My first mod thread! WooHoo!

That's a sharp looking mini light. Nice mod DavidEF. I think you may have started a new trend. This thread should be named Micro Zoomie Mods. I want one now.

I need to check out the wording in the GAW OP. I didn't mean for folks to have to create their own mod threads, but I'm glad this one was created.

Well, TBH, I don’t remember how it was worded either. I probably just assumed that you meant for it to be in it’s own thread. I myself prefer that people post a build thread rather than just post a pic of the finished product into someone else’s thread. To me, it’s more fun to see how it’s made. So, even if you didn’t/don’t require it, I would have done it anyway. :wink:

^

Totally agree. Much easier to find down the road. Now, I'm off to find rechargable 10180's.

A very nice little modded light indeed. Good stuff!

Nice mod! I like that zoom!

The light was found at Lowe’s Home Improvement and it is a LUX-PRO LP-130. They have a few colors to choose from. I bought the gray one, but there is also black, blue, and pink. I can’t remember the exact price I paid, but it was a few bux. I’m thinking around five-ish.

I manage to order 2 of them (red ones) from the Lux-Pro website, they appear to ship abroad without altered shipping costs. Or else I will get an email today or tomorrow that it was a mistake. :partying_face:

Let’s see if they hit Amsterdam! Thanks for the detailed information about this little thing, David!

Oh, the stack of button cells is a bit longer (and a bit wider) than the 10180, so if using the stock springs, they won’t get compressed all the way. Since the springs are so small and thin, it might be better to replace them anyway. I didn’t because I wasn’t too worried about it at the time. The cell doesn’t rattle, so it’s fine for me. But I’m sure it would get more power to the emitter if it had complete compression, and even more if it had better springs. Alternatively, a spacer could be stuck between the battery and the tail spring to make it compress better.

10250, fet driver and some copper I’m thinking :laughing:
Will need to check the website, only place I could find them was amazon for over £50 :frowning:

I payed $16.50, for two plus the shipping.
https://luxproflashlights.com/index.php/luxpro-retail-flashlight-key-chain-focussing-light-w-grip.html

If anyone could shoe-horn a 10250 in there, it’ll be you! If you remove the springs, I’d bet it’s already really close. And I’m certain that tail cap switch pocket could be modded to be more compact and give up another millimeter or two. That would probably do it! If you do a FET driver, I hope you put a XP-L HI in there. In my previous testing (with a set of parallel emitters) I was able to see about 1 1/2 amps from one Veleno Designs 10180 cell! Perhaps you could eek out a bit more from the 10250 cell? If you could get 2 amps to a XP-L HI, then you’d have over 800 emitter lumens in that tiny zoomie! :smiling_imp:

wow, just got a shipped notice, they are fast :slight_smile:

CRX, and anyone else who might be interested: I just took some rough measurements. The stack of 4 button cells (finally looked at what they are - LR44’s) measures about 21mm long. The inside of the host was very roughly measured to be ~28mm deep. With the 10180 in, the measurement to the back of the tube is ~10mm. I measured the total length of the threaded portion of the tailcap plus the uncompressed length of the tail spring, and it was ~12mm, so the springs are compressing just ~2mm with a 10180 inside. When fully compressed, the tail spring gives ~6mm of compression as it sinks into the tailcap and the top spring gives ~3mm compression. So, if you happen to have some 10250 cells, or if they happen to be easier/cheaper for you to get than 10180’s, you shouldn’t have any trouble fitting them in (without modding, I think). I don’t have any 10250’s to try, or I would.

Also, I’m charging up my 10180’s for a shootout. Getting ready for another beamshot because I realized two things this morning:

  • I didn’t make sure the cell I tested with was at full charge before taking the beamshots.
  • I also have a DQG Hobi that I could compare this to, since it uses a 10180.

Edit: Well, the zoomie light didn’t do any better with a freshly charged cell, and the Hobi didn’t have a tight enough beam to compare. So, no new pics today. Sorry!

Thanks, I might still get one or two but, I got no patience :laughing:

You’re just ridiculous! But in a good way! :wink:

Nice mod DavidEF.

Thanks for showing the steps you took to make the Nichia work.

I’m sure the better tint in itself was worth your efforts, but can you also comment on the brightness compared to the original LED?

Yeah, the original LED was a cheapie Straw Hat shaped “1/2-watt” LED. Those are actually never more than 100mA rated, so really about 1/3-watt total. Generously assuming 100 lm/w, you’d get around ~35 emitter lumens. If you look at my beamshots in the OP, it would be less than half the brightness of that dimmer looking one. Both of those beamshots were taken with the new LED, but the dimmer one was taken while using the 4xLR44 button cells that came with the light. The ~35lm light is plenty for most tasks in dark areas, if that’s what you’re wanting to know. It wouldn’t show up much in a well lit area, whereas the Nichia LED will make a really bright spot on a wall or ceiling, even with ambient lighting.

I’m sorry I don’t have a beamshot of the light before the mod. Maybe I’ll buy another (since I want to do this again anyway) and get that pic up for all of us to compare. I also don’t have an integrating sphere to measure actual output numbers. But, using a bit of relevant data on the rated performance of the LED’s themselves and a heaping helping of Guess-timation, I’d say the zoomie now makes anywhere from 6x to 10x the original light output. Hope this helps!

David, would you be able to re-upload the pics? :slight_smile:

Hey Agro. I haven’t been around BLF very much lately. I can re-upload the pictures. But it might be a while before I get around to it. Google keeps changing their server settings or something. Those pics are still in my Google Photos, so the links should have been good. I’ll have to figure out what the deal is. Is there something specific you’re looking for?

Nothing specific really, I find the mod interesting and would like to see how did it go. Thanks. :slight_smile: