Needing suggestions for a worklight mod

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Hello Everyone,

First let me say that I am a completely clueless noob when it comes to led’s and lights. I got this 160 lumen Milwuakee light in a tool kit I recently purchased and am really disappointed with it overall. I have a coast px25 that I use daily and it really blows the Milwaukee out of the water.

The light is powered by an 18 volt 4ah 72wh lithium battery. The led currently in it is pictured below. It is 160 lumens and the board is 25mm in diameter. The voltage at the legs measure 3.29 volts with the led on but still connected.

I’m thinking I could drop a SST-90 in like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Luminus-SST-90-Cool-White-LED-Emitter-on-20mm-Round-Board-Star-Board-US-Seller-/261666613564?pt=US_Lighting_Parts_and_Accessories&var=&hash=item3cec8ba93c and have a much better light. Am I way off in my thinking? Would you recommend a different Led? Or is it more complicated than just replacing the current Led?

thanks

2

Without seeing the rest of the Milwuakee light, I’m going to bet that the LED is not being driven very hard.

You will need to either mod the driver so that it supplies more Amps to the LED, or find a replacement (buck) driver that will accept the 18v input, & give a reasonable output (say around the 3 Amp mark).

If you are looking into replacing the LED, go with something like an XM-L2 or even an MT-G2, on a direct-to-copper base, with a suitable driver.

3

What FmC said. Also, the SST-90 is definitely not your best bet for this; yes, it can produce more light than the XM-L2, for example, but at massively higher current. It is comparatively rather inefficient. The XM-L2 is likely your best bet for this, but as FmC said, you will not see a huge brightness jump with the driver as-is. You need more current to the LED.

4

Is that emitter an XT-E??? I think I can see the cross-pattern on the die... I wouldn't run 3A through the factory emitter, and depending on the heat sinking of the host, would prefer to keep it lower powered.

Can you pull the power pack, and check the current draw to see the actual wattage of the light in operation?

This driver is supposed to be good up to 18V, and may give you a bit of a bump in current, depending on how your current emitter is driven...

5

If you want to continue to use this work light as a work light you may want more flood than throw. Also depending on how far away from your work space you place it you may not want too many lumens.
If however what you want is an incredible light with a powerful battery source you are definitely on the right track

6

Thanks for your help everyone and pointing me in the right direction. I’ve got a lot more reading to do especially regarding the drivers.

Yes dchomak!!! Since I will tinker with it, I mind as well go all out for an “incredible light” if I can.