Need help with solitaire LED upgrade/mod...

Hey guys...I ahve been trying to mod my solitaire to a LED..I bought a variety pack of LED's from radioshack, and I got the 23 battery, but I have been havign some trouble...1st I couldn't find anything that could take up the extra space and conduct the battery current...I tried a small bolt and a spring from a pen but nothing worked...Either it was too big or too small or just didn't work...Finally I got somethign to work but the LED was SOOOOOOOO dim, I was very dissapointed...I was wondering if anyone out there can help me out...I wanted to know if I could send the solitaire along with the battery (23) and someone can add a good 3mm LED and out it together for me? I can pay for shipping back...I am just frustrated with this easy project and my 1st mod...It makes me feel stupid having these problems, lol, I just want it done already...Can anyone help me out?

PM sent. That was my first mod.

Thanks GreenLED, I got the PM and replied...

Look here.

But if you asked me , I don't understand it.

hi - i was a newbie at this untill yesterday - but ive done the mod now and it works great

heres what i did - got 50 nichia 3mm leds for $6 off ebay
also got 5 others that claim to be 17000mcd thes cost $5 for 5 leds!

cut the legs so the overall length was the same as the bulb
used a dremel to grind the tabs off the legs of the led
also ground the lip at the bottom of the led - so the reflector goes all the way down
push the led in

first i tried the 3 little cells from a a23 and some brass rod that i cut down to size

i wasnt too impressed - both the normal leds and the bright ones wernt great

so i tried a whole a23 battery - 12v!

well that worked a treat - a bit blue but nice and bright
this only worked with the nichia 3mm leds the "really bright" ebay ones
blew up under 12v

next getting a nice beam from the reflector

3 options

1. normal led - ok but all ringy and a bit useless
2. sanded led - all flood - very useful but no throw
3. chop top off led re-dome it and polish it - can be adjuested for flood or spot - doesnt throw anything like the incan but has usefull hot spot and flood.

i am in the process of modding all the 50 leds
and i will be making 50 alluminium spacers
i have also ordered lots of ag5 batteries to try
these have twice the mah and i can try different quantities in a solitaire to get the best results

this mod does work - but i sugest overdriving the leds a bit for best results

i just wish i could get it to throw like the incan

for round the house at night its a lot more usefull - if not a bit too bright for ur unadjusted eyes

for close up work in dark places it would be spot on

hope you sus it out

i might be selling a kit to do this mod

complete with batteries spacer and modded bulb - i could probably do a kit with 2 bulbs (sanded and ground/polished) for about $5

Alex

Thank you newuser for the link, I appreciate the effort but I do not understand that myself, lol...but like I said thanks for the link anyway!

Alex,

Tanks for the tips on thsi mod...Sanding the LED a bit is a great idea since I like the idea of all flood...for a small light like this lighting up and area is good...The best part of moddign these solitaires is that they are cheap, so I can buy a couple and try different things in them...

Im sending you a Pm...Thanks again....

as we speek im messing with this mod

i get the best results from the mjled type led modification - but it is very hard to perfect

to be honest id say your not getting a huge amount more light from this mod
but its white and its not as ringy and its definatly more useful around the house

the problem is ive only got 30 - 50 lumen lights to compare it against
appart from the stock soli

best bet for a homemade spacer - is getting some ally bar from your local hardware store and cutting it down

Alex

aljsk8 said:

best bet for a homemade spacer - is getting some ally bar from your local hardware store and cutting it down

Alex

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip...I was havign a hard time finding something...I tried everything, well whatever was metal in my junk drawer that fit anyway...lol...

This should be translated.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.hidekix.net/flash/soltaire_mod_microconverter200ma.htm&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhidekix.net/flash/soltaire_mod_microconverter200ma.htm%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG