I recently put together a few pointers, thought I would share with the group, along with cost/pros/cons of each.
PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT a machinist. I consider myself resourceful, and handy enough to make these 'work', but would not consider ever selling these as they are not 'professional' grade. I simply wanted to build some stuff, and went for it :)
The lineup:
RichFire SF-384 $13.88 on
Amazon
Coast G10 $5.35 as Prime Add-on Item through
Amazon
ThorFire TG06S $16.50 on
Amazon
SD Laser 301 $10 - can be found everywhere
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IMAG1801 by
Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr
Quick beam shot:
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IMAG1803 by
Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr
The details:
RichFire SF-384
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IMAG1811 by
Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr
This is a neat little host. Takes 1 10440 (AAA size).
I am running a MicroFlex Drive at 250mA with an Osram 1.6w 450nm.
This is putting just over 100mW with a 3 element glass lens.
Pros:
Looks decent when powered off.
Was fairly easy to mod
Cheap
Cons:
No heat sinking outside of module and maybe a tiny bit of contact with host.
The positive battery contact is a very small board. I ended up using a spring on the bottom of the driver. This can be tricky.
Overall:
Like this. Would maybe see if cutting down the module length would allow to slide it in and NOT drill the front of the host out, and still fit a SMALL driver. However, this would likely hurt heat sinking ability (what very little there is already).
Coast G10
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IMAG1727 by
Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr
I am using a MicroFlex drive - I think I ended up putting it at 500mA, with an Oclaro 700mw 638nm diode. 1 10440 Li-Ion. Outputting 440mW with a 3 element glass lens.
Pros:
About as simple to mod as the RichFire - but is a tad bit longer - allowing for a bit larger of a driver.
Love the feel of the clicky on these.
Doing a G20 could support 2 batts (see Overall below)
Cons:
Again, heat sinking (or lack there-of).
Re-using the positive battery contact (spring) on the end of the driver can be tricky.
Overall:
I LOVE these "inspection beam" flashlights from Coast. Whenever Fry's puts them on sale, I buy them up and give them to friends, as you can literally get them for 3 bucks. The G19 is very similar, but has a clip - so I would imagine modding it would be the same. Also the G20 - same host but takes 2 AAA - so I'm thinking possibly using 2 10440s and a buck driver - but HEAT is going to be the issue...as with most of these :)
ThorFire TG06S
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IMAG1736 by
Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr
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IMAG1735 by
Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr
I made 2 of these :
1) Using a Pico Drive from Astralist - Set to 190mA with a Sharp 35mw 505nm putting out 60mW with an acrylic lens. I had to put a diode in series with the + battery input to get this current. 1 14500 (AA size) Li-Ion
2) Using the EXISTING LED driver. This has a Full/Med/Low/Moolight cycle - and the power output works decently well with an M140 445nm. 1 14500 Li-Ion.
Testing the driver with a dummy load - it would max out at 1.4A. Output for each level: 250/92/14/3mW.
Pros:
Again, I'm NOT a machinist, so getting a module to fit in this one was brunt of the design work. Using an Aixiz 15mm module, you can simply glue it to the end AND you have an isolated diode (which works out well for the Sharp 505).
I was able to use a blank 16.8mm battery contact board to replace the existing driver. Thats nice and easy.
Using the existing driver is probably asking for a LED, however it makes for a super simple build! We're talking $16 for the flashlight, an Aixiz module, and an M140 to have light.
Cons:
:horse: No heat sinking outside of the module. Crappy 'glued together' finished product. This is NOT something I'm proud of from a design perspective. Thermo nuts will HATE this.
SD 301
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2018-04-24_12-15-50 by
Lewie Wilkinson, on Flickr
This was a Green 532nm. I got a handful of these for around $10 a piece off Amazon for this exact purpose. Remove the module/driver, and replace with my own. I removed a section of the host, and was still able to fit a standard Aixiz (front end) module, an Astralist Boost driver, and 1 CR123A Li-ion. I have the driver set to 140mA, pushing a Sharp 490nm, getting around 50mW.
Pros:
Super cheap
I'm not using the lens that came with it, but I'm using the external piece that held the lens/focuser. This acts as a bit of a 'splash guard'.
Lots a space for whatever driver you like
Has a BIT of heat sinking - using the existing heat sink.
Cons:
Lost the side-momentary-on button - could be salvaged, though. I just use the key as the on/off.
Getting a spring/positive battery contact board situated can be difficult.
Not the most appealing host when turned off.
Have no idea if this will help anyone on the search for a 'quick and dirty' home-build. It certainly is NOT the answer if you want something professional grade, that will make your diode last as long as it can. But, it was fun and I learned a few things from myself.
I'd be happy to do a more-in-detail build thread of any of these, but I won't have my feeling hurt if no one asks :crackup:
Also, I screwed up the driver, but I'm doing a Anker LC40 soon. It might get interesting :)
Thanks for checking these out!
