Can anyone help me ID this light?

I picked this up on eBay about a year ago. It works with the NightShot function on my Sony DCR TRV20 camera. This is an IR function, I think.

Here is the light


Here is another shot of the light


The layout is 4 AAA batteries, 2 on a side


Here is a shot of the LED's (2 of them) and the PCB


When I turn the light on, you can see a faint RED glow (this picture shows it as green, I guess my eye sees things differently than the camera).


I have 2 beam shots:
The first on at 1 foot


The second at 3 feet


My light meter does not register anything from this light.

I would like to figure out what this is and then
I would like to figure out a way to improve the light or find a light that works a little better. As you can see from the beam shot at 3 feet, the range of the light is only about 4 feet. The light will run with only 2 batteries in it on one side.

I am looking for a range of around 15 feet with a broad beam like the ARC-LSH at 20 feet or so (I can dream).

Thanks for your help and comments

Tom

After previewing this post I find that the pictures are not showing up.
edit: now the pictures work thanks B@RT

Hi Tom,
Yahoo does not allow linking, you will have to switch to an image account that does...

I have used ImageStation so far and really like it.
There is a CPF account, read about it here .

Hope this helps,

ps, If you need additional help, just contact me.

Hello B@rt,

You rescued me. I have been sitting here beating my head against a Lightwave 4000 trying to figure out what went wrong with my post. (Fortunately, the Lightwave 4000 was not damaged - and neither was my head...soft rubber!)

I started a new album called "SilverFox Pictures." I was able to move my pictures from the storage bin to the album with minimal problems. My question is, who is responsible for removing these pictures after we are done with them, and how long do we leave them?

Thanks

Tom

Glad to be able to help...

About the pics still in the storage bin, I'm affraid they are left by people ... Removing them would affect the links, so I won't touch them...

As far as I know, the pics you've uploaded should be visible for as long a ImageStation exists...

I hope this helps,

What I am seeing in your pictures is a energizer double barrel flashlight. Looks like it was modded by someone and than sold on Ebay. The led pc is most likely just plugged in to the lamp socket and can be removed just by tugging on it. There are some mods available for this at http://thelightsite.cruxial.com//

Check out some of the links on this sight too for flashlight mods. The double barrel 4 AAA light is a old favorite for mods, you just can't buy them anymore.

carbonsparky,

I checked out thelightsite and the bodies look the same. Thanks. I did not realize that this was a modification when I bought it.

Any ideas on how to get more output from it?

Looking at the circuit board I find that it is glued in at the four corners. I assume that the origional bulb was a bi-pin? If I break the glue loose, and pull straight it should come out?

Thanks,

Tom

Looks as though it was intended as an IR torch.
Definitely is an Energiser DB.

I guess the question is where to find high-output IR LEDs.

It looks like it is a basic LED flashlight, using resistors for current limiting.

Two options:

Replace the resistors with lower-valued ones. This will increase the LED current, resulting in brighter output. But without good heatsinking, that can easily kill the LEDs.

Replace the LEDs with higher-output ones. The resistors will need to be changed to accomodate the new ones.

Or you can probably fit quite a few more LEDs into that head.

Definitely an IR flashlight. Dim red to your eyes, green to the camera. Typical of IR. Also definitely a modded DoubleBarrel AAA.

We have some High-Power IR 5mm LEDs if you are interested

Hello Mike,

Thanks for your offer. I am trying to figure out what to do. I think I need to figure out what these LED's are putting out and then I will have a starting point. I know nothing about circuit design so I will have to do some research. It seems that the whole engineering problem is a balancing act. Run time vs output, output vs heat transfer, and so on.

I found out that SureFire has a M1 light that is supposed to illuminate an object at 100 meters with 10 mw of power. This might be an interesting way to go...

If I decide to add or replace the LED's I have, I will get in touch with you.

Thanks

Tom

or you can use 1/2 aaa inside the double barrel which result in 3 * 1.2 = 3.6V in each barrel. With this voltage, you can run white led in it.
i did this with my own db and i like it.
will post pic asap

Db on the left, infinity ultra on the right

Originally posted by carbonsparky:
The double barrel 4 AAA light is a old favorite for mods, you just can't buy them anymore.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Just to show how far we here downunder are behind you in times, there's tons of them here littering the shelves of Kmart.

Originally posted by Onyx:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by carbonsparky:
The double barrel 4 AAA light is a old favorite for mods, you just can't buy them anymore.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Just to show how far we here downunder are behind you in times, there's tons of them here littering the shelves of Kmart.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">We've got plenty of them around here too.

Hello shifd,

What kind of run time do 1/2aaa's get?

Tom

dunno, never test it
a simple calculation predict that it will have around ((250 * 2) + 750)*2/20 = 125 hr
so maybe only 90 hrs worth of light.

I'm looking at 2 big ones I have here, each have 6x IR led chips in the one case, with a lense. they run @9.5V nominal, @250mA. wavelength is 810nm, radiant power is 225mW nominal/1200mW/sr. They have a heatsink mount, the 2 types I have are flat plate heatsink, and 10mm stud mount. I have the part no's, but I'm still trying to track down the company's web site? it's definately a german product.
I do have the UK distributors site link>> http://www.heroelec.co.uk/products.htm (click electro - optics, then jumbo IR leds 'read more')
Link to pictures>> http://engine.solid8.com/solid8/electro/Jumbo-IR-LEDs-target.jpg The part no's I have are ELJ810-228B (20deg) & ELJ810-248C (40deg) They are hellish bright, totally wiping out the 'normal' 5mm leds, that I've compared to date. If I find the site of the manufacturer's, I'll post back here.

Steve