Can this light be upgraded?

I'm not experienced with upgrading or "modding" a flashlight beyond installing a drop-in Nite-ize 3 LED module for a mini-maglite a long time ago. However, I've heard that plenty of flashlights can be upgraded, and I have an older and cheaper one that makes me think it can be modded. I thought I'd ask about it here.

It's a 3AAA Guidesman (Menards brand) light that has 14 LED's in a showerhead configuration. The head containing the entire LED assembly unscrews from the rest of the body easily. I was thinking it must have been made in this way to enable it to be upgraded. Is anyone familiar with this light? Are there replacement heads available that I can buy for this light? It would be one serious upgrade if I could replace the 14 5mm LED head with something "Cree".

I took some pictures of it, and then found out I cannot attach anything to my posts. So here's a link to a picture online I found that shows what my light looks like: (hotlinked image deleted) Also, here's a youtube video of someone showing there's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlZcE8zv_J0

It would be helpful to see what the insides look like in terms of taking the head off and checking out the cavity where the LEDs on board go. You could desolder the old LEDs and put others in to make the tint warm or even go half cool white half warm to possibly get a more neutral colour.

R.W.D. said:

It would be helpful to see what the insides look like in terms of taking the head off and checking out the cavity where the LEDs on board go. You could desolder the old LEDs and put others in to make the tint warm or even go half cool white half warm to possibly get a more neutral colour.

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The entire head simply unscrews from the rest of the body. The head contains the LED's and all the electronics in a self-contained unit. Since it's that way, I thought maybe aftermarket heads with more advanced LED's could be purchased and simply screwed on. If I knew what name or designation the host was called, I'd look up replacement heads for it. But I don't know what this flashlight host is called.

As I mentioned before, I do have pictures of my own light disassembled, but I can't attach the images to my posts. All I can do so far is post links to pics of similar lights online.

I'll be honest and say that it's highly doubtful that there is a drop in or head designed specifically for that light.. But that doesn't mean it can't be modified. Any reason your stuck on that light?

R.W.D. said:

I'll be honest and say that it's highly doubtful that there is a drop in or head designed specifically for that light.. But that doesn't mean it can't be modified. Any reason your stuck on that light?

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Well, I guess it's because I have 34 lights right now, and they're all "budget lights", many gotten for under $5 (including the one we're talking about), and this is the only one that has a head that contains all the electronics and emitters that readily separates from the body by simply unscrewing it. Since I've noticed that people can buy "drop ins" for lights with hosts they're made for, I figured maybe this light I have must certainly have replacement heads for it available since it wouldn't take any expertise to install. Simply screw it onto the host. It's almost as if this light was designed with upgrading in mind.

When looking on Youtube, I noticed that people have even modified this light into a laser. If that can be done, then it shouldn't be too hard to create a head for this host to contain a Cree emitter of some type. Of course, it would be too hard for me since I have no expertise in doing so, but it's hard to imagine someone else or some company hasn't done it.

BTW, here's a link to that video of this light made into a laser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k06kOCMj_cg

It's more likely that It will cost more to have a custom mod made for it than buying a new light. We use to have a guy here that did custom lasers named Tmack but I've learned he isn't around anymore.

There are users here that would make custom parts but as I mentioned it's going to cost more than a new light to lathe a pill/drop in, build or aquire the circuitry you need, and then add an emitter. What is a budget light to you in terms of price? And do you have a preferred size that you enjoy using?

R.W.D. said:

It's more likely that It will cost more to have a custom mod made for it than buying a new light. We use to have a guy here that did custom lasers named Tmack but I've learned he isn't around anymore.

There are users here that would make custom parts but as I mentioned it's going to cost more than a new light to lathe a pill/drop in, build or aquire the circuitry you need, and then add an emitter. What is a budget light to you in terms of price? And do you have a preferred size that you enjoy using?

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Ok. I always thought that drop-in mods (or a "screw on", as in this case) were to upgrade a light for less than buying a whole new light. Kind of like when I bought a Nite-ize LED module for my mini-mag so long ago.

I remember Tmack. I used to read his very long thread and I was even asking him about a Maglite laser. Never got one of those, but ended up buying something from another guy who ended up disappearing with a lot of peoples' money shortly after. That laser only worked for 9 days, but it was fun.

As for what I consider "budget", I'm rather leery of spending much on lights. So far, I've been happy with ones from big box stores for $15 or less (for the most part), although I do have 2 I paid more for: An Energizer 2AA for $25 and a Nebo Redline for the same price. Now I hear bad things about the Nebo. As for size, I just like AA and AAA lights, and see no reason for going to lithium batteries for flashlights. The standard sizes seem plenty good for lighting.

Anything is possible. You can make it into a quad XPL with optics. You just have to figure out how to mount it on a shelf.

Lately I've gotten into AAA lights and the loomintop tool is an awesome light by everyone who owns one and they cost $20 or under. I just recently got a manker E02 that runs a single triple A and for under $20 you get great output, great user interface, a mag base on an angle light, and a pocket clip that isn't cheap. I think it was an outstanding buy for just under twenty bucks.

If you just want to improve the tint, you could remove those awful 5mm cool-white LEDs, and replace them with some less-awful 5mm warm white LEDs. All you probably need is a soldering iron. You can buy new LEDs on ebay for around 20 cents each. Or, replace them with some disco RGB colour-changing 5mm LEDs for something funky.

I wouldn't spend more than a few dollars trying to mod a $5 flashlight, but it could be a fun project, and quite simple.

R.W.D. said:

Lately I've gotten into AAA lights and the loomintop tool is an awesome light by everyone who owns one and they cost $20 or under. I just recently got a manker E02 that runs a single triple A and for under $20 you get great output, great user interface, a mag base on an angle light, and a pocket clip that isn't cheap. I think it was an outstanding buy for just under twenty bucks.

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Just took a look at these two lights. They sure look like winners! Doesn't look like a person could go wrong with either one. The Lumintop is listed at $15.61 at GearBest USA, which seems to have an 8% off promo code that I can't verify until I register with the site first. I may end up getting this one.

Either one is a win 👍👍👍👍