Modified LED lamping torches.

[Deiseboy]

Can anyone recommend a brand of 18650 battery and charger to use for a LED torch?

 

Links if ye have anywhere cheap to buy them

[Dave-G]

Just google 18650 charger and you'll find thousands.

 

there's supposed to be so many bad Ultrafire ones - but apart from them overstating what the capacity is I have never had any issues with them and they are so cheap as chips it's worth getting a few of them.

 

Typical:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UKA726-2-x-18650-3000mah-3-7v-Torch-Rechargeable-Battery-Smart-Charger-Plug-/190841726088

Edited September 26, 2013 by Dave-G

[kennym]

Hi Dave I've now been out with my 2 torches a few times now & you were quite correct the red is better for most lamping situations, showing better contrast & spooking rabbits less then a comparable white light.

 

I find both torches the wider beam and the focused beam have their differant uses & im glad i got both and find the range is good for HMR & my skill runs out before the light.

 

In all a great product & exccellent workmanship.

 

Thanks Ken.

[Dave-G]

That's good to hear Ken, thanks for letting us know about your first red light experience Vs white light.

 

Just so people understand the two torches bit:

Ken had a tightly focused over-driven bright one for taking the shot, and a standard power one not quite so tightly focused which is better for scanning for quarry/eyeshine and less likely to spook quarry.

[matone]

Bought a red led version off Dave,absolutely knocked out by the performance from such a tidy unit ! Been lamping 30yr + and this is the best bit of kit ever.

Thanks Dave.

[Dave-G]

Thanks matone, it's always nice to hear people are pleased with them.

 

There must be thousands of 501b's abandoned in the back of a cupboard or drawer somewhere because in standard form they are optimised for walkers who need light spill to see what they are stepping in rather than shooters who need to see long range with night adjusted eyesight without subconsciously squinting when it's turned on.

 

Chinese factories make them by the million for walkers but we convert just a few for shooters which costs a bundle to do here. That basically involves dumping the light spill and putting some of it back into the central beam.

Edited October 5, 2013 by Dave-G

[maxus77]

just starting to read through this thread now but im after a white light torch to put on my shotgun for a tactical gun im making up with possibility of using on some rough shooting or on a hushpower for vermin control

 

dont think i will require anything for using with NV but maybe red/green lenses could also be an option for rabbits

 

do i need to speak to a member on this thread for some options ?

[Dazza9t9]

This has been some great reading and very useful

[mr_magicfingers]

Just spent 3 hours reading through this thread as it's a slow day at work I'm new to air rifle hunting and was looking for a first lamping set up. I've now ordered the red 501b torch from ebay with the pressure switch and the lens/spacer from deal extreme. It'll be interesting to see how I get on with that. I'm intrigued by the night vision idea and will go off and read more about that.

 

Just wanted to say a huge thanks to Dave-G for the effort he's put into this thread, I've leaned a whole lot about led's, lighting and lamping in the past few hours and I appreciate it very much. I'm likely to be ordering upgrade parts in the future as I progress further with this hobby.

 

Cheers.

[mr_magicfingers]

Also, is there a good place to start reading up on diy night vision? Do they have to be mounted to a scope or can you have them with a different lens as a 'handheld' rig.

 

We recently moved to a small farm in Devon and my partner's been asking about nightvision to watch the wildlife. This, I equate, to a free pass to buy some kit but, as the good bought stuff is silly money, I wondered if I could build a system for less that could be used for browsing the wildlife but be attached to a scope when needed for shooting. I've a Mamba lite scope on my air rifle and next year plan to move up to an FAC for bunny bashing and later stalking.

[mr_magicfingers]

Found the nightvisionuk forum and been trying to register. The security question is 'what is our logo'. I've tried every iteration of scope/reticle/crosshair/riflescope/nightscope/nightvision etc that I can come up with and keep being told it's wrong. Does anyone know what the correct answer is please?

[Deiseboy]

Found the nightvisionuk forum and been trying to register. The security question is 'what is our logo'. I've tried every iteration of scope/reticle/crosshair/riflescope/nightscope/nightvision etc that I can come up with and keep being told it's wrong. Does anyone know what the correct answer is please?

I cant reg for them either and it keeps telling me my password is wrong even when i reset it and paste the new one in, then it tells me i need to enter the word in the box and still doesnt work

[evo]

you have to have SIR befor your name to join like me and SIR Dave G :lol:

 

not heard of that one by the way

 

atb SIR Evo

[Dave-G]

Ha, thanks for the compliments lads, I'm >some bloke< over there.

 

I've not heard of the antispam question /answer either but it's probaly wanting you to type in the full name of the site.

 

Cheers, Sir Dave-G, aka some bloke

[Dave-G]

The logo is the phrase that follows the forum name apparently - dunno if the three dots are needed...

[mr_magicfingers]

The logo is the phrase that follows the forum name apparently - dunno if the three dots are needed...

Thanks Dave you're a star. didn't occur to me to use the phrase, a logo is usually a picture. Done now, thanks.

[Dave-G]

Anyone got an old laptop battery pack? Next time you have some spare time put it too good use and pull it apart. They are perfect for many of the small pocket rocket torches such as the Ultrafire 501b.

 

They contain premium 18650 cells that are much better than the budget ones you find on the likes of ebay etc and all have good capacities up to 4.4 amp hour. They have to be decent because the lappy makers won't be wanting to replace them under three year warranties. Most will likely be in perfect condition with perhaps just an odd one being faulty which reduces the capacity of the whole pack. I found one dead one out of one of five packs I have dismantled so far. Most of them have nests of two three or four cells and I found that each cell in a nest has almost exactly the same voltage in them, suggesting the reason for the problem was maybe temperature sensors or some sort of balancing issue.

 

I will be using these to test my torch conversions prior to despatch and will be leaving the battery in them unless the buyer asks me not to.

 

[mick miller]

Be careful though Dave, I'm not sure if they are protected in the same way as separate cells?

[Dazza9t9]

just ordered 2 WF-501B, 2 sets of lens and 2 reflectors

 

I cant wait till they all arrive and I can get out

[Dave-G]

Mick (but his name is really Dave ) They are all protected cells.

 

Daz, good for you.

[mr_magicfingers]

Thats a handy tip, cheers. Waiting for my torch to arrive from china, along with the deal extreme lenses. should be fine for lamping with an air rifle but you've started me down the slippery slope of night vision now so I'm hunting cameras for that

[boo]

Found the lenses from Kaidomain perform better than dx lenses,but beware of differing focal lengths....

[Muddy Funker]

Thats a handy tip, cheers. Waiting for my torch to arrive from china, along with the deal extreme lenses. should be fine for lamping with an air rifle but you've started me down the slippery slope of night vision now so I'm hunting cameras for that

 

Haha me too, well I've got the torch, just waiting on IR Drop in and the DX lens and spacer.

[Muddy Funker]

Anyone got an old laptop battery pack? Next time you have some spare time put it too good use and pull it apart. They are perfect for many of the small pocket rocket torches such as the Ultrafire 501b.

 

They contain premium 18650 cells that are much better than the budget ones you find on the likes of ebay etc and all have good capacities up to 4.4 amp hour. They have to be decent because the lappy makers won't be wanting to replace them under three year warranties. Most will likely be in perfect condition with perhaps just an odd one being faulty which reduces the capacity of the whole pack. I found one dead one out of one of five packs I have dismantled so far. Most of them have nests of two three or four cells and I found that each cell in a nest has almost exactly the same voltage in them, suggesting the reason for the problem was maybe temperature sensors or some sort of balancing issue.

 

I will be using these to test my torch conversions prior to despatch and will be leaving the battery in them unless the buyer asks me not to.

 

 

Dave this is really interesting,

 

Are all the batteries in these laptop power packs the ones we're after for the 501B torches?

 

The only reason I ask is because I just looked on the Bay and there are tons for literally pence.

 

Anything we should be looking out for re voltages ect?

 

Thanks mate.

[pycoed]

Ha, thanks for the compliments lads, I'm >some bloke< over there.

 

I've not heard of the antispam question /answer either but it's probaly wanting you to type in the full name of the site.

 

Cheers, Sir Dave-G, aka some bloke

Hi Dave - just read through all this thread - some terrific work been done here! will definitely be trying some of the mods you have suggested.

If you still are machining copper, then you may be interested to know that the old timers used to use milk as the cutting fluid, to aid machining. Honestly! I'd use the full fat variety, since that's all that was available before 1960.

I've never tried this myself, since I've not used much copper in the lathe, but to be honest I wouldn't have thought the slightly better heat transmission would be worth the extra hassle?