Cheap Lantern modifcation

Hey folks so it appears i have a weird fascination of lanterns hahaha. So i bought a cheapo one from Ebay just to check it out. Stock its actually decent output wise at least its built to a budget of course. It has no heat sinking and no driver so the LED is run straight from the batteries but seeing as it runs on 3 AA its not that bad. I stuck a XPG3 in here.

It looks really cool its small and compact and fairly light weight.

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Stock it looks like so output is okay especially for a lantern i was expecting worse!
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These pics where taken at ISO800 standard now days

Stock the tint is horrid
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The pill is crap to say the least
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The first mod is the cut screw hole to try and get the heat sink lower
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I was to lazy to walk to the shed so i used stepper drill bits and i drilled into my desk no more pics on this desk hahahaha I am a goof!
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This is the driver! Its direct drive i guess the wires are crap so i changed it to 24 gauge and made it longer. The negative stayed the same because the switch will be a pain to work on.
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I ended up using 3 1mm pieces that i had pre-cut before and shaped from an aluminum bar. So yea the heat sink is 3mm thick about 2.5-3mm in diameter.
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Yes the damn screws are way to big but that is all i had. Heaps of thermal paste of extra or less gains depending on who you ask lol.
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Solder job is horrid well this pic made it look bad i added more solder on top. Using a XPG3 in like a 4000k tint.
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Its now silly bright for what it is
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I will get some more beams shots tonight i tried without the heat sink it would start super bright then get dimer quick because there is no heat sinking i am not sure how much the 3mm heatsink will help plus the PCB and screws now i am just talking shit lol.

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I am pleased with the light its not great but its good for the price i am extremely pleased

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The throw is really good the reflector is about a C8 sized reflector. Even when it was stock it throws all the way to 100m. Now it should do a little better the stock LED was raised on the actual MCPB which i can not do unless i like cut the bottom of the reflector out. I am thinking about cutting the reflector its plastic any way. Since i raised the LED to compensate for not being able to raise the actual LED on the MCPB its not closing all the way right now. Future fix but i can not actually see what is blocking it from being closed weird i already grind down the screws to make it pretty.

Alright i took more pics of the new LED nothing special for a lantern it does really well. Its a crude setup but it works okay!

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The XPG3 fits well in this light it inst to sensitive to the extra voltage from not running the Lantern with a driver. Other LEDs would fry with such a forward voltage

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More then enough light for camping and fishing.

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What can i say it fits my needs well and its super cheap all up its 7 USD maybe even less you would even add a 1 dollar driver and still be happy.

Cool, interesting lantern :+1:

If you want to add current regulation, a single AMC 7135 will play well with 3X AA cells. Giving 350mA to the led for extending run time and more stable output.

Thanks lads!

Yea i was thinking of putting a driver i have a few spare but its a tight fit and would have to rethink things.

We need more lantern review on here. We get one like once a year if you own a lantern i encourage you to review it! They are really handy! I help mold heaps of people on BLF to like headlamps now they are super popular who knows maybe lanterns will be next.

I used to write lantern reviews on “the other forum” (I was going crazy buying them for awhile) and I’ve kind of petered out I guess? If there’s interest here I suppose I could start again/re-post some?

I wouldn’t mind seeing more lantern reviews. I have been looking at diffusers to turn my lights into lanterns, but having a dedicated lantern with large battery capacity would be nice. Haven’t had one since the days when fluorescent lanterns were top of the line.

I would be interested in reading your reviews

AMC 7135 is about the size of an ant. The center terminal/heat sink is neg/gnd so I usually solder it directly to the neg battery terminal. This provides some heat sink as well.