mrme
Enlightened
My favorite lighting design is the basic Black Diamond headlamp. The size and shape are the best on the market and most importantly, it is an easy design to work with. They really accept a Luxeon Star pretty easily. They are also the only major headlamp manufacturer with the good sense to put a regulator on the incandescent.
However, they have some real problems, but nothing a good mod can't fix. So here is a list of the mods I have done in sort of a table of contents format. Detailed descriptions of what I did are below with a few pictures.
1. Luxeon Star
a. Lunar (aka Gemini) with Star
b. Supernova with emitter and regulator
2. Bulbs
a. PT Yukon bulb for Gemini
b. Energizer Double Barrel bulb for Supernova
3. Space Shot
a. Battery pack on the head band
b. Regulator moved into the bezel
4. Protecting and replacing the lens
5. Cheap batteries for Ion, Supernova and Space Shot
1. Luxeon Star
a. Lunar (aka Gemini)
The Black Diamond Lunar is essentially the same light as the Gemini. I am not sure, but I think the Polar Star is the same design with a removable battery pack. The Lunar does not come with an LED installed and costs about $20 instead of $40 like the Gemini. It has a spot for one and even has the switch to add one. The LED that comes on a Black Diamond light is too tightly focused for much close up work and I dislike the color.
So, I bought a Lunar and decided it was time for a Luxeon Star (LS) 1 Watt LED. In case you don't know, the Luxeon Star is an LED which has the output of many regular LEDs and usually better color. They don't have the super long runtime when you drive them hard, so I put a switch in that lets me dim it to the same power consumption as the factory LED. That way I can get the hundred hour runtime if I need it, but can have the super nice beam for when I don't. Of course, the incandescent stays in tact, so I have the throw when I need it and it stays focusable.
Luxeon Stars can be had from many online vendors. A one watt Star is preferred to a Luxeon III since the heatsink side of the star is thinner on the 1 Watt. Either a Star or Emitter will work. These instructions are for a Star. Further down are instructions for a Supernova mod where an emitter is used.
So here are the parts
PARTS PICTURE
The main hurdle with Luxeon LEDs is thermal management. They require a heatsink. Without one, they can only be driven as hard as the crummy LED that so desperately screams to be replaced or will burn up.
Fortunately, Black Diamond headlamps have a plastic plate that can be easily replaced with an aluminum one. Look for the plate with the LED mounted on it, or the plate where one would mount, and unscrew it. It you have a Gemini, remove the LED (you won't miss it).
Get a hold of some 1/8" aluminum at least as big as the plate. A little thinner will probably be okay. Trace the shape of the plate on your aluminum. If you like, you can make it a bit bigger by extending into space around it. This will get in the way of the spare bulb holder if you choose not to use the dimming switch.
You will notice that the back of the plate has a shelf to hold the switch down. You will need to leave an ear sticking out of the plate there and bend it down to make the shelf. Be extremely careful to place the holes exactly where the ones in the plate are.
I used a rotary (aka Dremel) tool with fiberglass reinforced cut off wheels to cut it out. Heavy Duty or standard cut off wheels work, but they shatter and are a real mess. A die grinder or drywall tool with cut off wheels would work as well. Remember that these wheels are not really deigned for cutting aluminum. They will load up with the soft metal and stop cutting. Just have something hard with which to dress the wheel handy and be careful not to overheat them.
Bending down the shelf with 1/8" aluminum is not as simple as grabbing a pair of pliers and bending it. You need to thin down the metal where the bend will take place, or the metal will tear. So on the back side of the plate, grind the bend area down to about half thickness. If you have a vice and a crescent wrench, it will be easier to make the bend than with a pair of pliers.
You will need holes or notches for the wires, too.
The Star also needs to be cut down to fit. The holes on either side are spaced the same as the screws in the headlamp if screws with larger heads are used. Note the legs that come out of the LED and are soldered to the circuit board. If you cut these, you will be in trouble. Just be careful you end up with the legs in tact and a pair of solder pads of opposite polarity (+ & -)
Once the heatsink and Star fit, the worst is behind you. Now you get to wire it up.
Wiring is pretty straight forward. Take the wire from the switch for the LED, wire it to the small resistor, then the dimming switch with 10 ohm resistor and finally the LED. You can eliminate the dimming switch and 10 ohm resistor if you just want high mode or want to keep the spare bulb holder in the bezel. If you have a Lunar, just pick which of the outer wires going to the bulb will be the new LED wire.
Note: the switch in BD headlamps is really easy to melt when soldering. It is best to simply avoid soldering to it. Just clip wires and solder to them. I melted 2 switches with a 25 Watt soldering iron. If you do melt the switch and need a replacement, there are flashlights at Wal-Mart with them. Look for one with 2 or 3 modes on one switch without any dimming features.
The dimming switch I found was cannibalized from a battery holder from Radio Shack. It was the only switch small enough I could find as all the switches they sell and my local electronics supply sold were too big. Both the 4 AA and 4 AA hard plastic full battery enclosures have them.
The resistors I used were from Radio Shack, as well. To get the 2.2 ohm, I had to buy a huge bag of ¼ Watt resistors, which also had the 10 ohm I used. If you have access to a better electronics store, you can be more selective of your resistor values. I would recommend ½ Watt or 1 Watt. Don't get 2 Watt like I did as they won't fit in the Bezel. The best approach is to measure the current going through the LED and put the right resistors to get it 350-400 ma with fresh batteries.
Note: If you hook up an LED without a resistor, don't expect it to last long. Always use a resistor.
Now all that is left to do is shape the reflector to fit the larger LED. Enter Mr. Dremel tool. A good sized, cylindrical, HSS cutting bit like wood workers use works best. Slow down the speed as low as you can and keep the flutes clean of the melted plastic that collects in them.
The hole will not fit around the LED so that every bit of light goes into the reflector, but some will spill out on one side. This is actually good. It will put a tiny bit of light into the bezel to illuminate it so that the headlamp itself can be seen in the dark. In other words, others can see you from the side and you can see the headlamp if dropped face down.
If you are using a Lunar, there is one more step. The reflector does not have the ears sticking out to keep it from spinning. So, the LED will beat up the reflector trying to keep the hole over the LED. The best solution I have found is a long screw sticking out of the heatsink and passing through a hole in the reflector. Keep it small, so the hole in your reflector is small.
RESULTS: The beam is NICE! The beamshot shows the Luxeon Star, Black Diamond LED and the factory incandescent. The distance was about 12 inches, which is pretty common for someone climbing, caving or reading. Note how large and smooth the beam is. There is no hot spot to blind you, just lots of soft, usable light. The color is a little on the green side, but not nearly as bad as the picture would have one believe. A more carefully chosen Luxeon Star from a better bin would fix the green tint.
b. Supernova with emitter and regulator
Resistors work pretty well, but I wanted a fully regulated headlamp. I had problems with my Space Shot mod, so I broke down and bought a Supernova. The incandescent and LED on the headlamp are regulated and dimmable. But the LED is still a tightly focused wimpy LED. I couldn't figure out how the regulator drove the LED as the voltage was lower than normal for white LEDs, but I did find that the regulator did not drive a Luxeon Star very well.
So, I chose to use was a Downboy 400 ma current regulator. These are hand made by Wayne Yamaguchi. He sells them at The Sanwich Shop for about $15. He sells these to his fellow flashoholics more as a favor than anything and as such his operation is pretty small. You can also order Luxeon Stars and thermal epoxy from him.
For this Mod you will need
1. Headlamp (duh)
2. Luxeon emitter (1 watt or Luxeon III)
3. Downboy (400 ma or less is advised for thermal reasons)
4. Heatsink made the same as above
5. Heatsink Epoxy (as apposed to heatsink grease)
Take your heatsink and mark as best you can the center point where the LED will go, then epoxy it down. Note that the emitter does not have the heatsink side electrically neutral. The epoxy may isolate it, but realize that a short to the heatsink could cause problems. I countersunk all holes the wires go though. I kept the heatsink the same shape so the plate so I could keep the spare bulb holder.
That's right, the Supernova has a regulator AND a resistor on the LED. What a joke.
At least there is a positive common on the regulator so you can wire around that part of the circuit. In mine, the common was brown, but double check the copper traces on the board to make sure you are getting positive battery out on the wire you take to the switch.
I had hoped to keep a small LED on the regulator so that I could use the 6 Volt back up battery. However, using the positive common, you can't keep the little LED and put a Luxeon Star on a single position switch. A Double Position, Triple Throw (DPTT) pushbutton 1-2-3-0 switch would work, but I can't find any such beast. I clipped the 6 V battery wire since it won't be used. I could carry a spare battery for my Ion in there, I guess.
Princeton Tec recently came out with an LED light that clips to a headlamp strap called the Pilot. I won't miss the little BD LED once I get one.
The Downboy fits under the heatsink quite nicely. There are a few things to note about the Downboy.
1. Some versions will self destruct if connected to power without a load (like an LED).
2. It has very good efficiency.
3. A waterproof coating is a good idea. I used clear fingernail polish.
So, wire it up, but be careful not to solder to the switch and melt it.
Oh, the LED hole in the reflector still needs to be enlarged, but not as much as the full Star requires.
The results are even better than before. It has more light and better color because of the regulator and a better binned Luxeon. The heatsink get hot, though. A lower Vf on the Luxeon might have been nice.
2. Bulbs
a. PT Yukon Bulb
The bulbs that BD uses are pretty crummy. They are yellow, and as such, not very efficient. Princeton Tech makes a headlamp similar to the Gemini with a much better bulb called the Yukon (not to be confused with the Yukon HL which uses a Luxeon Star and has no bulb). They are available from REI and other PT retailers for $6-$8.
The power consumption is the same as the Bright (ie orange) bulb, but the color and brightness are much better.
You can just put the bulb in the Black Diamond headlamp and it will work fine. However, it will wobble around, not focus properly and may even come out of the base after a while. If you want to do it right, you need to pot the bulb.
Energizer used to carry a line of flashlights called Double Barrel. They were great lights that used the same bulb design as BD down used (although at a different bulb voltage). The replacement bulbs are still available. Most Wal-Marts have them for just over $1.50.
With a soldering iron, heat the legs and pull them out. If you can get the solder off the wires, you can pull the old bulb out. Otherwise, just wiggle the bulb around until the wires break. There isn't any glue holding it together. Put the Yukon bulb in and bend the wires like the old bulb had them. With the soldering iron, heat the legs and put them back in. Solder the legs and wires.
While I am satisfied with the white, bright light from the Yukon bulb, I would like to find something more powerfull. I hope to try a Streamlight 3C Twin Tasklight bulb soon.
b. Supernova Bulb
Okay, the Energizer Double Barrel bulb I just mentioned; put it in. The flashlight it was for was 4 AA or 4 AAA, but it is just a 3 V bulb. The beam is much whiter. Comparison of brightness is difficult with just one headlamp, but I think it is brighter. I can't yet comment on bulb life as the bulb is a little over driven.
3. Space Shot
I should mention that my Space Shot is the old style. It uses a Willey Hunk LVR regulator on the incandescent. The LED is designed to only run off the 6 Volt backup battery, not the AA's. This mod will have less relevance to the newer models which have a much larger regulator which will not fit in the Bezel.
a. Battery pack on headband
I hate the pouch style battery pack. So to make my Space Shot a headlamp I would use, I had to move the battery pack on the headband. You have to move the regulator to the bezel if you do this mod.
The battery pack is simply 4 battery holders of 1 AA each and a 2 AA holder taped to a rubber placemat. I used permanent double sided tape to hold the battery holders to the placemat. I may go back with Shoegoo or E600 and glue them down. I shortened the wire and soldered it to all the battery holders in series.
The battery pouch was not difficult to sew. I found a pencil case made of some good ripstop Nylon that looked pretty water resistant. If you know how to sew, you could probably do a better job than I did, but it works.
The soft battery pack does not provide much mechanical protection to the batteries, especially when mounted on a helmet. I found a battery case that was designed to store 8 AA batteries at Fry's. They market it to the Digital Camera crowd. The whole battery pack fits inside, which then fits in the new pouch. It isn't comfortable enough to wear on a head with the extra case, but it works on a helmet.
Surprisingly, it is not much bulkier or heavier than a Gemini. With the soft placemat mounting for the battery holders, it wraps around my head quite nicely and is not bad for comfort. The weight of the battery pack makes it slide off with lots of activity, so it is mostly a leisurely activity lamp.
I need to find a better way, but this much at least makes the headlamp usable for me. I am hoping to use some Li-ion battery packs on this light in the future.
b. Regulator moved into the bezel
A friend of mine left batteries unused in his Space Shot for a few months and found them dead when he went to use them. This is because the regulator is always wired to the batteries and has a small stand by drain of less than 1 ma. Well, it adds up. I wanted to eliminate this problem by putting the regulator on the other side of the switch so that it only got power when powered up. The Willey Hunt LVR regulator used in the old style Space Shot and Supernovas is really small, but the new ones of unknown origin are not and will not fit. This mod would probably work with the old Supernova as well.
First, take out the round tube that houses the battery, spare bulb and regulator. The regulator is easy to remove.
The LVR fits on the right side of the headlamp with some Dremel work. Use HSS cutters on the lowest speed setting and keep the flutes clean. There are a few cylindrical parts that need holes in the plastic and the lower part needs a lot of trimming. Finally, a bit of shaving of the reflector provides the final bit of clearance.
Wiring it up is not difficult. The LVR uses a positive common on the regulator, so wire that side up to the battery and leave the negative battery wire on the switch common. From the switch, wire in the negative in terminal of the LVR. Take the negative out from the regulator to the bulb. The positive terminal from the LVR goes to the bulb and battery pack.
The LED is pretty well left untouched, except that I wired it into the AA battery pack. It takes another resistor, and I found an extra 56 ohms gave me about 50 ma. I took the positive wire for the LED right off the battery holder terminal, but you could wire it in to the LVR positive just as easily.
Without the spare bulb holder in the pouch, I felt rather naked. So I pulled the spare bulb holder form a newer style Gemini and out it in the Space Shot. I had to cut one side off because the LVR is in the way.
Note that the PT Yukon bulb mod above works just as well in this light.
4. Protecting and replacing the lens
BD lenses scratch very easily. The artifacts this produces are not easily seen with stock bulb and LED, but stand out like sore thumbs with a Luxeon Star. BD does not sell replacements, though.
I found some covers for palm pilots that make a nice protective cover. I found some that were textured and smooth. The textured would be good for light where you want the light better diffused, but for BD lights that have textured reflectors, smooth is better. Amazingly, just putting the covering on will make most of the scratches virtually invisible. My best guess is that the plastic to plastic interface does not refract like the plastic to air interface. At any rate, I hope I can go in a cave without wrecking another reflector. At 12 sheets for $1 and 2 covers per sheet, I can afford to change the cover after every cave.
The lens is 40 mm in diameter, which is not a standard flashlight size. I found some 50 mm polycarbonate lenses that were being discontinued, but I wish I had just bought a sheet of polycarbonate from my local hardware store. Lexan is a trade name for Polycarbonate. I just cut it with a hot knife and then smoothed it with a razor knife to get the 40 mm lens.
The lens pushes out surprisingly easily. I suspect they just use cyanoacrylate (aka super glue), so that is all I used to put the new lens back in.
5. Cheap batteries for Ion, Supernova and Space Shot
The 6 Volt battery used in the Ion, Supernova and Space Shot pretty much kills the economy of LED lighting. The battery has many different notations, but it is really just a stack of 4 LR44 batteries wrapped up. So, instead of spending $5-10 on the specialty battery, you can just put your won stack of LR44 batteries in with a spacer. These batteries are widely available and are cheap. Laser Pointers, watches, clocks and countless other devices use them. My local dollar store sells packs of 10 for, well, a dollar!
So, $5 will buy you 1 battery change of silver oxide BD batteries or you can get 12 changes of LR44 alkaline battery changes for the same price. With low discharge rates common to LEDs, lithium will not buy you a lot of extra juice over alkalines. Oh, AG13 is another name for LR44 batteries.
You need a spacer. I found a nut that fits nicely. I think it is a 12-20.
Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting
However, they have some real problems, but nothing a good mod can't fix. So here is a list of the mods I have done in sort of a table of contents format. Detailed descriptions of what I did are below with a few pictures.
1. Luxeon Star
a. Lunar (aka Gemini) with Star
b. Supernova with emitter and regulator
2. Bulbs
a. PT Yukon bulb for Gemini
b. Energizer Double Barrel bulb for Supernova
3. Space Shot
a. Battery pack on the head band
b. Regulator moved into the bezel
4. Protecting and replacing the lens
5. Cheap batteries for Ion, Supernova and Space Shot
1. Luxeon Star
a. Lunar (aka Gemini)
The Black Diamond Lunar is essentially the same light as the Gemini. I am not sure, but I think the Polar Star is the same design with a removable battery pack. The Lunar does not come with an LED installed and costs about $20 instead of $40 like the Gemini. It has a spot for one and even has the switch to add one. The LED that comes on a Black Diamond light is too tightly focused for much close up work and I dislike the color.
So, I bought a Lunar and decided it was time for a Luxeon Star (LS) 1 Watt LED. In case you don't know, the Luxeon Star is an LED which has the output of many regular LEDs and usually better color. They don't have the super long runtime when you drive them hard, so I put a switch in that lets me dim it to the same power consumption as the factory LED. That way I can get the hundred hour runtime if I need it, but can have the super nice beam for when I don't. Of course, the incandescent stays in tact, so I have the throw when I need it and it stays focusable.
Luxeon Stars can be had from many online vendors. A one watt Star is preferred to a Luxeon III since the heatsink side of the star is thinner on the 1 Watt. Either a Star or Emitter will work. These instructions are for a Star. Further down are instructions for a Supernova mod where an emitter is used.
So here are the parts
PARTS PICTURE
The main hurdle with Luxeon LEDs is thermal management. They require a heatsink. Without one, they can only be driven as hard as the crummy LED that so desperately screams to be replaced or will burn up.
Fortunately, Black Diamond headlamps have a plastic plate that can be easily replaced with an aluminum one. Look for the plate with the LED mounted on it, or the plate where one would mount, and unscrew it. It you have a Gemini, remove the LED (you won't miss it).
Get a hold of some 1/8" aluminum at least as big as the plate. A little thinner will probably be okay. Trace the shape of the plate on your aluminum. If you like, you can make it a bit bigger by extending into space around it. This will get in the way of the spare bulb holder if you choose not to use the dimming switch.
You will notice that the back of the plate has a shelf to hold the switch down. You will need to leave an ear sticking out of the plate there and bend it down to make the shelf. Be extremely careful to place the holes exactly where the ones in the plate are.
I used a rotary (aka Dremel) tool with fiberglass reinforced cut off wheels to cut it out. Heavy Duty or standard cut off wheels work, but they shatter and are a real mess. A die grinder or drywall tool with cut off wheels would work as well. Remember that these wheels are not really deigned for cutting aluminum. They will load up with the soft metal and stop cutting. Just have something hard with which to dress the wheel handy and be careful not to overheat them.
Bending down the shelf with 1/8" aluminum is not as simple as grabbing a pair of pliers and bending it. You need to thin down the metal where the bend will take place, or the metal will tear. So on the back side of the plate, grind the bend area down to about half thickness. If you have a vice and a crescent wrench, it will be easier to make the bend than with a pair of pliers.
You will need holes or notches for the wires, too.
The Star also needs to be cut down to fit. The holes on either side are spaced the same as the screws in the headlamp if screws with larger heads are used. Note the legs that come out of the LED and are soldered to the circuit board. If you cut these, you will be in trouble. Just be careful you end up with the legs in tact and a pair of solder pads of opposite polarity (+ & -)
Once the heatsink and Star fit, the worst is behind you. Now you get to wire it up.
Wiring is pretty straight forward. Take the wire from the switch for the LED, wire it to the small resistor, then the dimming switch with 10 ohm resistor and finally the LED. You can eliminate the dimming switch and 10 ohm resistor if you just want high mode or want to keep the spare bulb holder in the bezel. If you have a Lunar, just pick which of the outer wires going to the bulb will be the new LED wire.
Note: the switch in BD headlamps is really easy to melt when soldering. It is best to simply avoid soldering to it. Just clip wires and solder to them. I melted 2 switches with a 25 Watt soldering iron. If you do melt the switch and need a replacement, there are flashlights at Wal-Mart with them. Look for one with 2 or 3 modes on one switch without any dimming features.
The dimming switch I found was cannibalized from a battery holder from Radio Shack. It was the only switch small enough I could find as all the switches they sell and my local electronics supply sold were too big. Both the 4 AA and 4 AA hard plastic full battery enclosures have them.
The resistors I used were from Radio Shack, as well. To get the 2.2 ohm, I had to buy a huge bag of ¼ Watt resistors, which also had the 10 ohm I used. If you have access to a better electronics store, you can be more selective of your resistor values. I would recommend ½ Watt or 1 Watt. Don't get 2 Watt like I did as they won't fit in the Bezel. The best approach is to measure the current going through the LED and put the right resistors to get it 350-400 ma with fresh batteries.
Note: If you hook up an LED without a resistor, don't expect it to last long. Always use a resistor.
Now all that is left to do is shape the reflector to fit the larger LED. Enter Mr. Dremel tool. A good sized, cylindrical, HSS cutting bit like wood workers use works best. Slow down the speed as low as you can and keep the flutes clean of the melted plastic that collects in them.
The hole will not fit around the LED so that every bit of light goes into the reflector, but some will spill out on one side. This is actually good. It will put a tiny bit of light into the bezel to illuminate it so that the headlamp itself can be seen in the dark. In other words, others can see you from the side and you can see the headlamp if dropped face down.
If you are using a Lunar, there is one more step. The reflector does not have the ears sticking out to keep it from spinning. So, the LED will beat up the reflector trying to keep the hole over the LED. The best solution I have found is a long screw sticking out of the heatsink and passing through a hole in the reflector. Keep it small, so the hole in your reflector is small.
RESULTS: The beam is NICE! The beamshot shows the Luxeon Star, Black Diamond LED and the factory incandescent. The distance was about 12 inches, which is pretty common for someone climbing, caving or reading. Note how large and smooth the beam is. There is no hot spot to blind you, just lots of soft, usable light. The color is a little on the green side, but not nearly as bad as the picture would have one believe. A more carefully chosen Luxeon Star from a better bin would fix the green tint.
b. Supernova with emitter and regulator
Resistors work pretty well, but I wanted a fully regulated headlamp. I had problems with my Space Shot mod, so I broke down and bought a Supernova. The incandescent and LED on the headlamp are regulated and dimmable. But the LED is still a tightly focused wimpy LED. I couldn't figure out how the regulator drove the LED as the voltage was lower than normal for white LEDs, but I did find that the regulator did not drive a Luxeon Star very well.
So, I chose to use was a Downboy 400 ma current regulator. These are hand made by Wayne Yamaguchi. He sells them at The Sanwich Shop for about $15. He sells these to his fellow flashoholics more as a favor than anything and as such his operation is pretty small. You can also order Luxeon Stars and thermal epoxy from him.
For this Mod you will need
1. Headlamp (duh)
2. Luxeon emitter (1 watt or Luxeon III)
3. Downboy (400 ma or less is advised for thermal reasons)
4. Heatsink made the same as above
5. Heatsink Epoxy (as apposed to heatsink grease)
Take your heatsink and mark as best you can the center point where the LED will go, then epoxy it down. Note that the emitter does not have the heatsink side electrically neutral. The epoxy may isolate it, but realize that a short to the heatsink could cause problems. I countersunk all holes the wires go though. I kept the heatsink the same shape so the plate so I could keep the spare bulb holder.
That's right, the Supernova has a regulator AND a resistor on the LED. What a joke.
At least there is a positive common on the regulator so you can wire around that part of the circuit. In mine, the common was brown, but double check the copper traces on the board to make sure you are getting positive battery out on the wire you take to the switch.
I had hoped to keep a small LED on the regulator so that I could use the 6 Volt back up battery. However, using the positive common, you can't keep the little LED and put a Luxeon Star on a single position switch. A Double Position, Triple Throw (DPTT) pushbutton 1-2-3-0 switch would work, but I can't find any such beast. I clipped the 6 V battery wire since it won't be used. I could carry a spare battery for my Ion in there, I guess.
Princeton Tec recently came out with an LED light that clips to a headlamp strap called the Pilot. I won't miss the little BD LED once I get one.
The Downboy fits under the heatsink quite nicely. There are a few things to note about the Downboy.
1. Some versions will self destruct if connected to power without a load (like an LED).
2. It has very good efficiency.
3. A waterproof coating is a good idea. I used clear fingernail polish.
So, wire it up, but be careful not to solder to the switch and melt it.
Oh, the LED hole in the reflector still needs to be enlarged, but not as much as the full Star requires.
The results are even better than before. It has more light and better color because of the regulator and a better binned Luxeon. The heatsink get hot, though. A lower Vf on the Luxeon might have been nice.
2. Bulbs
a. PT Yukon Bulb
The bulbs that BD uses are pretty crummy. They are yellow, and as such, not very efficient. Princeton Tech makes a headlamp similar to the Gemini with a much better bulb called the Yukon (not to be confused with the Yukon HL which uses a Luxeon Star and has no bulb). They are available from REI and other PT retailers for $6-$8.
The power consumption is the same as the Bright (ie orange) bulb, but the color and brightness are much better.
You can just put the bulb in the Black Diamond headlamp and it will work fine. However, it will wobble around, not focus properly and may even come out of the base after a while. If you want to do it right, you need to pot the bulb.
Energizer used to carry a line of flashlights called Double Barrel. They were great lights that used the same bulb design as BD down used (although at a different bulb voltage). The replacement bulbs are still available. Most Wal-Marts have them for just over $1.50.
With a soldering iron, heat the legs and pull them out. If you can get the solder off the wires, you can pull the old bulb out. Otherwise, just wiggle the bulb around until the wires break. There isn't any glue holding it together. Put the Yukon bulb in and bend the wires like the old bulb had them. With the soldering iron, heat the legs and put them back in. Solder the legs and wires.
While I am satisfied with the white, bright light from the Yukon bulb, I would like to find something more powerfull. I hope to try a Streamlight 3C Twin Tasklight bulb soon.
b. Supernova Bulb
Okay, the Energizer Double Barrel bulb I just mentioned; put it in. The flashlight it was for was 4 AA or 4 AAA, but it is just a 3 V bulb. The beam is much whiter. Comparison of brightness is difficult with just one headlamp, but I think it is brighter. I can't yet comment on bulb life as the bulb is a little over driven.
3. Space Shot
I should mention that my Space Shot is the old style. It uses a Willey Hunk LVR regulator on the incandescent. The LED is designed to only run off the 6 Volt backup battery, not the AA's. This mod will have less relevance to the newer models which have a much larger regulator which will not fit in the Bezel.
a. Battery pack on headband
I hate the pouch style battery pack. So to make my Space Shot a headlamp I would use, I had to move the battery pack on the headband. You have to move the regulator to the bezel if you do this mod.
The battery pack is simply 4 battery holders of 1 AA each and a 2 AA holder taped to a rubber placemat. I used permanent double sided tape to hold the battery holders to the placemat. I may go back with Shoegoo or E600 and glue them down. I shortened the wire and soldered it to all the battery holders in series.
The battery pouch was not difficult to sew. I found a pencil case made of some good ripstop Nylon that looked pretty water resistant. If you know how to sew, you could probably do a better job than I did, but it works.
The soft battery pack does not provide much mechanical protection to the batteries, especially when mounted on a helmet. I found a battery case that was designed to store 8 AA batteries at Fry's. They market it to the Digital Camera crowd. The whole battery pack fits inside, which then fits in the new pouch. It isn't comfortable enough to wear on a head with the extra case, but it works on a helmet.
Surprisingly, it is not much bulkier or heavier than a Gemini. With the soft placemat mounting for the battery holders, it wraps around my head quite nicely and is not bad for comfort. The weight of the battery pack makes it slide off with lots of activity, so it is mostly a leisurely activity lamp.
I need to find a better way, but this much at least makes the headlamp usable for me. I am hoping to use some Li-ion battery packs on this light in the future.
b. Regulator moved into the bezel
A friend of mine left batteries unused in his Space Shot for a few months and found them dead when he went to use them. This is because the regulator is always wired to the batteries and has a small stand by drain of less than 1 ma. Well, it adds up. I wanted to eliminate this problem by putting the regulator on the other side of the switch so that it only got power when powered up. The Willey Hunt LVR regulator used in the old style Space Shot and Supernovas is really small, but the new ones of unknown origin are not and will not fit. This mod would probably work with the old Supernova as well.
First, take out the round tube that houses the battery, spare bulb and regulator. The regulator is easy to remove.
The LVR fits on the right side of the headlamp with some Dremel work. Use HSS cutters on the lowest speed setting and keep the flutes clean. There are a few cylindrical parts that need holes in the plastic and the lower part needs a lot of trimming. Finally, a bit of shaving of the reflector provides the final bit of clearance.
Wiring it up is not difficult. The LVR uses a positive common on the regulator, so wire that side up to the battery and leave the negative battery wire on the switch common. From the switch, wire in the negative in terminal of the LVR. Take the negative out from the regulator to the bulb. The positive terminal from the LVR goes to the bulb and battery pack.
The LED is pretty well left untouched, except that I wired it into the AA battery pack. It takes another resistor, and I found an extra 56 ohms gave me about 50 ma. I took the positive wire for the LED right off the battery holder terminal, but you could wire it in to the LVR positive just as easily.
Without the spare bulb holder in the pouch, I felt rather naked. So I pulled the spare bulb holder form a newer style Gemini and out it in the Space Shot. I had to cut one side off because the LVR is in the way.
Note that the PT Yukon bulb mod above works just as well in this light.
4. Protecting and replacing the lens
BD lenses scratch very easily. The artifacts this produces are not easily seen with stock bulb and LED, but stand out like sore thumbs with a Luxeon Star. BD does not sell replacements, though.
I found some covers for palm pilots that make a nice protective cover. I found some that were textured and smooth. The textured would be good for light where you want the light better diffused, but for BD lights that have textured reflectors, smooth is better. Amazingly, just putting the covering on will make most of the scratches virtually invisible. My best guess is that the plastic to plastic interface does not refract like the plastic to air interface. At any rate, I hope I can go in a cave without wrecking another reflector. At 12 sheets for $1 and 2 covers per sheet, I can afford to change the cover after every cave.
The lens is 40 mm in diameter, which is not a standard flashlight size. I found some 50 mm polycarbonate lenses that were being discontinued, but I wish I had just bought a sheet of polycarbonate from my local hardware store. Lexan is a trade name for Polycarbonate. I just cut it with a hot knife and then smoothed it with a razor knife to get the 40 mm lens.
The lens pushes out surprisingly easily. I suspect they just use cyanoacrylate (aka super glue), so that is all I used to put the new lens back in.
5. Cheap batteries for Ion, Supernova and Space Shot
The 6 Volt battery used in the Ion, Supernova and Space Shot pretty much kills the economy of LED lighting. The battery has many different notations, but it is really just a stack of 4 LR44 batteries wrapped up. So, instead of spending $5-10 on the specialty battery, you can just put your won stack of LR44 batteries in with a spacer. These batteries are widely available and are cheap. Laser Pointers, watches, clocks and countless other devices use them. My local dollar store sells packs of 10 for, well, a dollar!
So, $5 will buy you 1 battery change of silver oxide BD batteries or you can get 12 changes of LR44 alkaline battery changes for the same price. With low discharge rates common to LEDs, lithium will not buy you a lot of extra juice over alkalines. Oh, AG13 is another name for LR44 batteries.
You need a spacer. I found a nut that fits nicely. I think it is a 12-20.
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