whiskypapa3
Enlightened
I used a "SnakeLite" that I received as a Christmas present as a task light for working on my project du jours. It wasn't much use as a flashlight because of its low output. As a task light it could be pushed where it did the most good. The "C" cells didn't last too long so I made a dummy battery with a regulator to run off a wall wart. Worked OK but still wasn't the quite what I wanted.
Had a couple of LS(c)s left over from another project and decided to put them in the "SnakeLite" head. I desoldered and peeled the aluminum off the LS(c)s and mounted them on a heatsink made up of a copper split bolt wire connector and some copper flashing. Like so:
The two LS(now emitters)were ArcticSilver epoxyed to the top of the heatsink and connected in series. Now they looked downright un-friendly (See below):
Next I took a Dremel tool to the sides of the head and removed part of the back (enough to clear the heat sink) and removed part of the back of the reflector to clear the two LSs. The heatsink was made long enough to clear the plastic and extend out into the air about 3/8 of an inch. The LSs were moved about to find the best beam pattern at a focal length of 10 inches and then GOOPed in place. The "SnakeLite" switch was replaced with a small toggle switch mounted through it.
(Again below):
The old dummy Batt/Regulator was readjusted for 9v out from a 12v wall wart. After some quick tests and quicker calculations I made a 6 ohm resistor using a 24 inch hunk of stainless steel fishing leader. Connected all together and set the regulator for 400ma through the LSs.
Voila! Lots of light and none of the magic smoke got out. The heatsink and the wall wart got slightly warm and the regulator a bit warmer. All OK.
The obligatory Beam Shots, before on left, now on right...:
Had a couple of LS(c)s left over from another project and decided to put them in the "SnakeLite" head. I desoldered and peeled the aluminum off the LS(c)s and mounted them on a heatsink made up of a copper split bolt wire connector and some copper flashing. Like so:
The two LS(now emitters)were ArcticSilver epoxyed to the top of the heatsink and connected in series. Now they looked downright un-friendly (See below):
Next I took a Dremel tool to the sides of the head and removed part of the back (enough to clear the heat sink) and removed part of the back of the reflector to clear the two LSs. The heatsink was made long enough to clear the plastic and extend out into the air about 3/8 of an inch. The LSs were moved about to find the best beam pattern at a focal length of 10 inches and then GOOPed in place. The "SnakeLite" switch was replaced with a small toggle switch mounted through it.
(Again below):
The old dummy Batt/Regulator was readjusted for 9v out from a 12v wall wart. After some quick tests and quicker calculations I made a 6 ohm resistor using a 24 inch hunk of stainless steel fishing leader. Connected all together and set the regulator for 400ma through the LSs.
Voila! Lots of light and none of the magic smoke got out. The heatsink and the wall wart got slightly warm and the regulator a bit warmer. All OK.
The obligatory Beam Shots, before on left, now on right...:
