what's this thing and why the led works without it?

Hello!

I bought an "Aurora SH0032 Cree XPE Q5-WC 114-Lumen LED Flashlight with Carabiner Clip (1*AAA)" on DealExtreme (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26245) and I broke positive and negative wires (which was connecting the "thing", which I think it's a driver, with the led) while I tried to disassemble.

It was really difficult to dissasemble, and I had to use "brutal force". Now the body is broken (concretely the head), but the things inside seems to works well (despite the broken wires).

I tried to direct connect the led to a 4.5v cell (3LR12) and it works fine, really bright. Without reflector and any other thing.

Here you have the photo:



I have the following questions:

1) Is this a real Q5 led? It seems really tiny to me.

2) What's that thing? Is it a driver? How does it work? Why do I need it? Why does the led work without it?

3) How can I use the led? Now the flashlight head is broken. Can I build a very simple "handcrafted" flashlight? What would be the best and simplest method?

Sorry about my English and about the bad quality of the pics

Cheers,
Joan.

Ad1. It's tiny because it's an XP-E type LED. Size here, doesn't matter. All flux bins (Q2, Q5, R2, etc.) in XP-E package are the same size.

Ad2. It's a driver. You need it, because LED needs something around ~3.4-3.7V to work properly. And thanks to a driver, you have some modes (i.e low, medium, SOS). The LED can work without driver, but the voltage ~4.5V is very dangerous for the LED (too high). Although LED will work at that voltage - this won't be long.

Ad3. I think the easiest way is ...to buy another flashlight. These are cheap...
To reparit it ...just reverse destroying procedure. Solder positive (red) wire to LED+ and negative (black) to LED-. The led must be placed on a pill (for heatsinking). And the whole pill (with led on top, and driver on bottom) must be placed in the head.
The head cannot be used anymore ? Find another that will fit, or buy another flashlight...

Thank you very much!

Actually I don't understand what is a XP-E. I don't know what is a pill, driver, etc. hehehe. I though that CREE LED's (e.g. Q5) had only a unique size.

The flashlight only has one mode, then can I use a low-voltage cell without driver in a safe way? May be an AAA, directly.

The head it totally destroyed. It doesn't even have threads. May be I will try to build a custom flashlight (but I am really bad soldering) but I don't know where to find a head or how to build one. Also, I wil buy another one.

XP-E is the LED model. "Q5" denotes the flux bin, not the model of emitter.

I would just get another light. Yours is beyond all reasonable repair. Just keep it for spare parts.

What is a bin? Is there any thread with an explanation about what is a emitter (I think it's the same as LED), driver and bin?

Thank you again

I suggest you read the Welcome Mat.

Thanks for suggestion I visited https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/172991 and now I know a little more about leds, hehehe