Thursday, March 15, 2007

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.

No comments: