solitaire mod??

[Marduke]

This
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/solitaire.htm

or this
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/solitaire2.htm

or this
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/yc_stepup_sol.htm

or this
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/steve_c_soliltaire.htm

or this
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/aeryk_sol.htm

or this
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/mods/yitah_w_solitaire.htm

 

[rhuck60]

thanks to Marduke for so many different links. I never knew a solitaire could be modded so mny different ways. Your basic solitaire is about the worlds dimmest bulb.
I think I will use a 3mm white LED. Can anyone recommend a good one and a source? All I have are some junky ones from Hong Kong.:huh:

 

[poppeye]

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to do this modification? I did it because I wanted a bright-ish LED powered light that would fit on my keyring.

However, I have since discovered the Fenix L0D-CE (AAA-powered Cree LED). Same size as a Maglite Solitaire, but blows it out of the water in terms of output!

ummmmmm OK then no clue what you just said but that is the only one at raidio shack and i dont want to dril for 5mm

 

[greenLED]

what keeps the 12 volt battery from blowing the 3mm LED? Isnt 3.6 - 3.8 about the maximum listed voltage for a white LED? :thinking:

High internal resistance of that battery. No doubt you're overdriving the LED, but it's a cool mod to play with.

 

[Gunner12]

ummmmmm OK then no clue what you just said but that is the only one at raidio shack and i dont want to dril for 5mm

I think he means buy a new light. He was referring to the Fenix L0D-CE, a Cree XR-E LED light that has more overall output then the Maglite 3D on high and runs on a AAA battery. It is about the same size as the Solitaire, but with more useful light output, multimode, more runtime, is much brighter, and has a tougher outer coating then the solitaire. Once you use this light I doubt that you will ever want to use the stock solitaire.

There are many good stores online that won't cheat you for your money and Fenix stores ships pretty quickly and has good customer service. there is also a 8% off coupon, "CPF8".

If you still feel like modding, the Solitaire is a hard place to start because of it's small size.

 

[alphazeta]

Kind of OT, but my buddy tossed me his old beat up solitare after I modded a few of his D mags with proper heatsinks & crees... Believe it or not, that was my first soli...

Anyhow, a cheap 14mcd 5mm, a rattail file, some tinfoil (my replacement spring ) & a 10440... 5 minutes later this has now become my middle of the night light...

& yes, except for the ti, I have every 1aaa light every made from Fenix, self-seouled E1s, etc.... But this "pathetic" 5mm solitaire has become my current favorite =)

Of course, maybe it's b/c I have a tendency to *roll* lights off my bedstand & cringe each time.. no worries about this beater taking another bump...

Before the big boys chime in -> yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll keep my trap shut & go pick up a Novatac for some low light restroom trips...

 

[Gunner12]

How is the LED taking the extra power from the 10440 battery?

 

[alphazeta]

How is the LED taking the extra power from the 10440 battery?

I too was worried about the drain on the 10440.... After about 10 minutes of run, the battery still read 4.19v (start there too)

I have not noticed the LED dimming.. But it's hard too say. On the other hand, I did try running a 12v 23A in the light thinking the internal resistance would kick in. That led quickly greened out & died.

The light is absolutely USELESS in daytime but, it just give a perfect moonlight glow. Think floody Arc-P or Fenix E0. I had a a red emitting cree that was going to be popped into one of my emitter-free L*D heads. But I might not need that light for night time use after all.

I've only been using the soli for a little over a week on the same 10440. I'll let you know if it craps out. Then again a bag of 100pcs of cheap 14,000mcd 5mm is what? $7. I'll be bored of the light before I run out of 5mms..


Here were some quick snaps i took whilst slappign this thing up last week...

Jam the 5mm in the head whilst chatting w/ pal over a beer...

Nah, you can look... no way u can be blinded by that wimpy guy...

Very cheesy beam profile shot... beers are kicking in.. it looked like it was in focus whilst i was snappping the pic...

 

[alphazeta]

Okay, being slightly less lazy, I took a current reading from the tail & my DMM bounced between 0.01 & 0.02 amps.... So it looks like 5mm LED ISN"T being overdriven at all...

Want a reading from the front? Sorry, I'm too lazy to bust out the tiny alligator clamps for that

 

[Gunner12]

Seems like there is either a lot of resistance or the LEDs have a very high Vf. Either way, seems to be the perfect night time light.

Presuming 400mA from the 10440 battery, runtime should be around 20-40 hours. Seems like a great long runtime/emergency light and should also be very reliable.

 

[koala]

I did a mod not long ago... at that time high power AAAs are not easy to find.

Since then I have done quite a few for family members. If I were to do it again, I would use Rebel which suit the reflector well and small enough. Still a 1.5V AAA for common primary source.