Modding the Defiant Super Thrower - Mod is done. Not worth the effort? Edit: I don't know

I thought I would start a thread on what I'm going to do, to improve the stock Defiant thrower from Home Depot. It's a "made for Brinkman" light and in stock form it is respectable, but it needs a mod. Hell, they all need a mod.

In it's stock form, this light boasts an XM-L led and a very large reflector. It runs on three "C" Alkalines. I will be changing the driver, the switch and using three Sub-C NiMH batteries in it. I will mod the heat sink and cut down the barrel for the shorter cells.

def1a

def1b

def1c

def1d

Just a couple stock photos of the light

sup2a

The pill is removed. It really is a fairly thick aluminum pill, but hollow.

sup2b

The section of the light that the pill goes into. This is massive and has large fins. It's a great heat sink if you can get the heat out to it. That's the mission here.

sup2c

The stock driver, trash bound, as I am going to use a NANJG 8x7135 (or maybe 10x, or 12x).

sup2d

Inside the pill.

sup2e

I will fill that coupling with copper shot and solder. It will be a much better heat sink.

sup2f

The pill in the outer housing. I will fill that gap too, so the heat gets to the outside quickly. (more copper please).

sup2g

Switch section

sup2h

Switch and plastic housing. I will ditch this switch in favor of a 5 amp Judco.

sup2i

The bare switch section leaves a lot of room for possibilities.

That's all so far. Basically I just looked it over and decided how I could increase the heat sink area and I will be starting the actual work sometime next week.

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01-26-2013 Finished.

3a

Switch parts. The housing, a 5 amp Judco, the boot, the plastic inserts, copper rounds and contact plates.

3b

I had to cut out the plastic insert that held the old switch, in order to get the Judco in there. On the right is the piece I removed.

3c

The Judco fits, but I had to sand off the threads around the button, to get into the boot.

3d

Boot, Switch and plastic insert in place.

3e

One wire goes thru to the back and one stays for the front.

3f

Copper round soldered to contact plate. Wire is soldered on the contact plate too.

3g

Same thing on both ends.

3h

The copper pill is in place and it's ready to finish.

3i

8x7135 Driver with 4 extra 7135 chips (12 chips total).

3j

LED is back in and the pill is in place. It's finished.

3k

Driver with spring in place. Ready to button it all up.

3l

Garage with twofluorescentsflourescents on.

3end

High mode on the Defiant, with 3 Alkalines.

I did not cut down the bodyNiMH 3xSub C Nimh. I tried them and it's no brighter with them in.

I don't know what's up with the driver. I only have high and medium. When I switch to low, there's nothing and clicking again is back to high. I think the program was written wrong, why else would there be a position for low (cycles to it and thru it) and not have any output?

All done, probably not worth the mod, leave it stock and enjoy it.

Theme video for the Defiant Super Thrower

This should be a fun mod.It looks like there are a lot of possibilities with this host.I am going to try and find one of these in the town next to me today.The HD next to work didn’t have any.I look forward to what you do with this one!

I wish my HD had them :frowning:

Great start Justin!! Not fair though... This is like waiting on the next episode of a good tv show... ONLY WORSER-ER-ER!!!

I look forward to the next episode & finished mod!! Thanks for sharing! Dan.

From the inside the pill’s face looks a lot thinner than it does from the side. How thick is the material where the holes are drilled through?

How will you be bonding the copper cap to the underside of the face?

The thickness is "about" 1/8" or thicker, under the star, where the holes are. Thicker than most I have seen, if that helps.

I will make a solid copper pill inside there. I will use a thin layer of AA in between, for a contact between the two. I may take one of my end mill bits and dress the inside, to get it smoother.

@ dchomak

Thanks for the video. I could not decide on one and that one works!

Mod is done.

I dunno, it looks pretty decent to me. Did you fire it up stock for comparison? The nimhs won’t be any brighter but will offer recharge ability and c cell nimhs are available too. In any case, where you lead others will follow. Thanks for showing the build.

Running an XM-L at 4.2 amps… I don’t understand, why is it not worth the upgrade over stock ? was it the poor reflector ? poor quality glass ? or too much heat causing loss of output ?

Well, I just went outside and used the light on the locations I did last night, using the Alkalines. I have to say it is brighter. Let's put it this way, it illuminates the same objects better than it did before. I see more detail in the objects, so I would say it did make a difference in the light.

What does that mean? Hell I don't know. Would it throw farther? Or does it just shift the tint a bit and seem brighter? I wouldn't know, but there is a difference visually from last night.

Just out of curiosity, are you using the same battery config as before ? Due to it already being direct drive as standard, if you’re using the same config then it makes sense it wouldn’t be much different.

You’ll only notice a change if you up the voltage so the LED can utilise a higher vf to jack up the amps.

Did you do before and after tailcap measurements ?

Sorry for all the questions O-L :8

My guess is the switch mod improved the current flow and stock switch was acting as a limiter below 12 chip output.

If four sub-C’s would fit, then a regulated buck driver should work great. You would have enough voltage head room to allow the regulator to regulate.

I tried three Sub-C, there is not room for four of them. I now have the original 3 Alkalines in it. I don't intend to do anything else with it except sell it. I thought I would see if any international member wanted it for more modding. Probably not because of the shipping, but you never know and since it's a US only light right now, someone might want it. As far as upping the voltage, it would take a different driver. 4.5v is the max for 7135 drivers without lots of excess heat, (I'm told).

I can't check amp draw. I don't have a meter for that and if I did, I would screw it up. Seriously, I have been there and done that and sold the last meter.

Mine draws 2.5 amps with included Alkalines. If I use 1 18650 that pushes 4A through another light I have in DD, in this Defiant, I only get 2A. I will convert to DD and see what happens.

mod is worth
better driver so maximum brightness during useful life of battery (stock wont regulate correctly. and it reduce drive current in big amount when battery voltage drops.)
New switch also better. stock switch has poor contacts (I experienced it)

Does this mean running 2 x 18650 would fry the driver in a heartbeat or would the switch be able to provide enough resistance to let the driver and also the led survive? Who wants to go first? lol

I’m also wondering if just switching the emitter for a U2 or even U3 would give it about as much extra oomph and efficiency as anything else that could be done to it.

You may feel that your mod was not worth the effort .

But we love to see all of your mods and we all learn a lot and are inspired by your build threads .

Thanks , Old-Lumens .