sunny_nites
Enlightened
Gotta love Deal Extreme, they really have some unique stuff.
This little keychain light is intended as to be used as a rechargeable portable battery for juicing up Ipods, cell phones, etc. Pretty much anything meant to be charged via a USB port and matches up to one of the included adapters.
This really isn't a review of the device but a rundown of how I modified mine.
Out of the box the light has a 410mah lithium polymer battery (add says 500mah but close enough) and a flashlight comprising three 5MM LEDs.
First issue I ran into was that the switch is momentary and has to be held to keep the light fired up. Second issue is that the LEDs are really low end and not very bright. Alas, they burned up pretty quickly after I swapped in a lower value current limiting resistor. I replaced the toasted LEDs with three 25,000mcd units I had bought off of Amazon. These new LEDs have a great warm tint and are significantly brighter than the originals. They are actually some of the best I have seen and came at a bargain price, something like $15 for a hundred.
The next "upgrade" was a little more challenging. I wanted a proper on/off switch. Luckily in the same purchase from DX I had bought several small, single LED keychain lights that feature a solid state switch. The electronics packages in these little guys are tiny and supply around 50mah to the LED.
The switch circuit adds lots of extra wire but there's plenty of room under the hood. The 50mah top end on the switch wasn't bad but I really wanted the light to be brighter.
So another purchase from Amazon; a strip of SMD PNP transistors.
The transistor really perked up the light by supplying 240mah or approx 80mah per LED! Of course this configuration blew through LEDs with merry abandon. I added a SMD 10ohm resistor and it dropped the current to a more realistic 120mah or approx 40mah per LED. I've built two of these lights so far and haven't lost an LED in almost three months of daily usage. It's hard to see in the picture but the transistor is soldered on the switch board with the collector attached to the yellow wire going to the LED array.
I know it's hard to imagine but at times the light is actually too bright. I have a couple of new keychain lights on order that I'm going to gut for the two stage solid state switches on board. This should let me add a "low" setting to the light.
Actually, have several more of these lights on order from DX. Everyone that sees them in action wants me to build one for them.
Did I mention, it is also solar charged? The green light shows it is charging. Haven't measured how much current actually gets to the battery form the panel but it's fun to see that light pop on when it gets exposed to the sun. It seems to charge up pretty quick from the USB.
Bonus to a really great light; I can charge up other lipo lights with it.
This little guy has quickly become my every day carry light. Really, it's more of a constant carry light. You know, the light that turns out to be the one that is always in your pocket. Signs of constant use and banging into pocket change and keys.
Sorry, didn't think to take a comparison shot before I replaced the LEDs. This pic is from approx 15 feet.
These pictures turned out to be a lot smaller than I thought they would be. If anyone is interested in building their own or just wants to see anything up closer, let me know and I will post larger shots.
Thanks for looking.
This little keychain light is intended as to be used as a rechargeable portable battery for juicing up Ipods, cell phones, etc. Pretty much anything meant to be charged via a USB port and matches up to one of the included adapters.
This really isn't a review of the device but a rundown of how I modified mine.
Out of the box the light has a 410mah lithium polymer battery (add says 500mah but close enough) and a flashlight comprising three 5MM LEDs.
First issue I ran into was that the switch is momentary and has to be held to keep the light fired up. Second issue is that the LEDs are really low end and not very bright. Alas, they burned up pretty quickly after I swapped in a lower value current limiting resistor. I replaced the toasted LEDs with three 25,000mcd units I had bought off of Amazon. These new LEDs have a great warm tint and are significantly brighter than the originals. They are actually some of the best I have seen and came at a bargain price, something like $15 for a hundred.
The next "upgrade" was a little more challenging. I wanted a proper on/off switch. Luckily in the same purchase from DX I had bought several small, single LED keychain lights that feature a solid state switch. The electronics packages in these little guys are tiny and supply around 50mah to the LED.
The switch circuit adds lots of extra wire but there's plenty of room under the hood. The 50mah top end on the switch wasn't bad but I really wanted the light to be brighter.
So another purchase from Amazon; a strip of SMD PNP transistors.
The transistor really perked up the light by supplying 240mah or approx 80mah per LED! Of course this configuration blew through LEDs with merry abandon. I added a SMD 10ohm resistor and it dropped the current to a more realistic 120mah or approx 40mah per LED. I've built two of these lights so far and haven't lost an LED in almost three months of daily usage. It's hard to see in the picture but the transistor is soldered on the switch board with the collector attached to the yellow wire going to the LED array.
I know it's hard to imagine but at times the light is actually too bright. I have a couple of new keychain lights on order that I'm going to gut for the two stage solid state switches on board. This should let me add a "low" setting to the light.
Actually, have several more of these lights on order from DX. Everyone that sees them in action wants me to build one for them.
Did I mention, it is also solar charged? The green light shows it is charging. Haven't measured how much current actually gets to the battery form the panel but it's fun to see that light pop on when it gets exposed to the sun. It seems to charge up pretty quick from the USB.
Bonus to a really great light; I can charge up other lipo lights with it.
This little guy has quickly become my every day carry light. Really, it's more of a constant carry light. You know, the light that turns out to be the one that is always in your pocket. Signs of constant use and banging into pocket change and keys.
Sorry, didn't think to take a comparison shot before I replaced the LEDs. This pic is from approx 15 feet.
These pictures turned out to be a lot smaller than I thought they would be. If anyone is interested in building their own or just wants to see anything up closer, let me know and I will post larger shots.
Thanks for looking.
