Hey, I have a few of those cheap zoomies around. I wonder if this will work with the Harbor Freight cheapie Mag clone. I may have to find out. I don’t know if I’d want to buy a real 2AA Mag just to do this with. Maglite is real proud of their flashlights. :money_mouth_face:
When I first started modding them they were $8 but still only $10 at Freidmans. A small flat rate box will hold several(more if out of the blister pack) so it should be possible to get 6 or more for $11 each. A while ago I sent a package to EU with blue and red 2D and 2AA lights. 6D’s are about $30.
Nice work, but a 7135 is a linear regulator and won’t work with 2AA: voltage is too low (unless using 2AA single use lithium). When battery voltage drops below LED vF (about 2.6-2.8 volts here) LED will get very dim/moonlight.
Use a boost driver or just direct drive.
I get mine from Sears. I wait for Sears to send me offers like “10,000 surprise points for purchase of $10 or more.” I combine those points with the 3,000 points I get every month for being a Shop Your Way Max member.
I’ve gotten several lights and other goodies for free or almost free that way.
Wow.
Can you give us a macro photo showing that location on the board for that 3-mode chip?
OH, you just did! thank you, I can see the 7135, so ought to be able to figure this out.
Is there something similar you (er, I) can do with a single-mode driver? (those GearBest $2 zoomies say they’re one-mode in the description, which is not always reliable)
And I recall there are some variations in the 7135 chip — anything in particular to watch for?
Nice work. Congrats on the build. So the zoomie pill threads into the head?
I take it you sand the battery tube both for electrical contact and so that it can still screw all the way down? Or did you add a spring to bridge contact from the battery tube to the pill?
I bought two AA zoomies and got different drivers and LEDs, so unfortunately this is a one-off. I just placed an order for two more of the same lights from GB. Who know what I’ll get.
I did some research before putting in the 7135 chip. The boost chip looks like an ME2180.
This is a DC-DC boost converter that has regulated output voltage. Because of this, I can put the 7135 after it.
Some drivers use constant-current boost chip, such as the PAM2803, where the output voltage is not regulated but the current is. With those chips, the 7135 is not needed and the sense resistor can be changed to get the desired current.