Tony Hanna
Newly Enlightened
My girlfriend bought me a little 3xAAA 9 led light as a souvenir from a trip she took recently. I really like the size of the light but the output from the 9 5mm leds leaves something to be desired. After some looking, it turns out that DX sells a light that is almost identical (SKU#46) for $2.95. Looking at the one she gave me, I noticed that a D26 module would almost fit in place of the 9 led module, so I ordered one of the lights and a 3 mode R2 drop-in (SKU#17593) to play with. After shortening the reflector enough to completely remove the belled area, the drop-in fit great length wise. In order to hold the module centered in the head, I used an o-ring in the groove around the outside of the reflector. The rest of the gap from the o-ring back is packed with foil to aid in heat transfer and electrical contact and everything is held in place by the original retaining ring.
It turned out to be a cheap, fun, and easily accomplished mod with good results and since it's built around a D26 module, there are plenty of options.
I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow.
Tony
EDIT: Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyz2897/
EDIT#2: I did some testing and it looks like this drop-in might not be the best one for this project if you're looking for a really bright high. I tried 3xAAA alkaline, 3xAAA lithium, and 1x18650 and I never saw current at the tail go above 400ma. The pill from the single mode will pull 800ma from a new set of lithium AAAs, 900ma from a new set of alkalines (I expect this would fall off quickly) and about 500ma from a partially depleted set of alkalines. The single mode pill on the lithiums or the fresh alkalines is a good 35%+ brighter than the 0-100% ramping pill. Looks like a driver swap might be in order.
EDIT#3: Ordered a new driver (DX SKU#15880). This one should provide more current for a brighter "high" when compared to the 0-100% ramping driver that came with the module. It should also allow the light to be used with a single 1.2v/1.5v cell at reduced output adding some flexibility in battery selection (single AA/AAA with a sleeve, smaller subC cells, etc). I'll update when the driver ships and I get it installed.
It turned out to be a cheap, fun, and easily accomplished mod with good results and since it's built around a D26 module, there are plenty of options.
I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow.
Tony
EDIT: Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyz2897/
EDIT#2: I did some testing and it looks like this drop-in might not be the best one for this project if you're looking for a really bright high. I tried 3xAAA alkaline, 3xAAA lithium, and 1x18650 and I never saw current at the tail go above 400ma. The pill from the single mode will pull 800ma from a new set of lithium AAAs, 900ma from a new set of alkalines (I expect this would fall off quickly) and about 500ma from a partially depleted set of alkalines. The single mode pill on the lithiums or the fresh alkalines is a good 35%+ brighter than the 0-100% ramping pill. Looks like a driver swap might be in order.
EDIT#3: Ordered a new driver (DX SKU#15880). This one should provide more current for a brighter "high" when compared to the 0-100% ramping driver that came with the module. It should also allow the light to be used with a single 1.2v/1.5v cell at reduced output adding some flexibility in battery selection (single AA/AAA with a sleeve, smaller subC cells, etc). I'll update when the driver ships and I get it installed.
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