flash....
Enlightened
I made three new 3D cell mods using the aluminum Craftsman 3D as hosts.
This light is great and an easy mod due to the nice PR based threaded aluminum bulb mount that gives excellent thermal conductivity to the body.
The only drawback is the plastic threads in the aluminum head, it makes for "not so Good" heat transfer to the head from the body.
But no worries as the stock PR bulb mounting disk keeps a 5 watter plenty cool for continuous runtime.
All I needed to add was a copper PR based slug, (courtesy of George "georges80 - CPF") 30mm optic, (courtesy of Wayne "ElektroLumens") Resistor, LS 1W or 5W and get batteries to match.
The 1 watt (Blue body) was easy by going direct drive with 3D Alkalines (No Resistor).
The other two 5 Watters were going to be tricky as I wanted to run NiMh rechargeables and get long life But needed 7.2 volts in a 3D package. (this drove me nuts) So I went to My local Interstate battery store and had them custom make me two 12xAA (6series x 6series in parallel) packs that pushed 7.2volts at 4000mA. I added a 1 Ohm 10watt ceramic Resistor in the barrel under the spring. The Aluminum in the tail cap was more than thick enough to counter sink a power plug for the 7.5v 300mA wall wart charger.
As with all my mods I added stronium Aluminate to the head for that "find me glow"
For the built in LED battery indicators I had to recalibrate the circuit for the 5 watters (Red & Natural) as they were now 7.2 volts.. (6.8volts under load.. the led turns yellow at 5.8volts and glows red below 5volts. Both the 1 watt and The 5 watt lights run pretty much all night (I go to bed late) and are still green in the morning! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The 1 watter is very bright white for the first 8-10 hours or so and gives very usable light for days to come with standard Alks.
The 5 Watt gives 5 hours of super bright and then slowly diminishes after that... I have not run a full longevity test yet past 8 hours. It gets slightly warm but is perfect for the 5 watt LS with the slug.
Here are some pics... (I lost some of the good shots I took during assembly when XP decided to crash and blow my profile away and my last backup was a over a week ago!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif but, these came out pretty good anyhow.)
Here is a shot of the PR Copper slugs made by George See the slug in action on georges site under LED torches section! These two are a tad tarnished from handling but clean up in a jiff and once mounted in the Aluminum PR head they make the perfect thermal connection to the body... this and the 30mm optic are the only real custom parts needed.
And the shot of the slug mounted in the light with the first layer of glow powder. (I lost some great pics here I wish I still had... Grrr XP!)
The two 5watt heads fully prepared with glow powder and the head is sealed & epoxied down. (better thermal transfer and no focus head needed or wanted with the 30mm optic - the head is set at the right hieght to perfectly take the optic in snug when the head bezel ring is tightened down.)
The lens, 30mm optic,(awesome!) reflector and head ring.
This shot shows the recessed power charge jack for the 5watt lights. (still allows the light to be stood on end for candle up mode.) The jack is also encased in epoxy inside the cap so it reamins water proof. These lights have retained a full water seal. (no bad bubbles come out in the pool /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) The light in the center also shows the sweet glow and how the lens looks in assembled form.
And lastly a 5w vs. 1w beam shots with 30mm optics.
I gotta say if it weren't for Wayne and George... I could not have made these jewels.... Thank you Sirs!!!
*sigh, sad to report that all these are spoken for. However, feel free to contact me for help on building your own. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
Eric...
This light is great and an easy mod due to the nice PR based threaded aluminum bulb mount that gives excellent thermal conductivity to the body.
The only drawback is the plastic threads in the aluminum head, it makes for "not so Good" heat transfer to the head from the body.
But no worries as the stock PR bulb mounting disk keeps a 5 watter plenty cool for continuous runtime.
All I needed to add was a copper PR based slug, (courtesy of George "georges80 - CPF") 30mm optic, (courtesy of Wayne "ElektroLumens") Resistor, LS 1W or 5W and get batteries to match.
The 1 watt (Blue body) was easy by going direct drive with 3D Alkalines (No Resistor).
The other two 5 Watters were going to be tricky as I wanted to run NiMh rechargeables and get long life But needed 7.2 volts in a 3D package. (this drove me nuts) So I went to My local Interstate battery store and had them custom make me two 12xAA (6series x 6series in parallel) packs that pushed 7.2volts at 4000mA. I added a 1 Ohm 10watt ceramic Resistor in the barrel under the spring. The Aluminum in the tail cap was more than thick enough to counter sink a power plug for the 7.5v 300mA wall wart charger.
As with all my mods I added stronium Aluminate to the head for that "find me glow"
For the built in LED battery indicators I had to recalibrate the circuit for the 5 watters (Red & Natural) as they were now 7.2 volts.. (6.8volts under load.. the led turns yellow at 5.8volts and glows red below 5volts. Both the 1 watt and The 5 watt lights run pretty much all night (I go to bed late) and are still green in the morning! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The 1 watter is very bright white for the first 8-10 hours or so and gives very usable light for days to come with standard Alks.
The 5 Watt gives 5 hours of super bright and then slowly diminishes after that... I have not run a full longevity test yet past 8 hours. It gets slightly warm but is perfect for the 5 watt LS with the slug.
Here are some pics... (I lost some of the good shots I took during assembly when XP decided to crash and blow my profile away and my last backup was a over a week ago!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif but, these came out pretty good anyhow.)
Here is a shot of the PR Copper slugs made by George See the slug in action on georges site under LED torches section! These two are a tad tarnished from handling but clean up in a jiff and once mounted in the Aluminum PR head they make the perfect thermal connection to the body... this and the 30mm optic are the only real custom parts needed.
And the shot of the slug mounted in the light with the first layer of glow powder. (I lost some great pics here I wish I still had... Grrr XP!)
The two 5watt heads fully prepared with glow powder and the head is sealed & epoxied down. (better thermal transfer and no focus head needed or wanted with the 30mm optic - the head is set at the right hieght to perfectly take the optic in snug when the head bezel ring is tightened down.)
The lens, 30mm optic,(awesome!) reflector and head ring.
This shot shows the recessed power charge jack for the 5watt lights. (still allows the light to be stood on end for candle up mode.) The jack is also encased in epoxy inside the cap so it reamins water proof. These lights have retained a full water seal. (no bad bubbles come out in the pool /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) The light in the center also shows the sweet glow and how the lens looks in assembled form.
And lastly a 5w vs. 1w beam shots with 30mm optics.
I gotta say if it weren't for Wayne and George... I could not have made these jewels.... Thank you Sirs!!!
*sigh, sad to report that all these are spoken for. However, feel free to contact me for help on building your own. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
Eric...
