Ok, back home and the epoxy is set. 3, 2, 1, ignition!
The spot on the wall shot from eight feet:
And of course, the laser beam shot:
This looks meaner than it really is; R3J driven at 600ma, regulated, and 4AA cells for power. The light meter shows it at only 3000 Lux at one meter, but at that distance the spot is still a doughnut shape and hard to measure. It takes about 6 or 7 feet for the beam to merge into a solid spot. At 50 feet the spot is only 24 inches and clearly brighter than other lights that metered 10K+ Lux when used at distances of 100 feet or more. The extra large reflector really makes for a very tight focus, similar to those million candlepower super lights.
This was the hardest flashlight I ever modded. First, the front lens is glued on; lot's of time spent with an x-acto knife to remove. Then, the 4AA cells are not set up for 6 volts, but 3 volts, and the polarity is backwards. Lots of battery compartment hacking involved.
The space age looking insides are functional, and provide the only heatsinking for the Luxeon. One neat feature (side effect) is that the backside of the reflector takes on a faint light blue glow when the light is on.
This flashlight started life as an Energizer Tent light, where you could pull the stock bulb out of the reflector for use as an area light. Never worked very well, just made kind of a blinding point source light. So, it just seemed right for a Luxeon mod.
All in all, it actually makes for a pretty nice mod light; very tight bright beam, pure white color, and estimated 3+ hour run time on 4AA cells. Great, futuristic looking flashlight, and it floats!
This thing is ready to go back into the boat now awaiting next summer to prove it's metal.
Thanks for looking. This one was hard, but fun to mod flashlight with excellent results. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
