A mod of a budget (cheap) flashlight.
I had purchased this budget flashlight thru BangGood as a host and eventually an every day carry with zoom. The Probe Shiny is very well made and fully dismantlable (everything is screwed). All aluminium construction with an aspheric plastic lens, a side mounted e-switch and on board USB charging. Battery types: triple AAA carrier, or 18650 and even 20700 / 21700. The UI is the typical chinese HI - Lo - Strobe with clicking thru all modes till OFF.
I hated the UI, and the CCT. I tried to remove the strobe via changing caps or jumping some pins, but I wanted the charge function. The electronic switch is also mounted on the PCB and just rightly set for the push button. My alternative was to add a new driver in tandem to the existing one. The original should not take much current idling.
The project cost me ～ $20 CDN.
Not to make a photo essay on the work, the major points are a Samsung LH351D NW and a piggy-backed moppy DRV driver w/ 8 x 7135. Set with 2 light levels of 280 lm (50) and 50 lm (10). Double click 540 lm (100%). Ceiling bounce with phone app lux readings and referenced with a Dorcy MG series 2p3s x AA with Cree XML (?) flashlight marketed as 619 lumens. Alkalines give a steady voltage / current, and a manufacturer claiming such a precise output may be when they were honest and affluent in the science of luminosity.
I’m awaiting a reflector and glass lens. May try a Luminus SST20 NW. The UX is much better - short click ON or OFF, long click to change mode, double click to max. Very simple but in the range I need. The feel and look are very complacent, battery charging is modest 500 mA max but gets the job done (there are red and green mini leds behind the translucent switch cover). There are some Glow-In-The-Dark elements as lens ring and switch cover - albeit not very bright.
All-in-all this unit is a very good soldier in my battalion of lights. My initial calculations of some 900 lumens with 2.8 Amps regulation is far short at 540. But the overall light quality surpasses the aggressive 6500ºK + stock emitter.
Update (22 March ’19):
After some fiddling I came to conclude my ceiling bounce tests are not correct for this light. The floodiness (about 100º beam, 55º zoomed) and without any hot spot does not correlate with my standard, a Dorcy MG light (a tight beam). Tail cap current at max is about 3 Amps, thus some 1100 lumens. The beam is really well suited for close work (3 to 10 feet) and is usable to about 30 feet (1 to 3 m, 10 m throw).
I did try to add a smooth reflector, but to keep the zoomable function, this would not have worth the considerable machining / adjustments. A small obtuse plastic reflector from a previous archaic flashlight suited the design - there is very little heat (< 10 Watts) and have an 8mm pill (sinkpad). Did some cosmetic changes to the orange trims (now blue, machined from Lipstick holder) and added a glass lens. Did not try a Luminus SST 20 as intended, the 351’s light is just so right.
Front view with optics and LED, retracted zoom (15 mm) and USB cover.
Ceiling bounce beam shot - about 100º wide and 1100 lm
There is no hotspot, very little periphery artifact. Lowered the ISO (± 600) for better contrast.
The first photo: a somewhat center spot without boundary - very diffused light. The second zoomed, there are some fringes (peripheral artifacts). Both taken at 7 1/2 feet (2 1/4 m); WB 5000º K, ISO 1000, 1/30 s.
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Extended - 35 (head) x 29 (body) x 134 mm (148 zoom) : 125 grams (w/out battery)
I added a blue vinyl rubber tail boot to cushion any eventual fall and, to mouth grasp when there is nothing more to say!
Joke:
Sunforce 10,000,000 Candle Power lantern. Philips H4 Hi/Lo 55w light, 3700º K, 12 V Lead Acid sealed 7.5 Ah battery.
More like 1300 lumens with run time of 40 minutes. -> some 5600 lumens but very poor quality light.
Thrift shop purchase ($10). Has some nice features as AC / DC charging ports, two switches for High / Low, and multi-position legs.
May mod with CXB 3590, active cooling and boost driver, or more budget friendly components*. Plastic housing, wouldn’t want to heat that one up.
