OK well, I had a Phatlight LED laying around, and 2 torches. I decided I'd try mod the LED into one.
The torch originally used a P7, and 1 18650. $32.22 - Aurora AK-P7-4 HA-III SSC P7-C 2-Mode 900-Lumen LED Flashlight (1*18650) - SSC Flashlights
The first problem I noticed was that the LED heatsink was the anode, while the casing of my torch is cathode. I just found a piece of mica and stuck it on the pill under the LED. Simple fix.
The next problem which hasn't been resolved, but is not a problem at the moment, is current.
The LED is being directly driven from the 18650 (Thru a resistor on low mode), and draws about 4A from the cell at 3.55V. I think this is a bit high for a cheap DX cell, or even good cells, however I have run it on high for a little while with no obvious heating to the battery. Problems may arise with fresh/freshly charged batteries however, so I will probably need some current limiting at some point. The hard part is the lack of space in the host.
Anyways, just some pictures:
The front contains the original torch reflector, but I also added a nice big lens from the projector to make the beam much tighter. As a result, I have a bit of an odd beam profile, but it doesn't really worry me, it's still bright!
Low mode at about 30cm:
High mode at about 2 metres:
Cheers,
Dan
The torch originally used a P7, and 1 18650. $32.22 - Aurora AK-P7-4 HA-III SSC P7-C 2-Mode 900-Lumen LED Flashlight (1*18650) - SSC Flashlights
The first problem I noticed was that the LED heatsink was the anode, while the casing of my torch is cathode. I just found a piece of mica and stuck it on the pill under the LED. Simple fix.
The next problem which hasn't been resolved, but is not a problem at the moment, is current.
The LED is being directly driven from the 18650 (Thru a resistor on low mode), and draws about 4A from the cell at 3.55V. I think this is a bit high for a cheap DX cell, or even good cells, however I have run it on high for a little while with no obvious heating to the battery. Problems may arise with fresh/freshly charged batteries however, so I will probably need some current limiting at some point. The hard part is the lack of space in the host.
Anyways, just some pictures:
The front contains the original torch reflector, but I also added a nice big lens from the projector to make the beam much tighter. As a result, I have a bit of an odd beam profile, but it doesn't really worry me, it's still bright!
Low mode at about 30cm:
High mode at about 2 metres:
Cheers,
Dan
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