UltraFire B3 with Rebel - 100 lumen L0P clone! (scroll for pics)

[LukeA]

I got my 100/180 lumen Rebels in today and immediately set upon getting one into an Ultrafire B3 from DX. The little L0P clone was pretty nice with a PWT LED in it, but in the spirit of CPF and early-adopting, I quadrupled the light's output with a Rebel.

The light is very bright now and illuminates my entire yard nicely. I would guess that the output is comparable to an L0D-CE running a 10440. Do you remember the 'Noisy Cricket' from Men in Black? For some reason I thought of that when I finished this mod.

Pics and shots of my yard lit up will follow tomorrow.

 

[johnny13oi]

Re: UltraFire B3 with Rebel - 100 lumens!

Definitely awaiting the pictures.

 

[aceo07]

Re: UltraFire B3 with Rebel - 100 lumens!

Very cool. I'd love to see how you did it and more details.

 

[chesterqw]

Re: UltraFire B3 with Rebel - 100 lumens!

the luxeon rebel was a perfect fit?

NPNT

 

[LukeA]

Re: UltraFire B3 with Rebel - 100 lumens!

There's a rim on the reflector that needed to be removed. I filed it off and cleaned the chrome chips out with a knife.

I got the PWT out by pushing it with a hot soldering iron. Then I desoldered the two wires from the aluminum disk the PWT was mounted to. Then I pushed the regulator boards out of the head. Then I soldered the wires I used to connect the Rebel to the board. I used a DMM to make sure I had a good connection. Note: the LED is supplied with 12V. Weird I know, but it works. I rotated the aluminum 'star' 90˚ and filed it until it had four cutouts. I did this to make sure the bottom contacts on the Rebel didn't short. Then I pushed the regulator boards back into place and threaded the wires through the holes. Then it was a simple matter to solder the two wires to the top of the Rebel. I put a tiny piece of clear tape on top of the solder joints to make sure that the connections didn't short theough the reflector in lieu of thermal epoxy. I didn't mount the Rebel with thermal compound, but I will when I get some. Handily, the metal slug of the Rebel is in contact with the exposed metal of the SMT mount for the PWT, which apparently makes a great thermal connection. Even without any thermal compound, the light still warms up, a terrific sign. I'm happy I did the mod. It's an impressive little light.

 

[LukeA]

Re: UltraFire B3 with Rebel - 100 lumens!

Now for some pics:

Finished light:

Light with head removed (I know it's ugly): Edit: I've since put a little dob of AA epoxy over the contacts and removed the tape.

The 100/180 Rebels have less phosphor than 50/95 Rebels.

50/95:

100/180:

My camera can't take night pics representative of what I see.

However, the light now illuminates the trampoline in my neighbor's yard, approximately 110 ft away (Google Earth).

 

[johnny13oi]

Re: UltraFire B3 with Rebel - 100 lumens!

There's a rim on the reflector that needed to be removed. I filed it off and cleaned the chrome chips out with a knife.

I got the PWT out by pushing it with a hot soldering iron. Then I desoldered the two wires from the aluminum disk the PWT was mounted to. Then I pushed the regulator boards out of the head. Then I soldered the wires I used to connect the Rebel to the board. I used a DMM to make sure I had a good connection. Note: the LED is supplied with 12V. Weird I know, but it works. I rotated the aluminum 'star' 90˚ and filed it until it had four cutouts. I did this to make sure the bottom contacts on the Rebel didn't short. Then I pushed the regulator boards back into place and threaded the wires through the holes. Then it was a simple matter to solder the two wires to the top of the Rebel. I put a tiny piece of clear tape on top of the solder joints to make sure that the connections didn't short theough the reflector in lieu of thermal epoxy. I didn't mount the Rebel with thermal compound, but I will when I get some. Handily, the metal slug of the Rebel is in contact with the exposed metal of the SMT mount for the PWT, which apparently makes a great thermal connection. Even without any thermal compound, the light still warms up, a terrific sign. I'm happy I did the mod. It's an impressive little light.

Thanks for the info, what did you mean exactly when you said you had to file the star to make 4 cutouts? For some reason I just can't picture it in my head right now .. sorry.

EDIT

wow you posted up pictures quick ... So you filed away what was underneath the Rebel so that it wouldn't sort out right?

 

[LukeA]

Re: UltraFire B3 with Rebel - 100 lumens!

Thanks for the info, what did you mean exactly when you said you had to file the star to make 4 cutouts? For some reason I just can't picture it in my head right now .. sorry.

You can sort of see it in the second pic. I just made two flatspots so the wires can pass around. I did this because I rotated the star 90˚. I rotated the star to get the bottom contacts of the Rebel away from one of the solder points from the connection for the PWT, which could have caused a short.

Edit: I hope this helps:

 

[fluke]

Very nice
And will you be offering this service ???
If so how much to supply and fit ???

 

[light_emitting_dude]

Nice mod! I am suspecting that DX will be making more lights with the rebel LED. I'm still waiting on my MTE AA rebel from DX.

 

[LukeA]

Very nice
And will you be offering this service ???
If so how much to supply and fit ???

I would, but in the same time that you could order one of these lights and send it to me to mod, DX will have the same light available for less. I'd give it three weeks before DX is inundated with Rebel lights.

EDIT: Since no 1xAAA light has hit DX since the time of writing until now (8/6/07), this light is for sale.

 

[nanotech17]

Nice mod! I am suspecting that DX will be making more lights with the rebel LED. I'm still waiting on my MTE AA rebel from DX.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2315
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4862

 

[LukeA]

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2315
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4862

No 1xAAA lights, yet.

 

[LukeA]

I think I figured it out.

Approx. 30 ft. (brush pile)

Approx. 30 ft. (neighbor's AC)

Approx. 25 ft. (bird feeder/birdbath)

You can't see the spill in these pics. In reality, the spill is terrific.

 

[johnny13oi]

Definitely an awesome mod. Wish I could get a single Rebel 100/180 for a low price to do this mod. Definitely will try it out when funds come in.

 

[LukeA]

I got another B3 today to upgrade, and I took a beamshot. Stock on the left, modded on the right.

 

[aceo07]

I'd love to do this mod, but probably don't have the skills to do it properly.

What's the runtime for it?

 

[LukeA]

I'd love to do this mod, but probably don't have the skills to do it properly.

What's the runtime for it?

It does have some pretty finnicky soldering in it.

It's semiregulated, like the L0D-CE, so I replace the (NiMH) cell when it dims noticeably, after about 30-40 minutes.

 

[fluke]

OK tempting us all how much you charge then ???
What sort of output do you estimate ??

 

[LukeA]

OK tempting us all how much you charge then ???
What sort of output do you estimate ??

I'd charge $40US shipping included in the US. I'll have to look up the cost for intl shipping/customs.

It's right on 100 emitter lumens, so I'd estimate somewhere just north of 75 torch lumens.

EDIT: I should warn that the hotspot is a little bit lumpy, but not to a point that affects useability to anyone but a pure white wal hunter.