Quick question about substitute LED

Quick question - please understand that I'm not very familiar with electronics, I'm ok with mechanical details though.

I have a Ridgid trouble light that runs off of their nicad 18v rechargeable tool battery. So far I've gone through about 5 of its inca bulbs, after the last one I tossed the light into the closet. It seems like a travesty to not use that great power source just because of it's standard fragile bulb. What I'd like to do is get a replacement drop-in LED.

Will this drop-in be a suitable replacement bulb?

3W Cree Drop-in Module (supports Surefire 6P)
http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6090
$10.14 3V~18V

I'm confident I can fit it in the housing with proper heatsinking.

If that doesn't sound like a good idea, what do you all suggest? Please - keep in mind that I know next to nothing about amps - volts etc. I can mod the thing to take care of heat issues and wiring, but beyond that I'm a bit lost.


Thanks for your help!

The "off the charger" voltage from the battery might be too high for the driver to work.

Measure the fresh voltage and if it is too high, the drop-in might fry. A resistor might fix that though.

I would buy 3 of the cheapest DX dropins and a 700mA buckpuck. Then I'd take out the stock dropin drivers and wire the LEDs in series to the buckpuck, which can easily handle the battery pack output.