ZebraLight Mods

[davidt1]

I have always shied away from headlamps before. However, all these great mods and ideas have peaked my interest in going for a Zebralight H51. With respect to the magnet mod, I understand they can be attached with JB Weld. Q: Would someone please recommend what type, size, and where I could buy the magnets from? Thank you.:thumbsup:

I bought 3 different sizes. I still don't know the size that's on my H51w.

[Link deleted]

Edit: By the way, I have the H51W. I use dc-fix to diffuse the beam further to my liking. Unless you know for sure you want the flashlight beam of the H51, don't overlook the H51F model. In my experience with flashlights and headlamps, for close-up use (I believe most ZL lights end up being used this way), a flood beam is the best.

 

[EXCALIBUR1]

davidt1,

Thanks for your reply. It was your neck lanyard mod, among other great ideas that gave me the headlamp bug.

What size would you recommend?

Yes, I am kind of on the fence between the H51 and H51F. (I prefer the cool white tint.) I would use the headlamp for mostly close and hands free purposes (using your neck lanyard mod). I'm thinking the H51F would make more sense? Your additional thoughts would be most welcome.

 

[DM51]

Google "neodymium magnets" and you will find plenty of places selling them in different sizes.

5 mm diameter x 1 mm thick is a pretty useful size; if you need a thicker magnet, just stack 2 or 3 of them together.

 

[davidt1]

davidt1,

Thanks for your reply. It was your neck lanyard mod, among other great ideas that gave me the headlamp bug.

What size would you recommend?

Yes, I am kind of on the fence between the H51 and H51F. (I prefer the cool white tint.) I would use the headlamp for mostly close and hands free purposes (using your neck lanyard mod). I'm thinking the H51F would make more sense? Your additional thoughts would be most welcome.

For up-close use the H51F is the better choice.

 

[g.p.]

Got my magnets from Ebay. I just searched for "rare earth magnet" and found a bunch of sizes.

 

[DIΩDΣ]

I am wanting to do the magnet mod too. I am wondering, not wanting to attach with something as permanent as JB Weld how about some pure clear silicone? Should be pretty strong but able to be removed later if needed although sometimes silicone leaves enough residue on the surface that short of a scraper wont get it all off. I wonder if ZL sells extra tailcaps?

This may be nit picking but when jogging or hiking every ounce matters and there wouldnt be any use for a magnet. An extra tailcap w/o magnet could be used in those situations where you would not need a magnet and weight matters.

 

[Diablo_331]

Give ZL a call and see what they can do for you.

 

[EXCALIBUR1]

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and recommendations. Semper fi, carry on.

 

[Zenbaas]

I am wanting to do the magnet mod too. I am wondering, not wanting to attach with something as permanent as JB Weld how about some pure clear silicone? Should be pretty strong but able to be removed later if needed although sometimes silicone leaves enough residue on the surface that short of a scraper wont get it all off. I wonder if ZL sells extra tailcaps?

This may be nit picking but when jogging or hiking every ounce matters and there wouldnt be any use for a magnet. An extra tailcap w/o magnet could be used in those situations where you would not need a magnet and weight matters.

Good Idea..! Please do report back if you manage to find out 🙂

 

[varuscelli]

I wonder if ZL sells extra tailcaps?

Give ZL a call and see what they can do for you.

I think you have to contact ZL via their website Contact Form (as far as I know that's the only way to contact them). I don't know if extra tailcaps would be available, but they've been very accommodating to my own requests for extra parts (headlamp holders, etc.) and I bet they'd be willing to sell you an extra tailcap at a reasonable cost, if they're actually available via the U.S. distributor.

 

[davidt1]

I am wanting to do the magnet mod too. I am wondering, not wanting to attach with something as permanent as JB Weld how about some pure clear silicone? Should be pretty strong but able to be removed later if needed although sometimes silicone leaves enough residue on the surface that short of a scraper wont get it all off. I wonder if ZL sells extra tailcaps?

This may be nit picking but when jogging or hiking every ounce matters and there wouldnt be any use for a magnet. An extra tailcap w/o magnet could be used in those situations where you would not need a magnet and weight matters.

I used regular super glue. It comes off clean and easy.

Sometimes the right question will produce a solution. You asked the right question.
This is a removable magnet mod. Choose a cap that fits over the cap of your light. There wasn't any here. I had to grind the inside of two of these so they could fit.

After grinding to fit and adding a magnet.

Fit over cap of light. I am gonna show just one.

As overhead light in standard position.

Here is the best part about this mod. Well, make that two. The first is it is removable. The second is it is adjustable. As useful as my past magnet mod has been, one frustration remains: the beam can not be adjusted. With this mod, it can be. Pop the cap open and stick some paper in there to change the angle of the beam.

I am going to leave it on my light for few days to see if I can keep it attached permanently.

 

[Diablo_331]

Very nice Davidt1! Even better than the first.

 

[shao.fu.tzer]

Has anyone modded the electronic switch with a nice reliable mechanical one? Maybe I'd buy a Zebra then...

 

[Lite_me]

Has anyone modded the electronic switch with a nice reliable mechanical one? Maybe I'd buy a Zebra then...

The switch is already mechanical, only momentary. It's the switching that's electronic. If you were to put an on-off switch on it, you wouldn't be able to switch between modes or settings.

Edit to add: Actually, it would just cycle between modes, continuously. Like it does when holding the switch down now.

 

[davidt1]

Very nice Davidt1! Even better than the first.

I am glad you like it. I hope it inspires you and others to say, "hey, that's nice, but I can make it better."

It turns out this mod works great for AAA and some AA flashlights as well. It should fit most AA flashlights without a clip or with some clearance in the back. The mod should fit the SC51 and SC80. Here I use the Fenix E05.

 

[davidt1]

Ever worried about your angle ZL light turning on by accidents? Just glue an 0-ring over the switch and no more worries. Yesterday I learned this mod from Lite_me.

More uses for the removable magnet mod. The upcoming H502 (or the H501) is a perfect match for this mod because it is shorter than the H51. Once you add the plastic cap it will be about the length of the H51 without the mod. It's just another reason I can't wait to get the H502W.

The mod easily turns my H51W and E05 into a desk lamp, great for studying, eating, etc.

 

[Diablo_331]

I learned about the oring trick yesterday as well. Very neat.

 

[davidt1]

Now that I have thought about it, the removable magnet mod should work even better on the H30, H31, SC30, and SC31 because CR123 lights are short in length.

 

[robostudent5000]

sort of as a follow up on gcb's red light Photon thread here, has anyone with the Zebra magnet mod tried to see if the magnet will hold a Photon/fauxton on to the Zebra's tail cap. i think there might be enough metal in the Photon/fauxton battery to stick to the magnet. if so, that would be a great red light option for a Zebra. if you have a magnetic tail cap, you can just stick an unmodded red Photon/ fauxton on the magnet for a optional red light.

 

[varuscelli]

Here's an H501w holder I made for a baseball cap visor. I probably wouldn't advise doing this with one of the heavier ZL headlamps, but the H501w is fairly light weight and works just fine.

If you want to wear a baseball-style cap with a Zebralight (with the headband attached over the cap), the visor will generally get in the way of angling the lamp downward. If you wear the headband under the cap you can get some other hat fit issues and/or glare/vision issues. So, I wanted to set up a way to place the H501 on the cap visor.

I took a spare ZL headlamp holder and trimmed off the ends and mounted that to a metal strike plate for a stereo cabinet glass door (those are typically available general hardware stores). If using the ZL holder in the laid-down flat position (as you would for a cap visor holder like I'm showing here), you have to trim off the protruding headband guides or they will block some of the light when the lamp is angled downward.

The stereo cabinet glass door strikes (about $3 USD at a hardware store) are just about a perfect fit for the visor of a baseball cap (very snug, won't slip off). I roughed up the metal on one side of the door strike and the rubber on the bottom of the lamp holder and glued those together with Super Glue. On my first try, I used some PC-7 (two part epoxy paste) that I had on hand, and even though the epoxy paste worked great for the painted surface of the metal door strike, it wasn't very good for adhering to the rubber of the ZL lamp holder (many adhesives do NOT work well with rubber, but old fashion Super Glue is one of those that does, and it's relatively inexpensive).

Note: In the photos the strike plate seems to look a lot heavier than it really is, but part of the thick appearance is because of the inner padding that holds it to whatever it's attached to. It actually weighs between 8 to 10 grams, but I didn't get an exact weight before I put it together. Here are a few of the weights I got when I checked after I got it set up (for what it's worth).

H501w + Powerex Battery = 52 grams
H501w + Powerex Battery + Standard Silicon Holder = 58 grams
H501w + Powerex Battery + Trimmed Silicon Holder + Strike Plate = 66 grams

This setup would have worked really well using an inexpensive money clip, too...but I didn't have one of those on hand to experiment with. (A money clip version is coming up, though.)

Update: See post 116 for the money clip hat visor holder.


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Attaches over or under a hat visor







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I'm also playing around with adding a magnet to the bottom of the plate. The whole thing will still do a tailstand if removed from the visor, and if used with the magnet will give 360 degree rotation of the lamp either vertically or horizontally (or even diagonally), depending on how you place the magnet against the chosen surface. This thing is really versatile. I used a neodymium magnets, but I"m wondering if a and adhesive-backed flexible strip magnet would be better (if it were strong enough, that is).

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