# Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod - Beam Shots Added



## ma_sha1 (Apr 7, 2009)

Cross-reference: I also build XPE Soli #2 using Aspheric Lens here: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2925491


Don't need another shelf queen, but can't resist the urge to complete the Lime mag family, so here it goes.

1. Start with Solitaire, pull out the bulb, pull out the plate holding up the 
bulb socket, wire in battery positive & negative in the socket, a drop of super glue to keep it tight in place.







2. Cutter XPE R2 with 10mm PCB sit on top of mag rim for heat transfer. 
Solder the wire in place. Tested with a Li ion, LED lights up bright. 






3, Don't have a better way to mount the Carlos 10mm XPE optics, 
so another drop of super glue.





4, Screw the head back on, no room for the plastic lens.
The optics is in touch with the rubber o-ring. I wish the optics is another
1mm larger, as I can see the rough edge just a bit. I had to cut the optics off from the square shaped optics from Cutter.











5, Now, for the tail. 
Pull out the spare bulb & bulb holder & solder a 1.5 Ohm resistor to the bulb holder.






6, Stick it back into the tail cap.





7, Cut a round piece of non conductive whatever (I used Carbon Fiber Piece), yet another drop of super glue,
have the resistor lead go through the center & wind up in circles but flat. The Tail cap is done. 





I am not using the mag spring, so the light is twist on & off with 10440 Li ion. 
The 1.5 Ohm resistor will help limit the current to be around 500MA at full charge. 
That's my estimate. As I've read that 2 Ohm resister was giving 400MA to Cree XRE on 10440. 

Now, The Lime Family Photo, from Left to Right:

Lime mag sub 1D, P7 with tail switch.
Lime 3xAAA Q5, Enelope direct Drive. 
Lime mag solitaire, XPE, Direct Drive with 1.5 Ohm resistor.


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## greenLED (Apr 7, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Man, that's gotta be one of the niftiest Soli mods I've seen in a long time. 

XPE's are *tiny*!


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 7, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Thanks, Know it's real small, the XPE still surprised me how tiny it is when it showed up. 
The 10mm PCB is just perfect for the Soli. I think this will give out between
150-200 Lumen, at 500MA, should run for about an hr with DX 10440.


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## schiesz (Apr 7, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Wow, that is really cool. Where did you get the mounted XPE and optic?

And a beamshot would be great too


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## Illum (Apr 7, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*



schiesz said:


> Wow, that is really cool. Where did you get the mounted XPE and optic?
> 
> And a beamshot would be great too



I'm assuming both are available at cutter? :thinking:


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 7, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

yes


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## Tekno_Cowboy (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Beamshots......???


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## StarHalo (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Ahh, this is the Solitaire mod I've been waiting for someone to do, nicely done. Does it get too hot if you leave it on for long?


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## bshanahan14rulz (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Nicely done! I was thinking of doing this but decided to try in a mini mag 2xAAA instead. solitaire might be kind of hard for a first project. nice work


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## gunga (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Are the XP-E's pre-mounted on the board? From cutter only? I'm looking for warm tinted (5A) XP-E's...

Great looking mod, more details please!


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Yes, 

You order XPE + PCB from Cutter, they'll pre-mount it for you . 
Otherwise, I can't imagine mount this myself, the led look like 2 mm in size.
They have a selection of tints.


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## LukeA (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*



gunga said:


> Are the XP-E's pre-mounted on the board? From cutter only? I'm looking for warm tinted (5A) XP-E's...
> 
> Great looking mod, more details please!



I have 7 5A XP-Es that came pre-mounted on 10mm boards from Cutter.


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## gunga (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Cool, willing to ship some my way?



EIDT: DO you have any pix with the board close up? I'd like ot see what it can fit into...


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## LukeA (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*



gunga said:


> Cool, willing to ship some my way?
> 
> 
> 
> EIDT: DO you have any pix with the board close up? I'd like ot see what it can fit into...








If you were serious about shipping some, I think I could get 2 with optics to you in Canada for $20US.


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## Black Rose (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Wow, are those ever tiny.

I see Liz approves


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## gunga (Apr 8, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*



LukeA said:


> If you were serious about shipping some, I think I could get 2 with optics to you in Canada for $20US.


 
Looks nice. I was serious. But let me take a look at what I can fit them into...


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## Cemoi (Apr 9, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*



LukeA said:


> I have 7 5A XP-Es that came pre-mounted on 10mm boards from Cutter.



Which brightness bin are they?
On Cutter's XP-E page the only available color bins are:

P3 neutral white
P2 warm white
P4 cool white
Q4 cool white
Q5 (no tint specified)
R2 WG

So are yours the P3 neutral white?


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## LukeA (Apr 9, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*



gunga said:


> Looks nice. I was serious. But let me take a look at what I can fit them into...



I just looked at my order receipt and the LEDs are 5B, not 5A. I must have remembered wrong. I don't know if that changes anything or not.




Cemoi said:


> Which brightness bin are they?
> On Cutter's XP-E page the only available color bins are:
> 
> P3 neutral white
> ...



They are.


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## Tekno_Cowboy (Apr 9, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

You can get bare Q2-5x emitters from Digikey, and PCB's from the Shoppe, if you don't mind soldering them to the pcb.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Apr 9, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

I am going to chime in about those Shoppe 8mm mcpcb for Cree xp-e. They are awesome and soooooo easy to solder!! 

step 1: clean parts. I skipped this step because everything was fresh out of the package, but technically you should do this.

step 2: tin the solder pads on the mcpcb. Don't have to use a lot. in fact, just try to cover the pads but use as little solder as you can. When I have too much solder on the pad, I wipe off the soldering iron tip and try to get solder from the pads to flow back to the iron tip.

Now, you are ready to reflow. find a good insulating surface to solder on and have a large flat piece of metal for the part to cool down on ready.

step 3: hold your soldering iron on one of the solder pads that you will connect wires to later. after a few seconds, you should see the solder on the pads of the emitter area liquify. with forceps, carefully place emitter on top of the melted solder. make sure to align it as well as you can. It doesn't need to be perfect, because once you let go of the emitter, it will finish aligning itself. once it does that, remove the iron and move to a cooling area after solder solidifys enough to hold emitter. step 3 shouldn't take more than 20 seconds, iirc.

step 4: stand back (or move in) and admire that amazing reflow you just did!


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## andrew123 (Apr 9, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

This is amazing! I would also love to see some beamshots of this.


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 10, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Beam shots added upon multiple requests:

1. XPE R2 Soli. Vs. Stock.







2. XPE R2 Soli. vs Stock Ceiling Bounce. 
The tiny spot on the left is stock Soli at tight focus. Distance from light to Ceiling is about 6ft. The Beam of XPE + Carlos Optics is a bit squarish, the optics seems to bring out the die image a bit. 







3. XPE R2 Soli. vs. Mag 1C/18650 + 50 LM LED drop-in ([FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]TerraLUX TLE-1F)
[/SIZE][/FONT]







After 10 min continued Running, the Soli is quite warm but not burning hot.
The 10440 started at 4V now is 3.8V. 

This is how I charge it. * BUT THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!*
The battery is charged up to 4V max, but probably still getting 600MA, which is too much for 10440. 

I cut a piece of the rear end of a bamboo chopsticks, drill a hole to insert the same 1.5 Ohm 
resistor to make a spacer to charge it on 18650 charger.


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## Al Combs (Apr 10, 2009)

*Re: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA XPE Mod*

Awesome job on this light. 

I think the charging method might be a problem. Current being everywhere the same in a series circuit, if you cut the charge current in half means the battery will never reach 4.2 volts. Or whatever the charger is internally set to. Have you measured the voltage fresh off the charger? At first I thought a resistor in parallel would take some of the current from the battery while giving it full voltage. But I don't think that will work either. If it's a real CC/CV charger, a paralleled resistor would interfere with the charger monitoring the drop off in current as the battery reaches full charge. The net result of that would be overcharging the battery, or worse.

There is a good use for this I think. I had actually thought this would be a good method of charging LiFePO4's in my Pila IBC. It's just a matter of working out the proper value of the resistor.



ma_sha1 said:


> This is how I charge it. Cut a piece of the rear end of a bamboo chopsticks, drill a hole to insert the same 1.5 Ohm resistor to make a current limiting spacer. Then charge it on 18650 charger, which is estimated to bring the charging current down from 600MA to 300MA.


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 11, 2009)

Thanks!

As for the charging with resistor, I believe it's the otherway around. 
It's the over charging that's needed to be watched out for, not under charging.

I charged it for 10 mins, measured the volt, now it's 3.9V. So the charging is working 
& it's charged at a slower pace(~300MA, raised 0.1V after 10 min) 
than the discharge (~500MA, droped 0.2V after 10 min).

The charger will sense 4.2V & stop, because there's a resistor that'll drop the voltage from the battery back to charger sensing chip a bit, The battery may reach 4.4V before the charger sense 4.2V.

Which means by the the time the green light is on, I.E. the charger sensed 4.2V & stop, the battery is already overcharged.

So, one need to figure out how long to charge & stop the charger before 
the green light & before the battery reach 4.2V. The 10440 is unprotected,
it'll not stop charging at 4.2V on it's own.


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## Al Combs (Apr 11, 2009)

I like the new beamshot that as you say clearly shows the notch in the corner of the die. Kind of like a mini-aspheric. This has to be close to maximum brightness out of a tiny light like the Solitaire. I've had a Red Solitaire lying around the house for years. Just waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I want one.:devil:

I get how 600 ma is way over 1C rate for a 10440 and so the need for a resistor, or something. But I'm not sure I understand how a resistor in series can cause the termination voltage to increase. How can the charger be detecting 4.2 volts while the battery is at 4.4 volts? Were did the extra 0.2 volts come from? Have you actually put your DMM on the terminals of the charger while it was on with you 10440/resistor combo in it?



ma_sha1 said:


> The charger will sense 4.2V & stop, because there's a resistor that'll drop the voltage from the battery back to charger sensing chip a bit, The battery may reach 4.4V before the charger sense 4.2V.


This would only be true if the battery was putting power into the charger, instead of the other way around.

Just out of curiosity, what is the charge termination voltage for a normal battery? One that doesn't require a resistor. Perhaps this charger requires the lower internal resistance of an 18650 to terminate properly. Of course that would mean it's not a real CC/CV charger. But it might help explain where the extra 0.2 volts is coming from. Not enough of a load on the charger?

If that's true, then a resistor in parallel might actually help. You'd have to monitor the first couple of times very closely if you tried this. Don't burn the house down on my account. How about if you hooked up two or three 10440's in parallel. Some chopsticks, wires, and magnets would make a nice self balancing setup. That would cut the charge current in half and eliminate the need for a resistor. And it might help lower your termination voltage by lowering the resistance instead of increasing it.


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 11, 2009)

I am confused, I found a earlier post using resistor to charge 10440 to charge & it looks like he is using 1-1.6 Ohm resistor in serial arragment. 

http://74.125.93.104/search?q=cache...440+charger+resistor&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

This is the charger I use:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3499

I believe it's constant voltage not constant current charger,
so if you put two battery in parallel, each battery 
will still get 4.2V & therefore each will get 600 ma.
Same thing with putting a resistor in parallel, the battery will still get 4.2V & will still see 600MA?

Is there any experts out there that could on this?

I don't understand My charging method either, as 4.2V will spread among
resistor & battery, but how come I was able to charge up from 3.8 to 3.9V? 

Plus, 600MA was for 18650, would I get different current than 600MA
as the 10440 has a disfferent internal resistance?


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 11, 2009)

To find out more about this, I measured the Volts while resistor & battery are both on the charger.

Volts measured across"
Charger : 4.19 V 
Resistor: 0.22 V
battery 3.98 V

So you are right, I am going to get Max of 4V instead of 4.2V.
Not too bad.

However, the resistor seem too small to make a difference, so I am probably still getting 600Ma across, so it is probably not lowering currents as planned.


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## Al Combs (Apr 11, 2009)

I have an UltraFire WF-138 for AAA's and AA's. It has a fairly low charge current so it doesn't cause a problem for AAA's only having a 350 mAh capacity. I have the same WF-138 charger for RCR123A's. It's the one with the switch on the side for Cobalt Li-Ions (4.2 volts) and LiFePO4 (3.8 volts). UltraFire makes two different chargers with the same model number. They both charge at a rate of only 250 ma.

The thing that first got me wondering was my AW 750 mAh RCR123A's. A reputable, reasonably priced battery by all accounts. When they are so dead the protection circuit turns off the light (something I try to avoid). My UltraFire WF-138 will charge them to green light status in about 1 hour and 15 minutes.:thinking: The math on that says they are only half charged. I monitored the charge with a meter and it read 5.0 volts when the green LED came on. The same thing it reads with no battery. The battery's protection circuit terminates the charge. My other WF-138 charges my unprotected 10440's to 4.25 volts. The green LED comes on, the charge is NOT terminated. I usually set my watch alarm for 1 hour to go and check the LED status.

That was when I bought the Pila IBC. They are no good for 10440's (too high of a rate). But the 600 ma charge current of the IBC (still below 1C for an RCR123A) using a home made spacer takes longer to charge the AW RCR123A's than the UltraFire WF-138 at 250 ma. Here is an article to help explain how that's possible.


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 11, 2009)

Just ordered a new charger from DX
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4151

It's rated 500A but review indicated only charging 200MA.
Perfect for 10440!


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## Al Combs (Apr 12, 2009)

Looks like a variation of the WF-139 that AW and many others sell. DX's sku.1251 is the UltraFire WF-139. The WF-139 charge rate is 450 ma. The TrustFire version says 500 ma in the picture. I didn't see the review saying it's only 200 ma output. I did however see a few people in the DX reviews say the battery's protection circuit terminated the charge. That sounds like the same WF-139 circuitry.

If it is anything like the WF-139, you have to remember to remove the batteries as soon as the green LED comes on. It might still be too powerful for your 10440's. You'd have to check that.

Considering the excellent job you did on your Solitaire, here's something that should be well within your capability. A homemade CC/CV USB charger using the same chip as the AW's nano charger. The Nano AAA is unfortunately no longer available. This is the one I have been using for my 10440's. Just like its big brother, the WF-138 doesn't stop charging just because the LED changed colors. I usually set the alarm on my watch for an hour to begin checking for the green LED.


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## Nake (Apr 12, 2009)

Al Combs said:


> ...... The TrustFire version says 500 ma in the picture. I didn't see the review saying it's only 200 ma output.......


 
This looks like the review being refered to.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/174075


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## Icarus (Apr 12, 2009)

Nice mod! :twothumbs Did you try this light (after modding) with a reflector? :thinking:


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## Al Combs (Apr 12, 2009)

Thanks 



Nake said:


> This looks like the review being refered to.
> 
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/174075


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## ma_sha1 (Apr 12, 2009)

Icarus said:


> Nice mod! :twothumbs Did you try this light (after modding) with a reflector? :thinking:



Thanks! No, I don't have a reflector that small,
I was going to try the Soli. stock reflector after enlarge the hole a bit, 
but the coating start to flake off from the plastic reflector upon drilling,
so that didn't work.


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## Hill (May 13, 2009)

nice job. I have a soli that is crying out for an xpe. I think I'll try this mod as well. One question - how do you turn the light on and off? Does it still work as a twisty?

Hill


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## ma_sha1 (May 13, 2009)

It's twisty at the tail.



Hill said:


> nice job. I have a soli that is crying out for an xpe. I think I'll try this mod as well. One question - how do you turn the light on and off? Does it still work as a twisty?
> 
> Hill


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## Mickey Blue (May 2, 2010)

hey guys,

did you use a 1 watt resistor or what? I tried with a 1W resistor and it was too long.. or did you use a protected li-ion battery or not?

thanks heaps
Mike


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## ma_sha1 (May 2, 2010)

1 Ohm 0.25W

un protected li-ion


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## thatguybryan (Jun 30, 2011)

Can you write out the parts list and possibly a link to where you got the parts? I was looking at some links in this thread but I am very confused. I was trying to figure out the total price of this modification and your other one (the acrylic lens one) but I don't want to place an order and not be certain what I'm buying is what I need. Thanks for the help!

And yes, I am a newbie!


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## StarHalo (Jun 30, 2011)

This thread was started before lights like the Alluminati and Revo came on the scene, so unless you're really attached to your Solitaire, you can now buy a production ~100 lumen AAA light..


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## ma_sha1 (Jun 30, 2011)

Wow, you dug up a real old thread, this was when I joined CPF, started my modding with tiny lights like soli., my lights kept getting bigger ever since.

The XPE and 10mm Carlos and later 10mm Lisa XP lens are from cutter electronics. they are cheap but shipping will cost more than the parts.
1 Ohm/0.25W Resistor & 26AWG Teflon wire from ebay.

The carlos lens gave a square beam but brighter, the Lisa XP lens I did in later soli mods has a round beam.

here are a few more soli mods I kept in my signature:

*Mag Solitaire Mods:*

#1: Lime Mag Solitaire AAA *XPE* Mod with *Carlos* Optics
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=228363

#2: XPE Solitaire mod #2: *The smallest Aspheric Mag in the world:*
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/....php?p=2925491 
*SOLD to nailbender: * http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=240825

#3: *XPE* "Rocket" Lime Solitaires with *Lisa XP* Optics
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...16#post3007716

#4: *XPG R5* Solitaire Mod. with 10280 & Two Stage Tail cap Switch 
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=246460

#5: Mag Solitaire 10180. *The Smallest Power LED Solitaire in the world. *
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=248797


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