# Replace LED in Arc AAA style lights from the FRONT



## milkyspit (Mar 1, 2005)

Yesterday I posted a goody mod over in homemade lights that I call the "Lipstick AAA." The name probably kept some folks from looking at the thread, so I wanted to share a little different approach that I used to replace the stock 5mm LED in that light with a 10mm one. The same basic technique ought to work for LED replacement in general with these lights, so long as the stock circuit will be okay for driving the replacement.

Actually it's very simple! I didn't think I could coax the circuitry out the back of the head without undue risk of damage, so instead I worked my way inward from the FRONT of the light, grinding away the stock LED until reaching the two leads at the bottom. At this point I was able to connect 30 awg. wires from those leads to the replacement LED, which has ITS leads snipped short to avoid shorting on the aluminum housing of the stock light. In my case, I also drilled away most of the reflector to fit the 10mm diameter replacement LED.

Here's the technique in photos...












I added a dab of super glue to the solder points to strengthen them, in hopes that they'd be less likely to snap apart while I manipulated the wires to stuff everything into the head. Beyond that, a squirt of some flexible adhesive of some sort (sorry, forgot the exact name... though any sort of silicone based adhesive would probably work) to (hopefully) preserve waterproofness, then positioning the LED in the proper location so it could dry in place.

Here's the result...






If interested, the post about the complete mod is over here.


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## gadget_lover (Mar 1, 2005)

*Re: Replace LED in Arc AAA style lights from the F*

Very nicely done! Now you need to have a custom reflector/protector made for it.

Good thinking.

Daniel


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