8aa to 2d regulated drop-in

Holy Crap!

That's what I said after checking out my new toy UPS delivered.

I have spoken with the company that makes the unit. They are just getting this product off the ground, but I was able to talk them into sending me one. Respecting this, I will not say who they are right now. If you know them, please refrain from coming forth with a name/address/URL/etc (this also, means don't go searching for them and then post "I FOUND EM!"). They are more of a mfg, not a point of sale for the unit. As of now, I do not think ANYONE carries this thing. It might very well be a good item for the sandwich shoppe though. Like I said, I don't think they are set up for really selling these right now, and I don't want to contribute to people pestering them. I have emailed them though and told them I am putting a review up on CPF. I told them I'd keep their name out of this for a while till they gave me the go-ahead.

All this said... here we go.

It is a drop-in for a 2d light. Take out the 2 D cells, put 4 or 8 aa cells (just the the princeton surge) in this unit and put it back in the light. They include a 3.6v .5A AND .9A bulb with the device. It is voltage regulated to 3.6v and it has a soft start for the bulb.

The quality of design and assembly on this is REALLY nice. The documentation is well laid out and informative. Docs include runtime graphs for both bulbs with relative brightness measurements.

Docs say:

Standard 2d light with .7A bulb hits 50% brighness in 90 minutes.

Drop-in is 50% BRIGHTER than 2d at start, and stays this way for over 12 hours with regular alkalines. (no info is given for rechargeable cells though) This is with .5A bulb

Drop-in is about 270% brighter than 2d with .9A bulb and will stay in regulation for 5 hours give or take.

Only problem so far is that the included bulbs do not have filaments that are perfectly centered.

After looking at the design, something struck me as odd. It had what appeared to be an in-line or series voltage regulator, something pretty hard to do well. After looking more I found the the positive terminals are connected to the brass rods, which feed back down to the regulator. The positive nipple is fed solely through the center rod, which has these really nice rubber insulators and shock absorbers on it. Very trick.















9-24-2004 edit:
see: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=697723&page=0&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1#Post697723

For more talk about specs and possible group buy.

Man I can't believe this. 31 views of this thread and NO comments? What gives? Is this not as cool as I thought? Beam still has artifacts in a mag, but this unit should fit any 2d light. Sprayed reflector would do a lot for it.

Comment: Thanks for the post & description. Will wait for marketing.

I am interested, TD. Also waiting for more official info on cost/availability.

Well, guess what. I sent an email saying the same stuff from my post to the company. The owner of the company called me at home this morning at 7:45. He is shipping me 2 brand new units in flashlights with extra bulbs. He gave me his UPS # so I can send the bad bulbs back. He says they are very interested in seeing the bulbs, as their spec for the filament is within 2/1000 of center. All this for free also. I am getting some more literature as well.

This looks like a great company and some great products as well!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Turbodog,

Nice review. Didn't see this thread until today. I will anxiously await more info on $/availability. Looks promising if cost can be kept reasonable enough for the majority of flashlight users.

John

I don't wanna speak for them too much, but the cost was, in my opinion, VERY reasonable.

Also, back to bulbs for a minute. I *think* the guy said carley makes their bulbs. The bulbs it came with are a pr base, but the bulb glass looks like a stinger bulb or similar.

Also, of the 4 bulbs sent, only 1 was off-center.

Bulb pictures:



Larger bulb is 3.6v .9a
Smaller bulb is 3.6v .5a

Do you have, say, a Range for cost...? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

What are the brightness equivalents of the two bulbs? Mag 3 and 4 cells?

I would put the .9a bulb (with any battery) at slightly over a typical halogen 4 cell brightness with any battery.

I have some bulbs ordered in the big welch/carley group buy. They should really be nice with this setup.

Price... they're still working on it, but I think it can safely be said it'll be under $35 for sure. This is with a nicely made package, literature, storage container for the unit, the unit, and 2 bulbs.

Check back for pictures in the next few minutes.

Edit:
here are more pics


The tube the unit can be stored in.


The retail box.


Some of the literature.

OK - I'd say I'm intrigued...any idea on when this will be generally available? Also, have they updated you on any info about its usability with nimhs? I'm getting myself all psyched up for that superbulb purchase, with Elektrolumens' 3-to-Ds in a 3D mag...looks like this would be pretty sweet in a 2D...

Those look like potted bi-pin bulbs. I don't understand why the manufacturer doesn't just make a whole flashlight, instead of the elaborate conversion gizmo for an existing flashlight.

They do offer this in a light as well. They also have some other form factor lights.

It is "available" now. They have stock/etc. What they need are some dealers. I think possible dealers could be: brightguy, tactical warehouse, someone's ebay shop, ???.

Likely there is a much bigger market for a retrofit... can anyone say mag-lite/etc?

Nimh/nicd work fine with this. Officially they don't endorse them due to the high self-discharge.

Guy also told me a 3.6 2a bulb would be fine. Runtime suffers naturally though.

They've taken the common 2d lights biggest problems and solved them. This is regulated with a soft start. It makes a REALLY white light.

Good product.

I agree, it would be a natural product for some CPF dealers to take on.

Nice find, turbodog.

I'm guessing the regulation circuit rules out the use of the battery holder for driving high current bulbs (i.e. WA01111)?

Cheers,
Bob

Have you invited the company to join CPF. Would be a great opportunity for them to get feedback, and a market.

Bill

I don't know the specs on your particular bulb, but I was told by the top dude that a 2a draw is fine. I am sure that people will get these and immediately start to mod them, if only for the excellent 8aa to 2d holder.

What is the time frame for the release of these? Will there be a 3D version? If so, specs?

Very interesting product. Minor typo on package should be fixed before it goes to market:

"Delivers *increase* brightness and longer useable burn time"

Brightnorm