5mm LED flashlights & hosts

slowtechstef · 2019-06-23T22:10:40.000Z

Please post any additions, mods, links, pointers, references, mods or otherwise useful information.

Arc AAA (1AAA, discontinued)

Decathlon B’Twin SL 100 (info)

Doctor Lite dual-used 1W headlamp (info, 1AA, 1AAA) also sold as Expedition natur moses 9708
Notes: headband bit (too) small for grown-ups, fragile plastic construction, battery vampire.

Elfeland / Generic Police 3W flashlight (info, 1AA)
Notes: current version based on solar-charger garden light chip, quits below 0.8V.

Energizer 629030 LED Headlight for Kids (info) (2CR2032).
Notes: solid switch, current-limiting resistor, 20mA through LED.

Fenix E01 (1AAA, not mod-friendly!, discontinued).
Fenix UC01 (proprietary built-in Li-polymer)

Gerber Infinity Ultra (info, 1AA, discontinued)
Gerber Bear Grylls Survival Flashlight (info) (1AA, discontinued)
Gerber Bear Grylls Hands Free Torch (info, 1AAA)

Inova X5

Klarus Mi02 (1AAA)

Manker Boney (1AAA)

Nextorch Eco Star/UL10/UL12 (2AAA). Good mod host for Yuji 5mm LEDs.
Nextorch GL10 (proprietary built-in)

Nitecore Tube (proprietary built-in). Needs current-limiting resistor mod for Yuji 5mm LED.
Nitecore T1 (1AAA)
Nitecore Thumb (proprietary built-in)
Nitecore NU10 (proprietary built-in)

Pak-Lite (9V). Great host for modding with Yuji 5mm LEDs. Also available in “4k” warm white version.

Peak Matterhorn (1AAA, discontinued)

Photon Microlight
Photon Freedom

PrincetonTec Bot (2AAA)
PrincetonTec Fred (3AAA)

Sofirn C01 (1AAA, not mod-friendly!)

Sunwayman R01A (info, 1AAA).
Mod by iamlucky13.

Varta/Rayovac indestructible keychain light (info, 1AAA). Needs current-limiting resistor mod in case of Yuji mod.

Parametrek 5mm flashlight: Parametrek Flashlights
CPF: 5mm LEDs - Any love left? | Candle Power Flashlight Forum

MikeH · 2019-06-24T04:13:58.000Z

Great idea for a thread, it’s good to see some of these understated lights get attention.

I’ve Yuji modded a few Fenix E01s based on mat_the_cats’s thread:

Candle Power Flashlight Forum

Fenix E01 Warm white mod

After having a couple of E01s in the household for a while now, I agree with the general consensus that they are great little bombproof lights, with one drawback - the tint. I've bought several warm white LEDs (the same as Calipsoli uses in his A2...

I ended up using a faucet handle puller instead of a vise, and used the open end of a 1/2” deep-set 6-point socket (fits nice and snug) to cradle the E01 head while doing so.

It’s a doable mod with some preparation and gentle hot air.
Would it help the E01 modding cause to make a thread / guide (with pics) for my attempt as well?

rngwn · 2019-12-07T04:07:18.000Z

Nicron N1 - 1stein’s thread

[review + mod] Nicron N1, modest review + LED swap 1 x AAA Flashlights

Curiosity led me to this flashlight. Nicron N1 - twisty AAA light. Sorry for poor pictures and modest text, I’m just a noobie reviewer. I bought it on my own here Unfurtunatelly It’s not available any more. I hope they will restock. The light is nice although I wouldn’t say it’s top quality. It was dusty inside with a little decentered LED at the arrival. Dry threads. But Nicron N1 is very easy to mod, furthermore it seems a LED swap suits this light very well. I made a little swap to the LE…

iamlucky13 · 2019-12-07T06:53:57.000Z

SB Flashlights recently put their stock of Klarus lights on closeout. The Mi02 is similar in size to the Fenix E01 or Sofirn C01. I don’t think it has a potted driver, so it should be possible to desolder and swap 5mm LED’s.

If I ever see a decent price on one, I’m going to pick up a Coghlan’s micro lantern to put a warm white LED in. The Coghlan’s crank flashlight also looks like it has 5mm LED’s.

Lastly, the Eveready PLED23AEH looks like it could be a decent 2xAAA, 5mm host.

snakebite · 2019-12-07T16:39:11.000Z

streamlight stylus.
easy to mod, but uncommon batteries.
3 aaaa

id30209 · 2019-12-07T16:56:45.000Z

snakebite:

streamlight stylus. easy to mod, but uncommon batteries. 3 aaaa

Snake, can you drop some pics of internals/mod? Was thinking about this one

hank · 2019-12-07T17:57:11.000Z

Stylus just has a little plastic carrier for the 5mm LED — so the shiny end pushes out the open end of the tube and the two wires go toward the other end; one wire wraps around the plastic carrier to make the positive connection, and the other wire rubs the metal tube for the negative. So you just push really firmly on the existing LED with batteries removed, and it and its plastic carrier will slide back into the battery tube and can be removed. Make sure to note the orientation of the LED plus and minus wires in the plastic carrier.

That’s all I remember from replacing LEDs in Stylus penlights many years ago. I think I had to tap the original LED with a mallet to get it to slide back into the battery tube, and press comparably hard with a pencil inside the battery tube, to get the new LED to slip into place.

snakebite · 2019-12-07T18:22:36.000Z

100%
and if you have a pushable led(ebay high cri or a nichia gs you can eliminate the resistor.
neg lead is pressed against the tube offering a bit of heatsinking.

hank:

Stylus just has a little plastic carrier for the 5mm LED — so the shiny end pushes out the open end of the tube and the two wires go toward the other end; one wire wraps around the plastic carrier to make the positive connection, and the other wire rubs the metal tube for the negative. So you just push really firmly on the existing LED with batteries removed, and it and its plastic carrier will slide back into the battery tube and can be removed. Make sure to note the orientation of the LED plus and minus wires in the plastic carrier.

That’s all I remember from replacing LEDs in Stylus penlights many years ago. I think I had to tap the original LED with a mallet to get it to slide back into the battery tube, and press comparably hard with a pencil inside the battery tube, to get the new LED to slip into place.

id30209 · 2019-12-07T18:24:32.000Z

Cheers!

Agro · 2019-12-08T16:46:24.000Z

This looks like a funny host:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/32853396201.html

malkoff_junkie · 2019-12-08T17:26:28.000Z

photon Freedoms x 2 with Yuji 5mm 5600 and 3200 modded.

snakebite · 2019-12-08T22:34:03.000Z

several photons/fauxtons here with ebay high cri and lir2032.

Unheard · 2020-08-19T17:42:46.000Z

Has anyone managed to take a Nitecore Thumb apart?

Henk4U2 · 2020-08-28T16:36:47.000Z

The mod I had in mind had nothing to do with high-CRI, but with a 5mm UV-led.
My original goal was to put it in a Sofirn C01 host, but that is becomimg a matter of much patience.
As for the competition: a lot of lights in the OP are about to be (or already) discontinued.
And the remaining stock is facing rising shipping fees. Anyway, to where I’m standing: in NL

After a bit of *oogling I found one or the last remaining Sunwayman R01A
At Flashaholics.co.uk in the good old UK. Important: reasonable price, reasonable shipping fee.
(Sellers in Germany and France were more expensive plus and wanted €20 for shipping!!)
Minor issue, though not for me: only remaining color available is “tan”.

===

Edit: arrived in less than a week. In perfect order. Even the box. And it has a Nichia led.
Tan color ain’t half bad. Free battery added. These guys are definitely on my short-list now.

Henk4U2 · 2020-08-23T12:02:35.000Z

I guess I’ve fallen off the wagon. Again. Hard. This time it is just tiny lights.
But even so: I had to raise my (virtual) limit by a dozen (pieces).

Next victim was the Nicron N1, named a few posts before this one.
The old (Polish AE) link doesn’t work anymore. HERE is a new link.
I used a credit card. A bit of a gamble. With PP at least you know who is robbing you.

FYI. BLF-member ReManG wrote a nice THREAD about modding a Manker Boney.
I confess I didn’t get by past the sanding of the head of the led itself and sanding the “reflector” in the bezel. Years ago I bought a couple. The pill has to be pushed out by pressing the led (gently) in.
That went fine with the black copies. The grey one did not budge a bit, not even by force.
But when the pill is out, you have to dissect that for further access. That was a bridge too far for me.

Unheard · 2020-08-23T12:26:15.000Z

Henk4U2:

The mod I had in mind had nothing to do with high-CRI, but with a 5mm UV-led.
My original goal was to put it in a Sofirn C01 host, but that is becomimg a matter of much patience.
As for the competition: a lot of lights in the OP are about to be (or already) discontinued.
And the remaining stock is facing rising shipping fees. Anyway, to where I’m standing: in NL

After a bit of *oogling I found one or the last remaining Sunwayman R01A
At Flashaholics.co.uk in the good old UK. Important: reasonable price, reasonable shipping fee.
(Sellers in Germany and France were more expensive and wanted €20 for shipping!)
Minor issue, though not for me: only remaining color available is “tan”.

The Fenix flashlight shop has tan and grey-olive. I got a black one from ebay some month ago, too.

I guess you already modded Nitecore tubes? With rngwn’s new 32K-C-EX LEDs those are nice hosts not requiring the resistor mod.

Unheard · 2020-08-23T12:33:42.000Z

Unheard:

Has anyone managed to take a Nitecore Thumb apart?

Found: Мини-обзор наключного фонаря Nitecore THUMB

snakebite · 2020-08-23T14:40:06.000Z

i remember when these were the 1aaa to mod.
dorcy 1aaa

iamlucky13 · 2020-08-26T23:46:53.000Z

“Life Gear” brand glow stick/flashlight combo. I got these in an 8-pack at Costco for cheap, but I’ve seen them listed on Amazon and elsewhere.

One end is a single color 5mm LED that shines into the diffuser. The other end is cool white 5mm LED.

I immediately started replacing these with rngwn’s high CRI LED’s, as shown in the photo. Heating the solder at both legs at the same time made it easy to pull the LED out, which requires a twisting motion due to the way the legs having been bent past 90 degrees for install. Then a little flux and solder wick allowed me to clear the through holes.

I put a couple more details and a disassembly photo in another thread.

Modes are flashlight only, flashlight + blinking color, flashlight + steady color, blinking color only, or steady color only.

Aside from replacement batteries being overpriced, these are good for small kids. Access to the LR44’s is protected by a small screw. With a low power, warm white LED swap, it matters very little that children tend to shine lights in the eyes of others.

Forsythe_P_Jones · 2021-09-03T08:21:49.000Z

Oh man, I was really into these back in the day and I still have a lot of them. The smallest is a Photon-like squeeze light but using 2x CR1220 cells and I think a 3mm led, so it’s about half the size of a traditional Photon. Have lots of Arc, Peak, CMG, several Dorcy, etc., plus lots of Photon-style lights of various brands. I was just checking into the 5mm high cri led thread with the idea of modding some of these. Anyway I think there is not really a shortage of them, but if you’re looking for something specific and I have it, I’m probably open to persuasion.