polishing compound.

Many LED lights get warm after a few minutes, thats somewhat common with high current draw applications. A multi-mode driver could alleviate this with a low output mode.

can you post pics of the light? If its P60 host capable a $15 drop in would be your best $$$ saving option.

 

[The Fred]

For some reason I can't post any pics. (tell me how?)
The LED is not a module. There is a barrel that screws into the top of the flashlight body. An LED on a plate is glued on top of this, with wires running through to a tiny circuit plate underneath. I need a CREE mounted on a small board with the + and- wires running to a small driver board underneath.

 

[alibaba]

if the light itself is "junky" then don't waste your money upgrading it. Get a new light from DX or similar site and save yourself the effort. Good quality Cree-based lights from $15 shipped.

 

[jag-engr]

Don't waste money trying to upgrade the light. If it has these problems, there are probably other problems that haven't manifested themselves, yet.

Depending on your budget check out:

1. fenix-store.com for a new Fenix or NiteCore ($40-60)
2. lighthound.com for a LumaPower Incendio, LM 303 or 301 ($35-45)
3. cpfmarketplace.com for used lights of all types

 

[kland1234]

Or shiningbeam.com for all types of great, budget priced Q5 lights at a great price, and shipped quickly from in the US! Also use discount code "cpfuser" IIRC.
kb

 

[Gunner12]

For pictures host it on a site like Imageshack and post the image link onto the insert image button. Keep the image 800x600 or under.

The simplest might just be to swap the LED.

But if it is too "junky" it might not be worth it.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

You probably can take the old LED out of the pill, and put in a new one. Finding a replacement reflector that actually fits will be a crapshoot. DX has drivers that will do the job. You'll need solder and thermal grease or thermal epoxy.

The thing is junk will still be junk, and after spending $20 or more as well as 3 weeks wait I don't see many positives in doing this. I'd just get a better light. :thumbsup:

Most of us have been burned buying a junky light or two. Myself I've tried to upgrade a couple and have never ended up feeling that my efforts were worth the time or money I spent.

 

[kramer5150]

Like the other members, I think your $$ would be better spent on a new light... however I still would like to see pics of the said light before strongly pushing you in that direction.

If there is some unique part of the physical design that you are extremely fond of, it still could still be worth your effort to upgrade.

to post pics, register with a pic host (imageshack is my fave). Upload pics there and copy-paste the image URL or use the Insert Image button in the body of your thread post.

 

[mmmflashlights]

It can certainly be done. You can probably buy a light of similar functionality and performance for about the same price from DX, but that's not to say that you may not still be interested in upgrading the light for the fun and experience. You can get something like a Cree Q2 for about $6, a multimode circuit for $3-5, and a reflector or optic for $3-5. There is a Cree optic that's about $2-3 that puts out a nice beam and will easily fit in your light (it can snap or be glued right onto the LED). Depending on how deep it sits in the head of the light, some of the width of the flood beam might be cut off, but it'll work. An exact fitting reflector may be hard to find. There are a number of circuits to choose from, some of them will also work with a 18650 or 17650 cell if your light's battery tube will hold one. So it could be done for about $15 if you want to do it, or if you're not that interested in the effort of modding you could buy a similar light for about $20-25 off of DX.