Legend 3AA LS Mod -- On LITHIUMS...

See latest post below.

With generous help from the almighty Lambda, and after stumbling through some initial novice-modder trials and tribulations (like hey, how come nobody ever told me the LS tabs could keep breaking off that easy???), I finally turned out an LS mod of my own!

Left picture is a beamshot of this Grasshopper's Legend 3AA DirectDrive (above) overwhelming his Sensei's own vaunted Lambda Illuminator:




The white Legend bulb socket was kindly sent to me from Lambda with the wires already soldered into their negative and positive slots (a very difficult job to do without creating total meltdown of the plastic socket itself), so all that was left to do was the spacing and fitting of the mechanical bits and a few "easy" soldering points, along with the Arctic Silver epoxying tasks, and *Presto*! The LGI (Long Gun Illuminator) was born.

A word of warning however, this baby gets quite warm, quite fast. Fine for my line of work (quick spot checks where intensely white color-accurate light is flashed for a minute or two at a time), but if I need to use it for longer periods, I may do like Elektrolumens and go with rechargeables...along with an obviously perceivable reduction in brightness.

THANKS, Kevin!

Wow, MrBulk - that's fantastic work! You'll soon be elevated to sit among the ranks of Lambda, Elektrolumens and McGizmo before long!

Did you manage to meter the output? That looks tremendous...

Hey HotFoot, that was quick. This was all thanks to Kevin though, I never woulda got past the initial step if it wasn't for the pre-prepped bulb socket. And yes, I will light meter it when the Arctic Silver epoxy fully cures, maybe late tonight or tomorrow...

Alright! Way to go Mr. Bulk!

Now, don't you feel better now? But remember, it will soon wear off and you'll be on to the next one........

Mr. Lambda kind sir, I am already planning to go to the hardware store and pick out some 5/8" aluminum round stock (or better yet, copper if they have it) and bandsaw some heatsink slugs...this is a whole new disease, man...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MR Bulk™:
Mr. Lambda kind sir, I am already planning to go to the hardware store and pick out some 5/8" aluminum round stock (or better yet, copper if they have it) and bandsaw some heatsink slugs...this is a whole new disease, man...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't forget, a hand drill, a 3/4" hole saw with the drill backed out little, will turn the ordinary piece of aluminum (cookie sheet) into a heatsink real fast. Just don't let the wife catch you..........

Lookin' good! Have you measured power consumption using the alkalines? With NiMh rechargables mine is pulling over an amp (1.12) with fresh batts.

I'be getting pix of mine up soon..

I have no idea how to measure the consumption. I Will be measuring light output later, though.

Nice job. I've always liked the look of the Brinkman mods.

Any chance you could post a photo of how the wires hook to the LS after it's trimmed to fit?

My DVOM handles up to 10 amps, so it's as simple as removing the tailcap then touching the battery tube and negative pole on the battery with the probes.. The light then powers up as the current flows through the meter.

I'm thinking about looking into some sort of light measuring device.. We'll chat soon.

Jeff,

Sorry, I Arctic'd the head on for maximum heat conductance. But you simply solder the leads onto the respective LS tabs, positive end denoted by a little hole in the side tab.

Slick,

Yeah I'll catch you a little later. Kid should be in bed around nine, my time.

.
.
.
I AM STUNNED.

Loaded all my Luxeon led lights with fresh batteries, assorted brands but all matched within each light.

Took out the ol' LightMan light meter and went for a test inside our little pitch black laundry room. Set meter against wall and marked off 39-3/8 inches (or thereabouts, around one meter anyway) with a Stanley tape ruler, set the meter on "lux" range and let fly. Three readings of each light were taken and these are the averages of each on this particular day:

Arc-LS (1x123): 240 lux

Lambda Illuminator: 242 lux

Lambda Pill in MiniMag: 275 lux

ElektroLumens 3C/2D Blaster: 443 lux

Long Gun Illuminator: 488 lux


And there you have it. Aside from the Hydra, the LGI is the brightest LS mod I have ever measured. On this particular day.

I wonder what my ARC LS head screwed into a Scorpion bottom loaded with a 123 and an AA lithium would have read in the 15 seconds before it died.

Alright Mr. Bulk! Don't be burning any holes over there.

Nice Mod BTW!

- Don

MrBulk,

Nice Mod! I gotta find some time and drive out to Mililani to check this stuff out!

Aloha

Clark,

Now that sounds like a really cool idea, you should try it -- no wait, Arcs are regulated, are they not? Meaning you'd only have a certain light output?

Don,

Thanks, I am afraid to test the thing for runtime though, if it does indeed get really hot I might have to change the name of the test to burntime...

Brian,

Yeah, just lemme know one day in advance, so I can safely hide all my really good stuff (*chortle*).

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lambda:
Don't forget, a hand drill, a 3/4" hole saw with the drill backed out little, will turn the ordinary piece of aluminum (cookie sheet) into a heatsink real fast. Just don't let the wife catch you..........<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


It took a trip to the hardware store to realize the value of this advice, Thank You kindly. Even if I found the right size rods or ready-made slugs, the cost now seems exorbitant when compared to a $3 cookie sheet from which you could make several dozen heatsinks. Is that the secret well from which you got the one you sent me?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Originally quoted by MR Bulk™
...this is a whole new disease, man...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You aren't kidding! I just finished my first major mod and now the X5's and Reactors etc. I drooled over before all seem quite boring now. All I can think about now is what I can do with a 5W LS. Nice job by the way.

(This is mine)

kz,

So your mod on DirectDrive is brighter than a 4AA xenon bulb? Man, that is bright! Nice job, pics show a very clean mod with all loose ends accounted for.

Woooooooooooooooooooooooo Dogggggggggggie! Yawsza!! Nice job!

Wayne www.elektrolumens.com