I would like to mod a light and eventually build one

I have tried researching the basics of building a light and I am left very overwhelmed. I have gathered that I need a body, driver, heatsink and led.
I am thinking that it would be best for me to start by modifying one of my cheap, older lights that I have first.
I have included a pic of the lights I have that I no longer use. I would appreciate it if anyone could suggest which of these would be the easiest to modify in order to achieve maximum brightness for as little as possible.
Also any links to guides/info on getting started building a light would be much appreciated.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxhWsAXsbssSXzl6ZmdQTk9SdHM/view?usp=drivesdk

You need a few steps first.

1. Time
2. Solder /practice soldering
3. Figure out your end point. Throw/flood/run time/color/battery type/voltage( there's more, but those should cover enough)
4. Post the above and I'm sure you'll get plenty of recommendations.

My recs :
Buy a p60 host. It's history/form /function is a fun and 'cheaper' starting point.
When I first started, I went to mtnelectronics. Richard is pretty helpful and you can get all the stuff you need at a fairly reasonable price.

All those lights you posted may/ may not have easy parts to source/ modify.

As a hint:
After going through the process, it was fun and educational. However, I personally did not find it cheaper than getting the end product from someone.

Hey mate have a play with your old lights and see what one is easiest to take apart first. Preferably one that has a driver retaining ring so you do not have to solder the driver in.
What driver and LED are you going to use? At least for your first build go with a mechanical switch. If you want to use an electronic switch you will need a driver that has that feature. Any thing you need to know just ask.

jso902- you have somewhat burst my bubble with your last comment. I was hoping to be able to build a really nice light at some point in order to not pay $500+ for a little titanium edc light.
hazard2036- I do plan to take a look at my lights and see if one of them has a retaining ring. could I pm you with further questions if I decide to try and modify one of these lights?

Lol, don't give up that easily.
The learning is half the fun of being on this forum.

But I also wanted to paint a realistic picture.
The startup stuff, learning and time was a big factor for me.
On the contrary, I take better care of those lights I've assembled myself. There's a sense of pride and customization in the few lights that I've assembled on my own.

Take for instance, i built a custom mtg2 p60. To me, it's worth more than the parts alone. It's customized exactly to my liking in size, power, modes, and color.

If you're looking for a tweakable edc titanium, check out eagletec's d25c.
I've never owned one, but I believe it can be tweaked for color and brightness. However, keep in mind most titanium lights are not usually pushed for extreme brightness because the metal doesn't dissipate heat very well.

How about a convoy s2+? I'd get the latest version with the new firmware. Very nice 18650 light for less than $25. Out of the box it's nice and it fits most, easy to find parts for modding. 17mm driver, 16mm led board. It's even easy to get pills or spacers so you can convert it to a triple. Cheap, cool, easily modded with tons of available mod parts.

A decent deep carry clip is $2, a short body so you can use 18350/16340 bodies is less than $5, they come in a few different colours and the ccoloured ones have a nice metal button ( feels nice but less water resistant).

I really like the design of the titanium lights and the fact that most have slots to put in tritium vials. I didnt realize they dissipate heat poorly. I think I would rather a well designed edc light that is capable of extreme brightness and still looks good.

Yea, I didn't know titanium was that bad either. I looked it up, and pure Ti is about 1/10th that of aluminum. "Titanium Alloy" was four times worse than that. They didn't say what alloy it was. It is really surprising what small amounts of impurities can do to both thermal and electrical conductivity.

Do you like the look of copper? I've seen a few small copper light builds on the forum, and copper is nearly twice as good as aluminum, thermally.

Another possibility is if you can limit use to short periods, you may be able to get enough thermal mass of something like copper inside the light to simply soak up the heat, then dissipate it slowly through the titanium after the light is turned off.

I do really like the look of copper. My only concern would be that it will get scratched and dinged and corrode as it will be my edc light. I really want something as small as possible while using an 18650. I wonder how the trits would look in copper and I wonder what the copper would look like after heavy use in a couple years?

Gkyle840 said:

I have tried researching the basics of building a light and I am left very overwhelmed. I have gathered that I need a body, driver, heatsink and led.
I am thinking that it would be best for me to start by modifying one of my cheap, older lights that I have first.
I have included a pic of the lights I have that I no longer use. I would appreciate it if anyone could suggest which of these would be the easiest to modify in order to achieve maximum brightness for as little as possible.
Also any links to guides/info on getting started building a light would be much appreciated.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxhWsAXsbssSXzl6ZmdQTk9SdHM/view?usp=drivesdk

Click to expand...

1. Just have a go, it's not a NATO training exercise and doesn't need months of planning
2. Don't make things hard for yourself


Here is an easy route.

Buy something like this:
http://www.banggood.com/Convoy-S2-Gray-Flashlight-Host-DIY-LED-Flashlight-Shell-Host-p-967465.html

And this:
http://www.banggood.com/Astrolux-S1...5v-7-4-Modes-Flashlight-Driver-p-1009980.html

And this:
http://intl-outdoor.com/noctigon-xp16-v2-mcpcb-nichia-nvsw219btv1-r9050-d220-p-873.html


And try and put it together. It's pretty easy and will give you a cool flashlight at the end of it.

Total outlay is very low too, so it doesn't really matter if you mess it up.


Most modding is similar to this, just a variation of.


However many cheap lights (and some expensive ones) are not mod friendly. So you may find trying to mod what you currently have is actually very difficult.

If it requires to to custom make parts yourself or cut stuff down, then it's usually a lot more complex mod.




BTW - I'm assuming you can solder and haver a soldering iron.

Good vid here to help you out.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS0bEuYPJoA&index=1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">

I do have a decent soldering iron and am pretty good with it. I used to build fpv quadcopters and learned to solder pretty well doing so.
I like the idea of building that light that you suggested and that gunga suggested to buy as an edc.
heres what I would like to do if possible. I would like to make a high lumen t (1200 or more) triple led light that takes 18650s. that convoy host looks perfect.
how do I go about researching what the best driver for this undertaking would be and what leds would be optimal? do you have to solder 3 leds to a board or can you buy 3 leds already together?

Deciding which driver and LEDs you want is entirely up to you. There is not really an optimal, as it'll depend on your wants and preferences.

LEDs can be bought in many ways. You can buy the LED on it's on and flow (solder it) to the star. Lots of vids on YouTube on how to do this.

Or you can by them pre-fitted to a star.


When modding, I'd advise you always go for a DTP star (direct thermal path), as it will help keep the LED cooler. And preferably a cooper one, rather than aluminium.

The Noctigon I listed is a copper DTP. Int'l Outdoor sell a range of LEDs and pre-mounted LEDs, have a look around their site.

Sinkpad is another copper DTP star and there are others. I tend to buy the Noctigon as it's easy and shipping is good for the UK.

Triples are available too.


If you want to make a triple, then there are lots of options. The Convoy S2 (rather than S2+) is a good host for this. But you'll need a custom pill (the bits the star and driver sit in) or you'll need to make a spacer up. The optics for a triple are shorter than a reflector, so you need a way to fill the gap.

As for the driver, again, no right or wrong. Depends what you want exactly and how much you want to pay. The one I linked is a good driver for a good price. But there are others.

are there any hosts made for triple leds?
I would like this to be as compact as you can make an 18650 light.

The BLF Ti or Reylight is.

There is a CPF thread somewhere, not sure where though. This is the original on BLF. I believe there are still host kits available, but you might need to contact WWEFANS to ask.
http://budgetlightforum.com/node/42914

I researched it and it seems there is nothing really left. I did run into sinners custom lights and I love the looks of those. at $375 they are a little more than I want to pay for a light but I have not seen one that I like better. are there any other customs like these that may be slightly less pricey?