$5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod; Now with 18650 Cell!

jkpq45

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Edit: See post #5 for verification of 18650 compatibility and how to stuff it into this host!

Picked up one of these for $4.88 last night:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rayovac-2AALED-B-Rayovac-2-AA-LED-Aluminum-Flashlight/22086113

Pulled it apart and verified the triple-LED head runs just dandy thank you on a single fresh 18650. Plenty of room in the body to open up to ~18mm (there are little longitudinal fins running down the ID to keep AA cells centered).

Will work my magic with a 3/4" (19.875 mm) drill bit and the lathe to see if I can get the package back to water "proof" post-mod.

Enjoy!
jkpq45
 
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okeenu

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Re: $5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod

Wow ..I was looking at those at wally world yesterday ..It never occurred to me it would take a 18650 ..

This will be my first "Mod" .... Thanks for the idea
 

El Camino

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Re: $5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod

Yeah, I picked one of those up at my local Dollar Gen for $4 and some change a few months ago. Mine is incandescent though. It takes a standard bulb, and the MagLite Luxeon 3 and Terralux drop in fits pretty well, but the hot spot is football shaped. The side switch is reverse-click.

It's a decent light for $5. Right now it's living in one of my tool boxes.
 

jkpq45

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Re: $5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod

Wow ..I was looking at those at wally world yesterday ..It never occurred to me it would take a 18650 ..

This will be my first "Mod" .... Thanks for the idea

Let me do the hard work first! As it sits, there are little plastic fingers in the way that prevent seating an 18650. I'd estimate the "clear bore" of the light to be in the ~15mm range as it's a bit of a slop fit for the as-provided Rayovac AA cells.

I'll run a sharp chisel down the ID of the body to remove the "fingers," then test fit the 18650. If more room is needed, I'll mount the body in the lathe and bore out the ID. Who knows, I may even have an appropriate reamer to make a nice interior surface finish, like that matters.

I've already proven the electronics will work. Not certain about lamp life reduction though.

Once I prove the mechanics (fitting the cell AND not frying the switch) I'll likely offer this as a service for folks on the forum (like me) who have a bunch of cheap, unprotected laptop battery-harvested 18650s and no torches to put them in yet.
 

jkpq45

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Re: $5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod

Well, it's official!

Step 1: Remove head of flashlight and batteries. There's a strip of metal holding the clicky switch, running down the inside of the light and holding the negative-end spring. Remove this and the piece of plastic holding it steady.

Step 2: Run a 1/4" chisel along the interior plastic wall to remove the 4-6 plastic "fingers" that keep the AA cells centered.

Step 3: Put a "Z-bend" in the thin strip of metal to shorten it ~1" (as 2x AA cells are longer than a single 18650.)

Step 4: Fabricate a 5/8" wood dowel ~1" long to act as a backer to the spring and metal strip (I got lazy and used a stack of pennies, worked fine!)

Step 5: Install dowel, spring assembly and plastic holder, and single 18650 cell (it's a snug fit; I found that if you install it MOST of the way, screwing the LED head on will snug it against the negative-side spring and maintain positive-side contact.)

Step 6: Install LED head and verify you got the switch back into the rubber boot! Should work fine.

I noticed an immediate increase in brightness and whiteness of the beam. The optic that comes with the light seems to be three aspherics centered over the three LEDs; so, beam pattern is a bright white "tri-circle" in the center, with a halo and minimal spill.

Output seemed to "blue" a bit after several minutes; I disassembled and felt the cell; no heat there. Also checked the head, minimal heat. I might be overheating the LEDs or the cell might be V-sagging. I'll get the DMM out tonight and do some testing to verify current and voltage draw at the head.

Enjoy your new $5 triple-LED 18650 EDC! Now that I designed the mod, it should take no more than ~10 minuted to complete.
 

jkpq45

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Re: $5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod

Curious; I figured people would be all over this.
 

greenlight

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Re: $5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod

Am I missing something? Why would anyone want this flashlight?
 

jkpq45

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Re: $5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod

greenlight--

The reason why I picked this one up was to utilize 18650 cells I had harvested from a laptop battery pack. After some mods as discussed in post #5, I've increased the light output significantly and get to use rechargeable lithium technology to boot.
 

Lynx_Arc

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Oct 1, 2004
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Re: $5 Walmart Rayovac 2AA 3LED Flashlight Mod

Am I missing something? Why would anyone want this flashlight?
Personally I think the $1.50 rayovac 2AA LED light is a better buy as you can buy an extra $3.50 worth of batteries for it :)
 
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