Amazing or Deadly?

I've had an XPS Bass Pro shops 3xAAA LED for a while... a very sturdy and bright light, btw. pretty decent for a mainstream low-price light (this purchase was pre-CPF). But when my MA6 arrived, it was beat for my brightest light, and doesn't work any more. I don't know if they fought it out literally and it lost, or it killed itself in shame

I took it apart and everything seems fine, just a contact issue. But now that it's apart down to the wire (isn't saying too much - it's direct drive), why not replace the LED? It currently has a luxeon LED, I assume lux 3. I've checked out the dimensions, and I could swap in a CREE Q5 easily. But I don't know if this is a good idea. It has a plastic reflector - could this melt? Would it be better to use a Rebel or SSC P4? Am I crazy, or will I love this? Thanks.

If the heat from the electronics is enough to melt the reflector, then you've got serious problems. With adequate sinking and the right drive level, you shouldn't heating up the light much at all. Is the body made of aluminum or plastic?

Seeing as the Luxeon didn't melt the reflector, I highly doubt the more efficient current gen LEDs will melt the reflector.

It should work.

Leds dont emit heat thru the front, the reflector should never be a problem.

I came to the light... said:

I've had an XPS Bass Pro shops 3xAAA LED for a while...

I've checked out the dimensions, and I could swap in a CREE Q5 easily. But I don't know if this is a good idea. It has a plastic reflector - could this melt? Would it be better to use a Rebel or SSC P4? Am I crazy, or will I love this? Thanks.

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If you are talking about the gray & black plastic bodied light... you could go to Wal-mart and buy one with a Cree 7090 already in it! Its not a Q5, but its actually pretty nice. Just look into the window and make sure its the Cree version, they had 2 different LEDs at the Wal-Mart I was at last night. Its the exact same light, only its "1 Watt". Target carries both the 1W and 3W versions under the Brinkmann brand, and the Bass Pro Shops is the same light.

Roger

KeyGrip said:

If the heat from the electronics is enough to melt the reflector, then you've got serious problems. With adequate sinking and the right drive level, you shouldn't heating up the light much at all. Is the body made of aluminum or plastic?

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everything's plastic except the grip, which is rubber. lens, reflector, and body. The reason I'm worried is that it has no heat sink, and is direct drive. I wouldn't call that a safe control

Gunner12 said:

Seeing as the Luxeon didn't melt the reflector, I highly doubt the more efficient current gen LEDs will melt the reflector.

It should work.

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but there's a term I don't quite understand lurking behind all this and giving me doubts... "forward voltage." I think that means that some LEDs will naturally draw more current. Am I completely wrong, or is it not enough of a difference?

BBL said:

Leds dont emit heat thru the front, the reflector should never be a problem.

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yes, but it could easily be damaged by heat emitted through the back. However, seeing these four posts, I think I'll go ahead with it

z96Cobra said:

If you are talking about the gray & black plastic bodied light... you could go to Wal-mart and buy one with a Cree 7090 already in it! Its not a Q5, but its actually pretty nice. Just look into the window and make sure its the Cree version, they had 2 different LEDs at the Wal-Mart I was at last night. Its the exact same light, only its "1 Watt". Target carries both the 1W and 3W versions under the Brinkmann brand, and the Bass Pro Shops is the same light.

Roger

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I'd seen that brinkmann sold a similar light in RichS's collection shot, but I didn't know it had a cree :thumbsup: But really, this isn't a quest for me to get a really great light, just get a decent one out of an older treasure. Point is, I enjoy the extra work learning to mod, and for only $8 I'll get a better light than the brinkmann. But thanks for telling me

I came to the light... said:

but there's a term I don't quite understand lurking behind all this and giving me doubts... "forward voltage." I think that means that some LEDs will naturally draw more current. Am I completely wrong, or is it not enough of a difference?

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The Vf of each LED will be a bit different. Overall, the Rebels seem to have the lowest Vf and the other seem to have Vfs similar to the Luxeon I and IIIs.

The AAA alkaline batteries would sag in voltage due to the high current(for AAAs) draw of the LED so no worries there. NiMh batteries would make it brighter(after some running compared to the alkaline batteries) and have a longer runtime.

As long as you have decent heatsink, there shouldn't be a problem.

Gunner12 said:

The Vf of each LED will be a bit different. Overall, the Rebels seem to have the lowest Vf and the other seem to have Vfs similar to the Luxeon I and IIIs.

The AAA alkaline batteries would sag in voltage due to the high current(for AAAs) draw of the LED so no worries there. NiMh batteries would make it brighter(after some running compared to the alkaline batteries) and have a longer runtime.

As long as you have decent heatsink, there shouldn't be a problem.

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that's the (potential) problem - there is absolutely no heatsink. Just plastic.

Humm, maybe you can find something in the home improvement section that could fix this. Namely, metal piping.

The Cree is a different shape, different focal point and different beam pattern than the Luxeon. The SSC-P4 is a better choice.

Im thinking that it took your preference for the MA6 as betrayal and killed itself out of depression...im sure many a minimag, mis-understanding its owner's sudden lack of using it, has killed itself similarly

Crenshaw