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Get any el cheapo 3-D cell flashlight. This is a Sam's Choice
Wal-Mart (on clearance) "Ultra Tough" rubber flashlight
for 4.75. A good light in its own right (for a cheapie light).
Key things I was looking for: switch mechanism is in the barrel,
not the head, easy to get to leads in the head, lots of space
in the head. |
| Side shot, resting on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper...... |
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Front shot with the LS module in it (thank you Peter G.!). |
| Reflector cut and shaped - the 2 cut-outs are for the 2 screws
used to hold the LS to the heat sink. |
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The rear of the reflector. I cut the back off with a hacksaw
and melted the 2 grooves with a hot soldering iron (no I can't
afford a Dremel yet either). |
| The LS module hanging by its wires with the reflector out.
Luxeon Stars are available from Arc
Flashlight. |
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The LS module removed - note the large cavity of the light
for the mod. You're looking at 2 springs end on - one in the
center for positive, one surrounding the positive spring for
negative. The bulb sits in the negative and touches the positive.
I was intending to make this mod reversable, so I wired the
LS into a PR bulb base. As the reflector was modified, it isn't
reversable. If I glued the LS complete module together, I might
not have needed to modify the reflector, but I had 2 of these
lights anyway..... |
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The picture you have been waiting for...
From left to right:
PR bulb base with (+) and (-) wired in, insulating plastic
square cut and glued to PR base top with channel for wires
to come out, cluster of 3 100ohm and 3 10ohm resistors in
parallel (top black bundle) = 3.03ohms of resistance wrapped
in self-sealing rubber tape (get at W-M), Radio Shack heat
sink #276-1363 drilled with holes for LS module attachment,
layer of heat sink compound(also from RS), LS module screwed
to heat sink with 2 PC screws (used paper washers under screwheads
to protect LS module - paper washers like this are used to
screw down PC motherboards).
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An angle shot of the complete module resting on a black Bic
pen (Yep, it's pretty small! Note the bulb base above!).
Note that these little things are bright but get very hot!
They can self destruct as a result of the heat. If you are
going to use the light for longer than brief periods of time,
you may want to make some ventilation holes in the head of
the light to let the heat escape.
Obviously this particular mod will only work in the light
I made it for, but using the same basic strategy and a little
creativity, you should be able to make one and get it to work
with just about any light (e.g. I could have filed the sides
of the LS aluminum 1" square board so it fit INSIDE of
the heat sink, thereby taking up much less room, etc.).
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