A neat, inexpensive, cool little light....(PICS added)

The aspheric lense just sits there like lumps on a frog. 8)

with no prob. Just got my FastTech 4-pak protected TF’s blackies in record-setting China time. Looks to be about 2 x as bright now too. But just to be safe, I’d prolly run it only on eneloops or alkalines for any extended time. I’m pretty sure those batts are what it’s designed for.

This little torchie IMO would make the perfect spy flashlight. Absolutely ZERO spill or artifacts when ya leave the aspheric in as it comes. Just a perfect circle. Kinda weird. :open_mouth: I can envision using it for walking around a room without anyone on the outside seeing anything like a torch is lit through the window.

The aspheric’d led circle reminds me of those old Warner Bros. cartoons where a big searchlight spot is blasting down on Daffy Duck or one of those characters. :smiley:

How does it compare to a AAA Minimag? Could be a budget host since we throw out the guts anyway.

My hunch is that it would make a decent budget host simply by the quality way it’s constructed for the most part. Dimensionally that’s another story that prolly can only be truly determined by first getting one. Ya can always return it so no risk losing the $4. :bigsmile:

(Check that. It’s now on sale for $2.98 through 1/31/13) :slight_smile:

$2.98. Geez. That’s a fair shake I’d say. I’m thinking of modding one with something sinister like with an XPE emitter I have laying around. J)

Lumatic uncharacteristically paid higher at $3.98 on a bulk-buy. So now I gotta go back and get their 30-day price-guarantee credit of $15 ’cause I fortuitously kept my receipts. H) :open_mouth: :beer: x :beer:

I must be slipping having paid a whole $1 more……………… :cowboy_hat_face: |(

Got in the door at 8:55. I have to say that this is a well machined little light. Smooth threads that look clean under magnification and so well matched I could not at first see where the bezel mated with the “throat”. O-rings on all 3 seams and a perfectly circular beam. Tailcap switch is reverse clicky(when on, half press turns off). The walls of the battery tube are a hefty 2.5mm thick, throat I.D. is 13.2 mm at the battery tube and 16.1mm at the head.O.D. is 15.6mm at the battery tube and 20.5mm at the head/bezel end. The led is a purplish tint 5mm superbright wired to a 12mm board with 3 components. I’m guessing a cap, a coil, and a reverse polarity diode but I’m only certain of the cap. The wiring looks like it would fail soon as it gets pinched between the board and threads. The pill is plastic(fail) but threads into the head and serves to maintain focal length. The head measures 18.2mm I.D. and 20.5 mm O.D. With the existing lens in place it is 23mm from the end of the battery tube to the back of the lens and 29mm to the back face of the bezel. The existing lens us 14.5mm Dia. The lens opening is 13.5mm and there is a lip(no o-ring) inside tI 14.3mm before it widens out to the full 18.2mm. 1/2” copper tubing fits inside the throat with 1.5mm to spare and 1/2” coupler fits inside the head with.5 mm to spare. Reversing the lens makes a tight spot with some spill. This baby is crying for a 10440 and a better emitter. With a single 7135 chip (no board), a new pill, and the same lens. This would make an excellent, budget mod for a single led.

In fact I couldn’t have written it period. :smiley:

Look forward to seeing a Pro go at it like yourself. I’d especially like to see O-L mess around with it too. :slight_smile:

Me too. Was hoping to inspire him. Stayed up and soldered the copper bits for the pill. Now all it needs is a 10440, a 14mm xpg board(will reflow an xpg r5 from a 20mm board), and a ghetto style 7135. Nice find Lumatic.

$22.98 light. Priceless. :bigsmile:

1/2 the price of a Solitaire with room for a decent pill(for its size) but yeah, modding is often an irrational thing to do. I have the chips, the emitter, and the copper. All I need to buy is a $.50 board and the battery. My mods usually end up decreasing the value of the light(sometimes to zero).

@ $2.98 and if you’re a skilled modder, I think it’s almost criminal if it doesn’t get upgraded and shown off in various permutations. :smiley: 8)

I wonder if there’s a reflector that’ll fit if you nix the lense? You know make it into the Baddest As* AAA/10440 circular spot-thrower out there. ’Course the lense it comes with will potentially give it throw too I suppose. I believe there’s enough room in that head for a pretty deep reflector though. :open_mouth: H)

The reflector from my TF mini fits in the head but not the “throat”. An 18mm tir would work fine though. I like the beam as it is but that will change with a different emitter(likely squarish instead of perfect circle). With the reduced current supply of a 10440, I think the most usefull light will be a single mode from a sine hardwired(no pcb)7135 chip at ~350mA. The battery can fit into the head somewhat so this could also get a Match or JohnnyMac mini mod.

up to a 10440 optional configuration. Is there anything that would be feasible and still perform decent with that or even an alkaline?

Afaik, there are no boost drivers that small that can also handle 10440s.

in your spare time? Should be a piece of cake! :smiley: :wink: :stuck_out_tongue:

I'd be hard pressed to even solder a wire onto something that small let alone do that. :(

I really need to get better at soldering...

I think boost drivers need an inductor which takes up a lot of space. Usually more than is available in a AAA light. The driver in this one might be a joule thief type but I’m outside of my area if knowledge so that is just a WAG. This light might also be a good place for a qtc tab and no driver. New member Wquiles supposedly has a sales thread on the joule thief type and they can also be had from the sandwich shoppe.

type led, right? It requires a boost of its own I take it? I don’t know enough about these different kinda drivers to ask the right questions. :bigsmile:

Ordered a couple efest imr’s and 2 xp-g2’s and 2-14mm xp boards from IS. While there I saw a 1AAA 500 mA driver Dia. and nabbed it too. There’s plenty of room in the head to use one of them with an alky. They are not constant current. As the battery voltage drops, the current drops as well. Could use a nimh but have to be careful not to kill the battery. Won’t use it on this one but it could go into a “gift” light.

I remembered I got these from DX a while back…………well they fit this light perfectly. The OP aluminum reflector base sits essentially flush with the rear of the head when this lense is installed with it. It’s a pretty dang deep reflector too. :slight_smile: Very nice quality for the 4-pak bucks.

http://dx.com/p/18mm-12mm-aluminum-textured-op-reflector-for-cree-led-emitters-4-pack-14598

http://dx.com/p/glass-lens-for-flashlights-18mm-10-pack-5630