What's the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

Requirements would be an aluminum or metal body for good heat transfer,and an on/off switch other than twisting the head.IMHO the twist function limits your options on what can be done.I'll start it off-

Brinkmann legend 2AA(aluminum,w/tail-cap switch)
Craftsman excel 2AA(aluminum,w/barrel-mounted push button)

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

...or a MiniMag 2AA w/tailcap switch...

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

How about the Coleman 2AA? It also has a tailcap switch. (On clearance @ Walmart for $4)

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

Hi Mr.Bulk,
Speaking of tail-cap switches,I came across a really interesting-looking one.Looks better than the one that's on the SL jr.,I forget what it's called and who makes it.But this new one looks to be made out of aluminum,well atleast the threads are,with a red button.Alpec makes it and it has a 2 year warranty.Have you seen this one?

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

Look for a torch with a metal body and metal reflector which can effectivelyu dissipate the heat through the torch body.
Chat to Electrolumens or Lambda on this forum who have both modded or made Luxeon 2AA torches.

Matt

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

Far and away the best 2AA flashlight to buy for the express purpose of modding would have to be the Brinkmann Legend. It's an excellent quality unit that comes with a carry case + batteries and already has a tailcap switch, all for only $10. That's a bargain and a half to me.

I also like my Craftsman 2AA's that have the barrel mounted switch like the D cell Maglights. I haven't modded one of these yet, so I'm witholding judgement until I can determine how easy it would be to securely mount the LS optics. Since the lens bezel does not unscrew on this light, this may present some additional challenges..

The Coleman 2AA is unique in that it would be very easy to bore the flashlight body to accept 3 - CR123 lithium batteries for 9v operation. I've shelved one of these I intended to mount a LS in pending review on whether or not it would be a better idea to mod it as an incandecent using a surefire 9v lamp. I've also considered mounting a single Luxeon with a ring of 5 or 6 nichia's around it. For a beginng modder, this might be a really good choice since there's plenty of room in both the barrel and head. It wouldn't require so much cutting and grinding on the Luxeon to get it mounted. There's plenty of room in there for custom eletronics too. I'll hack this one up later...

The Mini-Mag 2AA is an outstanding quality unit as well but you'd still need to buy the tailcap switch (which costs nearly as much as the whole flashlight). If you like the plethora of aftermarket goodies offered for this light then the extra expense over the Brinkmann would be justified.

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

Hey Slick,

I have to agree with you on those points.The legend is my favorite too.

As for the Craftsman light,I just finished moding it with a LS(direct-drive).It gets reasonably bright,but gets pretty warm after 10 to 15 minutes.I'll probably try to sink it better.

I had a similar idea of combining an LS with 3 to 6 white nichias around it.What I couldn't figure out is how to turn each one on independantly.How were you thinking of solving this problem?Know of any 2-way switches that are durable?Or maybe one can be scavenged from another light?

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sonic:
I had a similar idea of combining an LS with 3 to 6 white nichias around it.What I couldn't figure out is how to turn each one on independantly.How were you thinking of solving this problem?Know of any 2-way switches that are durable?Or maybe one can be scavenged from another light?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I hadn't planned on having the capability of running the nichia's separately. I came up with the idea because I wanted to mod the Colemann AA by boring out the body to accept 3 - CR123 lithium cells. Since that gives me 9 volts total, I was going to add in enough nichia's to bring the current down to a "safe" level for direct drive.

In addition to sapping off some of the extra current, I also thought they would add some "area" light to accentuate the Luxeon's bright hotspot.

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

Slick,

That's a real slick solution,without wasting power by using resistors.NICE.I wouldn't have thought of doing that.Clever,clever.

Darryl

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sonic:
Hi Mr.Bulk,
Speaking of tail-cap switches,I came across a really interesting-looking one.Looks better than the one that's on the SL jr.,I forget what it's called and who makes it.But this new one looks to be made out of aluminum,well atleast the threads are,with a red button.Alpec makes it and it has a 2 year warranty.Have you seen this one?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, I have one on my Lambda Ill Pill'd minimag. It works well, and although I have heard of a few being flaky right out of the box, the several I've ever handled/tried were all fine, although one or two in the bunch would not screw on entirely "straight" (slight cant to one side). But they all functioned just fine.

I found the current mfr. to be Zan Headgear based in San Diego (contracting them out to a China factory for production), even did a "group buy" on 44 of them once from a knife distributor.

Re: What\'s the best 2AA lights for LS moding?

For what its worth a Brinkmann Legend AA tailcap switch WILL thread onto a Minimag AA flashlight, its not a perfect fit as the threads are of a different pitch but it does work, I actually have one at home on my workbench.