18650 Lanterns

Anybody tried to mod these?
They are on my radar now for some time. 3 * XM-L2-T5-5* each with 350ma and a modified Star FW might do the job for good runtime vs. light output vs. color rendititon.
As the current is low you might get away with a solid aluminium base below the mpcbs for cooling.
Integrated charging optional via. TP4056 and protection.

Crap see myself spending 20$ on parts in a 5$ light, that’s the spirit.

Flashlights are perfectly fine for that task. Just point it to the ceiling. Indoors I would prefer a ceiling bounce from a flashlight rather than a lantern, unless you have a dark ceiling.

The LT-1 has been around for long enough so I am surprised it has not been copied multiple times for various flashlights with removable bezels. Nitecore has multiple lights with a 40mm OD bezel and they offer a 3 prong “tactical” bezel that fits all of them so an LT-1 clone should be a natural for them. Most of the SRK clones seem to have interchangeable parts so a lantern head built to fit them seems like a natural accessory.

I currently have a couple modded lanterns that have 18650 carriers (along with AA, D carriers ) including a Coleman Remote-control lantern that i modded from its original fluorescent tubes to a modded 11-watt household bulb.
It has High, Low, Night light modes, and I also modded it with multi-cell capability, so it can run on either 8-AA, 8-AAA, 8-D, 8-C, 3-protected 18650s, or a 4.2AH SLA battery.

I’d love to see if someone has modded one of these:

Either one, with a more modern emitter and a decent driver. Put a decent CC driver in there. (Steal one from a Quark QTA for example, there are lots of other possibilities.) A 7135-based driver would be cheaper, but they’re less efficient at lower drive levels.

these are for sale on Ebay now for under $10 bucks delivered.

500 lumens and takes a single 18650 is hard to beat. Does anybody actually have one to report on?

Thanks,
bigC

I can ceiling bounce the photons from any of my tail standers, and have yet to have a need for a lantern, however the flying saucer from FT looks like it would be good in a tent or fish house.

Apparently there is one copy, anyway, the Sipik CK66, for $20.93 at Gearbest. I don’t know whether one diffuser fits on the other flashlight.

The diffuser screws into the bezel ring. It comes also with a simple orange plastic diffuser. It was somewhat intermittent and had only an XP-E, so I put in a two group 6 x 7135 driver and an XM-L2 T5 5A2. Two amps is mild for an XM-L2 on direct thermal, but it will stay in regulation longer and won’t melt the reflector. I don’t know how much it is like the LT-1, except for the pictures. It has nice threads but a plastic reflector. The pill is solid but was not very flat. I am pleased that the ends of the diffuser are metal. The window is plastic. It puts out a fairly uniform pattern, but is brightest in a ring near the forward dark region.

An interesting observation about diffuse reflection translucent diffusers like the round bottom element in this: The scatter is cooler than the transmission. In this case the light reflected out by the shiny cone on top is warmer than that coming out from the round part on the bottom. Another light, with a simple rubbery diffuser from Fasttech, has a weak and broadened but very warm spot and a very cool scatter. Its spot is very warm, even though it has a cool white XM-L.
In case anyone is interested in why, the diffuser must have variations of optical properties on the scale of a light wavelength. As can be seen in the sky, cigaret smoke some and other materials, small particles effectively scatter only wavelengths that are short compared to the particle size. Rayleigh scattering - Wikipedia

@ tryps: I know that feeling too well. Welcome to the BLF. You already have the spirit!

Don’t know about the 5W claim or the light output. I have 2. A wattmeter reading using an LG 2400mA lion give me:
Lo > 0.08A/0.3W
Med > 0.4A/1.4W
Hi > 1A/3.6W
I did not check it with AAA but it does ‘work’ with that pack.
So far I like the light.

I’m glad that I saw this thread. It has planted a seed in my head of what I need to do.

I went without power and heat for over a week last winter after a ice storm. I have some AA lanterns that I got cheap from Meritline a few years ago when I bought my Sipik SK68. I used those lanterns sparingly during that week of no power. I’m thinking of buying a single 18650 battery box to rig up as a base to power them with laptop pulls.

One cell should power a 11 led lantern for some time. And if I have another long power outage like I had last year. I’ll be set and be able to recharge my cell phone too.

http://www.meritline.com/11-leds-camping-light-telescopic-camping-bivouac-light—-p-118287.aspx

If you have the power bank, or intend to get one, also get the above XTAR light and included goose neck flexible extension to use with it in emergencies. Claimed 180 Lumens output on high as well as 60 and 120 Lumens output modes. I have used it as a reading light and it does a good job. Should work with any USB power bank. No real hot spot in the beam. Turns any USB power bank into a useful light. Available from Going Gear.

That would probably be the perfect candidate for coating the inside of the clear dome with some sort of clear adhesive (maybe slow set clear epoxy) and then dusting it w/ the high intensity white glow powder

They look really flimsy though

I am currently building/modding an LED lantern that will have capability to run off everything from USB powerbanks, 18650 cells, 14500 cells, AA, AAA , C, D, 12volt batteries in MiMH, Alcaline, NiCad, SLA, and even have built-in solar cell /-recharged LiIon cell as back up. ( basically a true self-sustained/multi powered light source.

The Energizer Light Fusion Technology lantern might be an almost ideal lantern to convert to run off of a 18650 powered USB power box. About the lowest glare factor of any lantern I know of. It normally runs off of four or 8 AA batteries, alkaline or NiMH, so can handle 4.8 to 6 volts input. The 8 batteries are series/parallel so just increase run time at the same voltage as the 4 batteries. Looking at the construction it looks like just a matter of soldering in a male USB cable installed through a drilled hole and then plugging it into a USB power supply. I will first try it with a 2A or 2.4A USB source before also trying it with a 1A only limited current source.

How about a write-up how-to for this one and your lantern in post 10 above. I suspect several members would be interested in both.

Once i get the other lantern built i will put together a build/mod thread. ( along with the Coleman listed above.)

if current sharing is good thats 16.66666 ma per led.i ASSume they are all paralell. even cheap 5mm should last a while.i doubt those produce 8.3333 lumens each either.
so chinese lumens for sure as thats nichia gs territory!

I soldered a USB cable into the battery box of the Energizer 300 lumen folding lantern with light fusion technology. It works perfectly. The lantern is designed to work between 4V and 6V. The 5V output of a power bank is ideal. Overall it probably isn't the most efficient use of power, but it is VERY convenient.

Below is a link to a more complete review.

Here is a picture of the mod.