BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light (Pics added)

I took one of those 1XAA Garrity lights that WalMart sells in the toy department (NOT the 1XAAA light, the 1XAA light) and cut it in half just behind the switch with a dremmel. I then took out the contact spring with a pair of needle nosed pliers. I cut the end cap off the same way and used the dremmel to smooth and level off the cut edges. I then cut the contact metal so it stuck out the the top half of the light about 1/4 inch, and bent it 90 deg back under the light. I used super glue to attach the end cap back on, and put the contact spring back in. This resulted in about an inch or so of the light being taken out. I replaced the incan bi-pin bulb with a white 5mm LED from an old Inova keychain light I had laying around, and used my Dremmel to bore out the reflector hole to accomodate the LED. I powered it up with a Kodak 28A 6V camera battery ($3.79 @ Walgreens...it's nothing more than 4 LR44 cells wrapped up to make one battery). The light is about the same size as a Pel L1, and is brighter than my L1 on fresh batteries...considerably brighter! In fact, it's now the brightest single 5mm LED light I have! I could've done this mod without cutting a section of the light out, and just used a spacer behind the battery, but I like single LED lights small. If I'm not mistaken, the 28A battery has a higher capacity than 2 2016 coin cells, so run time should be better than a coin cell keychain light.

Also, I read a thread yesterday where somebody had used a white 35mm film case to put over an ArcLS to make a small area lamp. One of those film cases will fit PERFECTLY on the end of this light (top down with the cap ON), with no modifications to the film case! The inner ring of the film case top snaps right inside the light's bezel snugly, and stays put! Makes a nice little table light, or hanging light with a lanyard...Also, see my post in the Arc flashlight forum about how nicely the rubber bezel from one of these little Garrity lights fits on an ArcLS!

PJD

sorry...don't own a digicam, so I can't post pics /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

just borrow from your friends, and pic it.
i want to see it.
seems interesting. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

sounds nice!

pleaes, find a way to post pictures /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

paragraphs can be fun! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

Sounds interesting though. Whats the runtime on it? Pics would be nice too.

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

Kid toy department, next to the Hot Wheels or CPF toy department down from the Mags?

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

Saaby...Kids toy department, and various other places around the store.
xtan1x...I'm gonna send it to Rothrandir and he's gonna take and post pics for me.

PJD

BTW...Thanx Rothrandir!!!

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

I like the little cups that creamer comes in, the kind served with coffee at restaurants. They're slightly conical and flexible enough that they fit over the end of an Arc LS nicely. Much smaller than a film can, too.

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

my pleasure pjd /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

BTTT...Rothrandir will be posting pics with beam shots vs. ArcAAA for me any time now!!! The light's not as "pretty" as some of the creations made by some of our members...but for what it is, it works VERY nicely! Enjoy...and thanx again Rothrandir!

PJD

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

and here they are: (i feel asleep today...)


a picture of the light...if you didn't know it was modified, you wouldn't know!


a picture from the front of the module. (does anyone know how hard it is to take shots of a reflector!?


another view of the module


a pictures of the module without the reflector


kind of blurry, but is quite representative of what is real. the arc is on the right!


again, the arc is on the right. you can't really tell, but the arc is almost half as bright!!! these aren't the whole beams, just the part that matters...it is impossible to get the entire beam shown accurately

this little light puts out a lot of light, and looks *very* professional. i think it is vey "pretty" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
very bright also, the hotspot of my arc is just a bit brighter than the corona of this light, and the hotspot of this light has a huge, very useful hotspot.

unfortunately, i lost it... sorry pjd, i can't return a lost light /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: BRIGHT little 1 LED keychain light

Thanx, Rothrandir!

In the 4th pic from the top you'll see a small piece of metal jutting out from behind the LED. The LED's in an Inova Microlight (constant-on type) that I used the LED from have 1 extremely short lead that wasn't long enough to fit in the light socket, since it's recessed in the base about 1/16th of an inch. I don't own a soldering iron, so I had to "rig" the socket to allow the shorter lead to be able to make contact. This light only took me about 45 minutes total to make, and I was suprised at how much the reflector aided in the output, even though the LED isn't a SE. It's brighter than my Pel L1, and my SL Keymate!

Thanx again for the pics, Rothrandir...you da MAN /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

PJD