Hey folks so it appears i have a weird fascination of lanterns hahaha. So i bought a cheapo one from Ebay just to check it out. Stock its actually decent output wise at least its built to a budget of course. It has no heat sinking and no driver so the LED is run straight from the batteries but seeing as it runs on 3 AA its not that bad. I stuck a XPG3 in here.
It looks really cool its small and compact and fairly light weight.
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Stock it looks like so output is okay especially for a lantern i was expecting worse!
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These pics where taken at ISO800 standard now days
Stock the tint is horrid
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The pill is crap to say the least
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The first mod is the cut screw hole to try and get the heat sink lower
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I was to lazy to walk to the shed so i used stepper drill bits and i drilled into my desk no more pics on this desk hahahaha I am a goof!
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This is the driver! Its direct drive i guess the wires are crap so i changed it to 24 gauge and made it longer. The negative stayed the same because the switch will be a pain to work on.
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I ended up using 3 1mm pieces that i had pre-cut before and shaped from an aluminum bar. So yea the heat sink is 3mm thick about 2.5-3mm in diameter.
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Yes the damn screws are way to big but that is all i had. Heaps of thermal paste of extra or less gains depending on who you ask lol.
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Solder job is horrid well this pic made it look bad i added more solder on top. Using a XPG3 in like a 4000k tint.
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Its now silly bright for what it is
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I will get some more beams shots tonight i tried without the heat sink it would start super bright then get dimer quick because there is no heat sinking i am not sure how much the 3mm heatsink will help plus the PCB and screws now i am just talking shit lol.
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I am pleased with the light its not great but its good for the price i am extremely pleased
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The throw is really good the reflector is about a C8 sized reflector. Even when it was stock it throws all the way to 100m. Now it should do a little better the stock LED was raised on the actual MCPB which i can not do unless i like cut the bottom of the reflector out. I am thinking about cutting the reflector its plastic any way. Since i raised the LED to compensate for not being able to raise the actual LED on the MCPB its not closing all the way right now. Future fix but i can not actually see what is blocking it from being closed weird i already grind down the screws to make it pretty.
Alright i took more pics of the new LED nothing special for a lantern it does really well. Its a crude setup but it works okay!
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The XPG3 fits well in this light it inst to sensitive to the extra voltage from not running the Lantern with a driver. Other LEDs would fry with such a forward voltage
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More then enough light for camping and fishing.
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What can i say it fits my needs well and its super cheap all up its 7 USD maybe even less you would even add a 1 dollar driver and still be happy.