Old EDCs never die.............

I finally retired my old EDC - the Yellow Photon I on my keyring -
replaced by the Photon 2 Yellow that I had awaiting for over 6 years.

The Photon I Yellow had not died, broken or faded away - it was still functioning fine -
just a little "tired" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



Look at the pic of the Photon I (compared to the Photon 2 Yellow) all of its ribbing/grip has worn away from carrying the flashlight on my keyring for well over 6 years.

I thought that was it as well -
with the "will not die" Photon I Yellow retired to somewhere in my storage/archives.

But I had taken a handful of the 20 for $20 white LED flashlights from County Comm for gifts over the Holidays,
see:
20 for $20 LED Lights
and one of them developed a fault (the LED started to blink - the batteries were tested and they worked fine with another white LED).

That gave me the idea that I could do a "heart transplant" of the Yellow LED and battery from the Photon I into the body of the faulty 20 for $20 LED.

Not exactly a "rocket science" or even a "mod" - it turned out to be really easy - since the type 2032 coin battery used in the Photon I Yellow was same sized/thickness as the 2x 2016 batteries in the White LED 20 for $20. The Yellow LED from the Photon I was also pretty easily transplanted - requiring only a little bit of bending of the shorter LED leg.

The result is that I now have a Yellow LED in a 20 for $20 body -



which means that Yellow LED flashlight has found a new lease of life - since the big and easy to use slide on/off switch makes the light very useful.

The yellow light output is a bit dim now - but then it is well over 6 years old used as an EDC -
also I had used it for some hours after the transplant to read in bed without disturbing my sleeping son............

So like the saying goes -
old EDCs never die...........
they just get
body transplants /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[edit - Mar/3/2004 - changed photo hosting - ImageStation is no longer hotlinking reliably]

Maybe it wants a new battery. The red $1 lights use a 2032. Only the shorter wavelength colors (green, blue, white) need two 2016's.

paulr,

I agree, you are right - the old EDC probably just wants a new battery -
I tried a brand new 2032 battery, and it is just (and I mean just) perceptibly brighter -
so when I say "dim" it is relatively speaking, when compared to my new (6 year old but little used) Photon 2 Yellow.....

But I recall back when I bought the Photon 2 Yellow, people saying Photon had started to use brighter LEDs -
so the Photon 2 Yellow may well just have a brighter LED in the first place
(even with the brand new battery the old (Photon I) yellow was still dimmer than the my "new"/old EDC Photon 2 Yellow).

So for my use there is little practical difference between the slightly brighter with new battery and the dimmer with old, old well used battery - even if I can see a difference - since I seem to see well under dim yellow and the light isn't that much dimmer than it is with a brand new battery.........

Anyway - I want to see when my transplanted "just won't die" Yellow LED and battery will
"Faded Away" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif