Metal Gear Mod (Lots of pictures)

This light was modded for ace0001a with a Cree P3.

Here is the stock LED and plate.


LED removed from star


I created a pedestal from copper pennies to place the XR-E deeper into the reflector.

This shows the LED centered and AA'ed in place.


Now for some beamshots! The first one is stepped down -1, the second is normal exposure.


Body and reflector shots.



Now for the suprise! I found that if you removed the plastic holder in the tailcap, 1 18650 fits perfectly inside. :rock:

I had done a similar mod on a similar light last month also. The 18650 cell fits great in these 3xAAA lights. For some reason, the reflector is quite efficient in collaminating the light into a nice beam... I will not trash this thread with my mod's pics, but do want to show a pic of the beam:

Ok, not really THAT great, but just the fac that (1) you can SEE a beam from a Cree Emitter and (2) you can see it on a building that's about 100yrds from where I took the picture. All this from a Cree Led Emitter !! The light was placed at an agle to show more of the beam. Not sure, as I'm not at home, but I guess it pulled 1 amp... Cheers !

Excellent mod, Nitros.

I had thought that deep reflector might work well for the Cree. I remember Newbie saying a "banana tip" reflector would be a good option. It looks like that thing will throw big time.

The penny pedestal seems to work just right.

bombleman -

That gif is wack. To get an image change from that far away with all the ambient light is amazing.

Thanks Icebreak!

It's times like this mod I wish I had a lathe to make custom parts. IE, the heatsink.

Nice Mod, I just put my light like this back to stock, as I needed the K2 Emitter I had put in it for a Mag build... interesting different stock LED's mine was a completely different bin for LED, I believe it was an RYOH or something to that effect.

I've never cared much for mine, with the K2 (under driven a bit) was the best I liked it... Cool to know I can put a rechargeable in there however, I may have to mod mine to take the 18650 and a better binned Luxeon.

Awesome job, thanks for the info.

How many pennies (or what thickness) is necessary to bring the Cree up to the proper height? It would save me lots of trial and likely error. Oh, and what size is 18650 in typical uneducated battery speak?

It's times like this mod I wish I had a lathe to make custom parts. IE, the heatsink.

Click to expand...

let me know if I can help out. PM for details.

wmpwi said:

How many pennies (or what thickness) is necessary to bring the Cree up to the proper height? It would save me lots of trial and likely error. Oh, and what size is 18650 in typical uneducated battery speak?

Click to expand...

That was 3 pennies. I filed them smooth and then cut them to fit perfectly to the bottom of the XR-E without shorting.

I will check the size of my unprotected 18650 and let you know. My protected 18650s are a little longer, I will measure both.

highorder said:

let me know if I can help out. PM for details.

Click to expand...

Could you send me a lathe?

If I need something in the future I might PM you. Thanks!

wmpwi said:

How many pennies (or what thickness) is necessary to bring the Cree up to the proper height? It would save me lots of trial and likely error. Oh, and what size is 18650 in typical uneducated battery speak?

Click to expand...

My unprotected 18650 measures 64.6mm long. The protected 18650 measures 67.6 and does not fit in the modified lights that I am selling.

Hello to everyone on the lighting side. I am a frequent flyer on the laser community and am looking at making my dorcy more powerful. I know that the batteries in there are not powerful enough to drive the cree at full power so using a 18640 is good yes? can you also use the driver circuit from here to regulate it better?

http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3256

I am currently using two cr123's as in the mod shown online at flashlightreview.com but I end up smoking the built in resistor. I'm using rechargable cr123's. What is anyone's thoughts on using the 18650 with the driver shown above?

I'll be darned... I've modded half a dozen Metal Gears to use Luxeon IIIs and 18650s (with custom heat sinks--- I do have a mini-lathe) in the last year or two , and it NEVER dawned on me to try to take apart the end-cap/ switch.

Thanks for the hint.

I'll try that when I get a chance to do something with the Crees and Seouls that I ordered a couple of months ago.