1D Blaster?

[javafool]

Wayne,

I know you are discontinuing the Blaster line of flashlights. Unfortunately it is at a time when so many flashlight manufacturers now have the electronics to drive a 1W or a 3W led on a single 1.5v battery very successfully.

A 1D Blaster is the one flashlight I was really hoping you would bring to the market, a small "D" cell light with moderate brightness and a really long run time. No 3toD battery holders, just one readily available ‘D’ battery. If you ever decide to give it a try and have a little spare time, please make me one or two. Either an optic or a reflector would be fine.

Terry

[Norm]

Wouldn't three AA in series make for a much more efficent light?

[javafool]

Wouldn't three AA in series make for a much more efficent light?

Look at the regulation and run time on the Fenix AA flashlights. That is what I would like to see in a 1D Blaster. It's just something I had hoped for for a long time. I think some time back Wayne considered making them but it never materialized.

The Blasters, a good headlamp and a couple of lanterns are my hurricane lights and they worked exceptionally well when I really needed them. I didn't need a bright light, I needed lights that were dependable and ran for a long time on a set of batteries.

Terry

[bullinchinashop]

Wayne,

I know you are discontinuing the Blaster line of flashlights. Unfortunately it is at a time when so many flashlight manufacturers now have the electronics to drive a 1W or a 3W led on a single 1.5v battery very successfully.

A 1D Blaster is the one flashlight I was really hoping you would bring to the market, a small "D" cell light with moderate brightness and a really long run time. No 3toD battery holders, just one readily available ‘D’ battery. If you ever decide to give it a try and have a little spare time, please make me one or two. Either an optic or a reflector would be fine.

Terry

a light powered by 18650's would be pretty cool too. Two end-to-end or three side-by-side like the Blaster jr.
Or a two C light...

[Sub_Umbra]

Wayne has posted instructions on converting the Blaster Jr to 1D. IIRC it was pretty straight forward. If you search you may find the correct bin code, which he included in the post.

On a different occasion Wayne posted that he had built one and tested it. I think he said he was impressed and that it performed better than he thought it would. He even mentioned that he contemplated making and selling them. Of course, this was a while back.

FWIW I think the 1D Blaster is attractive, too. I'd buy one.

[javafool]

Now lust imagine a 1D Balster with a Cree. I meant to type *just* but maybe the lust came from my subconscience.

[speederino]

The 1D form factor is underappreciated but would be quite useful in many situations, IMHO. I would buy a few!

[turb]

I would also buy at least one or four of them, if any such little beast came to life.

[ElektroLumens]

Probably the Cree LED, with a D cell, and boost circuit would work well. I do have a bunch of Blaster-Jr's I have kept on hand, which could be done like this. One of these days I'll fiddle with this and do it.

Wayne

[ElektroLumens]

Probably the Cree LED, with a D cell, and boost circuit would work well. I do have a bunch of Blaster-Jr's I have kept on hand, which could be done like this. One of these days I'll fiddle with this and do it.

Wayne

[javafool]

WOW Wayne, you can say that aagin! I am really interested as that sounds great.

[john2551]

Or even better, the blaster jr. with the 3AA's & a fraen tri-lens or quad-lens with 4 SSC P4's for 500+ lumens! It would be the "little friends" big brother!

[jezzyp]

Or even better, the blaster jr. with the 3AA's & a fraen tri-lens or quad-lens with 4 SSC P4's for 500+ lumens! It would be the "little friends" big brother!

want one, want one, wan...

[javafool]

Or even better, the blaster jr. with the 3AA's & a fraen tri-lens or quad-lens with 4 SSC P4's for 500+ lumens! It would be the "little friends" big brother!

Only if it will run for at least 6 to 8 hours before dimming on that battery set-up. That is the apealing thing about the 1D Cree Blaster. Back to a small, really long running functional flashlight.

[Sarius]

Yeah, me too! This would make a great, tuck away emergency light. A cree, moderately driven would be plenty bright and go for hours and hours.

It seems that there are always D cells around somewhere!

<S>

[HunterSon]

Sounds like a great camp light. When there is very little light polution you need less light to see, so long runtime with moderate output sounds great!

[ElektroLumens]

Sounds like there is a lot of interest in this 1D Blaster. I'll see what I can do, and when I can do it.

Wayne

[XFlash]

I've always liked this idea, glad to hear it may happen.
I would love to have one.

[straightblast]

Count me in for a couple, Wayne. Be a great light!

[PJ]

+1 for me on a 1D Blaster

[qip]

no no no stop it already no more ....my pocket$ are empty

[speederino]

Let me reiterate something the OP said:

...moderate brightness and a really long run time.

Yes please!

and with a set of these:

http://www.greenbatteries.com/battery-adapter.html

It would make the ultimate hurricane light.

Man I can't wait for you to get caught up!

[ElektroLumens]

Today I'm going to mount a Seoul Semiconductor P4 LED into a Blaster-1D, see how it works. I can go with one or two Micropucks. I'm going to see if my two stage switch will work or not. Some of them have a funny two piece switch holder which might not work with the 2 stage switch, unless I machine a special switch holder, make it like I use to make them with a solid chunk of plastic.

I can use the stock 30mm reflector, which makes this a focusable light. But beam quality has never been that great with the 30mm reflector. I can also use a 27mm reflector, and lux reading should be fairly high.

In the past, the 1D worked well with the Luxeon 3W if it were a 'J' bin, and it worked excellent with a rare 'H' bin (forward voltage).

Anyway, I think it will work fine, just wondering who wants one?

A customer emailed me and pointed out a good source for the P4, so I can get them right away.

Price? $59.99 for single Micropuck version, $69.99 for the stacked Micropuck version.

I have a good number of Blaster Jr's I held on to. I need to count, but maybe 50 or so.

Email me if you want one to confirm availability. Payment by paypal is preferred, if possible.

I don't really plan on making this a regular item to sell, but I do need to clear off the remaining stock of Blaster Jr's, er, that is, Blaster-1D's.

I am putting it together in a while, and I'll post my results.

Wayne

[javafool]

Email sent for Blaster-1D with singl puck.

[ElektroLumens]

I'm in the middle of a Blaster Jr fiddle


The heat sink needs to be anodized as the slug of the P4 has to be electrically isolated, so right now it's being andodized.

I tested the beam with the 30mm optics and it looks totally superb, better than with the Luxeon LED. Using the stock optics is the way I'm planning on doing this, as the sink actually has a post on it to raise up the LED, and using the 27mm reflector would be difficult.

I'll have the proto finished in a bit. I'll use a single puck to start.

I only have a few P4's, but I can get some more in a few days. Depends on how long it takes for them to be shipped to me.

Wayne

[XFlash]

Thanks for keeping us informed, can't wait to see finished product.
Makes my day seeing these unique lights appear as if magic.

[javafool]

Paypal sent per your email. I think I have been hounding you for this flashlight for two or three years now. The time is finally right!

Thanks,
Terry

[speederino]

Email order sent for 1D blaster with single puck. PayPal locked and loaded, ready to fire.

Thanks Wayne!

[ElektroLumens]

I finished the first Blaster-1D.

Brightness is about 1200 lux. Not terribly bright. This is with a single Micropuck. Run time should be great, as the LED runs extremely efficient at this lower power level.

I do have some 3W LEDs that will work, if anyone wants that. I have some TXOJ, which will work fine, and I have just a few TXOH, which have an extremely low Vf and will also work quite well in the 1D Blaster.

I cannot say what is the best, the SSC P4, a low Vf Luxeon LED, but probably are similar, as the P4 is a brighter LED.

I do not plan on making a lot of these. I will make them as I have time. A few have already placed orders and I will be able to ship them right away. First two of which I can make as I have the P4's are already sold. Any more, I'll have to get the LEDs in which will be mid week.

(On another note, as I will have the P4's I can make a few Stunner-P4's, as a few have switched over from the Stunner-XRE to the Stunner-P4.)

This Blaster-1D is a good one for using up spent D cells. I put in a somewhat dead D cell and still had a reading of 1000 lux. Sometimes you have uneven charged D cell alkalines and it's not good to combine uneven charge batteries. Also, as some have mentioned, the 1D Blaster will be very simple, and a long lasting run time for emergency use. Not terribly bright.

I suppose an adapter could be made to use a 3.0V CR123 or an 18650 ?

Wayne

[qip]

(On another note, as I will have the P4's I can make a few Stunner-P4's, as a few have switched over from the Stunner-XRE to the Stunner-P4.)
Wayne

i feel giddy