Tikka...Has anyone modded one?

Tikka...Has anyone modded one? Finally did it!

I'd like to put three new 26k led's in my Tikka. Has anyone opened theirs up without breaking anything? It looks like you can just pry out the plastic housing for the led's?

Tikka...Finally modded one..

I finally got around to swapping the led's with 26k units. Should have done it a long time ago! It's much whiter than before and significantly brighter than an Inova X5. It was much easier to do than I thought.

If anyone's interested I'll post pics.

Re: Tikka...Finally modded one..

i'm a pic whore ;-) woohoo headlamp pics!

VERY interested! Please post every detail

I screwed up a mod of my TacTikka Plus. Should have done 1-led at a time. Now I lost the path and cant figure out what to do.

Open up the case and using a flat head screwdriver, CAREFULLY pry
out the battery holder. The entire Led, reflector assembly comes right out.


The led assembly slides out on a track...towards the side with the resistor.
Be sure to hold the battery contact in place while you do this. It will try to
bend back with the assembly as you slide it out.


Carefully desolder the negative solder blob that holds the 3 leads and the resistor together.


Flip it over and desolder the posotive side leads. Remove the Leds and reinstall new ones.


Carefully bend and trim all the leads into their original locations. Solder everything back together. Remember that the negative leads on the leds are soldered to the resistor.



That's it...10 minutes and you're done. I used 26k Leds. The light is MUCH brighter and whiter than stock. It puts out a wall of light with no hot spot.

Ahh yes. Thanks. I have one of those and three 40k mcd LEDs on the way from Kevin just for this purpose. It will be easier now.

Can you do the same one with variable brightness like that Tikka Plus?

I've never seen the inside of a Tikka Plus. There must be some type of board in
there to get the variable output. I can't imagine it would be any more difficult a mod. The hardest part of this mod was desoldering the negative leads without melting the plastic too much.

I have some of Kevins 35k leds, but I prefer the 26k. The brightness seems the same but the 26k are whiter and more of a flood than the 35k.

Blair

bluewater said:

I've never seen the inside of a Tikka Plus. There must be some type of board in
there to get the variable output. I can't imagine it would be any more difficult a mod. The hardest part of this mod was desoldering the negative leads without melting the plastic too much.

Blair

Click to expand...

It looks a lot different in there. I'll try to take a picture if I have time. (Very questionable)

bluewater said:

Open up the case and using a flat head screwdriver, CAREFULLY pryout the battery holder. The entire Led, reflector assembly comes right out.

Click to expand...

A screwdriver works ok, but the best thing I've used for removing the assembly is THIS

how would you petzl/tikka owners describe petzl's headlamps water-resistance?

is the clamp fit allow for dunkable?

About as water proof a my Nokia cell phone (not at all). But unlike the cell phone water will not really hurt the Tikka/Zipka. Salt water or dirty water poses some corosion concerns for battery contacts and the switch which is already lame. If it dets water in it just make sure you wash it out with clean water and leave the back off so thatr it can dry out alright.

The Zipka was my first LED light nearly 5 years ago and the start of my adiction. My father has a Tikka which I moded with a Maxim DC/DC converter chip (I can't remember which one right now) that I put on a circuit board a little bitt smaller than a AAA battery and placed it one of the AAA cells spot. It now runs off 2AAA cells with a fairly regulated output and slightly less weight. It has been in almost daily operation for him for the last 4 years. I did a good wright up on the mod with pictures and everything back then but it has been lost to time and system upgrades.

I've put Nichia CS in my Tikka+ and its a huge improvement. It opens the same way, but looks different inside. You have to unsolder the board from the battery tabs so you can access everything, but otherwise its pretty straight foward. Once you open it up, you will figure it out.

Or you could just regift the old one and buy a new one with the CS LEDs already inside.

-Dave

Not a tikka but have modded several Auroras with Nichia CS, rough guess is just under double brightness

Where is the best place to get some of these 26k LED´s for this mod ?


Were you guys refering to Kevin L ?

Thanks

Kenny

Yes...Kevin L

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1252556

Instead of desoldering the leds for the Tikka it is easier to just cut the legs, then there is no heat and no melted plastic. Soldering the new needs heat of cause.

It looks like there is just one resistor, it would be best with three resistors (with 3 times original value), one for each led.

Just completed this mod on my Tikka w/ the Nichias that I got from Brlux. Relatively easy mod.

Must say there's some really clever design in the Tikka.

Now to do my PT Apex...

I have a few of these headlights, where can I buy the 26k mcd leds?( in US if possible)

Ed

Hi,

2 Questions:

1. Where i can get 40000mcd 5mm leds? Kevin?

2. What is the mcd rating of original tikka leds?


Thanks! this mod seems easier to do with pics!

Hi,

I tried to upgrade my Tikka, replacing the LEDs with better one, but although I was able to open the light, I couldn't figure out how to access the LED leads.
Fortunately I found this thread searching CPF, thanks bluewater for the pictures and the how-to. Nevertheless I found it difficult to slide out the led assembly: despite holding the battery contact in place, this refused to stay in place and was sligthly bent back as I slid the assembly out. I had to remove it but it was not damaged.
I replaced the three original LEDs with the brightest currently available 5 mm LEDs: Nichia GS. Because these have a lower Vf than the original LEDs I had to swap the resistor as well: I used a 12 ohm one instead of the original 3.3 ohm one, to get a 60 mA current drain (i.e. 20 mA per LED).
The light is now much brighter, and also slightly less blueish, see the pictures below (all taken at ISO 50; 2 seconds, f:4.0):

1. Original unmodified Tikka:


2. Modified Tikka (three Nichia GS LEDs):


3. Beamshot comparison (one original Tikka LED on the left, one Nichia GS on the right, both driven at 20 mA):


As you can see, a worthwhile upgrade.:thumbsup: