Hello everyone... Any idea on a longbow mod?

Hello. I would like to know if anyone has expierence with longbow mods to know how to mod them. I would like to mod the 2aa Eco to a 2 aa NiMh luxIII led. I would like it to be around as bright as my nuwai quantium III. Unfortunately, my Nuwai is broken, so i guess i have a good led to start with. Does anyone know how much current a nuwai qIII draws?? What kind of module i would need to put in the Longbow Eco to make it equivlant to a qIII off of AA batteries. Or anything cheaper, but is still HAIII, waterproof and under six inches. thanks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

According to Craig, the figure was about 765mA. Cones' review put it about 552mA on not-so-new batteries after a few minutes of runtime, so the result will vary depending on the battery and the Vf of your Lux III star. And to be honest, I doubt you'll get enough voltage off two AA batteries (especially NiMH which will give you around 2.4V versus the 3.0V of a single 123) to drive the LED brightly enough to even come close to the Q-III. You COULD try a McCapsule, but I don't know if you'd be able to achieve your goal without getting a new light (and HA III type lights under $85 are pretty rare, IME).

Correction: The XM-3 will probably drive it up there at 600ma on two alkalines, but you'll need a boost circuit in order to bring the voltages up high enough. I wouldn't worry with lithium AA's though - the voltages on those would probably be more than enough, however - 1.5V per cell in those.

Still, I'm not sure what you'll need for the boost circuit - probably a BadBoy or NextGen in said McCapsule. Given a K-binned Lux III and two 2300 mAh batteries, you may get two hours of runtime out of the rig and it'll completely shut down, but my calculations could be off. I'm not the best person to ask on this, but a 600mA current draw is what you'll probably need to get the desired output.

Thanks... I dont mind paying for the body.... or anything else. I just want a good NiMh AA light that is waterproof. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Anyone else have any suggestions?

XM-3 might fit the bill, and it SHOULD be coming soon, though the waterproofness has not been tested. Also, I don't know if the body's HA-III, and it's about 7" long.

But it's cheap. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Otherwise, if you're going for the McCapsule and you buy it pre-assembled from Don, that's another $90 for the LED & McCapsule (but he's using a TW0K), and $125 if you want to replace the whole head so that you can get a nice PR head that includes a reflector. Otherwise, you're spending another $10 for a UCL and a SOX17A reflector so you can get something that'll do the same as a $40-50 Q-III.

$85 + $10 + 90 = $185, or about $10 less than a basic Aleph build which includes a 2-stage switch that knocks the living daylights out of a Q-III. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Otherwise, it's $25 for the McCapsule kit, another $16 for a SX1J LED, then the BadBoy.. I can't see this going for anything less than $65, like the BB sandwiches with Lux III emitters already being sold in the "drop In assemblies" section.

Either way, to mod it to outdo a Q-III, you've probably spent enough to buy THREE Q-IIIs at the same price, and enough to get a Gerber LX 3.0 - it's only Type II HA and is advertised as 'water resistant' while running on normal Alkaline or NiMH AAs, but it's only $45.96 at Meridian Tactical. Unfortunately, it's almost 8" long.

Being honest, if you want to use AA's, you're probably going to have to give up the 'shorter than 6 inch requirement", just because of the fact that you need to use a minimum of two AA's to drive the Luxeon properly. The Dorcy AA LuxI was probably the only LED light I know that's used a battery caddy for AA/AAA-type cells, which helped it reduce the length substantially.

Going with the McCapsule is costly, but you get what you pay for. I am assuming that the McCapsule with work on an ECO. I've never seen one.

I've never seen a Quantum III either, but I can say this. I have yet to see a stock $40 light out perform a custom light of approximately the same size. Yes, you can have the McCapsule built for you, or you could do it yourself.

There are many that could do it for you, McGizmo, myself, TylerDurden, Darell, kj, etc. The point is that what you will get could also be the beginning of a very flexible system. For example, you could build one capsule with a nexgen500 with a nice lux III. This thing will run for a LONG time. You could then, later add, a capsule with a nexgen1000 and a nice Lux III for that wow factor that all of us crave. If you add the PR head for it, you could conceivably go through the rest of your life never needing another flashlight.

As you get more experienced, you could build your own capsules for the cost of the parts. Say maybe, a Lux V with a BB 500. The options go on and on.

Of course, you could just go out and buy another Quantum III, if that keeps you happy. Whatever floats your boat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Eh, I'd suggest he jump straight to a custom system - there's nothing like out, and even the Surefires don't quite offer this level of performance, IMO. Yes, the KL4 and KL5 are bright as hell, but I prefer my Aleph3 head and the ability to configure the Aleph the way I want to, and to do so in a very precise fashion to fit my exact needs.

Of course, affording it's another story. But like I said, if you want moddable - splurge on a custom like an Aleph. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Hm... I'm having foursevens do the mod for me. I have not asked about the efficency, but it is going to be driving the TW0K (or somethink like that??? he just got 200 of them, i think) lux III emitter at 700 ma. I wanted to run it at the "maximum", or reccomended input. How much are capsuls for this light?? I'm not sure exeactly what 47's is going to do, but i'll back him up with my wallet! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I will post pictures of it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. how much do those macapsuls cost, again? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Hm... I'll have to talk to the modder a little bit too. I hope the clickie on the longbows does not flicker. Hopefully, this light will work well /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'll try to keep you guys updated with what foursevens is doing to myu light, and i will be sure to post pictures of it after i get it back /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif To me, this light will be very nice... a pretty bright light from two aa's =)

I think 4-7's is modifying QIII's. It's a nice mod from what I understand and cost effective. It just isn't as flexible as the using the McCapsules in the longbows. The McCapsules run about $90 each. A PR head with $27mm reflector (1 time purchase) is like $40 or so. Once you have the McCapsules, you'll be able to swap as you like.

wow, $90 is a lot /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif What does this thing do? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif hm... I just may have to get that... not sure.

Also, the longbow eco is 2aa /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif it's under 6 inches... that's why i got it for a host. Is the other lens setup still waterproof? i may get the mccapsul... it'd be about as much as my orb + 2 pilas + charger /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

does the alphe have a AA TSP?

Hm... what's a PR head? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

It is custom head that has been modified to fit the Longbow. It has a 27mm reflector in it and will turn the light into a real thrower, especially when used in conjunction with a McCapsule.

The Aleph uses CR123 batteries, 17500 Li-Ions, Pilas, or anything that the sandwich will handle. AFAIK, nobody's made a AA-type body for it yet.

Someone suggested for me to wait around to see if longbow ever comes out with a 3w module... Due to my lack of funds, atm, I will see if that happens within a year. If it does, I will get that and/or the Mcapsul. How does The McCapsul fit in there??? Do i just screw it in? i dont know what to do /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

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Polar_Hops said:
Someone suggested for me to wait around to see if longbow ever comes out with a 3w module... Due to my lack of funds, atm, I will see if that happens within a year. If it does, I will get that and/or the Mcapsul. How does The McCapsul fit in there??? Do i just screw it in? i dont know what to do /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you use it just as you'd use any other Longbow capsule - the capsule screws into the bezel and reflector, IIRC. Longbow's supposed to be putting out a regulated 5W module, though I don't think that is usable with ECO tubes.

thanks for all the help everone

Haesslich, the 5W module practically requires the ECO tube, but you run it with 3XCR123s instead of two AA batteries.

Eric is correct.