Streamlight Enduro mods

ringzero

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Jun 11, 2006
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Got a Streamlight Enduro yesterday and I'm lovin' it!

The fit and finish on this little guy are great. The straps and pivot system are first rate. I'm not sure the top strap is needed for something this light, but it is easily removable. Since it's rated waterproof to one meter for one hour, it should be totally weatherproof. My one gripe is with the little rubber-covered switch: nice postive action but really stiff, requiring several pounds of pressure to click. However, I can live with it, and the upside is that it's very unlikely to switch on accidentally while bumping around inside a rucksack or pocket.

Out of the box, the low setting produced a broad bluish-white corona with a bright central spot. The high setting produced a much brighter corona and spot, but with a noticeable donut hole at the center. Turning the bezel about a quarter-turn CCW completely eliminated the donut hole, and now I very happy with the beam this little guy produces. The slight bluish tint doesn't bother me at all.

Went out for a little hike last night, mostly using the low setting, with occasional resort to high for rougher terrain. Once the eyes become dark adapted, the low setting is plenty good enough for walking trails. The low setting is more than sufficient for nightime navigation around the house and for close work. With around twenty hours of runtime on low, this would be very useful during a blackout.

This headlamp is incredibly comfortable. When I came in from hiking I started watching a TV program, then a couple of hours later decided to go back outside for another walk. I was looking all over the place for the Enduro because I couldn't remember where I'd set it down. Finally, I realized that I was still wearing it, and had been wearing it for the last several hours. Another thing I like about it is that I can wear it under a broad brimmed hat, as I did last night after it began raining. This works better than wearing it over a hat or cap, because you don't lose the light at your feet due to the shadow of the brim.

This headlamp should rank among the best for backpacking, general use around the house, power outages, etc. I am amazed that something this small produces so much usable light for such a long time. For certain uses, such as caving or bushwacking at night, where you need very bright light for many hours at a time, this headlamp falls short. Also, for really cold weather there are better choices. But for less extreme pursuits, this little guy will replace the other headlamps I've been using. It's that good.

There are two mods that immediately come to mind:

1. A diffuser for close work and reading. Usable as is, but a simple scotch-tape diffuser improves the flood and reduces the hotspot. Works great for reading. I'd like to make something more robust that would slip over the bezel like a lens cap and then stay securely seated. It wouldn't be as convenient as the Petzl Tika XP, but should be about as functional. Any suggestions on where to find a plastic cap of the right size? Or, any better approach to building a diffuser system?

2. I'm going to buy a second Enduro to modify with an external battery pack for longer runtime on high and for cold weather use. Two Cs or Ds, or even 4 AAs wired to produce 3v should give really good runtime on high. Since this headlamp uses a boost regulator, I'm guessing that the lower internal resistance of the bigger cells won't be a problem. Any thoughts on this?

Want a battery pack that is waterproof, but will settle for weatherproof, and would like a belt-type clip for easy attachment. Should have a fairly long cable, so I can avoid splicing. Any suggestions for a battery pack?

It'll be easy to route a cable up through the junction of the top strap and main headband, and with a little sewing route it around the outside of the main headband to the body of the lamp. Drill through body of headlamp, thread cable through, tie knot for strain relief, solder to battery contacts, then seal the entry hole. Has anyone done this kind of mod on a headlamp? What is good for waterproof sealing? Silicone Type 2?

Any other suggestions on these mods would be appreciated.

I like this little guy so much that I may buy a third one just to use as a pocket light. With the straps removed it is quite small, and if the forehead plate and pivot were removed it seems like it would make a great pocket light.
 

4x4Dragon

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Nov 14, 2002
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Lexington, SC
i've modded my RR .5 watt lantern(same thing) already with a flip-up diffuser.....

can provide pics if you'd like.
 

ringzero

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Jun 11, 2006
Messages
1,316
Thanks for replying 4x4Dragon.

Yes, I'd love to see pics of your diffuser mod and would love any tips about making my own. Materials, etc.

Thanks again.
 

jayflash

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Oct 4, 2003
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Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Lower internal resistance is no problem but are primary C & D cells lower than AA cell's resistance, especially secondary cells?

Seems like the switch is similar to the Yukon HL in force required.
 

4x4Dragon

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Nov 14, 2002
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Location
Lexington, SC
ringzero said:
Thanks for replying 4x4Dragon.

Yes, I'd love to see pics of your diffuser mod and would love any tips about making my own. Materials, etc.

Thanks again.

ill try and get the pics up tonight.

materials are just:

1) size #2 Butler Creek gun scope flip cover(clear window model)
2)diffuser tape
3)shoe goo or another good adhesive :)

i still say the mod looks like it came from the factory this way...... you'll see.
 

ringzero

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Jun 11, 2006
Messages
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jayflash:

Yeah, I used to have a Yukon with a really stiff switch, even stiffer than this Enduro. Good headlamp, except for the d***** switch. Traded it off to a buddy for an ultralight tarp and aluminum poles.

Wonder if PT designed it that way, or if it was poor QC during manufacturing. Are all Yukon switches really stiff like that?

On the internal resistance question: I don't know for sure and don't have any spec sheets around to compare. Thought I remembered that bigger cells have lower internal resistance, but I could be wrong. When I have time, I'll measure the internal resistance of several types of cells that I have around the house. Does anybody on this forum know the answer for sure?

4x4Dragon:

Don't keep us in suspense - post the f***in' pics. ;)

Seriously, it sounds like a great mod, and I'd really like to see what it looks like.
 

jar3ds

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Sep 12, 2005
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USA
the RR is a good headlamp for indoor stuff... its the only headlamp I have that it dosen't make me squint when using it in the middle of the night after sleep... i use nimh and the low settings...

its a very nice headlamp... i believe though if you want to buy this headlamp you'll want to buy the RockRiver version of it at target... its cheaper :)
 

eebowler

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Dec 18, 2003
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Trinidad and Tobago.
Hey guys. I'm wondering if replacing the LED with a cut SMJLED will help the tint or brighness of the beam?

What do you think?
 

eebowler

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Dec 18, 2003
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Trinidad and Tobago.
All right, to partially answer my own question, my avatar is a picture of the LED from the RR headlamp. As you can see,(or maybe not,) there are 6 bond wires and three dies. The SMJLED has four dies.
 

eebowler

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Dec 18, 2003
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Location
Trinidad and Tobago.
All right. Got the wahwang 4 die LEDs from Tritium yesterday and did some quicks tests.

Running direct drive off of two AA alkaline cells (1.55V, 1.54V) in my maglite, I measure 43mA* with the wahwang LED, 11mA with a Nichia CS LED and 15mA with the 3die LED removed from the Enduro. From that simple test, it seems that the Vf of the WahWang LEDs are lower than either the CS or whatever LED comes with the SL. (My DMM cannot measure high Vfs.) I measured the current a few hours later with the LEDs DD on the same alkalines from above and got about 14mA for the Enduro LED and 32 mA for the wahwang LED.

I put the wahwang LED in the SL and measured current on low and high. Low output=~28mA and High output=~ 100mA*. I seems to me that for low output, the headlamp goes into direct drive.

*Something odd occurs when measuring the current to the wahwang LED. eg, when measuring the current flowing through the LED on high output of the SL, the current started out arround 98mA and slowly rose to 100mA when my patients ran out. It continued rising but at a slower rate. The same happened when I was measuring the current when it was DD with the alkalines so it's a property of the LED and not any circuitry.

Output. The output of the Enduro headlamp increased noticably over that of the original LED. The light is still very blue but a little less so than the original LED. Probably due to the positioning of the LED, the hotspot of the mod is a little bigger than the original LED which in my opinion was too small. Of course, the head must still be unscrewed slightly to get a beam without a hole.

For <$3 for a LED from Tritium, it's my opinion that this mod is very much worth the little effort it takes to accomplish. :twothumbs:
 
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