Greatlite 2AAA Penlight Mod - Now it really is a Great Light and an under $10 mod.

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
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I stopped by Pep Boys the other day, to pick up some sandpaper. When I went to cash out, I saw these penlights. A quick inspection told me the head was probably about 12mm and that I might be able to mod it, so I brought one home.

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Here's the mod:

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The original "pill" consisted of a 5mm led, a plastic spacer and a little driver with just a resistor on it. The total stack up was 20mm. That's the stack height I will be going for.

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I am replacing the reflector and plastic lens with a TIR optic from CNQG.

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The new pill consists of a 1/4" copper pipe end cap, with a Nichia 219 on a 10mm star. I reused the driver, but it's just a contact board now. The resistor is removed. The driver is held on with AA. I also used a strip of .010" copper sheet to wrap the copper end cap, since the OD was only about 11mm and the head is 12mm ID. I soldered the copper wrap to the end cap, but I didn't have to. I could have just kept it as a simple wrap.

This was a very simple and fast mod. I did not fill the copper end cap with anything. I left it hollow. It's still 10 times the heat sink of the original and after all, it's a 2AAA light. It's not going to push high amps anyhow.

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All I had to do was to remove the original guts, slip in the TIR optic, make the pill and slip it in and screw the head back on. I did remove the ano off the top edge of the body, so it made good ground with the outer edge of the contact board, but that took a few seconds.

A very simple mod and it works!

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Here's some indoors beam shots. After all, it's a penlight. It's going to get used indoors a lot. let's see what it can do.

All shots are at ISO 200, Daylight WB, F:2.7 aperture and 1 Second shutter speed.

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A closet with the normal closet ceiling light turned on.

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Here's the closet with the greatlite turned on.

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Here's a shot of the beam, on the ceiling of the closet.

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This is the a dresser in the bedroom. No lights are turned on, just sunlight through the window.

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This is with the greatlite turned on.

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Living room, no lights on, just sunlight.

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Living room with the great lite turned on.

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Front door with no lights turned on.

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Now with the greatlite turned on.

This little 2AAA light is really bright! I am using Alkalines. It will not be as bright with NiMHs. This is a great light to give as a gift, for a non-flashaholic. It takes Alkalines, it's on/off. It's not expensive and it's got a pocket clip.

Thanks for looking.

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Once again great little light you have created! Keep up the good work!

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Great job on that, O-L! I like it!

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Very nice fire place Old-Lumens. OH the torch looks like a little ripper as well. I may have to try one of these TIR lens's. Do you find they have less spill than a normal reflector? Thanks.

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I am a penlight kind of guy. I love the thin 2AAA format with a clip. It makes for a handy EDC with twice the power of a 1AAA. The longer 2 AAA makes it easier to hold and is not a problem if you clip it to your front pocket like a pocket knife. I carry one at work and never notice it is there until it is needed.

That looks like a nice mod. It seems crazy bright even in sunlight! The beam looks even and floody with a decent tint. Do you have a lumin estimate? From the pics, it looks brighter than my Pelican 1920 which is rated at 67 lumins. From your beam shots, it looks 2-3 times brighter but it is hard to tell from camera pics sometimes.

In any event, it looks like a winner. If you decide to do another and want to share the love, I would buy one.

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The thing about this 2AAA is, it’s short enough to put inside my pocket. That’s why I bought it. I don’t like pen lights that stick up and press against or lift the pocket flap. This one is just right.

I should have put the price in the title (think I will). I got this light for $3.95 and added the Nichia, so really this is a <$10 light and it's brighter than any pen light I have seen (except for mods). I can't put a lumen estimate on it. It's well over 100 lumens for sure. Anything less wouldn't show up so well in the daylight inside the house. Somewhere between 100-200 is my guesstimate. With the 2 Alkalines, you get 3v to start. Of course that sags and it sags fairly quickly, but it's still bright. I haven't done any tail cap measurements and I need to, tonight when I get home. NiMHs would be less bright to start with, but they might hold a little longer before sagging. I may sell this one, but one of the reasons I posted it is because it's such an easy mod. If anyone can solder two wires to the led and to the board, the mod is done and I encourage anyone wanting to play with a mod. This is an inexpensive way to make a little wow light.

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Yes, I find less spill. This particular TIR with the Nichia seems to have no real spill. It is just a smooth spot of light so that you can’t really see spot or spil, just a smooth beam. I am impressed with the TIR optics I have gotten from CNQG. I like them better than Carlco. They are smoother and don’t seem to have hot spots, as the Carlco do. There are three optics I have tried from CNQG. Two of the 20mm and this 12mm.

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can you put up a pic to see how the optics look in the light if you have one that is.

Thanks

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Other than the pics here? What are you wanting to see?

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Thanks again OL for sharing this.
Hopefully my hobby room will be ready soon, so I can start trying out some mods.

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Nichia is a sweet emitter ....color is unbelievable .

I love em !