# Rayovac 1aa headlamp



## f22shift (Jul 16, 2007)

seems like this form is becoming more popular. i'm going to give it a try. pretty cheap around $18. i don't think it'll steal zebralight customers but might be a cheap alternative for ppl on the borderline.

2 reviews already
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/169468
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/169650


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## ltiu (Jul 16, 2007)

f22shift said:


> seems like this form is becoming more popular. i'm going to give it a try. pretty cheap around $18. i don't think it'll steal zebralight customers but might be a cheap alternative for ppl on the borderline.
> 
> 2 reviews already
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/169468
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/169650



Only issue I have is the button switch turns on inside my pack.

Otherwise, it's light, bright, powerful and cheap.


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## PJD (Jul 21, 2007)

I just picked one up today, and for the price I think it's an awesome little headlight! It's easily replaced my RR 2XAAA .5W headlight as my "user". The 1W beam has a very nice, white tint, and the diffuser lens makes it perfect for up-close tasks! Also, the red and blue 5mm LED's are just about the most artifact-free of any colored LED's I've seen. IMHO, worth every penny I paid for it! As usual, YMMV...

PJD


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## BlackDecker (Jul 21, 2007)

Went by the Wal-Mart in Yukon, OK - it was $18.83. 







The Luxeon puts out a nice beam, and the diffuser does a good job of turning it into a flood. The headband is a bit skimpy and thin, but with only 1AA, it's not very heavy at all. Not a bad headlamp for $20. I put in an old 1800mah Duracell NiMh, seems to work great. Even noticed a thin layer of lube around the O-ring and threads.


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## paulr (Jul 21, 2007)

This looks great. Any idea if any CPF dealers have them?


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## fishx65 (Jul 24, 2007)

I was just in Gander Mountain today and saw that Browning is selling this exact headlamp for $50.00!!!! It's under there Black Ice name and has a green led in place of one of the red ones. Talk about a price mark-up!!!!!


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## lasercrazy (Jul 24, 2007)

I was looking carefully at this the other day at walmart. Anyone know what kind of luxeon this uses? I was looking through the optic and it doesn't look like a regular luxeon, I wonder if it's the new rebel led. :thinking:


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## fishx65 (Jul 24, 2007)

You could be right Laser cuz the old Lux-Lottery does not seem to be in play with this one. So far it sounds like everyone has been getting a nice white tint!


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## BlackDecker (Jul 24, 2007)

lasercrazy said:


> I was looking carefully at this the other day at walmart. Anyone know what kind of luxeon this uses? I was looking through the optic and it doesn't look like a regular luxeon, I wonder if it's the new rebel led. :thinking:



It's very hard to tell what LED is in this headlamp, as there is a convex/concave (no idea which type applies here) lens over the center of the LED which helps to create more throw. It distorts the view of the LED inside.


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## jdriller (Jul 24, 2007)

I just bought pair of these that were on the floor at Wallyworld. Nice, bright, white, and light. Gotta love that difuser.


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## half-watt (Jul 25, 2007)

jdriller said:


> I'm glad it is dark, half of the time.




jd, love that signature line of yours. couldn't agree more. IMO, it's the best thing about winter - fewer daylight hours!!


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## whippoorwill (Jul 29, 2007)

fishx65 said:


> I was just in Gander Mountain today and saw that Browning is selling this exact headlamp for $50.00!!!! It's under there Black Ice name and has a green led in place of one of the red ones. Talk about a price mark-up!!!!!


 
He's right! Cabelas and BassPro Shops are selling this headlamp for $45 in camo. Jeez! I knew there was a premium for Browning! Browning sells quality so this is a unequivocal vote on the part of Browning.


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## MojoLight (Aug 3, 2007)

ltiu said:


> Only issue I have is the button switch turns on inside my pack.
> 
> Otherwise, it's light, bright, powerful and cheap.


 
Try backing the battery cap off a bit and it locks it out. I like that for two reasons....keeping it from turning on in my pack and turning the light off from red or blue without hitting the brighter level.


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## Flying Turtle (Aug 3, 2007)

It had never occurred to me to turn it off from red or blue that way. Thanks Mojo.

Geoff


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## supes (Aug 4, 2007)

I love this headlamp particularily because of its price and 1AA format. The diffuser lens accessible for either side is genius. 

Now if only they had a switch for the white LED and another switch for the red and blue,(so I don't have to cycle) like on the Petzl Tac XP, then it would be bloody perfect!

I'm thinking about buying another for some car kit...


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## Lux Luthor (Aug 6, 2007)

Finally found one in my area (Manchester Walmart, if anyone is in CT). I really like this light. It feels solid, but doesn't weigh much. It's smaller and more comfortable than my EOS, although the EOS is substantially brighter, especially modded to SSC (I don't have one in Lux form to compare, since I already modded both of mine).

The Lux is very white (although not quite snow white, but that's very rare). Without the diffuser it has an amazingly tight beam for such a small optic. It still has some spill (depends how dark it is), and the hot spot is nice and even. The thing actually throws pretty decent. Diffuser is nice, but an EOS with a couple coats of satin scotch tape is more even, and extends more out to the sides. Colors are nice and bright, and surprisingly even (for colored LEDs). The diffuser with the colors throws light in your face (not your glasses, your face). Next time I'm at the mall I may ask for some black nail polish, and see if I can clean that up. I'll just say my girlfriend's a goth, and hope for no further questions. 

Looking at the pictures I thought the light looked weird, but it's really very ergonomic. It's kind of an elegant design, really. Now if we can just find some phospor coating to put on the blue, or maybe we could blast Rayovac with respectful and ego stroking emails to give us a low level white. I don't mind the blue LED, as atleast it looks cool, but if we could just get another level for the Lux I'd be very happy.


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## RonM (Aug 6, 2007)

I picked one up a couple weeks ago at Walmart and just love it. Truly one of the great bargains in the flashlight world. Only wish is that they would have replaced the blue LED with a a white 5mm for reading. The high power white works well for reading with the diffuser on, but it's a lot more light than needed.

Hate to complain because this light really is soooooo good. Finally a decent headlamp with a diffuser that can use a single AA. The high power LED is awesome. Really nice color and great throw with side spill.

I plan to put one in the glove compartment of each car.


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## f22shift (Aug 7, 2007)

anyone get this instead of zebralight?


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## Gryffin (Aug 7, 2007)

Lux Luthor said:


> The diffuser with the colors throws light in your face (not your glasses, your face). Next time I'm at the mall I may ask for some black nail polish, and see if I can clean that up.



I noticed that, too. It needs a "rim" around the bottom of the 5mm LEDs like it has below the Lux. I modded mine with a bit of black vinyl electrical tape: cut off an inch and a half or so, folded over one long edge ~1/8" to form the rim, then stuck it to the bottom of the light housing so that the folded rim protrudes forward. When I tested it, though, I found that I now noticed the "tab" of the diffuser glowing; a little more electrical tape on the outside of that tab, trimmed to match the edge, and I don't see the diffused glow at all anymore. The new mod cost dang near nuthin', and since it's made of soft tape, it's unlikely to get knocked off; I'll prolly just need to do it again a year or two from now, if the tape gets torn over time.



Lux Luthor said:


> Looking at the pictures I thought the light looked weird, but it's really very ergonomic. It's kind of an elegant design, really.



I've found that I can wrap the headband around the light housing, in such a way that it stays put. Very handy for pocket carry. But I was amazed when I plopped it on my dresser next to my Petzl E+Lite in it's case; the Ray-O-Vac with strap stowed was nearly as small and compact and the E+Lite! And cheaper, too, and no button cells to scrounge... anybody wanna buy an E+Lite? 



Lux Luthor said:


> Now if we can just find some phospor coating to put on the blue, or maybe we could blast Rayovac with respectful and ego stroking emails to give us a low level white. I don't mind the blue LED, as atleast it looks cool, but if we could just get another level for the Lux I'd be very happy.



I'd prefer a white 5mm LED in there, too, for reading at night; but oddly enough, the blue LED (with the diffuser) works pretty well for reading. It's definitely better than the red, and I find the white Lux, even with the diffuser, to be too bright, so I guess I can learn to live with the blue!


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## mdocod (Aug 7, 2007)

I just checked the rayovac website, it says it's a luxeon LED... though I wouldn't put 100% faith in that, as their product packaging and website has been riddled with errors for years.

http://www.rayovac.com/flashlight/se1whlt-b.shtml

I *was* really tempted to buy one of these when I saw it at walmart the other day, finally a 1AA headlamp, diffuser lens to boot!!. But beings that it uses a special focusing lens of sorts, it's probably difficult to upgrade the emitter and maintain focus. I'd personally rather have a 2-4 level rebel/cree/seoul and no 5mm LEDs. So for now I'm going to upgrade my argo HP and keep a look out for what I really want. (basically something more like the argo, but powered by AA cell/cells, with Seoul/Cree/Rebel from the factory and ideally some more levels of output than the argo, who's 2 levels are fine with the lower output luxeon, but the low will become like high after an upgrade and become too bright for up close tasks.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Aug 7, 2007)

I agree with MOST of what has been said. I too wish the blue LED was white.

However I DON'T find the LUX too bright with or without the diffuser, and use it WITH for reading in bed. I flip it over to cover the RED LED for late night/early morning trips to the throne!

Blue light bothers me more than it does a lot of people, so I generally click by it with my other hand in the way.


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## Lux Luthor (Aug 7, 2007)

Gryffin said:


> ... I modded mine with a bit of black vinyl electrical tape: cut off an inch and a half or so, folded over one long edge ~1/8" to form the rim, then stuck it to the bottom of the light housing so that the folded rim protrudes forward. When I tested it, though, I found that I now noticed the "tab" of the diffuser glowing; a little more electrical tape on the outside of that tab, trimmed to match the edge, and I don't see the diffused glow at all anymore...



I'll give that a try. I don't really feel like asking for nail polish anyway. 



Gryffin said:


> ...I've found that I can wrap the headband around the light housing, in such a way that it stays put. Very handy for pocket carry...



I just tried wrapping it around the headplate, and then pushing the light housing up against it. It seems to stay put this way. The plastic lanyard for the battery cover seems to hold it in place.



Gryffin said:


> ...I'd prefer a white 5mm LED in there, too, for reading at night...



I think you're right. I'd prefer a 5mm white too.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Aug 8, 2007)

Oh yeah, I forgot something. With my glasses on the blue or red will bother me some by reflecting off of them.

But my big Cromagnum slanted head keeps it out of my eyes with glasses off.


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## 2ManyLights (Aug 10, 2007)

Lux Luthor said:


> or maybe we could blast Rayovac with respectful and ego stroking emails to give us a low level white.


 
I'd even like to see green instead of blue since green throws farther and the eye is most sensitive to shades of green.


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## beautifully-stupid (Aug 11, 2007)

1 green 5mm
1 white 5mm
1 Red 5mm
1 1 watt 


ohh.. and I secure the strap by folding it over itself several times and securing to the base plate via rubber bands, Secure, and relatively flat.


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## s.c. (Aug 20, 2007)

does anyone have problems with a buzzing sound when on the colored LEDs? on mine, the red and blue give different pitches, nothing on the white. any one else?


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## gunga (Aug 20, 2007)

Any one seen one of these in Canada? I would love to pick one up...


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## BlackDecker (Aug 20, 2007)

s.c. said:


> does anyone have problems with a buzzing sound when on the colored LEDs? on mine, the red and blue give different pitches, nothing on the white. any one else?



No, I can't say that I hear any sound coming from the unit while operating either of the colored LED's.


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## silthdraeth (Aug 20, 2007)

I plan to pick this light up. I bought the 3W 2x AA Rayovac, the 4W 3xC and now I will get this one.

Maybe in a few years, I might be able to afford some of the expensive lights, but these all seem really nice for the money. If I buy anything more than this, my wife will kill me.


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## s.c. (Aug 20, 2007)

BlackDecker said:


> No, I can't say that I hear any sound coming from the unit while operating either of the colored LED's.


 
I went ahead and returned that one, it was really annoying. I now have two of them, they're great little lights.


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## swxb12 (Aug 22, 2007)

Almost passed it on the shelf at Walmart. Didn't realize the light and packaging were space savers .

Had to help a friend replace a tub fixture in a windowless, unlit (light broke) bathroom that same day. Rayovac to the rescue after popping in the included battery. :twothumbs

I left the light in backpack and found that it had turned on accidentally...but I hear a lot of headlamps have this issue because of the location and type of switch usually used.


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## light_emitting_dude (Aug 22, 2007)

Got to use mine the other night. Had a power outage for about 2 hours. Worked great with the diffuser for getting around the house and its very lightweight! I am running mine with an E2 lithium.


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## GaryF (Aug 23, 2007)

swxb12 said:


> I left the light in backpack and found that it had turned on accidentally...but I hear a lot of headlamps have this issue because of the location and type of switch usually used.



It's a common issue, but some are worse about it than others. The Rayovac seems to get turned on more easily than most. I just back the battery cover off about half a turn, and it is no longer a worry.


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## Turbo DV8 (Aug 25, 2007)

MojoLight said:


> Try backing the battery cap off a bit and it locks it out. I like that for two reasons....keeping it from turning on in my pack and turning the light off from red or blue without hitting the brighter level.


 
I don't have this light, but I have I believe the Dorcy 3AA with battery pack on the rear. It's literature did not state that the unit could be turned off from any mode simply by depressing the power button for more than 1 second, but that is the way it works. Is there any chance this light can also be turned off from any mode in the same way? Anybody tried it?


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## Flying Turtle (Aug 25, 2007)

Just tried holding the button down to turn off. No go. Too bad.

Geoff


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## spock (Aug 27, 2007)

just bought this light at wal-mart last week. i love it. here is a trick that works for me. when you rotate the diffuser over the spot, stop just shy of snapping it in place. gives a softer spot with a wide dispersion of the main beam. when you want full diffusion, just snap it in place. i keep my diffuser lens in the unlocked position over the main beam. easy to switch it out of the way for max distance.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Aug 27, 2007)

I charged up some "known" good 2500 NimH and have kept them near the headlamp. In two nights of reading the main beam goes out.

I guess I need to try some other batteries.


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## BlackDecker (Aug 27, 2007)

I get between 2 and 2.5 hours of use out of a Sanyo Eneloop AA battery. My only complaint is that the main light goes *blink* when the battery voltage drops to around 1.1v. I can switch back to the red or blue LED's and get a few more seconds each, but that's it. 

I'm going to try Energizer Lithium AA's in the light for backpacking trips and see if that gains me a bit longer runtime.


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## f22shift (Aug 28, 2007)

finally got it.

review with beamshots!
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/173333


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## swxb12 (Aug 28, 2007)

Dropped my Rayovac from hand to hardwood floor. Ceased to function, no visible damage on the exterior. Can this thing even be opened up?

Pressed the button super hard, and it works again. Have to press it down super hard every single time for it to turn on and cycle now, though. Guess the switch inside shifted a little? I have to figure out how to pry this open sometime.

And yes, when it feels it is finished with the battery it just shuts off completely. It'll come back for a few seconds at a time if you turn it on again until it really can't handle it anymore . Definitely need to carry spares!


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## jar3ds (Aug 28, 2007)

yeah.... i'm sorry guys... but i use a lot of headlamps and I went to walmart to look at this rayovac 1aa headlamp... and i'm sorry to say... i couldn't pull the plug...

its just not a good deal.... if it was $8... i'd buy it... but for what you pay you could just buy some princeton tec headlamp


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## f22shift (Aug 28, 2007)

jar3ds said:


> yeah.... i'm sorry guys... but i use a lot of headlamps and I went to walmart to look at this rayovac 1aa headlamp... and i'm sorry to say... i couldn't pull the plug...
> 
> its just not a good deal.... if it was $8... i'd buy it... but for what you pay you could just buy some princeton tec headlamp


 
it's the form factor. i could take only AA batteries with me to camping for various light. i still might get the zebralight also though.


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## BlackDecker (Aug 28, 2007)

swxb12 said:


> Dropped my Rayovac from hand to hardwood floor. Ceased to function, no visible damage on the exterior. Can this thing even be opened up?
> 
> Pressed the button super hard, and it works again. Have to press it down super hard every single time for it to turn on and cycle now, though. Guess the switch inside shifted a little? I have to figure out how to pry this open sometime.
> 
> And yes, when it feels it is finished with the battery it just shuts off completely. It'll come back for a few seconds at a time if you turn it on again until it really can't handle it anymore . Definitely need to carry spares!



Nope, it's glued/welded shut. You'd destroy the case prying it open. Someone here tried opening the case in order to swap the blue LED for a white one.


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## f22shift (Aug 28, 2007)

swxb12 said:


> Dropped my Rayovac from hand to hardwood floor. Ceased to function, no visible damage on the exterior. Can this thing even be opened up?
> 
> Pressed the button super hard, and it works again. Have to press it down super hard every single time for it to turn on and cycle now, though. Guess the switch inside shifted a little? I have to figure out how to pry this open sometime.
> 
> And yes, when it feels it is finished with the battery it just shuts off completely. It'll come back for a few seconds at a time if you turn it on again until it really can't handle it anymore . Definitely need to carry spares!


exchange it


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Aug 28, 2007)

Yep. When it hits the end of acceptable battery power it almost goes out like the flick of a light switch.

Kinda hoovers when I'm almost asleep and reading to have that happen. I keep batteries close and CAN change it...

But it's easier to use my older Energizer 3 LED with the slide switch. Red to get all settled with my book and white to read.


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## RonM (Aug 30, 2007)

jar3ds said:


> yeah.... i'm sorry guys... but i use a lot of headlamps and I went to walmart to look at this rayovac 1aa headlamp... and i'm sorry to say... i couldn't pull the plug...
> 
> its just not a good deal.... if it was $8... i'd buy it... but for what you pay you could just buy some princeton tec headlamp



Does PT have a single AA offering with similar or more features? It's that 1AA form factor that was the big draw for me.


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## s23246g (Oct 18, 2007)

I've had this light for a month or so, and I love it. It totally blows away the 3aaa Energizer I replaced with it. Took it deer hunting, hoping to see how well the blue led worked on blood, but unfortunately all the deer managed to keep their blood that night.

The patterns on this cheap LED are far superior to the ones on the Streamlight Sidewinder I spent $60 on. 

I also use it for bike riding at night... works great, with good throw. And when it started going out on the way home, I was able to get home by turning it off for a couple of seconds and then back on. Made it home with enough to get ready for bed with the blue led.

Lots of bang for the buck IMO.


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## degarb (Oct 27, 2007)

> Yep. When it hits the end of acceptable battery power it almost goes out like the flick of a light switch.



I tried Brinkman (1 watt, the shallow reflectored Dorcy 1 watt) My favorite light by far is Garrity 8 led (1watt, 3 white, 4 red), which Wall Mart discontinued recently, and now, one only can buy from Garrity, directly. It has 11 hours of super bright usable light, and 20 hours of very bright light, and 50 hours of battery life on low level. Yes, I dropped it many times onto concrete, too. Used it in a light rain. 

This Ray-O-Vac light is tempting (to convert to wrist light), but doesn't seem very efficient. If 3 AA gives 20 hours, I expect 6 from one AA on 1 watt. and 10 hours with a type %50 of 1 watt setting.

Then, what’s up with the no white led for reading? 

Surprisingly, to a greater advantage than my 1500 watt halogen work light, I find a dynamic, constantly moving lighting helps move the shadows, thus making texture more noticeable, detectable, than with a stationary halogen or even daylight. So--day or night--, I use headlamps for carpentry, drywall, automotive, painting, sanding, caulking work. In addition to my headlamp, I make my own wrist-lamps for an extra alternative angle to see more texture.

Is there a place to complain to their missed design? Improvements to the paltry 2 hours of working time?


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## Any Cal. (Oct 28, 2007)

I finally got one. Have only had it a couple days. I bought it for the battery type, and the easily changeable spot/flood on the led, and the red leds. I really like the light. It seems more comfortable than my tikka. The white flood is very nice, with the ability to go to a spot. It was a toss-up between this and the zebra light, but I chose this due to the addition of the red led's and spot pattern. 

So far, I am really impressed w/ the light, especially given it's price point. I don't know about battery life, but am not really worried about it, since it will only see rechargeables.

Time will tell if I continue to like it as much, but right now I have to say, if I am not the last person on earth to buy one, that you should give it a shot. 

1 AA is nice.
The flood beam is nice.
The diffused red led is nice.
It is lightweight.
It is comfortable.

Thanks everyone for convincing me to get one of these.


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## kitelights (Oct 29, 2007)

degarb said:


> I tried Brinkman (1 watt, the shallow reflectored Dorcy 1 watt) My favorite light by far is Garrity 8 led (1watt, 3 white, 4 red), which Wall Mart discontinued recently, and now, one only can buy from Garrity, directly. It has 11 hours of super bright usable light, and 20 hours of very bright light, and 50 hours of battery life on low level. Yes, I dropped it many times onto concrete, too. Used it in a light rain.
> 
> This Ray-O-Vac light is tempting (to convert to wrist light), but doesn't seem very efficient. If 3 AA gives 20 hours, I expect 6 from one AA on 1 watt. and 10 hours with a type %50 of 1 watt setting.
> 
> ...


The long run times that you're referring to - are YOU getting those run times, or are you getting those figures from the package that they came in? If you're going on experience, then you will have discovered that the light is not regulated and dims as the batteries are depleted. Any three cell 1.5V LED light is highly likely to not be regulated. If it WERE regulated, it would be more efficient than requiring a single 1.5V cell to do the same job. An unregulated LED will run for a very long time, however at a drastically decreased output.

Obviously, that's not a fair comparison to a regulated light that has the same output when it poops out as when it started on fresh cells. Add to that the small lightweight form factor that weighs at least 3 times less than the Garrity and a 2+ hour run time on a single AA cell is still pretty impressive to me.

The diffuser makes it a perfect light for reading, although I agree with others that one or two 5mm white LEDs would be very practical and a lower power mode would be nice; although, if it was set up to cycle with both one or two of the white 5mm LEDs, I don't think that the low mode would be necessary.

Bottom line is that I just don't have much respect for 3 cell 1.5V LED lights, especially compared to a single cell one that is doing a better than average job.


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## GaryF (Oct 29, 2007)

I really like the Rayovac 1aa headlamp overall, but in support of degarb, my biggest gripe is the runtime. A point of comparison would be the Fenix L1d-CE, which puts out about the same amount of light (medium setting) for close to 6 hours from a single AA battery.

An easy change that would help a lot would be to use a white 5mm led in place of the blue. This would offer a long run time with a white LED at reduced brightness.

My wish list would be: Replace the Luxeon with a Seoul SSC4 or Cree LED, and adjust the circuit to increase runtime while maintaining brightness comparable to the current Luxeon. Give a high and low option for the primary LED, and get rid of the blue. A 6 hour runtime on high might be optimistic, but 4 hours or more should be fairly easy to achieve.


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## kitelights (Oct 29, 2007)

You're comparing a light that costs 3x what the ROV does - not exactly apples to apples. 

Your suggestions for improvement, IMO, are good. Has anyone yet determined exactly what LED is used in the ROV? If it's a low grade Lux I, then a decent Cree or Seoul would probably double the run time with a little adjustment. But, as the "improvements" are made, I doubt that it'll remain an $18 light.

You can get a bulky, heavy multi cell head lamp that'll run longer and or brighter (I've got them), or you can pay more money and get the small, lightweight form factor that's longer running and brighter with the ZebraLight. Currently the ZL only offers a flood, but they will have future models that offer different beam patterns. I personally think that they're well worth the money.

But, for the size, weight, cost and availability, I still think that the ROV is an exceptional value with a very adequate run time for a single AA light. I do hope that they're reading this thread and considering the input for future versions.


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## GaryF (Oct 29, 2007)

kitelights said:


> Has anyone yet determined exactly what LED is used in the ROV?



It's a 1 W Luxeon according to the product's web page: http://www.rayovac.com/flashlight/se1whlt-b.shtml

I agree the ROV is a good value. With the selectable flood or throw it's the most versatile small headlamp I have. That said, I'd pay more for one with better runtime, and I think they could do that without a huge redesign.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Oct 29, 2007)

Put a white LED in place of the blue and it would be an in-the-park homerun.

Put an SSC or Cree instead of the 1W and a white LED instead of the blue and it would be a Grand Slam!

As it is, I'm glad I got one!


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## Turbo DV8 (Nov 12, 2007)

I just bought one of these today. Has anybody noticed this? When I push the power button to turn the red LED's on, the red LED's come on full brightness, but as soon as I release the pressure on the switch button, the brightness diminishes by about 10-20%. It is not huge, but would like to know if other's units do the same thing, or do I have a lemon? Would some of you take yours into a dark room where the brighness shift would be noticeable, press the button while noting brightness, then remove the pressure from your finger on the switch to see if the brightness diminishes. Thankyou mery vuch.


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## Magichunter (Nov 12, 2007)

Yep, mine does the same thing. It's not broken; I guess thats just the way it is.


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## LightBen (Nov 13, 2007)

Mine does that also.


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## Turbo DV8 (Nov 14, 2007)

*Is it my imagination?*

It could be my eyes playing tricks on me, but I swear once the 1 watt LED has been on for a few minutes, the output diminishes significantly. This is with freshly charged Eneloop cell. I am wondering with such a small and unventilated enclosure, is the regulator cutting power to the LED as it heats up? Anybody else sense the light output drops off after a few minutes? Or are my rods and cones frying from the blazing 1-watter?


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## lasercrazy (Nov 14, 2007)

*Re: Is it my imagination?*

I noticed it dimming slightly after about 2 hours not a few minutes. Maybe you have a defective unit.


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## MorePower (Nov 14, 2007)

Check my post in the other thread for a runtime chart. There's an initial drop using alkalines (it would be smaller for NiMH), followed by fairly flat regulation after that.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2225322&postcount=49


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## Turbo DV8 (Nov 15, 2007)

MorePower said:


> Check my post in the other thread for a runtime chart. There's an initial drop using alkalines (it would be smaller for NiMH), followed by fairly flat regulation after that.
> 
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2225322&postcount=49


 

I only use LSD NiMH. The output recovers if I turn the unit off for a bit, then when I turn it back on it is bright for several minutes, then the cycle repeats, so I don't think it's that initial drop. Maybe time to buy another one and compare...


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## hopkins (Nov 15, 2007)

I bought mine at Walmart and love it. Wickedly bright & tight beam !
Runtime on the 1watt luxeon
-measured the current drain as 760ma- 
was 3 hours with a NimH. Then the blue LED ran for another hour. Measured the battery at 0.54 volts when it cut off completely.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Nov 15, 2007)

.54V is down in the damage territory if I'm not mistaken....

I still use mine now and again to read in bed, but more often use the slide switch 2 white/1 red Energizer.


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## hopkins (Nov 15, 2007)

*RF storm from Rayovac 1aa headlamp*

Yes probably damaged it with my experiment. I marked it and all my old/low capacity AA NimH's with a black Sharpie.

This headlamp makes alot of RF noise. Hold it near an AM radio; it really 
'screams' for the red and blue LED's but only puts out a 'hiss' when the 
1watt luxeon is on. Wonder about having it strapped to the forehead
now.


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## GaryF (Nov 16, 2007)

That voltage is pretty low, but it's not as bad in a single cell application as it would be in a multicell light, where the risk of a reversed cell would be high. One cycle to that level in a single cell light should be pretty harmless. For comparison I believe the single AA Zebralight cuts off somewhere between .9 and 1 volt.


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## hopkins (Nov 18, 2007)

.
The blue and red LED's from my RAYOVAC 1aa headlamp made our kitchen
dishwashing soap appear very strange. Wonder what they put in this goop
to create this. Under the blue is seems to glow brighter than the light does.
Very cool.

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/ff319/12eric/?action=view&current=Rayovac1aaaRBW.jpg​


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## hopkins (Nov 19, 2007)

picture of beams comparison Rayovac 1AA headlamp and a Maglite
2D cell with the 3watt LED upgrade from our patio down to the sidewalk.
.
http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/ff319/12eric/?action=view&current=Rayovacbeamcomparison.jpg
.
The 1watt Lux of the Rayovac is dimmer than the Maglite 3watt Lux but
its still outstanding for the little headlamp.


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## RonM (Nov 19, 2007)

Hopkins - I see from your photo page that you opened up the ROV 1AA. Cool. How did you do that and could you reassemble it or was it destroyed?

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/ff319/12eric/?action=view&current=sportman1AAheadlampcircuit.jpg


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## Turbo DV8 (Nov 19, 2007)

RonM said:


> Hopkins - I see from your photo page that you opened up the ROV 1AA. Cool. How did you do that and could you reassemble it or was it destroyed?
> 
> http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/ff319/12eric/?action=view&current=sportman1AAheadlampcircuit.jpg


 
Like just about anything, it can be opened. Problem is putting it back together! It would be nice if it were possible, though. Then I think 99% of inclined people might junk that blue LED and toss in a white.


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## hopkins (Nov 19, 2007)

Hi RonM - oops, Sorry, but I copied that pic from the other thread for this headlamp and I hereby confess to the sin of not giving credit...:thumbsdow

--I did not open my Rayovac Sprotsman extreme 1AA headlamp after seeing
the broken bits of plastic. Seems this little dude is glued together.


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## hopkins (Nov 20, 2007)

the picture was posted by Quickbeam.


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## Niteowl (Nov 22, 2007)

I finally picked one up on sale and like it. It'll get the most use with close-up work due to the nice diffuser. I really like the single AA cell format. Most certainly a keep and one to recommend.

Like others, I findthe glare from the 5mm LEDs using the diffuser annoying. I'll paint the edge to remedy that. Unlike others, I like the blue LED.

My thanks to CPF for showing me another light I didn't know I needed......


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## LightObsession (Nov 24, 2007)

I don't like or need the red or blue LEDs and don't like having to cycle through them, so I'm trading it to my niece for something I will use.

I love the diffused light of the 1w LED. I wish it had three power levels.

I don't like the undiffused beam of the 1w LED. It seems ringy and not smooth.

I do like the 1AA format and look forward to future options with all white LEDS and multiple power levels.

Edit: The glare off of the bottom of the diffuser when it is over the red and blue LEDs can be avoided by not putting it quite all of the way down so that it doesn't click into place. This way, you still get most of the benefit of the diffuser, but without most of the glare off of the bottom of the diffuser.


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## Bogie (Nov 25, 2007)

I bought one just for hunting to replace the RoV 3 in 1 I had been using I like the unit overall but was a bit disappointed in the strap the $8 3in1 has a better base plate & a top strap that I like better, but I think due to the weight of the sportsman its not needed. I think RoV shuld market this as a Std model (ie non sportsman) without the Blue for more of you guys to be happy but I found the blue useful


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## hopkins (Dec 1, 2007)

Our Wallmart here just stocked more of them. Think they will make nice
presents with a lithium AA battery inside. The new rage amongst the relatives
is the crate of survival supplies carried in the trunk of the cars. 
You can imagine the endless chitchat about items carried...:green:

Everyone agrees that a hand held flash light is a pain, but ca'nt seem to make the logical step to needing a headlamp. They think it would look stupid...:mecry:


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## medicmerlynn (Dec 5, 2007)

just picked this little gem up today! can't believe the light coming of this marvel. it is WAY late so i'll post a review of it later, but this thing is EASILY worth the $20 it cost me... mtc.... oh, and what seems to be the *best* battery to run in this little guy?


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Dec 5, 2007)

I can report on one thing...

A lithium AA ran longer than NimH. I don't know exactly how much longer but longer. And when it ran out of power it dimmed fairly quickly, but at least it didn't blink out like it did with NimH.


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## BlackDecker (Dec 5, 2007)

medicmerlynn said:


> just picked this little gem up today! can't believe the light coming of this marvel. it is WAY late so i'll post a review of it later, but this thing is EASILY worth the $20 it cost me... mtc.... oh, and what seems to be the *best* battery to run in this little guy?



By far, the best battery to use in this headlamp is a Energizer L91 Lithium AA. Performs for about 33% longer than a Sanyo Eneloop NiMh. Another bonus is the lighter weight of a AA Lithium.


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## medicmerlynn (Dec 5, 2007)

BlackDecker.... preciate it man.... enter an 8-pack of Energizer L91s to my pocketbook today... totally stoked about this headlamp.... will hold me over til i can get an H50...


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## heliyardsale (Dec 11, 2007)

Nice little light. Once again, here goes more money... I also bought a Zebra too. I've been looking for this ROV for a while, all our surrounding Walmarts have been sold out. Today while waiting for my studded snow tires to be mounted, I found one hiding under some other lights on the bottom of the light display at a local Wally world. Very nice compliment to my apex. it will replace my aging Aurora. I can't wait to see how the Zebra light performs...
Heli


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## hopkins (Dec 13, 2007)

was doing cabinet making and had this headlamp on to make sure of
sawing the line perfectly when it blinked off. No dimming. It just went
off! Think it'd be nice if it blinked several times before dying to aviod
surprises.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Dec 13, 2007)

That happened to me reading in bed a few times using NimH.

When I put in a Lith AA it ran longer and did give me a little warning before it went out.

I just find it easier now to use my 2 "white" LED one red LED 3AAA slide switch Energizer.


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## TMorita (Dec 22, 2007)

Picked one of these up today on impulse at Wally World, and I'm surprised.

The build quality is pretty good and the diffuser works really well.

Like everyone else, I wish it was moddable, but it's pretty good for $20!

Ohyeah, nobody has mentioned this before, but it was a pseudo-LOTC battery cap - if you want to prevent it from turning on in your backpack or whatnot, just unscrew the battery cap about a quarter turn.

Toshi


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## Turbo DV8 (Dec 23, 2007)

Anybody take the plunge and cut off that tail cap retaining cord? Makes it a real b!tch to screw the cap with big fingers.

Anybody else find that the thin head band with small foam cushion with U-shaped cutout to cause forehead pain/forehead cushion imprint?

Really do wish battery life were longer. Using Hybrid & Eneloop NiMH, seems the high beam LED is always blinking off/dying a bit more often than I wished.


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## dave43 (Dec 23, 2007)

BlackDecker said:


> By far, the best battery to use in this headlamp is a Energizer L91 Lithium AA. Performs for about 33% longer than a Sanyo Eneloop NiMh. Another bonus is the lighter weight of a AA Lithium.



Where's the cheapest place to get L91 lithiums?


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## hopkins (Dec 23, 2007)

Hi turbo dv8
A trick to max the runtime is to use a rechargeable NimH right out of the charger.
There is a kind of extra capacity that fades in a half hour or so which can be
used instead in the headlamp if its inserted right away.


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## f22shift (Dec 29, 2007)

i couldn't help it. i had to mod this light. looks like there is o-rings for each led and for the optic lens. it's also greasy around the leds.
i wish this light was easy to take apart. it would be the number 1 headlamp here i think as it's very versatile. i mean you can put any different kind of leds in there and have the throw and the diffused in a simple 1aa format.

anyway so far i swapped the blue led with the led from my fauxton(22,000mcd? dunno). i'm still waiting for my ssc p4 to come in to swap the 1watt luxeon. looks pretty easy. there's a screw-in heatsink in the back that you have to remove to access the solder points. i was tempted to put in a uv led to replace the blue as it would be fun but then my common sense kicked in. the white would be more practical and offer long runtimes in an emergency.

i just sawed open the case with the saw from a swiss army knife. if i had to do it again i would used a hack saw since it would be a thinner cut(less to fill in).
i plan on filling in with a glue gun since it hardens to a plastic feel. then i will get a bike tubing and cover the glued in gap to make it look for cleaner. kind of rubber around the whole housing. 

i'm not sure if i listed the current draw from the battery before. it's
220 for the red
140 for the blue(white now)
670 for the 1 watt

since the 1 watt runs about 2 hrs, i'll guesstimate that the red would run 6hrs and the white about 10hrs. 

hmm i wonder if i should've put 2 white then 1 red...


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## BlackDecker (Dec 29, 2007)

f22shift said:


> i couldn't help it. i had to mod this light. looks like there is o-rings for each led and for the optic lens. it's also greasy around the leds.
> i wish this light was easy to take apart. it would be the number 1 headlamp here i think as it's very versatile. i mean you can put any different kind of leds in there and have the throw and the diffused in a simple 1aa format.
> 
> anyway so far i swapped the blue led with the led from my fauxton(22,000mcd? dunno). i'm still waiting for my ssc p4 to come in to swap the 1watt luxeon. looks pretty easy. there's a screw-in heatsink in the back that you have to remove to access the solder points. i was tempted to put in a uv led to replace the blue as it would be fun but then my common sense kicked in. the white would be more practical and offer long runtimes in an emergency.
> ...




Nice job... would love to see some pics of the dissasemby and reassembly.


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## EXPY (Dec 30, 2007)

Got mine Saturday evening.

A few observations:

The current draw on white is 700 ma, on red is 250 ma, and on blue is 160 ma. Approximate.

I find the blue workable particularly for battery savings in a SHTF where resupply might be an issue.

On blue, certain items flouresce very brightly, namely the orange bottle cap on a small Clorox bottle.

As far as efficiency, i. e. approx apparent 'photons' illuminating an area with reasonable ability to see what is being illuminated,

The ROV on white is roughly equal to a Zenix IO mod'ed with a Cree set between med and low. The ROV is drawing .7 amps @ 1.5 volts [~1 watt] and the IQ is drawing [extrapolating] .175 amps @ ~3 volts [~.5 watts]

The above results make sense. Both have good DC to DC converters [efficiency wise] and a conversion of the ROV to a Cree would make a lot of sense.

When I get a chance, I may use a Dremel tool with the thinnest cutoff blade to open a ROV up. I'll remove a Cree from a SF drop in from eBay and do the mod and see the difference.

Unless someone beats me to it.

ETA, the ROV is running warmer than the mod'ed IQ at similar output settings. I couldn't feel any temp rise on the IQ.


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## bobski (Dec 31, 2007)

I picked up one of these a couple days ago and after reading through the threads, felt inspired to do something about the blue LED:










Rather than open the case, I ground down the lens and epoxied on one from an omnidirectional white LED.
More pics and such here: link.


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## hopkins (Jan 1, 2008)

hello bobski
wonderful modification you've done to the Rayovac 1aa headlamp!:twothumbs

Had a thought about *how to create a 'paint*' to cover the blue led.
Maybe mix clear epoxy with the 'dust particles' from a white led cap
you've ground down with a Dremel power tool=* Fluorescent goo !*

Then the blue led does not need to be ground down but just painted
with this mixture so it retains some of its optical qualities.

The diffusor clearance is an issue but a thin coat may give enough white
to be used. 


Thanks for getting me thinking of this headlamp again.


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## BlackDecker (Jan 2, 2008)

What an awesome way to tackle the problem. I never even thought of that.


----------



## bobski (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm glad someone's interested... After the complete lack of commentary in my blue to white thread, I was having one of those "is this thing on?" moments. 



hopkins said:


> Maybe mix clear epoxy with the 'dust particles' from a white led cap



Something like that occurred to me, but getting enough raw phosphor material might be difficult, not to mention grinding it up into fine enough particles. You would also need to go really light on the epoxy or you would end up with glowing white speckles on your blue LED, rather than an even coat. Maybe put a thin coat of epoxy on the LED as the adhesive, then dip or roll it in phosphor powder?

Assuming that the original paint isn't available somewhere, Finding something that would dissolve the phosphor coating off those white omnidirectional LEDs would be ideal. Then you wouldn't have to worry about particle size - just coat your LED and let the solvent evaporate, then re-coat a few times if necessary.



hopkins said:


> Then the blue led does not need to be ground down but just painted with this mixture so it retains some of its optical qualities.


My converted LED still has some of the blue LED's original characteristics. The center cone of the output - about a 60° swath of the 180° spread - is noticeably more blue than the rest. The LED originally put out a similar round spot IIRC.


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## f22shift (Jan 7, 2008)

BlackDecker said:


> Nice job... would love to see some pics of the dissasemby and reassembly.


 
okay all done.
i dont mind so much on how i reassembled it. it looks okay.

i'm trying to think if there is a better way to take it apart. maybe if you dremel cut it you could just put in epoxy and squeeze the gap together.

or maybe epoxy a stick onto the blue led and twist the led loose like a tooth. then somehow glue in the white led:thinking:
or
just drill a hole under the headlamp on an angle that would face the back of the circuit where the blue led attaches. then drill out the blue led and then sand down the bezel level at the end of the white led and drop in the front while heating the solder from circuit board(rear/under)
then plug the hole. sounds crazy:shrug:

anyway

http://hamandcheese.smugmug.com/gallery/4129209/1#240940552
the pics are in no particular order. i just tried to take as much as possible.

i just filled in the gap with hot glue gun which holds it really well. i could rip it apart if i needed to for some reason. 
i cut a bicycle tube and put it over the gap and used a little hot glue gun to hold it although it doesn't really need it.
i made sure to grease the leds and all the o-rings for some water resistant.
there's a boost of output with the ssc p4 which is a very easy swap. i don't think it's absolutely necessary. the swap of the blue with the white is the more signficant change.

i'm pretty happy because the headlamp becomes very versatile it'll end up being my designated camping/hiking light. i'm not sure if i would do it again. half way through cutting the case i was thinking what the heck am i doing.


i'm trying to do beamshots but i dont have an unmodified one so i'm using the same settings. seems that the white is not as bright as the stock blue.


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## f22shift (Jan 7, 2008)

ok beamshots.
http://hamandcheese.smugmug.com/gallery/4129209#240966992
hope this is accurate. i just used the same settings in manual.
seems that the blue swap was at the expense of brightness and that the ssc p4 made more of a difference than i thought in color/beam patter/brightness.


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## f22shift (Jan 8, 2008)

when running the the ssc out it dims and then stays very very dim then goes out. battery tested at 1.2v no current load. i switched it to the one white led and i ran it 30 minutes more on that. i'm not sure if it'll cut out at anytime. i pulled the plug. battery tested at 1.09v.


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## TMorita (Jan 9, 2008)

f22shift said:


> okay all done.
> i dont mind so much on how i reassembled it. it looks okay.
> 
> i'm trying to think if there is a better way to take it apart. maybe if you dremel cut it you could just put in epoxy and squeeze the gap together.
> ...


 
I don't think a Dremel is a good idea.

I would recommend a Zona razor saw. They have a blade that's only .008 inch thick, so you can make really really fine cuts with it.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXLH57&P=7

You may be able to buy one in a local hobby store.

Toshi


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## RdlyLite (Jan 26, 2008)

Im not sure if this has been dicussed, but I bought this headlamp due to the good reviews and pricepoint and I was pleasantly surprised with it. *But*, my niece dropped the head lamp from a mere foot or two on our laminate flooring and it has ceased to work. Bummer. Not gonna spend $20 again.


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## f22shift (Jan 29, 2008)

TMorita said:


> I don't think a Dremel is a good idea.
> 
> I would recommend a Zona razor saw. They have a blade that's only .008 inch thick, so you can make really really fine cuts with it.
> 
> ...


good suggestion


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## f22shift (Jan 29, 2008)

RdlyLite said:


> Im not sure if this has been dicussed, but I bought this headlamp due to the good reviews and pricepoint and I was pleasantly surprised with it. *But*, my niece dropped the head lamp from a mere foot or two on our laminate flooring and it has ceased to work. Bummer. Not gonna spend $20 again.


why not exchange it? it's obviously defective. i've treated mine worse.


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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 31, 2008)

f22shift said:


> why not exchange it? it's obviously defective. i've treated mine worse.


 
What is the minimum height from which one can drop an electronic device on the floor, which then breaks, and it is no longer considered defective because it broke? Four feet? Seven feet? Seven stories?


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## bobski (Jan 31, 2008)

Depends on the device I think. If I had to make a rule, I would probably say from whatever height the device is meant to be used. A flashlight is meant to be held and carried around when in use, so I would say anywhere from 3 to 8 feet. A laptop computer is meant to be used on a lap or tabletop... While it's not really meant to be carried around, I would still expect it to handle a 2-3 foot drop without becoming a paper weight. This headlamp is supposed to be strapped to your forehead, so it should handle a 4-7 foot drop.

Oh, and the blue spot I mentioned at the end of my last post turned out to be a result of leakage around the outer edge of the white LED cap. The spot disappeared after I applied a little GITD paint around the cap.


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## Bogie (Jan 31, 2008)

I would agree with Bob a head lamp shuld handle a fall of aprox 6-7' (head height)


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## RdlyLite (Feb 1, 2008)

Strange, the thought never crossed my mind, but I lost me receipt. Besides, just looking at the construction and materials of the HL, I figured I got what I paid for. Im still waiting on zebralights newest creation....



f22shift said:


> why not exchange it? it's obviously defective. i've treated mine worse.


----------



## hopkins (Feb 8, 2008)

Hi RdlyLite - check out the pics on the internal cb for this hl.
I'm hoping you can cut it open and then with a soldering iron
reheat/remelt any suspect connections on the components.

With none of the 4 led's working it'd be smart to follow the traces
from where the battery power comes onto the board. 

use some aligator clips to jump the battery to the board an follow the
voltage until it stops -then resolder everthing in that area.

hopkins


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## RdlyLite (Feb 8, 2008)

Hello, Hopkins.

I really do appreciate the advice. :twothumbs But I don't have the tech know how or experience to begin messing with the inner workings of any piece tech equipment. Lol. But I am sure that someone else will run into my same situation herein may lie the answer to their dilemma.



hopkins said:


> Hi RdlyLite - check out the pics on the internal cb for this hl.
> I'm hoping you can cut it open and then with a soldering iron
> reheat/remelt any suspect connections on the components.
> 
> ...


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## r-s (Mar 16, 2008)

RdlyLite said:


> Strange, the thought never crossed my mind, but I lost me receipt.


"No receipt required"
http://www.rayovac.com/consumer/warranty.htm


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## Marlite (Mar 22, 2008)

Hi r-s

:welcome: Good job finding the solution for RdlyLite to obtain warranty for his failed headlamp.

marlite



r-s said:


> "No receipt required"
> http://www.rayovac.com/consumer/warranty.htm


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## degarb (Mar 22, 2008)

f22shift said:


> i couldn't help it. i had to mod this light.it's also greasy around the leds.
> i wish this light was easy to take apart. it would be the number 1 headlamp here i think as it's very versatile. i mean you can put any different kind of leds in there and have the throw and the diffused in a simple 1aa format.
> i'm still waiting for my ssc p4 to come in to swap the 1watt luxeon. looks pretty easy. there's a screw-in heatsink in the back that you have to remove to access the solder points.
> 
> i just sawed open the case with the saw from a swiss army knife. if i had to do it again i would used a hack saw since it would be a thinner cut(less to fill in).




I see http://hamandcheese.smugmug.com/gallery/4129209#P-1-12

However, I don't see how I could drop in a SSC star. I killed two Cree trying to mount on a star--clipping ends and never found a good contact with electrodes of emitter.

The ham and cheese site doesn't show the actual change of the main led star or mount. This I don't get, since I've only had success dropping in stars.

Also, a single AA is very unreliable. I found if you are getting paid by the hour and start fiddling trying to drop in AA every 20 minutes until you get a good AA (testers don't work for this kind of light), the client gets a little perturbed watching you fiddle. A single AA ( I now do two paralleling AA’s in rear pack) with alligator clip type pack mounted on removable center velcro strap, in theory, doubles (or triples) reliability or runtime of the light, while maintaining ability to read in bed and pocket your light with removed external pack. Two small screws in neck of lamp to touch + and - of battery terminals. Just make sure to use a well-insulated battery or else a meltdown as external battery pack could short. There may be a better, safer way to get the + and - out to external pack, based on the hamandcheese modification.


This excites me in that it may now be possible to create a simple duel head light using two of these lights-modded with a cold and warm led--and both lights could run off a 2, 3, or 4 AA paralleling pack in rear, in addition to internal AA in each head. This would offer 4x the lux (I hope) and considerably better color rendering than a single led, yet, keep a reasonable functional form factor.


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## RdlyLite (Mar 22, 2008)

r-s said:


> "No receipt required"
> http://www.rayovac.com/consumer/warranty.htm


 
Hey... Cool! Thanks. Now I got to find that little sucker. Becuase after the incident, it was banished into some storage shelf. :laughing:


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## MorePower (Mar 27, 2008)

degarb said:


> Also, a single AA is very unreliable. I found if you are getting paid by the hour and start fiddling trying to drop in AA every 20 minutes until you get a good AA (testers don't work for this kind of light), the client gets a little perturbed watching you fiddle.



How is it difficult to get a good AA cell, or am I missing something? Open package, remove fresh cell, place in light. With bad cells in the single digit part per million range, I don't see how getting a bad one can be a common problem.


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## degarb (Mar 27, 2008)

MorePower said:


> How is it difficult to get a good AA cell, or am I missing something? Open package, remove fresh cell, place in light. With bad cells in the single digit part per million range, I don't see how getting a bad one can be a common problem.



Firstly, a real user doesn't open packages of batteries, they use rechargeable 1.2 volt NiMH. Then on testers, ones that test good, do not send enough current to run these hogs. Then there is the issue of age, where often 20 cycles in, or less, they fail to run these circuits. Then there is issue of charging, where some ports might not get a full charge on some cells. This creates a huge headache for any real user. 

This doesn't address issue of efficiency, when simply adding a cell or two in rear of elastic, would make such a more efficient and reliable circuit with adding nothing to bulk in real world.


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## MorePower (Mar 27, 2008)

degarb said:


> Firstly, a real user doesn't open packages of batteries, they use rechargeable 1.2 volt NiMH. Then on testers, ones that test good, do not send enough current to run these hogs.



If a "real user" is one that uses NiMH cells, then I'd hope they would at least have good ones...

This light requires the cell to supply ~250mA at 0.8V for startup (red LED). Once started, cycling to the blue drops current required to ~165mA, and moving to white needs ~750mA. 750mA is a fair amount of current, but well within the range of any good NiMH AA.



degarb said:


> Then there is the issue of age, where often 20 cycles in, or less, they fail to run these circuits. Then there is issue of charging, where some ports might not get a full charge on some cells. This creates a huge headache for any real user.



If a fully charged NiMH cell fails to run this light then it should be tossed, because it's no longer any good. If the charger doesn't properly charge cells on some channels, then the "real user" should get a better charger...



degarb said:


> This doesn't address issue of efficiency, when simply adding a cell or two in rear of elastic, would make such a more efficient and reliable circuit with adding nothing to bulk in real world.



Adding cells won't increase the efficiency of the circuit, but it will increase the runtime. Using one additional alkaline cell in parallel would actually give you a more than 2x increase in single cell runtime with an alkaline cell, because the parallel drain would decrease current draw from individual cells and their usable capacity would then increase. NiMH wouldn't see much of an increase over what you'd see by multiplying the single NiMH runtime by 2, due to their relatively current-independent capacity.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Mar 27, 2008)

The problem I've found with this light is when a battery is at the end of it's charge it pretty much goes out like a switch was tripped. This can be annoying at best.

I haven't used it much lately, instead running three Hybrid AAA in an Energizer 2 white/1 red with slide switch.


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## kitelights (Mar 28, 2008)

The beauty of this light is the small, lightweight size and the amazing amount of light and runtime that you get from it with a single AA cell. Two plus hours from an AA cell is pretty respectable.

Morepower, I agree with you totally. "A real user" should definitely upgrade to good LSD cells and a good charger with analyzer capability. Crap cells and crappy chargers shouldn't be tolerated by even by those of us who aren't "real users."

PJS - You're right. When it goes it goes. You do still have enough juice to use one of the 5mm options to find another cell. But in darkness, I need another light to make the battery change.

One more point. I would think that someone who was a 'real user' that uses a headlight daily in work consistently, not intermittently, should probably be using a light a bit more substantial than a $19 homeowner model. Kinda like using a compact pickup as a dump truck hauling heavy loads 8-10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. 

I love mine for what it does - I just picked up a spare this week.


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## electrothump (Mar 28, 2008)

TMorita said:


> I don't think a Dremel is a good idea.
> 
> I would recommend a Zona razor saw. They have a blade that's only .008 inch thick, so you can make really really fine cuts with it.
> 
> ...



Toshi, do you think that saw will cut some of the light steels? I could really use a saw with a blade that small, tough enough to light steel pieces. 

DN


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## electrothump (Mar 28, 2008)

degarb said:


> I see http://hamandcheese.smugmug.com/gallery/4129209#P-1-12
> 
> Also, a single AA is very unreliable.



I've had my little light for over two weeks now, and I'm getting good run times out of Energizer 2500mh, and Tenergy 2600mh rechargeable batteries. For a long time I used larger lights in my daily use. So, for me the size and light weight of this light is pretty nice. Hope you find some batteries that suits your needs. 

DN


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## Hondo (Sep 16, 2008)

Well, I followed f22shift's procedure to saw open the face of the light for a mod, and have breathed new life into this neat little light. With the cheap clearance price on them at Walmart, I figured I had little to lose. I would have to say mine came out downright neat. The changes I made were buying the 0.008" thick Zona modeler's saw for the cut (< $6), and after failing to hot glue the halves directly together, tried a different approach. My nice small gap was not suited to trying to squirt hot glue into, and I had the stuff everywhere, and generated an ugly cleanup to start over. What worked great was to take the empty body and lay a very fine bead of hot glue along edge of it and let it cool. Then I assembled it and pressed the halves together with gloves on, while heating the joint with a heat gun. As it reached the melting point of the glue, the halves would come together with minor glue expulsion, and an easy clean up.

I used a Seoul P4 in place of the Luxeon, which gives a nice, larger hotspot and gobs more overall output. The blue LED got replaced with a CO tint Nichia DS. Unlike f22shifts keychain LED, I got a lot more light out of this one. It is not quite as bright as a DS in an Infinity Ultra, but about the same as the IU with a Nichia CS. Now that I want to use the "low" mode most of the time, I did have to make a shade to go under it to keep it out of my eyes, especially when the diffuser is down. I am just using a couple of layers of black electrical tape. It looks like it may get ratty eventually when carried in a pocket, but it is easy to replace, and not essential for use of the light.

BTW, no, the heat sink is not isolated, despite the plastic disc under it, I suspect the screws are making a current path on the board. With the Seoul, you will need to put a layer of Arctic Alumina, or something, to insulate the positive base. Ask me how I know. Good news is, when shorted, 1 AA NiMH won't fry the board, at least not right away.

Give it a try, if you're brave! Thanks to f22shift for leading the way :twothumbs


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## Flashfirstask?later (Sep 17, 2008)

What SSC P4 bin did you use?

Anybody know of any Canadian stores that carry this one?


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## Hondo (Sep 17, 2008)

It's just a DX one, USWO, and they don't spec the Vf, but I would bet it is an I, so USWOI. I really prefer Photonfanatic's USVOH's, they are nice and warm, and a bit more efficient. But even the one I used is a bit warmer than the stock Lux, which was a very nice white, no real tint bias.

BTW, f22shift's mod details and photo links are in his posts #87 and #94, to save some scrolling.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Sep 17, 2008)

I'll chime in again with only this caveot...

When it's done with a battery you get just enough warning to say "uh oh" and it's out like a switch was thrown!

If the blue LED were a white LED there would be very little to dislike!


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## Hondo (Sep 17, 2008)

Exactly right! That's why I busted my chops to put that white Nichia DS in there! Really, the Seoul, as nice and bright as it is, was just a "might as well" since I had it open anyway, I don't need the high beam near as much now. But when I do turn it on, it is a real killer!

I got motivated because I was not using it, since it was only of value on the high beam, and burned batteries at quite a clip that way. I had finished yard work before by switching down to the blue light after it died, and did not care for that at all.


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## Flashfirstask?later (Sep 17, 2008)

I found one at a Wholesale Sports store under the Browning blackice name at $51.99 .. O_O


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## hopkins (Sep 18, 2008)

There has been a bit of speculation on why the blue LED was chosen.
Did one of the Rayovac design folks once work as a janitor in the meat department of a store and have to use a blue light to check that all the surfaces
were clean of bloody waste?


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## Lynx_Arc (Sep 19, 2008)

probably to appeal to stupid kids..... oh wow..... it is patriotic.... has red white and blue lights..... kewl. I have been contemplating tearing my two open and modding them but will have to wait for better LEDs first. I have little use for red LEDs and wondered if they used resistors on them that could be changed to run two writes instead or reroute the power through a diode to the main LED for a lower output.


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## Hondo (Sep 19, 2008)

I think the intent of the blue was for tracking blood trails. But the fact is, it is not the right wavelength for that. I have acutally tried it, and it turns blood black. Now the orange screwdriver handles on my workbench, they glow brightly under it. I think for the color of blood, it should have been more toward the UV end of the spectrum to work.


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## Flashfirstask?later (Oct 2, 2008)

Hondo said:


> I think the intent of the blue was for tracking blood trails. But the fact is, it is not the right wavelength for that. I have acutally tried it, and it turns blood black. Now the orange screwdriver handles on my workbench, they glow brightly under it. I think for the color of blood, it should have been more toward the UV end of the spectrum to work.


I would have preferred they went with either one white and two red or two white and one red.


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## Flashfirstask?later (Oct 2, 2008)

I sent a Feedback to Walmart Canada suggesting they try carrying this headlamp on Sept.9 and they never got back to me. I was at a Walmart store today and went to check the lights and did not expect to find much of anything decent as usual. On the bottom two hangers above a shelf I noticed these 1xAA Rayovac's were hanging there O_O ..saw the price at $19.97 and was listed as a 2AA headlamp for some reason (mentioned this to a employee that happened to come to the flashlight section and her scanner showed 2AA also). Would have preferred if it was $14.97 but I brought one and glad I did.

So Walmart Canada may be carrying this Rayovac 1xAA headlamp now, although not as cheap as some of you in the US have been able to obtain them at.


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## mdocod (Oct 2, 2008)

Anyone else having a hard time finding these? I was hoping to pick one up awhile back, and they seem to have all disappeared from the stores around here.


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## LEDad (Oct 2, 2008)

I found one last week at a Walmart in New Jersey and it was $7.50. So they must be on clearance now.


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## Lynx_Arc (Oct 2, 2008)

they have been on clearance for awhile you will be lucky to get one as most stores here they were gone a month ago.


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## DONLITE (Oct 3, 2008)

FYI- In Wisconsin, Menard's (a chain store similar to Lowe's or Home Depot) have this exact headlamp displayed for $18.99. They are still out there. They had plenty on-hand.


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## redsfairlane (Oct 3, 2008)

They have had these in Winnipeg Walmart's for at least a few months now, Where are you?
I got mine there earlier this summer.



Flashfirstask?later said:


> I sent a Feedback to Walmart Canada suggesting they try carrying this headlamp on Sept.9 and they never got back to me. I was at a Walmart store today and went to check the lights and did not expect to find much of anything decent as usual. On the bottom two hangers above a shelf I noticed these 1xAA Rayovac's were hanging there O_O ..saw the price at $19.97 and was listed as a 2AA headlamp for some reason (mentioned this to a employee that happened to come to the flashlight section and her scanner showed 2AA also). Would have preferred if it was $14.97 but I brought one and glad I did.
> 
> So Walmart Canada may be carrying this Rayovac 1xAA headlamp now, although not as cheap as some of you in the US have been able to obtain them at.


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## Flashfirstask?later (Oct 3, 2008)

At least a few months huh... well the stores must have been out everytime I looked but I never really wanted one until 4-5 weeks ago. It may have not helped that the labels for the headlamps is listed as "2AA headlamp" or such instead of 1AA headlamp. Unlike the US, they will likely just stop carrying them before they ever put these on sale. I do see the 3AAA 0.5 watt headlamp ($17.97) and 2AA 1 watt light ($19.97) (no 3w) often though.


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## electrothump (Oct 6, 2008)

mdocod said:


> Anyone else having a hard time finding these? I was hoping to pick one up awhile back, and they seem to have all disappeared from the stores around here.



I picked up two from ebay. One cost me 8.90 shipping and all. The other cost 12.95 shipping and all. Wish I had gotten in on the clearance ones. I gave retail for my first one at wally. Handy little light. 

DN


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## redsfairlane (Oct 6, 2008)

I stopped in at WallMart on Sun. and picked up another, they were a couple of isles away from the other lights, at the end of the tools row. Not many left.
I hope everyone gets one that wants one


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## flashlightguy (Nov 25, 2008)

I looked at Wally World the other day, and they don't sell them anymore. I need something brighter anyway, but it is a pretty decent light for most stuff.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Nov 25, 2008)

If only it didn't go out like a breaker was pulled when the battery will no longer support it!


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## Blue72 (Nov 25, 2008)

PlayboyJoeShmoe said:


> If only it didn't go out like a breaker was pulled when the battery will no longer support it!



but the red or blue led will last a long time after that to find your way home to replace the battery.

I like this headlamp to bad walmart no longer carries it, does anybody know any online vendors that carry this lamp


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## hopkins (Nov 25, 2008)

I'm sure someone could make some $$$ by marketing a knockoff of the
Sportsman Extreme 1AA headlamp. Success would be assured if
the blue led was changed to a white Nichia.


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## Bearcat (Nov 25, 2008)

hopkins said:


> I'm sure someone could make some $$$ by marketing a knockoff of the
> Sportsman Extreme 1AA headlamp. Success would be assured if
> the blue led was changed to a white Nichia.


 


I had the Sportsman Extreme in my hand at Walmart and almost put it into my basket, but the blue LED made me hesitate enough to put it back on the self. What were they thinking?


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## Hondo (Nov 25, 2008)

A personal challenge to all of us masochistic modders out there, that's what!  Seriously, if they had not done that, I would not have had the motivation to get in there and then upgrade the Lux to a Seoul while I was there, so in a twisted way, they did me a favor.


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## Blue72 (Nov 25, 2008)

Hondo said:


> A personal challenge to all of us masochistic modders out there, that's what!  Seriously, if they had not done that, I would not have had the motivation to get in there and then upgrade the Lux to a Seoul while I was there, so in a twisted way, they did me a favor.


 
how hard was it to do? How did you get the case open?


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## Hondo (Nov 25, 2008)

dd61999 said:


> how hard was it to do? How did you get the case open?


 
f22shift did it first in post #87 and#94. I did it with a little more finesse, in post #118, sorry no pics, but mine looks good enough that you would have to tell someone that it had been sawed apart, otherwise f22shift's photo's look just like what I did inside as well. The bead of hot glue (very fine bead!) on one side, and heating the whole thing with a heat gun after assembling was the ticket to getting the works back together clean and strong (and sealed, at least as well as new). The fine Zona saw allows a very tiny gap after sawing, and the neat final appearance.

But like I've said before, you really have to want it to saw the face off of the case. Replacing the blue LED, as well as the Lux, is about as easy as any light, once you are inside. Be careful on the Lux if you put in a Seoul, because while it may not look like it, it will short the positive base if you don't put on a layer of Arctic Alumina (or something) to insulate it.

Have fun if you decide to go for it, I have been waiting for some more adventurers to take the challenge on this one. If it was not otherwise such a great headlamp, it would not be worth doing this to get a white low beam. But now I use it with the Nichia DS more than with the Seoul high beam. Before, all I used was high, and I had pretty crummy runtime, every time.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Nov 26, 2008)

I can wholeheartedly agree that a nice white 5mm in place of the blue would make this an almost perfect product.

I HEAR ya about the runtime on high!


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## LightObsession (Dec 19, 2008)

supes said:


> I love this headlamp particularily because of its price and 1AA format. The diffuser lens accessible for either side is genius.
> 
> Now if only they had a switch for the white LED and another switch for the red and blue,(so I don't have to cycle) like on the Petzl Tac XP, then it would be bloody perfect!
> 
> I'm thinking about buying another for some car kit...



I had one and traded it to my niece because I didn't like cycling through the colored LEDs. I have no use for colored LEDs most of the time. I'd love to have one without the colored LEDs. I liked the other aspects of the light.


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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 4, 2009)

Well, this happened once in cold weather a while back, and it just did it again in the cold. When the temps get below about 40-45 degrees F, and I try to turn the headlamp on from a cold start, the white LED will not turn on. Click once, red. Click twice, blue. Click a third time, it turns off. It just toggles between red and blue, and the red seems to be a much dimmer than normal brightness with a distinct PWM-type flicker. But if I leave either the red or blue LED on for a few minutes, the white LED lights up and the light cycles through it's modes normally until I turn it off and let it soak in the cold some more.

Clearly something in this circuit does not like cold. It's not the LED itself, since when it acts up and I go to the next click after blue (when the white should come on), the light turns off, but another click after that does not reveal more darkness. It goes straight back to red. IOW, there is no extra empty space in the modes. It's red-blue-off-red-blue-off. Not... red-blue-off-off-red-blue-off-off. Dig? Anybody else experienced this while using the ROV headlamp in the cold?


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## bobski (Jan 4, 2009)

Turbo DV8 said:


> Clearly something in this circuit does not like cold.


My bet is on the battery. It gets cold, slowing down the internal chemical reaction that produces electricity. The slowed reaction doesn't produce enough current to fire up the 1 watt LED, but it can manage the smaller 20 ma units. Once the light has been on for a while, the battery's internal resistance, possibly combined with heat from the headlamp's electronics, warms up the battery allowing it to provide enough current.
Next time it's giving you trouble, try taking the battery out and holding it in your hand for a min or so.


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## Long RunTime (Jan 4, 2009)




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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 5, 2009)

bobski said:


> My bet is on the battery. It gets cold, slowing down the internal chemical reaction that produces electricity. Next time it's giving you trouble, try taking the battery out and holding it in your hand for a min or so.


 
Hmmm, well, it's easy enough to try the ol' "warm in the hand" trick. But, I am using Eneloops, which I recall are rated for use down to the 20's, and we're only talking upper 40's here. Also, if it was the battery not being able to supply enough juice to fire the white LED, then there would still be a "blank" spot in the switch cycle rotation. Lastly, if it was the result of a chilly cell, I don't think running the red led for a couple minutes would warm the mass of the cell to any significant degree in that amount of time. But you do hint at a great idea that I didn't think of that would tell if it is the battery or not. I'll stick the headlamp (without cell) in the fridge, which shoudl get it down to about 35-40 degrees. Then I'll take it out and immediately pop in the warm cell and see what happens. Then I can reverse the process... cell in fridge, headlamp kept in toaster. The results of these will pretty much eliminate one or the other as culprit. Thanks for the suggestion.


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## Hondo (Jan 5, 2009)

I stuck mine on the porch for over an hour, and it's in the low 30's here. No problems with a cheap NiMH in there, cycles through fine. Mine has a Nichia DS in place of the blue LED, and a Seoul P4 in place of the Luxeon, but that should not effect your issue.

Another quick way to tell if cold battery output is a contributor is to pop in an Energizer lithium, if you have one. Those will still hit the circuit hard at those temps.


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## chimo (Jan 5, 2009)

I put mine in the freezer for about 12 hours and it worked fine on exit. 

Mine has been modded with a 5mm GS and a Seoul Semi. Battery is a Kirkland AA.


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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 5, 2009)

Well, I stuck my light (without battery) in the fridge, along with a thermometer. When I came back about four hours later, the thermo said 35 degrees. Popped in the cell, and no joy. It cycled from red, to blue, a quick flash of white followed immediately by red again. The red also strobed as long as I held down the switch. After less than two minutes of warming up, all worked fine. So... it's my light. Sad thing is, it has probably always been this way. I just didn't get it out into the cold until after the return period expired, and of course after ROV quite making the light. Too bad, it's my favorite camping headlamp, and I do camp inthe cold. Anybody know who still sells these?


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## tnuckels (Jan 5, 2009)

Sprawl-Mart, at least in my neck of the woods, discontinued selling these several months back. One day plentiful at ~ $18, next day clearanced, then all gone – no restock. Go figure …

I like these little lights so much (for what they are, mind you) that I searched the net till I found another source. My three kids each have one, plus I’ve given several as gifts, plus I keep a few extra as loaners. Anyway, here is where I bought my extras: http://www.flashlightz.com/product.php?p=rayovac_se1whlt-b&product=171722.

They also carry its big brother (don’t have one yet, but looks interesting) here: http://www.flashlightz.com/product.php?p=remington_rmhl4aa-b&product=172824.

Do a search for HEADLIGHT or HEADLAMP to see what else they carry.

*TMorita*, thanks for the pointer to the fine kerf Zona saw! I’d previously used a coping saw to open things up as it only removes about 0.025” of material. At 0.008” I’ll be in and out, like a thief in the night, and no one the wiser.


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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 5, 2009)

Does anybody know what the warranty is on this headlamp? I bought mine Nov 2007, so if it's a one year warranty, I'm screwed, but over a year, then I'm good.


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## tnuckels (Jan 6, 2009)

See post #107 in this thread for a pointer to the ROV warantee.


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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 6, 2009)

tnuckels said:


> See post #107 in this thread for a pointer to the ROV warantee.


 

*Yippee!*

_"Flashlight Warranty_
_Rayovac lighting products are unconditionally warranted for life against all defects in materials and workmanship. Excludes abuse and accidents. No receipt required. For replacement, ship your light prepaid to the address below."_


Good thing no receipt required, too, since I just discovered I no longer have it. Thanks for the help.


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## Jumi (Jan 14, 2009)

I opened mine with snap-blade knife.
now I'm wondering which led's to choose.
I changed luxeon to seoul and the beam is not so clean as it was before so the diffuser is needed on that side and I also like it that way, pure flood.
I have no use for red, blue, green, UV so I tried noname warm whites.

I connected the leds all in parallel so all 4 leds lights same time, so it has med ->low->high, current draws are same as original.
Nichia Gs-> too bluish.

The 5mm warm whites has narrow beam so they did not work so well with diffused seoul. I had only 1 warm white wide angle 5mm 0.5w led, but that one had much higher Vf than seoul so it was not so bright.

Tomorrow I'm gonna try if I can fit 3 warm white 1w 2$ leds from Kai in there and try to get a clean flood. 
Or 3 3x4mm smd warm whites but then it's not going to be weatherproof.

Any suggenstions in place of the three 5mm. 
Thanks

Juha


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## electrothump (Jan 15, 2009)

Hondo said:


> I think the intent of the blue was for tracking blood trails. But the fact is, it is not the right wavelength for that. I have acutally tried it, and it turns blood black. Now the orange screwdriver handles on my workbench, they glow brightly under it. I think for the color of blood, it should have been more toward the UV end of the spectrum to work.



Yep, fresh blood looks like fresh black paint with the blue light going. It doesn't stand out even a little bit. I nicked myself on some sheet metal, and broke out the blue to check it out. I was kinda amazed at how it didn't show the blood. That said, I do find the blue very effective for reading text in the dark, even better than white.


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## tnuckels (Jan 15, 2009)

electrothump said:


> Yep, fresh blood looks like fresh black paint with the blue light going. It doesn't stand out even a little bit. I nicked myself on some sheet metal, and broke out the blue to check it out. I was kinda amazed at how it didn't show the blood.


 
Dude! Everybody konws the _blue_ is for tracking wounded screwdrivers :devil:


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## electrothump (Jan 16, 2009)

tnuckels said:


> Dude! Everybody konws the _blue_ is for tracking wounded screwdrivers :devil:



Doa! Uh,,,errr,,,ummm, I feel sooooo dumb! Ha!


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Jan 16, 2009)

My Rayovac *MIGHT* go to the closest number if I decide to get rid of it that way.

It got bumped from fave by a Zebralight H30 Q5! So much longer runtime! And SO CUTE!


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## darklord (Jan 23, 2009)

PlayboyJoeShmoe said:


> I'll chime in again with only this caveot...
> 
> When it's done with a battery you get just enough warning to say "uh oh" and it's out like a switch was thrown!
> 
> If the blue LED were a white LED there would be very little to dislike!



Just noticed this light while browsing around in the UK...

http://www.sporttek.co.uk/Silverpoint+Guide+SH633.html

OK, so it's called the Silverpoint Guide here - seems to have three white LEDS + 1 Luxeon Rebel. A red diffuser covers both. Claimed Luxeon output 80 lumens!

** will just add this little review out of interest:

http://www.outdoorwarehouse.co.uk/i...articleId=199F92E4-FF29-08BD-48A3C1B11EEC2441

If this had power levels and a white diffuser it would be perfect for my use. As it is I would swap the red diffuser with anyone who has a clear one! (can they be swapped do you think?)


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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 23, 2009)

darklord said:


> Just noticed this light while browsing around in the UK...
> 
> http://www.sporttek.co.uk/Silverpoint+Guide+SH633.html


 
A Nichia Rebel?:thinking:

Well, they are not real clear on what color those three 5mm LED's are, are they? We assume they are white, because of the red diffuser, but from looking at the pictures, they look exactly like two blue LED's and one red LED. The light is borderline useful as it is, with it's red and blue LED's instead of low-power white. But then they destroyed the light by putting a red diffuser for the "Nichia Rebel?" And then the red diffuser over the blue LED's must look really neat! This looks like a Frankenheadlamp. Those are some pretty interesting reflections in the reflector, too... what are those blue and green reflections?


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## bobski (Jan 23, 2009)

Eh... the angle is wrong to tell what kind of LEDs those are. You would need to get a head-on view so the lens magnifies the view of the LED die. Even then, it's difficult to really say anything other "white" or "not white", depending on the visible presence of phosphor or not.
The reflections in the main optic are probably the circuit board inside the lamp (green) and a simple optical artifact (blue).


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## darklord (Jan 23, 2009)

Yeah, A Nichia Rebel... 

I'm pretty sure they would be white LEDs, think the reflections are stuff from the photographers gear or room. Must mean it's got a smooth reflector.

Looks interesting. I'm tempted to try one, and ditch the red diffuser altogether.


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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 23, 2009)

darklord said:


> Yeah, A Nichia Rebel...
> 
> I'm pretty sure they would be white LEDs.


 


> Eh... the angle is wrong to tell what kind of LEDs those are.


 
With the red diffuser, one would think all the LED's are white. But look closely at the center picture of the three 5mm LEDs. You can see a clear difference between the upper LED and the two lower ones. The upper one has a clear lens, and the two lower ones, not clear. And these happen to be exactly what the Rayovac looks like with a red in the upper and two blues in the lower.


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## bobski (Jan 23, 2009)

It looks like a matter of viewing angle to me. The Rayovac has two red and one blue LED, not two blue and one red. The Rayovac's single blue LED occupies the lowest position in the Silverpoint pics... One of the two similar looking positions.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 23, 2009)

the cycling on the rayovac is different too... it goes red/blue/white while the silver one goes white (rebel) 1 white/3 white 5mm?


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## Turbo DV8 (Jan 24, 2009)

bobski said:


> It looks like a matter of viewing angle to me. The Rayovac has two red and one blue LED, not two blue and one red. The Rayovac's single blue LED occupies the lowest position in the Silverpoint pics.


 
Crap, it seems my grey matter is jellifying, then! Had I not just sent mine back to Rayovac for replacement under warranty, I could have just looked at it. Boy, do I feel dumb!:duh2:


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## Turbo DV8 (Feb 27, 2009)

Turbo DV8 said:


> Well, I stuck my light (without battery) in the fridge, along with a thermometer. When I came back about four hours later, the thermo said 35 degrees. Popped in the cell, and no joy. It cycled from red, to blue, a quick flash of white followed immediately by red again.


 
I returned the Sportsman Xtreme 1AA headlamp for warranty. After waiting a month, I called ROV. Luckily I had the delivery confirmation receipt, as they claimed no record of receiving it. She looked up the delivery confirmation # and could see they did indeed receive the package. As she was looking up a replacement to order, she kept wanting to say, "AA headlamp" and I kept clarifying, "*1 *AA headlamp, not 3AA." Of course, they sent me the 3AA, 3 watt K2/85 lumen version, identical to the 3AA RR headlamp. I purchased the 1AA for being compact, lightweight, and the diffuser for reading. The one they sent is the polar opposite: huge, cumbersome, heavy, spot beam with no spill, and too bright even on low for reading. These are observations made by other owners. I haven't opened the package yet. The 1AA seems to be current on the ROV website, so I will call Monday to see why they sent me the 3AA headlamp instead of another 1AA.


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## Turbo DV8 (Mar 7, 2009)

So, I called and told them they sent me the wrong headlamp, and gave them the exact model number of the 1AA headlamp. She said she would send it out right away, and send me a prepaid mailer to return the 3AA headlamp...

... I received another new 3AA headlamp, and no mailer. Clearly, I'm dealing with geniuses...


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## Turbo DV8 (Mar 16, 2009)

They finally got it right. Third time's the charm. The replacement 1AA headlamp has a much warmer tint than the purplish tint of my original, which is good for me. But, the diffuser lens introduces noticeable half moon artifacts in the beam, whereas my original diffuser lens created a nearly uniform wall of light. All in all, the warmer tint wins out over the increased artifacts. And, oh, yeah, the light works after a deep freeze at 1.3 degrees F. My original started losing modes below about 50 degrees F.


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## Flashfirstask?later (Apr 22, 2009)

*Sighs* well it looks like Walmart in Canada may not be carrying this 1AA headlamp anymore as two stores I went to today had a new setup of lights and no pegs empty or not for the 1AA headlamp (and also the 2AA 1watt light) as I think they may have or are clearing them out as one store had the remaining 2AA 1watt lights on a peg nearby the lights section at $14.97 down from the usual $19.97. Would have bought one or two of the 1AA headlamps to have another before they were gone. They did still have a couple pegs for the 3AAA 0.5 watt version (18.97) still.


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## Lightcrazycanuck (Apr 23, 2009)

Turbo DV8 said:


> They finally got it right. Third time's the charm. The replacement 1AA headlamp has a much warmer tint than the purplish tint of my original, which is good for me. But, the diffuser lens introduces noticeable half moon artifacts in the beam, whereas my original diffuser lens created a nearly uniform wall of light. All in all, the warmer tint wins out over the increased artifacts. And, oh, yeah, the light works after a deep freeze at 1.3 degrees F. My original started losing modes below about 50 degrees F.


 
Love the updates to your story.Nothing like dealing with geniuses.:laughing::laughing:


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## Woods Walker (Apr 23, 2009)

I have never seen this headlamp in any B&M shop in my area.


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## s.c. (Apr 24, 2009)

Woods Walker said:


> I have never seen this headlamp in any B&M shop in my area.



While on the hunt for other lights, I stumbled on this light at Walmart, Meijer, and Menards. Menards had the best price.


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## Flashfirstask?later (Apr 26, 2009)

s.c. said:


> While on the hunt for other lights, I stumbled on this light at Walmart, Meijer, and Menards. Menards had the best price.


At what price?

Anyways, I found three at one store on a clearance rack and brought two at $14.00 each on Wednesday and yet to open the packages. Not as good as what Walmart in US was clearing them for though.


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## carbine15 (Apr 26, 2009)




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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Apr 27, 2009)

Cute Kid! Starting him early!


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## Mocs123 (Jul 25, 2009)

Does anyone know the exact weight of this headlamp? I am a lightweight backpacker and want a 1 watt light with diffuser that is lighter than my 96 gram Petzl Tikka XP.

Thanks in advance.


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## bobski (Jul 25, 2009)

My mildly tweaked unit weighs 42 grams without the battery.


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## Blue72 (Jul 26, 2009)

Mocs123 said:


> Does anyone know the exact weight of this headlamp? I am a lightweight backpacker and want a 1 watt light with diffuser that is lighter than my 96 gram Petzl Tikka XP.
> 
> Thanks in advance.



Its lightweight, but because battery life is short at two hours with little warning when it is dead, you will have to carry spare batteries 

You might want to look at the princeton tec fuel. Its compact, small and weighs 73 grams with decent runtime with no need for spare batteries if they are fresh before going on your trip.


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## Linger (Jul 26, 2009)

right, but iirc the pt fuel is only 5mm leds...that'd be like saying OP could use the rayovac for the whole trip on the red / green option.


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## bobski (Jul 26, 2009)

dd61999 said:


> Its lightweight, but because battery life is short at two hours with little warning when it is dead, you will have to carry spare batteries


I just weighed an Energizer alkaline and an Eneloop AA battery - about 25g each. Two AA batteries and the lamp still come in under the original 96 gram limit... Replacing the (pretty well useless) blue LED with a decent white one would provide a nice low power option to conserve batteries, assuming tinkering is an option.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jul 26, 2009)

the one nice thing about the rayovac 1AA is I can change a spare AA in the dark with it easily, just a matter of unscrewing the cap and replacing one battery unlike 3AAA lights you have to fumble with carriers or have cells in different directions.


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## Blue72 (Jul 26, 2009)

bobski said:


> Replacing the (pretty well useless) blue LED with a decent white one would provide a nice low power option to conserve batteries, assuming tinkering is an option.



This light is not easy to mod without destroying the casing


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## Blue72 (Jul 26, 2009)

linger said:


> right, but iirc the pt fuel is only 5mm leds...that'd be like saying OP could use the rayovac for the whole trip on the red / green option.




They may be 5mm led but they throw a lot of light with much better runtime


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## bobski (Jul 26, 2009)

dd61999 said:


> This light is not easy to mod without destroying the casing


Yeah, the previous pages of this thread cover that.


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## Hondo (Jul 30, 2009)

Yup, check my posts and f22shift's. Key is a thin hobby saw, and pre-gluing a fine bead of hot glue to the case edge on re-assembly, then using a heat gun to activate it after it is together for final adhesion. It is brain surgery for sure, but I love mine with a Nichia DS in the blue position, and a Seoul in for the Lux. After you deal with the case cutting, the LED mods are as easy as any.


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## carbine15 (Jul 30, 2009)

Hondo said:


> Yup, check my posts and f22shift's. Key is a thin hobby saw, and pre-gluing a fine bead of hot glue to the case edge on re-assembly, then using a heat gun to activate it after it is together for final adhesion. It is brain surgery for sure, but I love mine with a Nichia DS in the blue position, and a Seoul in for the Lux. After you deal with the case cutting, the LED mods are as easy as any.


we're gonna need to see some pics of your mod and some beamshots of the seoul through your headlamp. :thumbsup:


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## Flashfirstask?later (Jul 30, 2009)

f22shift has a gallery of pics of his upgrade at https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2302093&postcount=94


I have three of these headlamps now with two still in unopened packages (got them on clearance at Walmart Canada). I may get around to opening them and picking the one I like the least based on tint/ouput and try modifying it with white LEDs and a SSC P4.


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## carbine15 (Jul 30, 2009)

Flashfirstask?later said:


> f22shift has a gallery of pics of his upgrade at https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2302093&postcount=94



So cool thanks! Very good tint on that replacement Seoul!


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## Hondo (Jul 31, 2009)

Yes, the only difference in my mod (post #118) and f22shift's is that with the fine Zona saw and the post-assembly glue melt technique, it has a much neater parting line at the glue joint. Same Seoul beam, and the Nichia DS looks like any other medium-driven single Nichia DS equipped light, good for a 5mm, I used the CO tint, which is the warmest available.


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