rebelrider.mike
Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2017
- Messages
- 554
I changed the title here, as I'm adding more flashlights to the thread that I've 18650ed, rather than start a new thread for each one.
Here is the vintage headlamp I did to start with:
Ok, the headlamp may or may not be vintage, but it certainly looks vintage. It's one of those headlamps with the power cord that runs down to a belt pack. It worked ok as it was, but it takes 6 D cells to run a dim little bulb. I've been wanting to upgrade this thing since before I knew about 18650s. So here it goes.
I found that 4 cells fit just about perfect if they're wrapped in some pipe insulation. I also want to keep modification to a minimum so that the lamp could be restored to its original function if such a thing were to be desired.
A while back, I replaced the incandescent lamp for an LED. I don't remember the details now, but it runs on something like 3-4V.
The original power cable is in good condition, so I've left that alone. For the battery, I picked out 4 cells of the same brand and roughly the same capacity. I put an extra wire on each end so I can add a TP4056 board. That way it can be charged via USB without being removed from the case.
The lid has a small junction box, so it was fairly easy (although crowded) to connect the battery to the power cable.
Since I bypassed the original switch, I added one inside the box. I used hot glue to keep things in place, and to coat a few exposed bits to prevent shorts. There's even enough room left to hide a USB cable.
Still needs a new elastic head band, but I did put a piece of leather on the forehead part for some added comfort.
Still looks all vintagy and original on the outside. Lighter now than if it had 6 D cells in it, and USB rechargeable. The battery has something like 6Ah and the bulb draws around 0.32A. So if I've done my math right, I should get about 18 hours of use per charge.
Here is the vintage headlamp I did to start with:
Ok, the headlamp may or may not be vintage, but it certainly looks vintage. It's one of those headlamps with the power cord that runs down to a belt pack. It worked ok as it was, but it takes 6 D cells to run a dim little bulb. I've been wanting to upgrade this thing since before I knew about 18650s. So here it goes.
I found that 4 cells fit just about perfect if they're wrapped in some pipe insulation. I also want to keep modification to a minimum so that the lamp could be restored to its original function if such a thing were to be desired.
A while back, I replaced the incandescent lamp for an LED. I don't remember the details now, but it runs on something like 3-4V.
The original power cable is in good condition, so I've left that alone. For the battery, I picked out 4 cells of the same brand and roughly the same capacity. I put an extra wire on each end so I can add a TP4056 board. That way it can be charged via USB without being removed from the case.
The lid has a small junction box, so it was fairly easy (although crowded) to connect the battery to the power cable.
Since I bypassed the original switch, I added one inside the box. I used hot glue to keep things in place, and to coat a few exposed bits to prevent shorts. There's even enough room left to hide a USB cable.
Still needs a new elastic head band, but I did put a piece of leather on the forehead part for some added comfort.
Still looks all vintagy and original on the outside. Lighter now than if it had 6 D cells in it, and USB rechargeable. The battery has something like 6Ah and the bulb draws around 0.32A. So if I've done my math right, I should get about 18 hours of use per charge.