Questions about modding River Rock 2AAA

I swapped the emitter in my RR 2AAA with a QYOH Lux I, enlarging the hole in the reflector to a 1/4 inch and leaving the stock circuit. The results where the same brightness but better tint, no more blue. I would like it brighter(of course), and I have come up with a few ideas:

1. Boring out the body so I can put 3 N size batteries in it. I wired up 3 AAA to test this and it tons brighter. I wonder if doing this and running it though the stock circuit will ruin it though?

2. Boring out for 3 N's and ditching the regulation circuit. Run dircect drive, maybe with a resistor.

3. Ditch the regulation and dircect drive off 2 AAA.

What are the pros/cons to these choices? What kind of runtime could I expect from these? Is this a lost cause, should I just leave as is or go back to stock emitter?

I would like to thank everyone in advacne for their help.

I won't be able to offer any help, but I'm looking to modify a Nuwai TM-310H and TM-313X lights. These should use the same DC-DC converter and regulator as the RR 2AAA. Since you've disassembled the RR, do you know how the current is set? My mod ideas need more than the ~150mA the stock setup is providing, so I also need to know how to increase the current. I'm hoping it's a resistor I can change out. Thanks.
J.

I don't know how the current is set. Disassembly is easy though. I just heated the head with a hair dryer for about a minute. Then used two pairs of pliers with rubber protective covers to unscrew the head. Tap the head against the palm of your hand (with the reflector end facing up) and the circuit should drop right out. I will probably take mine apart again and mess with it a bit to see if I can get it a little brighter. I'll let you know if I find anything out that may benefit you.

Thanks for the info! I haven't received my TM-313X and 310H yet...just ordered them recently. Once I disassemble them, I'll try to see how the current is set and let you know also.
J.

The diameter of the stock circuit board is the same as a BadBoy or NextGen boost convertor from the Sandwich Shoppe. You would also need some sort of heat sink. I am picturing something similar to a MM sandwich, only shorter. Haven't had time to work out the details and fire up the mini-lathe yet...

Good luck with this project - John

Is there a resistor you can tweak to increase the current to the LED?

greenLED said:

Is there a resistor you can tweak to increase the current to the LED?

Click to expand...

There is a resistor on the board that I tinkered with a bit. I tried bypassing it. The brightness increased and tested fine running it with an external power supply, but when I reassembled the flashlight it would work intermittently.

I ended up boring it out and putting three N batteries in. Whoa is it bright now. I know that I'm putting to much voltage to the LED. I haven't had much time to test with my DMM, but I think that it was pulling about 240ma, the stock version was pulling about 90ma. I don't think that the LED is seeing the full 4.5 volts of the 3 N batteries, there has got to be some voltage sag in there I think, or maybe the circuit is effecting it. I've run it for a couple minutes then quickly took it apart to feel the circuit and Lux for heat, it's really not that warm. I do plan on putting some kind of heat sink in, maybe cutting some copper flashing down to fit below the Lux and sink it to the head.

This was mainly for fun, and I really didn't want to put a lot of money in to it. I run it about 5 seconds at a time at work. I'm a courier and use it to quickly check package drop boxes to make sure that I haven't overlooked any packages.

I probably won't get too much full brightness runtime out of this setup.
I do realize that I may be seriously overdriving this as far as the votage goes and shortening the life of the LED, but like I said, this was mostly an experiment just for fun.

Illuminated, I like the idea of a boost circuit and sink from the Sandwich Shoppe. I'm gonna have to look into that. I might do another one down the road.

I should add that after completing this mod that I've received my L1P from 4sevens, so if this RR mod ends up crapping out on me I'll be ok.

Thank you everyone. I highly value your ideas and input.

There should be a boost circuit inside already as the VF of the LED is likely still higher than 2xAAA at 3V. It seems you're bypassing the circuit with the 4.5V drive.
I'm looking to mod a Nuwai 0.5W 1xAA and 1xAAA, which should have a boost circuit. I'm hoping the resistor in there can be trimmed to provide at least 350mA to be able to drive a Lux1 at spec and preferably 700mA to drive a Lux3 at spec. I'm also doing this for fun more than anything, so I don't want to dump too much into this. Another regulator would be great, but one of Wayne's or Miller's regulators already cost 2-3x the price of the light, not including the Lux...seems too much to justify. I'm hoping to be able to use the existing boost converter to drive replacement Luxs.
Regarding heat sinks, isn't the body used as the negative path and thus should act somewhat as a heat sink since it's connected to the cathode at some point?
Thanks.

Garageguy or anybody for that matter,

If a fellow wanted to switch out the emitter on this light(RR 2AAA) just to make the tint a little whiter, would a Lux I need to be heatsunk if I were to keep the stock circuit? (running 135mA) Also would i use a Batwing, Side Emitting or Lambertian emitter? In case you could not tell this will be my first mod. Any other tips you might give about installing that LED in the circuit would be appreciated!!

Thanks folks
KendallAA

Hi KendallAA,

If all you really want is to improve the tint of your RR AAA, the easiest thing to do is swap-out the original LED with an SMJLED from Lambda. It takes a little soldering skill, but that's about it. I've done a couple for myself and I'm very pleased with the results. Excellent value for the dollar IMO.

Putting a Luxeon in one of these can and has been done, but I'm certain it's much more involved. Some would say it's a lost cause considering the money invested, but I would love to have a Luxeon version using an efficient converter with flat regulation.

Sometime I'll give it a try, but I think I would try to make a "sandwich" type pill using a Badboy or BB NextGen converter with a custom heat sink. This would make the light 1/4" longer (maybe more?) and will definitely be easier using a lathe to make the custom parts.

Hope this helps - John

[EDIT - With the Luxeon emitters I've bench tested, the LED does get a bit warm to touch with no heat sinking at 100-150 mA, so I'd use some sort of heat sink to be safe. A lux I High Dome (Lambertian?) would probably be the one to use with that reflector.]