6W Dorcy - can I drop in a P7?

So I needed a flashlight, figured why not have the brightest one possible?

I found a Dorcy light at ****'s that seemed like it might be a worthy donor. It's a 3AAA marketed as 6Watt 190lums (with a silly 3-color battery indicator in the button )

I can't tell much about this driver board. It's a simple on/off deal. The only distinguishing marks are:
LED--7010
UL--94V0
REV.3
0821
What are the chances I can just solder a P7 directly onto it?
If not, am I looking at a pretty straightforward project here, or did I open up a huge can of worms...

Please excuse this question if it's too Newbish. Thanks for helping me out.

I'm sitting here wondering how they came up with 6W? Anyways....

Three alkaline AAAs will not run a P7 well. They do not have the capacity to run a P7 for any amount of time, if at all.

There are lots of other reasons to not do this, but I'll stop there. If you want to build a P7 light, get a Mag. There are lots of 'how-to's on this. Or, if you don't want to build, post a WTB for one.

Direct driving straight off 3AAA certainly can be done, but its not going to be anywhere near max brightness for that LED. Depending on the thermal cooling abilities of that host... its probably better that way.

I see. Well nuts I bought this thing just for this reason too

Oh well, it's still pretty bright. What makes maglights a so much better choice? Size? Thermal properties?

Leif said:

So I needed a flashlight, figured why not have the brightest one possible?

I found a Dorcy light at ****'s that seemed like it might be a worthy donor. It's a 3AAA marketed as 6Watt 190lums (with a silly 3-color battery indicator in the button )

Click to expand...

Hmmmm... when you say ****'s are you referring to **** Smith Electronics? OR ****'s Sporting Goods? :thinking:


Hmmmm... 190Lm rated 3xAAA Dorcy? I could only find THIS one matching your description, is this it? :thinking:


Maglights make better modified flashlight hosts because of their size, range of aftermarket add-ons, battery use options & quality of construction, their switch mechanism is also good for up 8~10A draw as well IIRC, with a lot of work it might be possible to upgrade the battery option to something that will fit a Lithium cell only then you could consider a P7 install :thumbsup:


BTW :welcome:

Leif,

If you want to mod a Dorcy, then check out my Dorcy220 P7 mod. It's got better heatsinking and can be driven off the stock 4.8V NiCad battery. Also has in-light charging feature.

Good luck with whatever you do!

Hill