WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA (pics)

[WildRice]

I just got my 8mm LEDs from Mark Hannah today. all I can say is. OWWW, my eyes. These ARE BRIGHT! These are NOT the cheap 10 packs on ebay. These are 8mm cases with 4 dice very closely spaced in the cup. The spread is also pretty tight given there are basically 4 focal points. Running on my dorcy test bed (flashlight with 2 wires hanging out the front), and the 1ohm bypassed, with a new battery, all 3 colors (green, blue and white) were running at 110mA (100mA spec.) the output of the white was not as tight as my 1W mod, but noticably brighter. the blue and green at 110mA were impressive to say the least. MUCHO brighter than stock, and white.

This looks like a great mod to rival the 1W mod (especially in cost.

I will be working to see if this can be made to fit by opening the hole in the reflector to make room. I will post some pics when I get this completd.

OK, here are some pics of the final thing. I cant give a comparison to an original dorcy, for I have none that are un-modded.

(the wall is light yellow) about 3ft. 8mm left / 1W right

white celing about 7ft. 1W left / 8mm right

The top of the LED touches the clear cover. The side groves could be deepened and the LED could be resessed a bit more. I will be trying these bits for my green and blue when I find more AAA's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif

Jeff

some reference. Here is an original dorcy against the 1W

 

[LightHearted]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

Please do keep us informed and post pics. This is exactly what I was hoping to do. My 8mms haven't arrived yet.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Xrunner]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

Very interesting... I think I'm going to have to order a few of those 8mm LEDs. Please keep us posted.

-Mike

 

[WildRice]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

Well, I got the 8mm to just fit. I had to remive the reflector, bore it out, and re-fit it but not all the way in. Right now the clear plastic is flush with the front of the head. I widended the space between the contact points at the front of the inverter board. To get a better fit, the resses there the LED goes would have to be deepened 1-2mm's. I can't get any good beam/comparison shots until tonight. I did measure with a new cheapie Rayovac battery 110mA and 67mA with a NiMH.
Jeff

 

[PhotonBoy]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

WildRIce: "I just got my 8mm LEDs from Mark Hannah today."

Do you have a URL for this source? TIA :-)

 

[WildRice]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

just ebay and Mr. Hannah's site.
Jeff

 

[snakebite]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

hchon has them in bst.

 

[Experiment_626]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

WildRIce,

Would you consider selling one or two of the 8mm 's?
I wanted to experiment with one, but didn't want to buy 10 at a time.

 

[WildRice]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

I only got 1 of each color. the 10 packs all over ebay are NOT the bright ones I got. the cheapies are Vf=3.6 If=25mA. the ones from mark Hannah http://www.moreleds.com/new.htm are If=100mA. he puts them on ebay now and again with free shipping.
Jeff

 

[Moat]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

Experiment -

Like Snakebite mentioned above, hchhon in BST/lights will sell you a few for $3 ea., free and quick shipping.

I myself have been messing around with the 8mm white driven with a Dorcy AAA board, and really like the results. The board seems to drive the LED very close to spec (as you observed, Jeff), and the beam width, light dispersion and tint make it a much more pleasant and natural task light source than a similiarly driven Nichia 5mm (ARC AA/Ultra G).

Peter Gransee mentioned that he wasn't impressed with the efficiency of these ISP 8mm whites, and my casual measurements/observations would put that lumen efficiency disadvantage at around 20 - 25%. But, IMHO, the superior aspects of the 8mm's actual LIGHT more than make up for it. In real, knock-around-the-garage-at-2am use, and at comparable outputs, the 8mm just "seems" brighter, with better color rendition and contrast. I like it!!

Now to trim the board, make a sandwich, and finish figuring out what to do for a head/bezel on the 1AA, 5/8" copper pipe light I've been thinkin' about.... (no lathe here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif ).

Bob

 

[Justintoxicated]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

[ QUOTE ]
Moat5606 said:
Experiment -

Like Snakebite mentioned above, hchon in BST/lights will sell you a few for $3 ea., free and quick shipping.

I myself have been messing around with the 8mm white driven with a Dorcy AAA board, and really like the results. The board seems to drive the LED very close to spec (as you observed, Jeff), and the beam width, light dispersion and tint make it a much more pleasant and natural task light source than a similiarly driven Nichia 5mm (ARC AA/Ultra G).

Peter Gransee mentioned that he wasn't impressed with the efficiency of these ISP 8mm whites, and my casual measurements/observations would put that lumen efficiency disadvantage at around 20 - 25%. But, IMHO, the superior aspects of the 8mm's actual LIGHT more than make up for it. In real, knock-around-the-garage-at-2am use, and at comparable outputs, the 8mm just "seems" brighter, with better color rendition and contrast. I like it!!

Now to trim the board, make a sandwich, and finish figuring out what to do for a head/bezel on the 1AA, 5/8" copper pipe light I've been thinkin' about.... (no lathe here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif ).

Bob

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree AA's are really cheap, and when it comes time to use the light and you don't have enough it really sucks. Those couple times, even if only a few a year, would more than make up for its lack of efficiency. even if it costs an extra $4 a year to run.

Then again I overdrive LED's overclock Computers and Port engines on my ATV etc. MORE POWER!

Mark Hannah has great service too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[Moat]

Re: WOW!!! 8mm in dorcy AAA

Yup - and AA's cost the same as AAA's... they have over twice the energy of AAA's, so even with a 25% disadvantage they're still considerably cheaper than AAA's (per unit of energy). Plus they seem to be able to deliver higher currents with less V drop (lower internal resistance?).

Bob

 

[WildRice]

Pics added to top of post.
Jeff

 

[Justintoxicated]

Nice pics, what is the cost of the 1 watt mod vs the 8mm mod?

$ 3 Vs $8?

 

[WildRice]

8mm about $3
1W about $13 (1W about $9, NX05 about $4)
Jeff

 

[Moat]

WildRice -

I was able to fit the board/LED assembly without removing the reflector/lens, by deepening the slots in the battery tube with a file (all of the way to the "step", ahead of the o-ring). Seems to work fine, although all of the springs are now quite compressed and therefore the momentary is a bit stiffer... no biggie.

Also, I didn't like the idea of filing into the board traces (resistance increase??) to fit the LED flush against the board's edge, so I filed notches into the LED encapsulant instead - and that worked fine too.

Have you measured ma draw with any other (bigger) batteries?? It appears to me that - now driven by an AAA - it produces a bit less output than my test rig using an AA. Though I may have heat-damaged the LED getting it to fit square onto the board, I suppose....

Still as bright as a stocker or Arc AA, plus that nicer beam/tint. Pretty cool for 9 bucks!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Bob

 

[bk95]

I received my 8mm leds from Mark Hanna today and imediatley tore apart my blue anodized Dorcy AAA. Did some of the same work as others on this post. Changed the 1 ohm resistor to a 0 ohm, filed the circuit board and also filed the led a bit to make the fit. Removed the original led and installed the 8mm. I wrecked the lens and reflector trying to fit the 8mm into the head. Oh well....this is only the second mod I have attempted....lots to learn.
Anyhow the 8mm in the AAA Dorcy is unbelieveable. Nice, bright, white, smooth output even with the original lens gone and the reflector FUBAR. This will be one of my main around the house lights. Does anyone know what runtime might be with the 8mm in the AAA Dorcy? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif