Morris Minor Owners Club

Does anyone have a source for pre-focus type LEDs ? Looking for 'super bright white' or something like that - but with that pre-focus fitting that will go straight into most torches. Loads of LEDs for car use of course - and I'm going to try adapting some of them (when they arrive from China!) - but surely someone does an LED conversion for torches ?? As ever - any help much appreciated.

hey here is a great source of power leds, for pretty cheap aswell
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.917
ive used a few for bike lights,
is using a LED you need some form of current regulation, a resistor would probably do fine, but would require a high power rating and is highly inefficient.
Most torches use a DC-DC converter, either buck or boost (depending on battery voltage vs Vf of the particualr LED you are using) these are about 80-90% efficient
your best(easiest) net is to use a drop in module like this
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13802
although note that the input voltage is 12v max, you may encounter some issues with over supply
another thing to consider is heat dispersion leds are far more sensative to heat damage than filament bulbs

anyway, im just off to the pub so cant post any more detail now, but if theres anything more you need ill post back soonish

MAG do led replacement's for the bulbs in their torches

Thanks for the link - but none of these are the 'pre-focus' type I need. See picture attached! I will run the LED with the appropriate volts - no problem there.[frame][/frame]

I guess I may have to just smash up a bulb - and solder in an LED myself! I do think Hellfrauds sell an LED 'conversion' - but it was ~ £13 or so. I was hoping to find something a little less expensive - as I have 8 Bardics to convert.

http://www.maglite.com/anatomy_spare_D_LED.asp


the MAG bulbs look to have a similar mounting to the one you've shown

Hmmm - yes indeed - they do! Thanks for that link. I thought 'Mag' used a smaller bulb - but these DO look like the pre-focus size. That may be the uber expensive thing I saw in Hellfrauds - just need to find a more affordable supplier !

Are you going to go the whole hog and convert them so that red and green lamps are brought into play by moving the switch, instead of the filters? Conventional wisdom with rear lights and indicators (on cars) is to match the led to the colour required. You'd have room to include some fancy electronics, as you probably wouldn't need those big expensive batteries.

Kevin

No! I'll be keeping the filters. But I would like to incorporate a 'flashing' option which would be handy when using the Bardic as a taillamp. My Bardics are already on re-chargeable D cells.

One thought about using led lamps with a (relatively) big reflector: as I understand them, leds are quite directional, so would you need a cluster of radial or rear-facing ones to achieve the purpose of the reflector? The nice thing about a Bardic is that it gives a beam that's not too directional when the man in the van is using it to call you back or give you the right away, but directional enough to avoid the signal wire when you're walking with it in the cess.

As for flashing taillamps: when I left BR, flickering was the best you could hope for.

Kevin

Well - I have converted one Bardic to LED operation using a car sidelamp LED (actually 4 LEDs in a group) with the little pins on the sides filed away, and a 12 volt re-chargeable battery pack. It's great! As you say - they are directional, but the reflector does take on a 'shine' too! I may try increasing the battery pack to 13 or 14 volts, since that's the normal running voltage in a car, and that may make it usefully brighter still. So that's one method sorted. And yes - I prefer flickering myself, but I do need to carry two lamps, capable of showing a red aspect, when on the diesel! Not sure about converting a Bardic to oil - and my two oil lamps while fine on the steam loco, would be laughed at on the diesel! I have bought a single 'bright white' LED, and will just need to find a way to fit it into a pre-focus holder, and then try that.