My First mod = Energizer Double barrel

I have already done a mild mod , and that was to solder in some brass nuts to improve battery contact , the original contacts were sub par .




Ive ordered a CREE P4 LED Emitter (WD) , and Im going to use a variable resistor to bring the voltage down from 4.7 to 3.7 volts .
This will be my first mod , and I still have at least 3 more flashlights I can convert to LED .

The toughest one will be the 1970's Tin wonder 3D flashlight .
Just need to wait for the LED ATM , but please feel free to comment or offer suggestions , like using a controller board :duck:

lovecpf

Here is the 1970's tin wonder , they must have made millions of these , currently has a 1W LED bulb , and works great with near dead D cells .
But cant help but feel a CREE LED would do it wonders

Hi! Welcome to CPF.

You don't see the double barrel lights mentioned here anymore. I always liked them and still have 2 of the 4AAA version I moded. This is the 6AA model, isn't it?

As I recall the problem with it was having adequate heat sinking with the plastic head. I don't know how successful anyone was solving that.

As for the voltage, you could use rechargeable NiHM batteries to get 3.6V (1.2V x 3). They work better under a load than alkalines and would have a longer run time with a flatter discharge curve (meaning that voltage stays constant for a longer time rather than a sharp drop).

Yes its 2x 3xAA for 6AA , Im going to put in a heatsink , drill out the bit where the bulb goes in , and have the heatsink stepped to fit into the hole . Might even do a metal insert , threaded .

First I need the CREE LED so I can see how much heat it puts out , dont want to melt anything .

This is going to be for cheap Dry Cells , and for around the house . I have plenty of LED torches , but I feel the need , the need to mod . :candle:

Im sure some people demand the best , esp in there choice of power source .
I demand the cheapest , 16 pack of AA's for $2.50 and a 24 pack is $3 [ Got 2 x 24 pack ] Eeeer thats 64 AA's [ Should last a while ] updated

Im going to go buy some more , But I have several torches that run on AA's , and these cheap as dirt batteries do just fine around the house .

One of these days , I may get some more re-chargeable's , currently I only use rechargeable AA's in my 2 Digital cameras , esp as the cameras burn through the batteries faster than the torches do .

:wave:

I think I see a Luxeon in the metal flashlight. If that's the case, a SSC would be a much more straightforward swap than a Cree.

The problem with a plastic head isn't with it melting. It's with getting the heat from the heatsink to the outside air for it to dissipate. The plastic holds the heat inside. When your holding a light, your body also works as a radiator to draw away heat. I just built a 2C maglite with a 900 lumen Seoul P7 LED and because of the large metal body and good heatsink, it never gets very hot. If you put that in a plastic body, the LED would fry.

Here is a link to some old school double barrel mods:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/mods_index.htm

Did you use one of the Maglite LED conversions in the vintage light. I love the way those lights look.
Oh great! Now you have me thinking about getting one of those for a mod.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Terralux-TLE-1F...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

I use this Terralux Bulb , in the Tin Monster .

Yeah , the Heat , first I need to see how much of it there is to see if its going to be a problem , I dont know how much light the Cree P4 is going to throw , sure would be nice if there was a list of LED's and the Lumens they put out :tinfoil: , So far Ive only been exposed to the early ones [ Pre - Cree ] .



Been looking at these for the 1970 Tin Torch ?

PS / went out and got the variable resistor , now all I need is the LED

kz1000s1 said:

The problem with a plastic head isn't with it melting. It's with getting the heat from the heatsink to the outside air for it to dissipate. The plastic holds the heat inside. When your holding a light, your body also works as a radiator to draw away heat. I just built a 2C maglite with a 900 lumen Seoul P7 LED and because of the large metal body and good heatsink, it never gets very hot. If you put that in a plastic body, the LED would fry.

Here is a link to some old school double barrel mods:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/mods_index.htm

Did you use one of the Maglite LED conversions in the vintage light. I love the way those lights look.
Oh great! Now you have me thinking about getting one of those for a mod.

Click to expand...

Yeah , I seen that one . If heat is going to be a problem , I might need to vent the head , or make a heatsink that is partially outside , hmmmm !
How about a heatpipe arrangement like with computer heatsinks ?

Ok - Update !






Here you can clearly see the direction im tacking , I have severed the positive and negative tabs going through the assembly , the heatsink was shorting on the positive tab so needed to be cut .

Still to do , = Solder wires , connect variable resistor , screw in and solder led , and then tune the resistor to 3.7V , and trim the reflector .

That looks like it should work. I assume the heatsink is aluminum? With a cree LED and especially with the cheap batteries the heat shouldn't be a problem.

Yes , Aluminum heatsink . LED is from my MXDL , so not cree , but sure kills compared to original .



Testing the circuit . [ Pic 2 ]



Had to relocate the variable resistor , [ Pic 3 ] Otherwise everything went smoooooth .



Double barrel LED Energizer

I might take out the LED and pop the P4 Cree in , just to see the difference .
But , I wanted something to run the cheap *** cells , and here it is .

Future work = Smaller variable resistor , P4 Cree :thinking:

I put the P4 Cree in / Wow , not much throw but the flood , quick , some one build an Ark .

[ MXDL LED unit ]



Cree P4 - WD

The P4 really lights things up .

Hello, Nice mod you've got here!

I have a similar light that I'd like to mod and was hoping to get some advice... Mine is the 8AA version, so I'd say that would be between 5-6v input? I was thinking about ordering this from DX and only using the pill... should be ok as it has quite a large range? Plus a little easier on my beginner modding skills

The main problem would be the heatsink I guess -- any ideas where I could find/salvage one? As you may imagine I don't have the means to mill one... Would another combination work better with this body or am I missing anything? Please feel free to enlighten me

18v Max input ...

Yeah , ive seen a link somewhere where they used the pill for the mod .

Should make for a nice mod . The pill itself would work as the heatsink , dont forget the Energizer is Plastic so it would not transfer heat well .

So if the pill cant handle the heat , ???

+ The mod I did was very simple :

Where the bulb goes I simply drilled a hole , the + - tabs run through the plastic body and were severed so as not to short anything .

The heatsink is non + or - , isolated .

So the countersunk screw which contacts + or - is no longer a problem .

You will still need to work out where to solder to - from , for + - leads .
I dont think the pictures show that clearly .

If you have a multi meter it's not hard to work out , but if you need , ill take some pictures .

Matt

old4570 said:

18v Max input ...
Yeah , ive seen a link somewhere where they used the pill for the mod .
Should make for a nice mod.

Click to expand...

Great, so I can order it from DX then together with some other little things... gotta love that place!

old4570 said:

The pill itself would work as the heatsink , dont forget the Energizer is Plastic so it would not transfer heat well .So if the pill cant handle the heat , ???

Click to expand...

Well, that is my main concern as well. I was thinking about maybe cutting an old processor heatsink, but after looking around I don't seem to have any that small; maybe some concotion using aluminium foil, like the old "fill the head with foil" hack? Hmm, must think that through until the pill arrives...

old4570 said:

You will still need to work out where to solder to - from , for + - leads.
I dont think the pictures show that clearly.
If you have a multi meter it's not hard to work out , but if you need , ill take some pictures.

Click to expand...

I do have a multimeter, but am a little worried after reading in some threads how people have buned out their leds or drivers by using it oo: I would deffinitely appreciate some advice when the time comes...

Thank you for answering and sticking around!
Regs,
Mihnea

mgc8 said:

Great, so I can order it from DX then together with some other little things... gotta love that place!
:twothumbs




Well, that is my main concern as well. I was thinking about maybe cutting an old processor heatsink, but after looking around I don't seem to have any that small; maybe some concotion using aluminium foil, like the old "fill the head with foil" hack? Hmm, must think that through until the pill arrives...
:twothumbs



I do have a multimeter, but am a little worried after reading in some threads how people have buned out their leds or drivers by using it oo: I would deffinitely appreciate some advice when the time comes...

Thank you for answering and sticking around!
Regs,
Mihnea

Click to expand...

I don't see the problem with the multimeter ? , They must'a done something seriously wrong .

.. Aluminum foil is a good idea to help heatsink , just keep it away from + - .

No problems , anything I can help with , feel free to ask .

Matt