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how to install a lower power light on a led flashlight.

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lukej113

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i am a firefighter and i have a L.E.D flashlight i use. its called the streamlight vulcan LED. my problem is that when working i dot always have time to recharge the thing. on countless incidents i have been in a dark place or a fire and the light has died without warning. is there anyway i can install a low power light on the thing. i have been trying to figure this out for a while now. thanks
 
Firstly, get a spare battery and a charger that lets you charge it from a vehicle.

The LED current is set by the electronics. You can probably cut the power down by adjusting the electronics. You don't need to change the LED.
 
A modern rechargeable battery stays the same until the last few seconds of its charge. there is nothing to measure to indicate that its charge is running out.

A laptop computer averages the last few times its battery has discharged and guesses that the next discharge time will be the same.

Simply carry a second fully-charged flashlight.
 
Presumably you have to sleep sometime. Can't you plug it in while just before bed? If you make it part of your routine you'll only lose, say, 15 seconds out of your day.

Or if you don't want to risk forgetting it at home, plug it in when you leave the hall. Might be a problem if you don't trust the other guys not to walk off with it, though.

With radios I think the usual method is what audioguru suggested: use two or more and always have one on the charger.


Torben

[P.S. - Can you please post in a normal font and not huge and red and bold and italicized?]
 
[P.S. - Can you please post in a normal font and not huge and red and bold and italicized?]

Well, a firefighter saved my ass to getting broasted, so his font doesn't bother me :D

I've seen the flashlight

streamlight vulcan LED - Búsqueda de imágenes de Google

and I guess is too hard to carry two of them, plus kg's of gear

I have an idea, I hope isn't stupid or hard to implement:
Maybe a circuit with a counter and a buzzer, connected to the battery and triggered by the lamp's switch.

Let's say the battery lasts for 2 hours, so the circuit turns on the buzzer when the counter reaches 6300 secs (1:45 hours). Al least he has 15 minutes to borrow a partner lamp, or think what to do before flashlight turns off

Buzzer shuts off (reset) when battery charge drops to zero (ok, not zero, but at the same time when light dies)
 
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Hm. . .yeah, on second thought, that's a bit of a large one to carry two of. And a little expensive, too. Scratch that idea. Maybe a spare battery, but in a potentially firey environment I don't know that I'd want to carry any more LiON batteries than absolutely necessary.

Three hours rated burn time seems a bit low for something which might be the difference between life and death. There must be acceptable flashlights available which burn longer and don't blow it all in one short (3-hour) burst of brilliance.

As to the font thing, it's mostly about the fact that he'll have more luck being taken seriously if his posts don't "shout". Given that my hobbies are electonics and welding, I'll probably need to be saved by a firefighter at some point too. ;)


Torben
 
As to the font thing, it's mostly about the fact that he'll have more luck being taken seriously if his posts don't "shout". Given that my hobbies are electonics and welding, I'll probably need to be saved by a firefighter at some point too. ;)

Haha you are right, the PLZ HELP NEED CIRCUT HOMEWORKK!! in red, bold and size 14 causes severe psychological trauma, no questions asked :D You know, I just tried to put some humor in the post... ... 1:56 AM... low sodium... brain half sleep... strange behaviour... ok, I'm making it worse...

Maybe if he puts more data about the flashlight (take it appart), maybe a battery replacement can be considered.

Another thing, I bet they don't let the battery to be healthy discharged before recharging (they don't have time to). Maybe those bad habits shorten the battery life and causes the poor performance
 
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