andrewwynn
Flashlight Enthusiast
Formerly known as 'I coulda had a VIP-8'
one of the things i didn't like about one of my favorite lights (the VIP) was the DRASTIC difference in brightness between low and med.
The med was working very well for me for most things but burns the battery way too fast for just background lighting or reading a map in a car etc.. and the low.. who really needs 60hrs of runtime? it was just way too low for most of what i wanted.
So.. as Tim Allen would say.. "i rewired it".
The most difficult part was building the hex wrench to take it apart.. holy cow what size is that thing? I took a 0.050 hex and dremeled it down to fit.... after cutting off the Torx-3 i had made out of it years ago to swap the controller board on a laptop hard drive to recover the data after the laptop went through a flood.
The results:
movie says 10,000 words: click here (warning: 3.7MB)
here is a chart to help describe it:
the current values are actually measured values.. they were spooky close to the calculated values. The lumen values are calculated based on lumiled's datasheet and derated for 'real world' temperatures.
the runtime values are 'best guess'.. using the mAH rating of the battery and de-rating for 'current abuse' on the higher levels.
On another note.. the kroll i had originally was defective.. i noticed that sometimes when i clicked it on on low that it was a different brightness than other times.. i could click a couple times and get it to be brighter for example.. well.. i was having a problem with it going 'blinky' on me really quickly.. like after 5 minutes of use.. it didn't dawn on my 'til after i did my mod when i measured the current before putting it back together.. and the high current was 723.. but after reassembling, the current measured like 630 and got 'blinky' right away.
I swapped the kroll with one destined for my groovy tester.. and wouldn't ya know it.. no blinkies on high beam anymore.. aaarrgh!
I had already treated the original kroll with pro gold.. not sure where the bad contact was but it was bad.. much happier now with the better (also treated) kroll.. and also VERY happy with the multitude of brightness choices i have on the low end so i can use VIP for a very handy night light w/o feeling bad about churning through $.
I had guessed the model/type of switched used on VIP based on the apparent volume inside w/o taking it apart first.. i was pretty close.. but my switch was a fair amount bigger.. i had to cut off about 2mm from one side to get it to fit... fortunately i didn't have to mill out any from inside the VIP.
My HAT {grin} is off to the assembly team.. they did a fantabulous job in all aspects.. first rate wiring, soldering.. i did get a kick out of the little piece of what appeared to be formica shimming the switch though. The design also is amazing.. it really made it a breeze to 'aftermarket' mod.. just like the design of my MM.. which takes some definite cues from the VIP of course.
Well.. that mod was just too cool not to share.. I know people think '3s enough'.. but picking those 3 can really be a pain.. now i can pick just the right level and with the separate dial (thanks mr b).. it's so convenient and friendly.
-awr
one of the things i didn't like about one of my favorite lights (the VIP) was the DRASTIC difference in brightness between low and med.
The med was working very well for me for most things but burns the battery way too fast for just background lighting or reading a map in a car etc.. and the low.. who really needs 60hrs of runtime? it was just way too low for most of what i wanted.
So.. as Tim Allen would say.. "i rewired it".
The most difficult part was building the hex wrench to take it apart.. holy cow what size is that thing? I took a 0.050 hex and dremeled it down to fit.... after cutting off the Torx-3 i had made out of it years ago to swap the controller board on a laptop hard drive to recover the data after the laptop went through a flood.
The results:
movie says 10,000 words: click here (warning: 3.7MB)
here is a chart to help describe it:
the current values are actually measured values.. they were spooky close to the calculated values. The lumen values are calculated based on lumiled's datasheet and derated for 'real world' temperatures.
the runtime values are 'best guess'.. using the mAH rating of the battery and de-rating for 'current abuse' on the higher levels.
On another note.. the kroll i had originally was defective.. i noticed that sometimes when i clicked it on on low that it was a different brightness than other times.. i could click a couple times and get it to be brighter for example.. well.. i was having a problem with it going 'blinky' on me really quickly.. like after 5 minutes of use.. it didn't dawn on my 'til after i did my mod when i measured the current before putting it back together.. and the high current was 723.. but after reassembling, the current measured like 630 and got 'blinky' right away.
I swapped the kroll with one destined for my groovy tester.. and wouldn't ya know it.. no blinkies on high beam anymore.. aaarrgh!
I had already treated the original kroll with pro gold.. not sure where the bad contact was but it was bad.. much happier now with the better (also treated) kroll.. and also VERY happy with the multitude of brightness choices i have on the low end so i can use VIP for a very handy night light w/o feeling bad about churning through $.
I had guessed the model/type of switched used on VIP based on the apparent volume inside w/o taking it apart first.. i was pretty close.. but my switch was a fair amount bigger.. i had to cut off about 2mm from one side to get it to fit... fortunately i didn't have to mill out any from inside the VIP.
My HAT {grin} is off to the assembly team.. they did a fantabulous job in all aspects.. first rate wiring, soldering.. i did get a kick out of the little piece of what appeared to be formica shimming the switch though. The design also is amazing.. it really made it a breeze to 'aftermarket' mod.. just like the design of my MM.. which takes some definite cues from the VIP of course.
Well.. that mod was just too cool not to share.. I know people think '3s enough'.. but picking those 3 can really be a pain.. now i can pick just the right level and with the separate dial (thanks mr b).. it's so convenient and friendly.
-awr