Modifying my Flashlights

[KK4AMI]

I am in the power outage capital. After having watched all these super flashlight commercials, I decided to gather all my MAGLITES and change them to Terralux LEDs. That seems to have increased the lumen output and run time on standard batteries.

While looking at the various ways to "hack" your flashlight, I learned about pulse width modulated LED drivers designed to operate the LED at peak power and 10% duty, making it brighter (around 10 to 20 watts). The standard LED operates around 120 to 200 lumens, where the pwm modulated driver can push some LEDS to operate around 9000 lumens. You can build and program your own led drivers, but the commercial ones are small enough to stuff in a slightly modified MAGLITE.

If that wasn't bad enough, by modifying a standard "D" 5 cell flashlight to use AA series battery holders, you can increase voltage to around 22 volts, which allows use of bigger LED arrays up to about 200 watts. Heating issues at this level. I have been reading on how to adapt an old AMD processor heat sink and cooling fan to the LED array.

[WZ7U]

Can I make something like that to enhance the back up lights on my pickup? Or should I just red neck it and mount a single foglight?

[KK4AMI]

Can I make something like that to enhance the back up lights on my pickup? Or should I just red neck it and mount a single foglight?

Yes, LEDs are being used a lot now for cars and trucks. I believe the LED and driver would use far less power then a standard incandescent fog light. I don't know what kind of power draw your backup light circuit can handle.

[WZ7U]

I'm sure a foglight draws significantly more current than that circuit was designed for. I would use the signal from the b\u light circuit to trip a relay to power the lamp.
There are many options I've discovered involving LED assemblies marketed mainly towards the 4x4 crowd. I've discovered a pair of LED foglights under $20 on Amazon and I have someone with a prime account to help hook a brother up. I will still use a relay circuit so I can trip them on in reverse or by toggle switch. Friggin LED's are awesome!

[KG4CGC]

I've considered upgrading the 4 cell Maglight with a better LED than what was offered a couple of years ago because it just draws too much energy and I'm not in the habit of buying 4 D cells very often.
Then I got a Husky 3 cell from Home Depot. Holy S#$%! It's literally like having a car headlight in your hand. It also has 3 LED's. Rubber head and butt.

This is it. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-1000-Lumen-Unbreakable-Aluminum-Flashlight-99294/205937853?cm_mmc=SEM%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-PLA-BT3-Husky-D25T-Tools%7c&gclid=CjwKEAiAwfzDBRCRmJe7z_7h8yQSJAC4corO1cBCd3Ri Z_SHXuNAQ7ZfOm6snbohkSt-nQXEXBDewBoCJ7bw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[N8YX]

Derailing this thread from flashlights to ham radio but still keeping with the LED theme:

I grew sick and tired of dragging my gear out of line and disassembling it to replace the #47 and #1895 pilot lamps which many OEMs love to use in their stuff. So...I replaced them with a bayonet-style LED bulb of the same voltage ratiing.

But there was a problem. Evidently, the part I chose likes to rapidly decrease its light output (over a period of weeks) until it reaches the point that the LED is basically unusable. I attribute this to poor fabrication and poor QA, but even when the devices are at full brilliance there are noticeable shadows in the areas they illuminate.

Better Solution Needed.

I bought a bag of these - http://lighthouseleds.com/5mm-diffused-flat-top-led-white-ultra-bright.html

And a bag of 5-lug terminal strips, which have the mounting lug at one end as opposed to the center. The LEDs were wired in series-parallel - two LEDs per "section". Depending on the illuminating voltage applied, a total of 8 (for 6v) and 6 (for 12v) were employed. For a 6v design the center lug of the terminal strip was used as the +v tie point and the LED pairs connected in opposite directions away from it...anode to cathode to anode to ground (attachment) lug. The non-ground-lug "side" of the strip repeated this arrangement and its "-" lug was connected to the ground lug by a jumper wire.

This setup works in most Ten-Tec gear. Corsairs and similar vintage rigs used 12v bulbs and require a different configuration along with a dropping resistor. So...we take a 390-ohm, 1/2w part and connect it between the two lugs furthest away from the mounting lug then solder in our LED "pairs"...anodes to resistor, them cathodes to anodes..etc..and the final pair's cathodes are soldered to the mounting lug.

I ran a test of a week duration where I measured luminosity and voltage drop across the LEDs of a 12v array. An initial delta of perhaps a hundredth of a volt was seen. We can throw this out as I2R losses in the test lead connectors.

Seeing no diminished output, I disassembled part of my shack and retrofitted one of my Paragon IIs along with a 253 with the 6v version of the strip. Evenly distributed light of good intensity...very usable.

The other P-II/253 will get the same treatment in a week or two then I need to order more parts in order to do the C-IIs, Omnis, Herc-IIs and 238s.

[KK4AMI]

Interesting. What made you go with the cool white LED? To better duplicate the light bulbs you were replacing, I would think a warm white (3500K) LED would be better.

I also wonder what made the LEDS in the bayonet mount go bad. The only thing I can think of is over heating. Your terminal lugs might be good heatsinks, plus you space out the LEDs.

[PA5COR]

5 cell Maglite with LED good for 200 meter and a 10 watt German made LED 3 C battery's that gives a lot of light and is more handy as the Maglite.
Homebrew LED floodlights in the hallway, 24/7 on, in the livingroom as well, and outside on the garden house, also on 24/7.
Led lights on the cabinet here where the transceiver is in and the rest PA etc that lights up the front of the gear so i can see the knobs and lettering in the dark as well, it's a 1 meter striplight on 12 volt regulated so i can adjust the light output.

All lightbulbs in the house used for lighting now LED.
Interior light in the car replaced by LED.
All lamps in meters/gear replaced by LED's some years back.

[N8YX]

Interesting. What made you go with the cool white LED? To better duplicate the light bulbs you were replacing, I would think a warm white (3500K) LED would be better.
These actually were advertised as 3500K spectrum, but are described as "cool white". I like the color temperature, especially behind the P-II's smoked display bezel. Will get a pic posted later, along with one of the 253's meter.


I also wonder what made the LEDS in the bayonet mount go bad. The only thing I can think of is over heating.
Poor chemistry, poor fabrication techniques...the bayonet style replacement bulbs never ran warm to the touch. I'm going with "Cheap Chinese junk components". Incidentally, I've gotten parts from the AP area which were of very good quality. So...YMMV.


Your terminal lugs might be good heatsinks, plus you space out the LEDs.
This was done more to get away from the point-source-light effect which will produce shadows in areas not directly illuminated, as the "spread" isn't the same as with an incandescent bulb. The spacing and added thermal dissipation capacity of the arrangement doesn't hurt.

Incidentally, vF is specified as 3.0-3.4v across each LED while keeping to their iMax of 20mA. This works very nicely with two in series connected to a 6v power source, as the maximums for each parameter are never exceeded even when operated at full brilliance.

ETA: The Paragon's meter backlight. The 253's version is a bit brighter (owing to the nature of its bezel filter) and I need to retake a pic with adjustments for contrast.

15146

[WZ7U]

The LED's sure make the meter look nice.

[N8YX]

The LED's sure make the meter look nice.
It actually looks a lot better in person. I never cared for the combination of incandescent lamp, meter backing material color and bezel filter color. The best way to describe the Paragon's updated meter lighting is "medium cool white". Conversely, the 253's is "bright neutral". It's very readable from across my shack.

[KG4NEL]

I'm sure a foglight draws significantly more current than that circuit was designed for. I would use the signal from the b\u light circuit to trip a relay to power the lamp.
There are many options I've discovered involving LED assemblies marketed mainly towards the 4x4 crowd. I've discovered a pair of LED foglights under $20 on Amazon and I have someone with a prime account to help hook a brother up. I will still use a relay circuit so I can trip them on in reverse or by toggle switch. Friggin LED's are awesome!

Interestingly enough,a lot of those guys who run LED headlights have issues with them in the snow, the LEDs don't have enough waste heat to melt the snow and ice...

[PA5COR]

Reverse lights are mostly 21 watt bulbs, i have 2 of them burning in reverse in my Hyundai Atoz.
That would be 42 watts or about 4 Amps, my fuse is a 5 amp fuse for them.
Fog and headlights are mostly 45/or 55 watts each.
H4 lamps are 55/65 watts here combined.
So, simply check fuse and go from there.

[KK4AMI]

Interestingly enough,a lot of those guys who run LED headlights have issues with them in the snow, the LEDs don't have enough waste heat to melt the snow and ice...

Huh, never thought of that. But then I haven't thought of snow in a while. Guess you have to go with wipers and washers on the headlights now.

Better yet, figure out how to blow engine compartment air through the lights.

[N8YX]

Interestingly enough,a lot of those guys who run LED headlights have issues with them in the snow, the LEDs don't have enough waste heat to melt the snow and ice...


Huh, never thought of that. But then I haven't thought of snow in a while. Guess you have to go with wipers and washers on the headlights now.

Better yet, figure out how to blow engine compartment air through the lights.

I converted one of my motorcycle headlights to an LED bulb (6000K; 3500 lumens) last spring. While the new light nicely illuminates road signs and other objects waayyyyy out yonder, it falls a little short in the near-field department. Not in intensity, mind you - the light is evenly distributed throughout the beam pattern. It's more a matter of spectrum: The pavement itself seems to fluoresce better with a color temperature of around 2800-3500K.

Thus, I run my flanking spotlights (equipped with 35w incandescents) in conjunction with the main light. Works very well. I want to eliminate some of the remaining current draw.

This summer I'm going to replace all of them with a Daymaker setup in as low a color temperature as I can find.

[KK4AMI]

Amber lens might help there as well. I know they have LEDs that emit from infrared to ultraviolet, mixing it up might help.

[KG4NEL]

I'm just solving the issue by going with non-DOT approved H4 bulbs when I upgrade later this year :mrgreen:

I love NC's almost total-lack of vehicle inspections...

[KG4CGC]

I'm just solving the issue by going with non-DOT approved H4 bulbs when I upgrade later this year :mrgreen:

I love NC's almost total-lack of vehicle inspections...

Worse in SC. People running those super bright white lights are bad enough but the install, the INSTALL! They don't know, or care, that lights can be aimed and low beams are LOW for a reason. Currently there is a penis competition over headlights and light bars.
Put it this way, judicious use of such extreme lighting is unheard of. Hyperbole? Maybe but, late night in Pickens County it is easy to mistake vehicular lighting for ground traveling UFOs.

[WZ7U]

The same shit goes on out in the woods of NW OR too. WTF??

[KK4AMI]

Funny that you guys bring that up. I took my wife to CVS to pick up her drugs. While I was waiting in the parking lot, a "Huge" Ford pickup parked in front of me. His bumper and grill were up to my windshield. He had so many lights on his truck, that I was afraid if he accidentally hit the rocker switch, I would die like a moth in a bug zapper.

[K7SGJ]

It's not just vehicles, either. When we first moved out here, we enjoyed a fire in the pit while watching the sky. One could see many, many things that are now obscure. This, of course, is due to all of the light pollution. I can't understand the mentality of city dwellers that come out to the desert, and build brick walls all around their place, light it up 24/7 like the Queen Mary, and worst of all, they tear out all the vegetation by clear cutting their property, (which in many cases is illegal) and then, they put down purple gravel. I mean really, what the fuck is wrong with these people? Granted, not everyone does this, but it is becoming more and more commonplace. I can't remember the last time we were able to see anything but the brightest of stars and planets. Being able to star gaze was one of the main draws for us building this place, and living here. I guess we just didn't homestead far enough north.

I think I'll take the dogs out and go fishing today.