My EDC BB500 R2H is dead

My every day carry BB500 mA regulated Luxeon bin R2H minimag has died.
R.I.P. 31 May 03 -- 17 Aug 05.

It was a great light, the Kroll switch, mineral glassed lens, Fraen LP optics, mag rubber head protector and tons of "character marks". It lived a very rough life, went through over a 100 sets of rechargables and dozens of alkalines. It literally went through a war, day and and day out of getting me there and back home in the darkness. It was in constant use looking inside medical equipment, computers, stringing power cables and crawling around in weird places.

Cause of death was chronic abuse by a flashaholic. Accidently being powered on in a holster caused severe heat damage taking it's toll upon the electronics and Luxeon until the light expired one hot day in August. It gives off a dim glimmer of light as if on life support. The device was declared brain dead (regulator death) and was unplugged (batteries removed) with time of death 3:13 PM August 17th 2005.

The light is survived by it's twin brother: Minimag BB500 R2H Fraen LP mineral glass lens Kroll tailswitch. The survivor lives on top of a bicycle helmet and is used during periods of darkness to light the flashoholics way. The twin refuses to fill the job of it's brother. They are twins, yes--but not identical.

Now to get a rechargable 2AA powered Luxeon III powered light to replace the dearly departed. Make it a HA-III twisty that is water and idiot proof. Regulated CR123A lights need not apply unless I can cut the barrel and slide in a 2AA tube and epoxy it together. (Looking like hell is a good thing!) My Ripoff holster needs to hold the 2AA flavor.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust... getting a new 2AA EDC is a must. Any ideas?

How about a ARC LS mod with a 2AA twisty.

I really like my SF KL1 on a DSPECK UBH w/2500 mah nimh cells. Using MCGIZ two stage tailcap.

If your Ripoffs holster could accomodate the extra length added by the Kroll switch then a Streamlight Jr. Luxeon would probably fit. Does the holster have a top flap? Was there extra room above the Mag's head if it had a flap? The SL JR LUX is just a bit longer than a Mag, plus it also has the Kroll.

I love my Jr. Lux, and now they have the new version with 4hrs of regulated runtime so I'm set to replace it for its longer running twin. I got a good coloured LED, and I've never found the Jr. Lux too dim...its output is comparable to my Q3, although the beam is not quite as smooth...but that's a minor issue for me.

I don't think the Jr. Lux would take well to rechargeables though. I know people use Lithiums with good results, not sure about NiMH. SL doesn't recommend anything but alkaline which is what I use...although I must admit I'm still on the batteries that came with the light...it's my EDC primary but it now averages about 15 seconds of use a week since my Arc joined the team and is clipped to my pocket. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Endeavour has some beautiful bead-blasted Arc LS's (with 2AA TSP) for sale. I'd PM him (tell him I sent you - you won't get a discount, but he knows I like those /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif).

major drag.. that was the brightest R2H light I've ever seen...

Hmmm. Maybe you need to have someone custom build something with a Next Gen BB500. I think the heat is much less with the NextGens.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Bob

Sorry to hear about the loss. Consider one of those 2AA lights from CostCo. I intentionally tortured mine and it is still going strong. 2 AA burns brights for 3.5-4 hours. Very nice and sturdy.

Wow Benthead, very sorry to hear that. I've had a few different R2Hs and loved each of them (equally, of course)! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyway, right now I have a KL1 with an RX0J in it, and I have to say it's at least as good and probably better than the R2Hs I've had. Is it just the LED that died? You could probably swap out pretty painlessly...if not, you seem to have been nothing but happy with the setup you had. I say a new sammy with the LED of your choice...I've heard RY0J are nice too, but I haven't seen one yet.
My condolences
Dave

A lot more of some of these overdriven LUX powered lights are headed to the same fate. Yours at 500Ma should have lasted longer. I especially like one I just seen rated at 200 lumens, 6 watts on a 3 watt luxeon. I tried that myself anbout a year ago or so. Got 2 hours out of a 100,000 LED before it acted the same. Heck, just change it out. Another one bites the dust.

HDS comes to mind especially with their never-before-seen 2AA power pack, but as its name implies, we haven't seen it, not even pics of it, they've just said that some day it's on the roadmap. Somewhere down the road. Of course, that's not good enough for you.

The sandwich shoppe has RY0Js right now, not quite R2H, but I have some of those RY0Js and they are wonderful. It seems like the light was a perfect match for your requirements in terms of brightness and functionality, why not get Wayne to roll you a new one with the technology advancements that have emerged in the past two years?

RY0Js are amazing, beautifully white.

Your old light has done well, it was an inspiration, it got me into the sandwich stuff /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks for all the responses!
My Ripoffs holster has a nylon tube type design that the head sticks out of the top and the tail sticks out the bottom. There is no flap so as long as the body diameter is no more that slightly larger than the minimag, it will work.
cy played around with the light last year, I ran into him during a cross-state bikeride in Oklahoma. I guess my helmet light minimag with a kroll switch tipped him off (CPF members always scan flashlights intensely) cy messed around with the R2H and I messed around with his Arc4 and LS flashlights.
I know what eventually killed the light, the kroll can switch the light on in the holster causing the light to get boiling hot. After doing this several times, the output started to diminish as the damage made itself known.
I like the sandwiches although they have problems with dumping the heat. Lambda makes an interesting sandwich that uses an aluminum heatsink but I don't mess around with soldering SMDs unless I have to.
To prevent damage to my 2AA lights in the future, I will go with the twistie switch. That would solve the problems with inadvertently turning the light on.
For LED heads, I like Surefire L1, Peak Mediteranean and HDS Basic 60. The only thing they need is a 2AA tailpack to finish it off. I figure that Surefire will put out a 2AA tailpack when hell freezes over so I am not holding my breath.
For now, I have some parts from the Sandwich Shoppe I can use. IMS 20mm reflectors and one of those 100mA 8mm white LEDs. As always, have some AA lithium cells laying around and an extended bezel coming in the mail. Figure I'll put that simple light together and slide into the Ripoffs holster.
BTW, the Luxeon Jrs. will trash the tailswitches after heavy use. It will fit in the holster but the tailswitch can turn the light on. Thanks for the recommendation but I am going for a twisty switch for better durability.
The Lambda MicroIlluminator AAA fits in the holster with the multitools, bits etc and is getting a workout now. Maybe it and the 100mA LED in a minimag with 20mm reflector will get me by until I can get something more permanent.
Thanks for the tips guys and I will keep an eyeout.