Because I made my M2 True Solitaire Drop-In Pill too powerful to drive any 5 mm LED, I modded the M2 to drive a LUX III TVIL by adding a copper heat sink. Since there were so many pills and mods been made for the Solitaire, I thought I had to make something special, better to be something that was never been made. So this Solitaire mod with 2 stage switch was born.
Here I only introduce how to make the two stage switch onto the pill. For those who want to know the production of M2, please go to check my True Solitaire Drop-In Pill - Part II (Production). But you don't really need to clone the M2 exactly because the M2 is designed to make a true drop-in pill and the current setting is too high (even the LUX III got cooked but still works) . I omit the mod of the Solitaire body because there already are many great modders posted their projects on the forum.
The most difficult part of making the switch was the looking for the suitable material. After many failed attempts, I finally found that the small piece of metal in the cassette tape would be a good one.
A picture is better than thousand words, so few pictures would be better.
Hope this drawing can help.
The piece of metal was grinded with a dremel to the shape to fit the pill. There was a small piece of PCB to hold the resistor and the metal piece soldering to the heat sink. The contact tip was a small piece of the 5 mm LED lead. At the beginning I used one 5.1 Ohm resistor connecting in series with the switch and the ground and tested with good result. But after I assembled everything in place, the low output was much dimmer due to the resistance of all contacting point of the Solitaire. So I added another 5.1 Ohm resistor in parallel to increase the current.
Notice that the metal piece shown on the sketch is a bit longer than what I have made. I think this longer in size would do better.
All beamshot shown were lights with 1.5V AA/AAA alkaline betteries
Left M1, Middle Infinity Ultra, right M2 LUX III low, 2 ft from wall
Left M1, Middle Infinity Ultra, right M2 LUX III high, 2 ft from wall
I turned the light on high and took a picture every 2 minutes. After 23 minutes it started to flicker. I took out the battery and measured the voltage getting a 1.281V reading. I put the battery back, turned on low and measured the voltage again after 1 hour. The reading was 1.278V.
Left Infinity Ultra, right M2 LUX III, 1.5V AA/AAA alkaline
Fresh batteries
After 12 min
After 22 min
The pictures can't reflect the power of M2 enough. Actually, the M2 has a wider and much much brighter spill than the Infinity Ultra.
Though this two stage switch is not so neat but functions well. I have to admit that the efficiency of the Solitaire is very low due to too many contacting resistance in it. Anyway I show a way to those Solitaire fans to do something new and give a new life to their favorite lights.
Here I only introduce how to make the two stage switch onto the pill. For those who want to know the production of M2, please go to check my True Solitaire Drop-In Pill - Part II (Production). But you don't really need to clone the M2 exactly because the M2 is designed to make a true drop-in pill and the current setting is too high (even the LUX III got cooked but still works) . I omit the mod of the Solitaire body because there already are many great modders posted their projects on the forum.
The most difficult part of making the switch was the looking for the suitable material. After many failed attempts, I finally found that the small piece of metal in the cassette tape would be a good one.
A picture is better than thousand words, so few pictures would be better.
Hope this drawing can help.
The piece of metal was grinded with a dremel to the shape to fit the pill. There was a small piece of PCB to hold the resistor and the metal piece soldering to the heat sink. The contact tip was a small piece of the 5 mm LED lead. At the beginning I used one 5.1 Ohm resistor connecting in series with the switch and the ground and tested with good result. But after I assembled everything in place, the low output was much dimmer due to the resistance of all contacting point of the Solitaire. So I added another 5.1 Ohm resistor in parallel to increase the current.
Notice that the metal piece shown on the sketch is a bit longer than what I have made. I think this longer in size would do better.
All beamshot shown were lights with 1.5V AA/AAA alkaline betteries
Left M1, Middle Infinity Ultra, right M2 LUX III low, 2 ft from wall
Left M1, Middle Infinity Ultra, right M2 LUX III high, 2 ft from wall
I turned the light on high and took a picture every 2 minutes. After 23 minutes it started to flicker. I took out the battery and measured the voltage getting a 1.281V reading. I put the battery back, turned on low and measured the voltage again after 1 hour. The reading was 1.278V.
Left Infinity Ultra, right M2 LUX III, 1.5V AA/AAA alkaline
Fresh batteries
After 12 min
After 22 min
The pictures can't reflect the power of M2 enough. Actually, the M2 has a wider and much much brighter spill than the Infinity Ultra.
Though this two stage switch is not so neat but functions well. I have to admit that the efficiency of the Solitaire is very low due to too many contacting resistance in it. Anyway I show a way to those Solitaire fans to do something new and give a new life to their favorite lights.
