USER MODIFICATION
Brinkmann Legend 3-AA + Luxeon Star
The "Long Gun Illuminator"

User Modification: Legend 3-AA direct-drive Luxeon
("The Long Gun Illuminator")
Manufactured by (see below)
Last updated 02-14-07




This black aluminum & rubber flashlight was born as a Brinkmann Legend 3-AA cell incandescent. A user of Candlepower Forums who goes by "Mr. BulkTM" removed the original lamp assembly, outfitted it with a 1.2W Luxeon Star on a very heavy heatsink platform, and the "Long Gun Illuminator", or LGI, was born.
The studly little flashlight now outpowers all other LED lights currently being made, including those 14 and 19 LED Tektite models!!! I know I said that when I reviewed Lambda's 2-AA Luxeon mod, but this one smokes them all.


SIZE:



Functionally, the modified light is almost exactly like the original. The tailcap switch has several modes - pressing it partway in allows for intermittent operation; pushing it all the way in allows for steady burn, and (while off), rotating the tailcap locks it in the "off" position, greatly lessening the chance it might go off in your bag and drain the batteries. Only when you turn it on do you realise this is no ordinary Brinkmann. It emits an insanely bright, intense blue-white beam which some people might even confuse for the world's smallest metal halide HID lamp!!



This one's easy. Just pop off the tailpiece (well, OK unscrew it!) and slip in three "AA" cells button-end (+) first. Screw the tailcap back on, and that's all there is to it. Flashlights just don't get much easier than this.



Like all CPF member's modification I've seen to date, the LGI appears very professional, and it looks like the flashlight was supposed to come this way. The only way you can tell it didn't come this way is there's a slight gap between the lip of the bezel and the lens of the LS, just like on Lambda's Legend mod. A closer examination revealed this is no gap at all - a very transparent window is mounted here to protect the optics of the Luxeon Star LED! This window is so clear, it's invisible. A mild suction test confirmed its presence; it offers an effective seal against dust and water, and should protect the flashlight against just about everything except perhaps someone's alcohol-fueled attempt to drown it in the toilet. And it will probably survive that too.

The tailcap & switch assembly is outfitted with an O-ring. While I do not know its submersibility rating, I can with confidence say this light will be perfectly fine in rain, sleet, or snow. If any water gets in the flashlight at all, this is where it's coming in at. And you can easily deal with a few drops in a battery tube. Under normal use (bad weather, the occasional dredging, etc.), nothing will get in through the head or bezel assembly where the LS emitter is.


The LS emitter is affixed to a thick aluminum heatsink slug using "Arctic Silver" epoxy, an epoxy compound with a high percentage of metallic silver which makes it an excellent conductor of heat. This prevents the emitter from popping by allowing all the heat generated by the overpowered emitter to flow into the slug, and out through the metal flashlight body.



The head and upper body of the LGI will get noticeably warm quite quickly; this is normal and does not indicate a problem. In fact, if it DIDN'T get warm like this, the LED would last only a matter of seconds at best! With the very effective heat removal system that Mr. BulkTM has devised, the LED should last many hundreds of hours or more; which is really quite a long time when used in a flashlight like this.



Beam photo. Several readings with several battery changes ranged from 400,000mcd to 560,000mcd


Spectrographic plot
Spectrometer plot of the LED in this flashlight.
Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer on loan from WWW.TWO-CUBED.COM.



TEST NOTES:
Easily the brightest AA cell LED light tested to date (as of 09-16-02), comparing favorably against both commercial products and other user modifications.

As this is a user modification, it will not be rated or graded like a commercial product.
This light was made by Mr. BulkTM of Candlepower Forums.

Battery life will be tested as time permits.


UPDATE: 09-20-02
Mr. BulkTM now has a website with this and other modified lights on it. http://darkgear.com/mrbulk/







Do you manufacture or sell an LED flashlight, task light, utility light, or module of some kind? Want to see it tested by a real person, under real working conditions? Do you then want to see how your light did? If you have a sample available for this type of real-world, real-time testing, please contact me at ledmuseum@gmail.com.

Please visit this web page for contact information.

Unsolicited flashlights appearing in the mail are welcome, and it will automatically be assumed that you sent it in order to have it tested and evaluated for this site.
Be sure to include contact info or your company website's URL so visitors here will know where to purchase your product.


WHITE 5500-6500K InGaN+phosphor 
ULTRAVIOLET 370-390nm GaN 
BLUE 430nm GaN+SiC
BLUE 450 and 473nm InGaN
BLUE Silicon Carbide
TURQUOISE 495-505nm InGaN
GREEN 525nm InGaN 
YELLOW-GREEN 555-575mn GaAsP & related
YELLOW 585-595nm
AMBER 595-605nm
ORANGE 605-620nm
ORANGISH-RED 620-635nm
RED 640-700nm
INFRARED 700-1300nm
True RGB Full Color LED
Spider (Pirrahna) LEDs
SMD LEDs
True violet (400-418nm) LEDs
Agilent Barracuda & Prometheus LEDs
Oddball & Miscellaneous LEDs
Programmable RGB LED modules / fixtures
Where to buy these LEDs 
Links to other LED-related websites
The World's First Virtual LED Museum
The Punishment Zone - Where Flashlights Go to Die
Legal horse puckey, etc.
RETURN TO OPENING/MAIN PAGE
LEDSaurus (on-site LED Mini Mart)



This page is a frame from a website.
If you arrived on this page through an outside link,you can get the "full meal deal" by clicking here.