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This was a really easy mod. Get a 5mm white Nichia
LED and grab the leads (individually) by the standoff tabs with
a pair of needlenose pliers. CAREFULLY twist 90 degrees around
the long axis. File off the tabs so they are flush. Cut the
leads so they are just a little longer than the bulb leads.
Use a multimeter to figure out which lead is postitve (stick
pins in each bulb socket and turn on). Mark the + side. Now
push the LED in place of the bulb until it is flush (make sure
the AAA battery is still in the light or you'll have little
pieces all over the place). |
| Remove the guts from the head of your Solitaire
- don't worry about breaking tabs at the edges of the reflector,
just try not do destroy it. Remove the lens and drill or carve
a large hole in it. Drill out the reflector so it fits over
the LED but stops at the wide base of the LED. |
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Put the reflector on the led, put the lens back
and reattach the head.(the LED will stick out of the hole in
the lens) |
| Go get a MN21/23 battery - They come in packs
of 2 at Wal-Mart for about 1.77. Yes, they pump out 12 Volts
which is 3 times as much as the max the LED is supposed to take.
The LED will burn slightly turquoise, but the internal resistance
of the battery will prevent the LED from frying. |
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Go to ACE hardware and get a #4 spring from their spring
box. Get the spring with the spiral size you see in the picture.
Use the base for scale. Cut off the end + 5 sprials. Thread
the spring from the end of the light (small side OUT) onto
the cut end of the spring (left side of picture).
Assemble as usual and turn it on! Bingo! A brighter light
with a bulb that never blows.
(BTW, it was my wife's Solitaire - hence the purple...)
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UPDATE from William I.:
I did the Maglight Solitaire mod as well. Great lamp now
but I noticed my pants leg getting hot one day and discovered
the lamp would not shut off! Seems the reflector in these
smaller lamps is kinda thin and the repeated turning on
and off had smashed the reflector on the inside to a point
where it would not push LED down to switch it off. A #10
internal tooth washer has just the right size openings to
fit over the LED yet is still small enough in its circumference
to clear the reflector cap as it is screwed on. This gives
much more surface for the reflector to push on, to switch
it off when screwed down. Just thought I would send in a
small update and a solution to the smashed reflector on
the Solitaire mod.
Thanks William!
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