Did the solitaire "easy mod" kinda cool but,,,,

Did the solitaire \"easy mod\" kinda cool but,,,,

I am kinda into it! my first real mod, nothing got fuggered, and it worked right off!
coupla quesation's; I robbed a 5mm led from a cheapie push button cell light i got from buying a CD case,it's not real bright, but better then a std soli by a bit.Are nichia LED's
as indicated by the flashlight review page, better/brighter
then a cheap thing like i used? I wouldn't mind doing a couple more for gift's and one for me, soi was wondering if
like LUX's these have a "bin" or a place that sell's them that would be brighter. I may be expecting too much, but I am still happy with it.
anyone done this mod? does the len's "need" to be on? I wonder if it kills some throw.

None the less, it was fun and i didn't bust anything!
I used a drill bit hand held, and a exacto knive and got everyhing squared up nice. anyone know the run time?
any tip's? just was wondering about the LED lottery. VDG

Re: Did the solitaire \"easy mod\" kinda cool but,,,,

nobody? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif VDG

Re: Did the solitaire \"easy mod\" kinda cool but,,,,

It could be that you're underdriving it. Are you using AAA alkalines? That would be fairly bad underdrive, white LEDs require 3.5-4V especially for the cheapie 5mms. Yes, they are binned, by mcd (millicandela), and some other characteristics (dependent on manufacturer). Nichia is one of the higher quality manufacturers.

I bought a "Super Bright" LED a few months ago that was ANYTHING BUT. I'm sticking to my Luxeons because of the high QC and the very tight (compared to other mfgs) binning characteristics. "0" bins are really worth it even when you gotta pay extra.

Re: Did the solitaire \"easy mod\" kinda cool but,,,

Nichias are supposed to be brighter but lately I think the generic LEDs that are coming out some of them are nearly as bright and perhaps even better color instead of the screaming blue nichias tend to exhibit from what I hear. If you were doing the 12v lighter battery mod it should be overdriven a lot, if you are using just one AAA battery it probably is really dim. The reflector of the solitaire is so small that it probably doesn't help a lot with the LED mod and the LED most likely is situated so close to the lens changing it to an optic/magnifier won't do much at all.

Re: Did the solitaire \"easy mod\" kinda cool but,,,

nope, the 12V mn21/23 like the page says. could someone recommend a good source for bright nichia's or other? VDG

Re: Did the solitaire \"easy mod\" kinda cool but,,,

Well,, i had sometging go wrong,, it drained the batt, and blew out the LED. so please direct me to a good resource for some better/brighter 5MM white LED'S. I ain't giving up on getting this to work! VDG

Re: Did the solitaire \"easy mod\" kinda cool but,,,

from what I read the mod overdrives the LED pretty hard I myself thought about doing this mod but the cost of the batteries turned me off. I would have put a resistor inline with the battery somehow to not drive it so hard. I wonder if one of those higher current 5mm LEDs would work better, I think I saw a review of something like an 80-100ma led maybe on craigs site. I don't have any LEDs other than what I have gotten out of cheap lights/pocket lights, I was thinking about ording some chiwings when I get the funds I could use about 50 of them for projects in mind.