Dorcy 1AAA Beam adjustment

As a follow up to this recent thread -
Removing Dorcy AAA Head

I found that the Dorcy 1LED 1AAA head can be unscrewed quite easily despite being quite tight - using a pair of ordinary household rubber gloves which offered very good grip and some cushioning.

Dorcy 1AAA Disassembled -


Circuit board detail -

the washer like object has a couple of protruding "flanges" at those squared holes that straddle and make electrical contact with the protruding arms/lugs of the circuit board that seat in the locating slots of the body tube.

I attempted to force/push the LED to get better centering with the reflector - but to little or no effect - so I simply sat/relocated the arms to seat the circuit board the other way in the body tube - and viola! better beam pattern... better centering and more even -
still not quite as good as my Dorcy #2 - but noticably better than before -

Beamshot AFTER adjustment -


BEFORE any adjustment

You might also find that putting a spacer between the LED and the reflector may clean it up a bit. The idea is to focus it better by moving the LED coser to the fcal point. A spacer is needed because the spring will push the LED and it's circuit board out with the reflector when you simply unscrew the head.

I have one that has an almost perfect beam, very even with almost no rings.

Daniel

[ QUOTE ]
gadget_lover said:
You might also find that putting a spacer between the LED and the reflector may clean it up a bit. The idea is to focus it better by moving the LED coser to the fcal point. A spacer is needed because the spring will push the LED and it's circuit board out with the reflector when you simply unscrew the head.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you very much for that great hint.

Any suggestions on what to use as a spacer?

Could the use of some compressible material allow a certain degree of fine adjustment, or even some "focussing" ability?

Thanks

I used a piece of plastic cut from the blister pack that the dorcy came in.

A light spring might be just what you need to allow for an adjustable lens. Another idea might be to squeeze the threads to make it clamp down on the ears of the circuit board. I hadn't thought of that till you asked.

Daniel

great job--never thought of adjusting the beamthat way.

i am VERY impresed with the little dorcy. simple, bright and very inexpensive.

Bob

can you take extreme close-ups of the converter, I'm just curious about what topology it uses. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[ QUOTE ]
gadget_lover said:
I used a piece of plastic cut from the blister pack that the dorcy came in.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for the suggestions -

I used a piece of plastic cut from a milk jug/carton -


I cut a piece off near a corner to try to get some springiness - but it probably wasn't resistant enough to give the necessary springiness.

The spacer did indeed alter the beam - to give a more concentrated hot-spot - it was perhaps just a bit smoother and more even - however it was not altogether symmetrical (perfectly round) - it retained the odd asymmetry as show in both the before and after beam-shots above in my previous post.

The use of the spacer also meant the hot-spot was noticeably smaller - which I did not like -

So I have reverted back to the standard beam without spacer - since the hot spot is/was much larger and did not really have much dark spots/patchiness.

Thanks for the useful suggestion though.

[ QUOTE ]
Pablito said:
can you take extreme close-ups of the converter

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't want to start a new thread because I just have a brief question about the Dorcy AAA. How much is it? I haven't seen anyone selling online and I don't think Walmart has it in Canada. (No Targets here).

$5.94 at 2 local WalMarts. Our local Target does not have them at all. Bought 7 of them already. My kids love them as well. Try WalMart online shopping if your local store does not stock.

Vincent, just curious, what camera are you using for your photos? Great pictures.

Home Hardware stores in Canada sell the 3LED 1AA version. I don't think anyone in Canada sells the 1Led AAA. The 3Led version is even nicer than the 1Led...IMHO.

Blair

[ QUOTE ]
jbrett14 said:
Vincent, just curious, what camera are you using for your photos? Great pictures.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for the kind comment.

For the close ups of the flashlight and the circuit board I am not using a camera at all.

I use a humble/cheapo flatbed scanner.
For the normal images I use 150dpi scans - cropped and re-sized for the web.
The extreme close-ups of the circuit board I used 600dpi.

Please take a look at this post:

some general flatbed Scanner advice

The beamshots I used a Canon PowerShot A70 3Mp digital camera. Please see:

Some General Digital Camera Advice

Home Hardware in Canada (at least in Kentville, Nova Scotia) carries the 1AAA 1LED Dorcy; I've got 2: black and red bodies. This light is my favorite for navigating in the house at night.... not too bright, nice hot spot, lots of spill.

[ QUOTE ]
puyo said:
I didn't want to start a new thread because I just have a brief question about the Dorcy AAA. How much is it? I haven't seen anyone selling online and I don't think Walmart has it in Canada. (No Targets here).

[/ QUOTE ]

London Drugs carries the AAA, but it is expensive
there ($15 or so) and I don't think they are in Ontario.

Greg

The two I bought at Home Hardware were C$9.99; the first I bought may have been on sale for less... can't remember.

sorry for the OT, i too didn't want to start a new thread but,if the "wings" on that board were clipped off, would it fit
into a mag solitaire? I know it will extend down farther, and not fit the AAA, but wonder about another cell. And being sorta new to this stuff, off hand, any idea how much voltage and current the board can take?
I had just assumed because of there head, the board was all up in the head. (I guess couldn't chance making it too much like a mag soli).
BTW I am only judging by the pic's, it very well may not fit hope it does though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif
I got two of these, and walmart has them for like 6 bucks. VDG

Someone used the dorcy in a solitaire but they had to remove all the components from the circuit board, and assemble them together in a *plug* potted with epoxy and the LED. I believe the circuit (modded slightly) will output between 200-300ma on 3v input, perhaps 150-200 or so on 1.5v input.

Hi all,

I didn't see this thread before I posted to the Bargain LEDs thread.

I posted there about my experiences putting this circuit into a solitiare. Summed up: Royal pain, not worth it.

To put out 150mA, an extra capacitor must be added to the circuit. Doug S used a 10uF cap as shown in this really long thread.

pb

I almost bet you spent $500.00 worth of labor getting that solitaire mod done if someone had to hire you to do it. I spent countless hours on my more simpler mods I have done and the learning curve with each new light can be steep. I can see paying someone 75.00 to mod a light for you because if you had to learn how to do it and take the time to figure it out you could have just worked a part time job and come out ahead on wages.