- Out of all the lights i have in my collection,
i still carry a Silver Sipik SK68 single AA as my EDC.
For the price its still seems to be the best “bang for buck” little versatile light i have.
I have bee playing with various battery setups, ( extension tubes with 1, 2 & 3 AA eneloops, single 14500s, etc. I noticed however that with one AA Alkaline the amp draw at the tail cap was around 1.8 amps, and when extended with 2 AAs, it dropped to only 0.48 amps,
( while the brightness also increased slightly) but when i added another extension tube to 3 AAs, the draw went back up to around 1.5 amps, though the brightness increased noticably more to close that of a 14500 3.7 volt lithium did.
I decided to do a permanent mod to one of the many SK68’s i have kicking around for use on camping trips for longer run times with the two AA set up.
I cut the barrel off the body of the Sipik , then machined threads in the head of the SK to match that of a 2-AA body from a Ebay “Pailide, GL-037-77B ” 3-dollar torch with a side switch.
The result is a longer, slightly brighter, 2-AA powered SK68 with over a 3 hour run time that is easier to handle with gloves on, instead of the usual 45 minute run time of the single AA powered lights. :bigsmile:
Nice job you did there! That sucker is long now with the sideswitch. Looks like a 3xAA instead of just 2xAA when it is standing next to a single AA version but I'm sure it's way easier to use with the side switch. ;)
Weve been usin cheapest 2AA liht bodies to make it into either 2AA or 3AA, works great and costs around two bucks to convert sinle AA light into either 2AA or 3AA to use it with NiMhs :D!
Two 14500s’ will cook the LED and/or the driver. ( with two 14500’s the voltage is upwards of close to 8 volts, and the Sipik Driver is rated at a maximum range of around 4.2 volts, typical of only one 14500.
