Rayovac Sportsmen Xtreme Triple XPG mod

Hill · December 7, 2012, 3:50am

Recently, I saw a post of the Defiant 3-C cell XML here and it reminded me of a similar C-cell host I modded (I have a real soft spot for C-cell light). When I went to find the link at CPF, I discovered I had not actually posted my mod, or perhaps it was deleted (like THAT's never happened). The build was a triple XPG using the Sportsmen Xtreme 3C cell host which I did a tear-down review of here.

Specs of the 3 x XPG mod

Rayovac Sportsmen Xtreme 3C host
3x XPG R4 5000K emitters reflowed onto 16mm PCB’s (had to trim them a bit to fit)
3 x plastic reflectors from budget 1xAA lights (Ocean State Job Lot)
1.4A max, AX2002 3 mode driver (from user Download @ CPF)
Custom aluminum heatsink
Powered by 3 x AW IMR 25500 (2300 mAh)

I picked up the host from Sears on sale for $20. The stock light had an XRE (unknown bin, most likely Q5) behind a relatively narrow optic that was direct drive off 3 x C cells. It was a pretty decent off the shelf light, but I wanted something with a bit more muscle. The big surprise came when I was able to fit 3 x 25500 IMR’s down the body tube without boring. This is something that cannot be done in the stock C-cell Maglite, so I started thinking of mod ideas. The narrow head did not lend itself to a large multi-emitter array, however, I discovered the head would nicely accommodate 3 small plastic reflectors from some junky 1 x AA lights I had picked up at Ocean State Job Lot. These were a perfect match for XPGs which produce a nice blend of throw and spill, and thus, the idea for a triple XPG was born. Why not an XML you ask, well, keep in mind this mod pre-dates the release of the XML, and what was hot back then was the SST-50 and -90 emitters which I also considered, but I really like the challenge of multi-LED builds, plus finding high current drivers for the SST-50 and -90 are scarce.

I happened to have the driver from user Download @ CPF which ended up being the perfect match because it is rated up to 15V max, and thus, would allow serial wiring of the XPG array driven by 3 x IMR 25500 in series. It is a 3-mode with L-M-H arrangement but lacking memory.

Driver wired up in host. I don't have any other detailed photos of this, but it was straight forward.

The heat sink required a bit more creativity. I fabricated a multi-piece heat sink to maximize the amount of aluminum for cooling. The stock light had a hollow screw in pill which I mated with a larger bar of aluminum cut and ground down to fit inside the hollow pill and leave a flush top portion. For the top section, I cut another piece of aluminum, this time from a larger diameter round bar stock that would serve as the mounting surface for the triple XPG array. Finally, I still had some space inside the head, so I cut a section off a D-cell mag body to slide around the outside of the pill/inner sink to beef it up a bit more.

Below are the 4 parts to the heat sink and how they were assembled.

Left to right: top section, stock pill, inner sink, outer sink from D-cell mag body.