First build, ARC LS

Completed my first build of a ARC LS. Started with a bare, empty 123 twisty body form cy, and decided to do a direct drive of a LUX 1 cyan from photonfanatic.

Used a thick chunk of brass to dissapate heat(nasty solder job!)

A little foam to curb battery rattle.

Used a McR18 reflector from The Shop, that I spilled something on and the texture came off, so I had to sand it out and pollish it up.

Decided on a diffused lens from Flashlightlens because cyan color can be quite hard on the eyes, when intense.

Pollished it up to a nice finish.

And a beam shot from about 4 feet off a white wall.

Nice flood of cyan light that is BRIGHT! Good throw as well. Gets about 25 minutes of run time on a RCR123 before it begins to visually drop off. Gets hot pretty quick, but I figure that means my heatsink is sinking the heat away from the led in a hurry. Very happy with the way this turned out. Next up for one of my other LS's, I'm thinking of driving a SXOH LUX1 with a Flupic, powered by a CR2 using Bombelman's CR2 adapter, the more efficient emmiter should be a good match with a RCR2.

Nice setup Lux, the polished body and cyan combination turned out gorgeous!

Your FLuPIC CR2 twisty setup sounds sweet too, be sure to show us when it's ready.

:thumbsup:

Sweeet!!! what a hot-rod!

awesome work. great job!!!!

I thank you all for the compliments !! The LS is the light that started it all for me and I still love the design. Simple, sturdy, looks great(still), and it is fun and easy to mod. Its nice to keep these lights in the mix with some upgrades because they are (dare I say) classics.

"The LS is the light that started it all for me and I still love the design."

You mean Arc LS, right ?

Great mod, and modding-platform also ! (Arc)...

Cheers !

Wow. Since one of my LSs disappeared (with my only clickie) from airline baggage I have a pair of 2xAA bodies and a spare 1x123 screwon body sitting around, while my remaining LS lives in my pocket.

I'd been sort of hoping the next generation from Arc might use the old bodies, so hadn't put them up for sale (anybody know yet?).

Meanwhile, if you or anyone decides to turn out threaded heads to fit the old Arc threads, say ones that would accept and heatsink the available sandwich modules, I'd love several. Not sure that's where you're going but anyhow great to see this.

bombelman: Thank You. Oh yea, I mean the ARC LS. When I bought my first one about 3 years ago, I thought I was nuts spending $130 or so dollars on a flashlight, untill I recieved it! I was hooked after that, the pictures on the ARC website made it look so tempting, and then after holding it in my hand, I never had a second thought on what I paid for it. Just a timeless design. By the way, really looking foward to my CR2 tube!!!!!!:naughty:

hank: Thanks for the Wow, that is the effect this light seems to get. Sorry, thats not where I was going, not yet anyhow. I was just showing off my handy work. When I said 'build' I meant the first light that I 'built', not building a run. Maybe I should have titled it 'first mod', I apologize for any confusion. I do have some ideas both in my head and on paper, but right now I am just having fun and gathering ideas and info, lets call it 'research & development' so that I can justify how much money I spend on this hobby!!!! Speeking of money, can my R & D be considered a tax write off!?!

Question:

Why does the "chunk of brass" have a "cutout" ?
I know this is the way the stock Arc board was, but does the washer really need it ?

And how is the solder holding to the washer ?

The defused lens makes it look like it still has a stippled reflector....
Nice smooth beam !

Now for a 180+ lumen Red/Orange ?

Cheers !

bombelman: The 'chunck of brass' that I used is actually not a washer. When looking around for some material to use for a heatsink, I found an old door key that had a large handle. But with the amount of material I had to work with, I could either get 1 perfectly round sink or squeeze 2 sinks out that both had a notch in them, I went with the latter, besides the notch aids in removal from the tube (if needed), you can get a tool around it. I thought about a washer but the hole in the washer would cause a few problems. Mounting of the led and the pos. contact would pose a challenge, but more importantly would be the leds' ability to transfer heat to the heatsink. So I decided a 'slug' would be better.
Now the pos. contact, I used a 1/4" round punch to punch out a piece of copper(some thin sheet copper I had around) then worked up a nice pool of solder on it with the pos. wire lead in the pool, then attached it to the heatsink with some epoxy and a thin piece of nylon in between the sink and the pos. contact for insulation between the pos. contact and the neg. heatsink.
The beam is a nice smooth flood, all thanks to the diffused lens, I really enjoy this light, have had it on me since I finished it. I have a bunch of lights that I really enjoy but this one I made so it has a special place with me....in my pocket!!!!!:rock: