Modding the under $10 Defiant 51 led, 4xAA light into something quite different? Finished, beam shots are up

First, a little traveling music

These are now at HD in one of the floor displays. They make a good cheap "modder light".

51a

So, what's so special about a cheap 51 led light from Home Depot??? Potential...

It's 4xAA, so eneloops can be used and the head just happens to be almost exactly like the 2D Maglite. Sooooo, it has many of the same Mag Mod possibilities.

51b

Here's the fully disassembled light. It ain't much to look at. Plastic everywhere, but what if we toss the 51 leds, the plastic lens and that big plastic housing that the switch sits on?

51c

I will concentrate on doing something to replace the plastic guts here. Basically it's just for holding the switch and providing contacts to the leds and battery holder, but maybe it can be more.

51d

That head really is very close to a 2D Incan Maglite head, so I know from looking at it that I can probably use some reflector that would fit in a Maglite.

51e

Well, it looks like I could use one of the CNQG shallow 52mm reflectors, (also known as the SST-50 reflector from other sellers). Looks like with just a little modding, I can make it sit right where it needs to be. It would be great for an XM-L or XM-L2 led in it.

51f

But,...... I just happen to have a "god knows where it cam from", 3Up reflector with it's own shelf underneath and it also just about fits the head, so I could do 3xNichia 219 high CRI leds in here, or XP-G or XM-L, but I only have Nichias. You know what I am favoring here don't you.

51g

As for the lens, a Maglite glass replacement lens from KD will work just fine, but I need to remove a lip on the ID of the bezel, to make it fit flush inside. No problem there.

51h

If I were to go with the XM-L led, I would use a piece of aluminum rod as a replacement for the plastic housing. But since I will be doing the 3Up Nichias, I will have to see if I really need to do that or not. Most cheap lights don't have that much room for a heat sink, but this one lends itself to having a large one, because of the side switch. If it had a stock tail switch, all that room would not be there and the light would have been shorter, with a lot less modding possibilities.

51i

Now to get really fancy, by using a DrJones driver and a momentary switch. I love that driver program, so I might as well just do it.

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51aa

Had to remove a little around the OD of the reflector, to get it into the head.

51ab

Had to remove a lip inside the bezel to get the lens to lay flat.

51ad

Wired in Parallel.

51ae

Modified the plastic switch holder, to use the momentary switch.

51af

51ag

That's about it right there. I went with XM-L leds, cool white T6.

51ah

51ai

Beam Shots

b51a

Did this one at a 1/2 second, to help show the beam better. At a second, it's so bright it's washed out.

b51b

1 Second

b51c

1 Second

b51d

2 Seconds

b51e

2 Seconds.

It's a floody light and it would be a great light for walking. With the DrJones driver the main modes are High and Medium, with ramping and hidden strobe. I didn't get any shots of the driver wired up. I added chips, for a total of 16x380mA.

That's all...

Cool mod idea! i saw these lights too, but wasn't sure if it was the same as the old multi-LED 4AA light they sold last year or so (and I still have one of those sitting). Must not be the same as I remember those were not easy to remove the LED assembly!

EDIT - Here's a link to the other 4AA "mod host" thread with the older style light.

-Garry

It is different from the last one. In fact, I am fairly sure it is just like the Tractor Supply 51 led light, except it’s black, which I why I got it. I just don’t like those shiny TS lights, even though I have modded some.

OL that is a great mod. You keep showing us what you can do and we are all amazed.

Please don’t stop making lights.

Awesome mod :beer:

Awesome! I like the light, pity I’m not in the us to buy one

very cool mod OL

I love 4 aa lights

Very nice. 4AA Triple Emitter that looks good too. Can't beat that.

Very nice mod! Seems to have quite a lot of throw too!

-Garry

So I was at HD this past weekend and saw this light in those little cardboard stands in the middle of the store for $9.98. I couldn’t help myself so I tossed one into my cart (I’m a sucker for AA lights).

After I got home and opened it up I noticed a couple of very cool things:

1. Battery carrier looks exactly like the one that OL made for my Lumintop SD10.
2. Battery compartment will take a D-cell sized battery or 32650!
3. Un-modded flashlight will run off of 1x18650! Had to use the PVC sleeves that OL made to line everything up.
4. My extra reflector from my 3D Maglite fits into the head almost perfectly (but we already knew that).
5. Light comes apart very easily, EXTREMELY mod-able.
6. Light is quite floody (obviously), and tint actually isn’t that bad.

So for $9.98 is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY. Many different mod opportunities and the fact that it can run off of a single lithium ion stock is pretty cool. Now it doesn’t seem as if there’s a driver anywhere when its in its stock configuration so just FYI.

Why do I love cheap Home Depot lights so much?? I can’t wait for this thing to go on sale.