My current project chopped AA,AAA, and Solitaire. All done with pics :) beamsh*ts in last post

Just the cases so far. The AA will be 14650 2A 3- mode drive w/T6 3D, AAA will be 10440 1A 3-mode xp-g2 3D, and Solitaire will be 10180 100mA single mode xpe r2 wd.
I used a different method of joining the tube pieces; I hollowed the inside of both parts and slipped in a piece of brass tubing which allows a thicker aluminum layer on the outside. Only the solitaire is actually glued so far.

I spent the evening(about 5 hours worth) getting this part done.

You are right OL, most of that time was spent sanding out imperfections not seen until the ano was removed. Also, deanodizing just half of the solitaire cap was a bit dif.

I finished the drop in for the solitaire using a single 350mA chip and a Nichia 219. Partly completed is the driver for the AAA Minmag. There is not enough room in a AAA head for a 17mm driver so I made a stack of three chips and soldered them back onto a board I had cut down to fit inside the battery tube. In the pic below is the driver in its mold along with a stock 1A driver and the drop in for the solitaire.

Once it has cured I’ll push it out and solder the positive pad on the other end. This end still needs to have the emmiter base made up and attached.

I’ll make up the rest of this drop in and the one for the AA host after the fins are cut on both heads.

Finished the fins. On the left is my uncut OL AA Minimag.

Lots of work left to do but now that my cnqg order is finally here I can move ahead. Last night I fitted the optic for the AAA Mini and rather than file down the optic I used the sandpaper/drill method to open up the bezel by ~.6 mm to allow the optic lip rather than the lens front to rest against the bezel. With that done I get get good numbers to finish off the drop in/pill on it and the AA. Also in the order were 11.8 mm optics that I want to compare with the Ledil Lisa and Lisa 2 for the solitaire.

Here are the three heads with the optics installed.

And here are my lense choices for the solitaire.

There are 4 normal optics to chose from plus an aspheric, none of which is ideal. Installed is the ledil Lisa that fits the best but is only available in a SS (smooth spot) lens which needed repolishing. Next is the Lisa2 which can be had in the RS (real spot) lens(shown here) as well as the SS but the fit is loose. Next you can see the Lisa SS in its unpolished state. Then comes the dirt cheap cnqg lens that needs filing and a holder but like the Lisa2 has a nicer beam. And lastly an aspheric from DX that needs filing, a holder, and the head to be lengthened(how??? I know how!).

It turns out I cut the AAA a tad short but the knurled section I had removed is long enough to fix this so I cut the tube once more but at the other end of the knurling and reamed the pieces for a brass insert to run from just short of the driver to the tail cap threads.

I actually like the proportions of the AAA better with a bit more knurling. I’ll post some new pics in the next edit/update.

While Cindy was having ablation done I bored the two larger heads(AA and AAA) but got no further until today when I sanded them out to the finished ID.

Then I picked up work on the AAA driver/pill/heat sink. All the parts of a nanjg 1A 7135 3-mode driver are in the black pill.

The led mcpcb will go in the cup which gets affixed to the end of the pill.

That’s as far as I got this time.

While the Fujik was curing in the AAA heat sink pill, I made up the hsp for the AA. It’s pretty standardized now but still incredibly tedious and needs to be fitted to the head. 15mm copper pipe, 10.5mm copper coupler, 3.5mm 1/2” copper pipe, and 2 pieces of copper sheet. Add swearing solder and voila.

Emitter end.

Driver end.

And wow, it fits!

Next I filed a sink pad down to fit and pre tinned it. Of course I sanded the silkscreen off.

That’s all for now folks!

Getting closer! I added two chips to a 1.4AI driver, shorted two pins on the IC to disable blinkies, and potted it into the copper hsp last night. This morning I checked it with a dmm and gnd wasn’t isolated(crap). Luckily, it popped out fairly easily and I ground off a bit more copper to increase the ID and while I was at it, seated the driver more deeply into the hsp(increased thread engagement) and repotted. Tested this evening and gtg. I also put some 220 onto a worn dremel cutting disc and sanded the backside of the bezel to allow the lens to sit further forward.

Next will be to install the stars(just ordered 3D from IS due to Cutter SNAFU) and then I can trim the tubes to the final length and Finish!

Got the emitters soldered to the stars(copper for the XML), artic silver to the hsp’s (clamped down by the optic and bezel), and soldered the wires. Yay! Both pills work.


I had doubts about the frankendriver for the AAA Mini but it works just fine and the beams of all three lights are comparable(~5’–6’ spot spot at 20’). I’m being slammed at work right now so it’s been a bear finding time to work on them(last night from 2am-4am for example) but all that’s left is the final trim to length and assembly with epoxy.

I got them trimmed to the correct length and glued together with JB Weld. To get the last few millimeters of closure I put each one in a soft jaw vise to press the tube pieces onto the brass sleeve. It’s very tight, the alignment is perfect, and I get zero ohms resistance from end to end.
Here they are, Ta Da!

And here they are next to some still in the original sizes.

That chopped Solitaire looks PIMP !!!

Your a braver man than I am. Modding three lights at once. The way they are now, is that the finished sizes?

Other than the AA which will shorten a bit more, yes. The driver for the AAA is a cut up ak-47 that slips down the battery tube so the tube is longer than the battery by ~ 1”. The Soli uses an itty bitty 10180 cell and 1 chip for regulation. I’m thinking just a 2.85v VR (100mA max). I’ll be adding a few fins to the larger two as well as boring the heads a bit.

Is there a reason your going to use an XM-L over an XP-G in the AA light?

I’m not comfortable driving xpg at 2 A and I like the beam of an XML with the cnqg 10^ but smaller sized tir’s need smaller die emitters to maintain a similar beam without going to asperics that require more depth.

You're getting awfully dammed good at this! Those lights look Sweet!

Can't wait to see the final product.

New pic

its hard to tell from the pic, but are those blue??
how short is the solitaire now?

Yes, blue. Was 81.5 mm, now 53 mm using 10180 cell.

Can’t go wrong with blue and chrome, or polished aluminum here. Couldn’t tell if they were black and glare was causing it or if they were intact blue.
One Hell of a set you got there

Going to my brother and his wife in Durham. The 10180 battery actually worked with 700mA drive so I’m making a 350mA pill for it. At that size it should make a nice keychain light. I may try for “Matchclips” to make the others visor friendly since the stock clips are only for pockets.

Bumped for new stuff

Sounds good, thats only because your speaking electrical things and I have no idea what it means. Cheers

Bumped for update.

Is it just me or… Yes, it is.

its not just you, those things are awesome!

What a great-looking set; it's a shame to split them up !

The 10180 Solitare looks awesome! Keep the pix coming.

And the little one said, what about me? Looking good.