AAA "clone" part II: would thicker O-ring's help?

The head's are loose, way loose on a couple, can a bigger O-ring help?
and can O-ring's be found at a hardware store? any other tip's?

after cleaning and lubing they work well! pretty bright (about sonic, old ARC AAA brightness) look mod-able, I am out of nichia CS's
aside from tint would a 50k work in these? SMJLED? VDG

The easiest mod for the loose head is a few wraps of teflon tape. A neoprene washer from Lowes cures the battery rattle blues. I've used the battery tube as a cookie cutter for dense foam used for protecting corners and edges in some packing. A hole punch in the center makes a great battery gasket. Give MillerMods a PM or email, as he mods these lights with a 3/4 watt lux. He seems to know them well. I have one of the modded lights, and its fantastic.

I put a k2 in one direct driving it with a 14500 cell. It produces a wall of white light with a decent hot spot.

I also modded one with a cut cs led and its my every day carry light with a minimag clip.

If you mess with the led, don't use anything but a cut led. The reflector on these clones is fantastic once you get the cut led centered right it actually has some throw and a flawless beam with no rings.

I tried teflon tape and thicker o-rings.. they help to a point but don't be surprised if the light stops working because you cut the circuit by isolating the body from the head.

Shorten up the solder blob with a file to allow the head to screw down further for a tighter head. Dont damage the circuitry. It can't be fixed.

voodoogreg,

I put in a SMJ in the AAA clone(and applied GID powder under the led), it turned out to be a very decent EDC for abusing and daily use. With li AAA battery(not rechargable, just the normal 1.5v), the output of the modded light is actually comparable to ARC-P with the same battery(when the battery is fresh, haven't done a comparison when the batt is down).

But of course, the ARC-P way surpass it in workmanship and waterproofness. :rock:

the original led that comes with the clone is very bright. If you just modded it by cutting the led and focusing it in the beam it would be much more pleasant and 70% the light of the arc-p

carbine15 said:

the original led that comes with the clone is very bright. If you just modded it by cutting the led and focusing it in the beam it would be much more pleasant and 70% the light of the arc-p

Click to expand...

Has anybody done the calculations/experiment for this already?

Mine has a ringy output and I'm looking to improve it.

I've also tried squishing the body very slightly to make the opening slightly oval. It's tough to get this just right, but it will make it grab the threads a little tighter.

voodoogreg said:

The head's are loose, way loose on a couple, can a bigger O-ring help?
and can O-ring's be found at a hardware store? any other tip's?

Click to expand...

I used a rubber vibration isolation grommet from an old CD player...sliced the rubber ring in half with an Xacto knife to reduce the height and now it sits between the head and the battery to keep distance between them, and provide more normal force for friction on the threads. I haven't lost my head yet :rock:

You could also use just about anything at a hardware store: foam pads, or even 1/4" diameter silicone tubing sliced in a cross section so it forms a small ring.

amanichen said:

Has anybody done the calculations/experiment for this already?

Mine has a ringy output and I'm looking to improve it.

Click to expand...

Yes I have done this and the output is about 90% total output (read minus 10% of total light) with less throw and much more spill (which is what these are for anyway) and a beautiful uniform beam free of artifacts similar to the Fenix lights. The reflector on these clones in truely amazing and better than any light of it's size. Getting the depth right is the hardest part... and not damaging the pcb is kinda tough. cleans up the rings like nothing else.