Stock Elly vs Cree Elly vs Creed 14500 direct drive Elly

ok time for more beam shots...

The order I placed for more Elly's arrived and so I set about modding them with the Cree XR-E P4 stars.

Here we have a stock Elly on the left, then two Creed Elly's and my Cree Elly with 14500 direct drive on LOW:


And here we have the same thing but with the direct drive on HIGH!!!

BEAM SHOTS!!! Stock Ellys vs Creed 14500 direct drive Elly

for those of us who already have our Elly's and have chosen direct drive, here's some more beamshots of the Ellys I ordered.

Firstly a couple of stock Ellys:


Now here are the stock Ellys again with my Cree 14500 on LOW (pulling 550mA):


And finally here are the stock Elly's with my Cree 14500 on HIGH (pulling 1.3A):


And yes all batteries are just off the charger(s). Stock with 2500mah Nimhs AAs.

Camera set at F8.0 1/13 Exp.

I was surprised myself at how much the Cree pulled but the 14500 was straight off the charger. I didn't measure Vf but I'd guess around 4.2V. I'll probably run it on low when it's straight off the charger and then kick it in to high when I need it. It's real handy being able to select modes.

2 Stage paperclip Twist switch

Here's a pic of what I did. I've since changed it slightly, by adding my paperclip twist switch (found below).


I hope this helps you.

I have run my Elly on HIGH (1.3A) with a 14500 straight off the charger and it was getting warm. I've only run it like this for a few minutes tops. I had it running on LOW (550mA) for over 15 minutes. Elly was slightly warm but nothing to worry about.

My Cree XR-E has a lot of thermal compound under it. There's enough space behind the led to place the resistor.

Also, make sure that the wire that comes from the resistor is held in securely by the screw.

Here's what I've done with my paperclip twist switch:

Red arrows show the downward force of the retaining ring (holding the reflector) inside the head of the Elly. Green arrow shows where contact will be made between the end of the safety pin and the negative contact on the led (covered in solder).


Top view showing how the safety pin is bent in a sort of semi circle to allow for the reflector coming down over the led.


Both pics show a spring taken from an old ball point ink pen (bic or similar). Trying to use items you can find around the house. The spring is cut down to around 4mm (3 or 4 coils) and is held in place by the screw which is also holding the paperclip and contacting the body of the flashlight (hence forming the closed circuit).

It's important to use plumbers tape around the thread for the head as you will need this to provide a secure twisting action.

Elly Direct Drive details & pics

Measured my Elly at the tailcap (still uncharged 14500) and initially pulls ~700mA and slowly creeps up to ~850mA. Also Vf at the led is 3.45V.

Pics of direct drive bypass:



The white wire is my addition.


It goes through a little hole in the pcb and is soldered to where the battery contacts on the other side. Much easier than trying to stick my soldering iron down amongst those components.


Here's a pic of the rubber boot removed from the tailcap. I can't seem to remove the switch inside (without damaging it of course).