Specific questions about Dorcy 1 Watt Mod: Please help a new guy

I'm about to try my first flashlight mod but I am hoping that some of you with more experience can help me avoid messing it up before I even get started. I want to upgrade my Dorcy Super 1 to a cree (http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/dorcy_super1w.htm)
The head unscrews easily and the pill drops right out. So access isn't a problem. Here are my questions:

1. It seems to me that the easiest thing to do is to replace the old star with a new one. I was going to use one of these from DE (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1302) will this work (the light takes a single cr123) or is there something better?

2. Once I unsolder the wires from the old star, how do I know how to reattach them to the new one? Is there a diagram somewhere that would explain this?

3. Will I need to do anything besides swap out the stars?

I would really appreciate any advice or help you can offer. If this one works out I want to move on to my Q-III. If I can do that, then I might consider buying one of the smaller Ultrafires and upgrading it to a cree. Thanks in advance

Marcus

I have one of these lights as well, but I have not modded it, nor do I plan to. The problem is that it doesn't have a proper heatsink, and there is no easy way to add one.
The star is held in place by the plastic housing. You would have to find a way to replace the plastic with metal, while still holding it in the proper relationship to the reflector, and then run wires to the converter, etc...

Do what I did, keep the Dorcy stock, and mod your Q3.

I put a cree in mine and my brothers. It had large rings so I shortened the reflector by about .03 thousandths. This made huge rings. Finally I installed cree optics. They fit perfectly and have nice throw and great ambient light from your feet all the way to the spot. I really like these optics.
I made huge custom heat sinks out of aluminum. Put a thin sleeve of delrin through the middle for the positive contact to run through. I use an rcr123 and it works great.
BTW, cree's are more efficient so, they run cooler. You shouldn't have a problem.

Mike

Vetkaw63: any chance you could post a picture of the heat sink you made?

Mike,
I couldn't open my Q-III (I tried boiling, hair dryer, and broke a strap wrench on it before giving up) so I opened my Dorcy and decided to swap the star into that. I did a straight star swap and the results are very good. The output on primaries is now equivalent to my Big Q-III (a 2 cr123 light) and for the most part the beam is a tight spot with a very generous throw. The only problem are some rings. They are not huge and I was thinking of shortening the reflector. But your experience is giving me second thoughts.

Marcus,
It looks exactly like the stock heat sink in the Dorcy except it is aluminum with a delrin sleeve in the middle. I have never posted pictures before. Sorry you can't break open your Q3. I used a heat gun and let it sit a while to soak in the heat.
We took my brothers apart last weekend with just a hair dryer. I soldered in a 2 stage switch and new heat sink.
Mike

vetkaw63: you wouldn't happen to have another of those heat sinks?

Go for it
Just Replace the Old star with a Cree or Seoul Star.
And get the polarity right and youre good to go.

I wouldnt worry to much about the heatsinking since youre using the original converter,and since it is called a 1W light it indicates that the light runs at 350mA and the star should be efficient enough of a heatsink.(Not optimal)But the original design of the light uses it so why not give it a try.The Cree and Seoul can take more heat than the luxeons.


IMHO.


Benny

A Quick Update,
I took a file and filed off some of the back of the optic. This got rid of some of the rings. I'm reluctant to file any more. In real world application, you can't see the rings. On a flat wall, you can see a slight ring. All in all, this is now a much nicer light.

Congrats on a mod well done



Benny

I just bought one if these little lights today with the intent of doing a mod like this. I'm going to purchase a Seoul P4 star, so the rings aren't such an issue, from Dealextreme this week. Any beamshots available to show the improvement?

I got my SSC P4 star from Photonfanatic. He shipped it on a Wednesday and I had it on Friday. (We are both in the U.S., though) The output from this is brilliant white. I have a L0D CE that has a disappointing green tint. But I would definitely recommend upgrading this light. If you get it on sale at Target, or even at 19$ + 11$ you still come under the cost of a fenix.

Marcus,
No, I don't have any spare heat sinks. I have 1 more for a Q3 but I am planning to buy another. There have been some for sale on these forums. You could do a search and find one.
The Dorcy heat sink took a little more effort. I really don't have the time to make another. I work in a CNC machine shop. We have a prototype manual shop next door, so I used to make what I wanted. I made an 18650 battery tube for my SL Scorpion and a guy on day shift narced on me so, thats about over.
Mike

I have a couple of questions now: 1. Given that I run the light on primaries, is there anything I can do/replace to improve the light's output? 2. How safe are crc123s?