Dorcy LED dirt cheap and easy mods

I suppose this is a mod for a flashlight but I don't really consider it as such because it was too easy.

My Dorcy 1AA 3 LED head came unscrewed slightly. I didn't really think about it until the next night when I went to see if my 2AA 4 LED head was loose too. Yes, it was loose. I got to thinking that wouldn't it be fun if the 2AA, 4 LED head fit and worked on the smaller 1AA flashlight body? Would I get a brighter light instead of the light that is of the same intensity as the littler Dorcy 1 AAA, single LED light?

And if the 3 LED head fit on the larger 2AA flashlight battery case then could I have a longer lasting 2AA flashlight? So I switched the heads on the lights to see what would happen. The Dorcy's are inexpensive enough that I can afford to experiment with them.

I don't know if anyone else has tried it but I have. Both combinations work. Oh, I just tried them for a couple of minutes so I don't know the long term effects. I was thinking I'm increasing the drain a little on the single 1.5-volt AA cell and I'm probably overdriving the 3 LED head with the 3-volts unless it has a voltage regulator. I'm sure I'm pushing the pill harder too.

The 4 LED head with the 1AA battery is a slightly dimmer than the standard 2AA 4 LED but still throws a very fair amount of light and is brighter than the original configuration. The light easily overpowers the little 1AAA single LED Dorcy now.

What surprised me was the 3 LED head on the 2AA battery setup. The light coming out of the flashlight was just as bright as the 4 LED head. Maybe I'm overdriving the circuit board and the LEDs. Or if Dorcy is shrewd in designing then they would commission a company to make a universal pill that would work in all of their AA LED battery lights. If that was the case than the Dorcy pill would compensate for voltage or current the same for all their LED lights.

I've added some pictures. All pictures were taken from one foot away at f/2.8, 1/20 second at EI 100 speed. The lights all used fresh 1800 mA NiMH AA cells. And as a standard light reference point I used an Opalec NewBeam Mag.

So I noticed the modified 1AA light with a bigger 4 LED head is brighter and the 2AA, 3 LED light is just as bright, if not brighter, than the as the standard 4 LED light head.

I have a sacrificial Dorcy 1AA as I have an extra that I'll try tonight as an acid test. I'll charge up a single AA battery and let the light burn all night with the 4 LED head. I'm sure by morning the battery will be drained but I'll see if the pill holds together.

If it all holds together I think the Dorcy lights have the potential for some great modding.

It was just too easy of a mod.

Any comments?

Interesting. Thanks for the photos.

The modular aspect would be even cooler if they came out with a compatible Luxeon model.

I think they're about to.

http://www.dorcy.com/1_watt_led.htm

An update: I did give the lights with the switched head an all night run. The switched 2AA with the 3 LED head ran down first after 6 hours on 1800 mA cells. It gradually ran down and was dim when I turned it off. But it was very bright most of the battery's life.

The switched 1AA, 4 LED head with an 1800 mA cell kept going and I turned it off after 8 hours. It also started gradually running down and was going in moon mode when I turned it off.

I think Dorcy LED lights have a great potential for doing fast and dirty mods. Especially the 1 AA model.