How to Convert Streamlight to LED
A Streamlight-brand portable flashlight uses an incandescent light to provide illumination. Convert the Streamlight to use an LED bulb instead of the incandescent bulb. Supplies from a hardware store will be needed, as will some tools commonly found around the house. Having experience with a soldering iron is helpful.
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Things You'll Need
- Newspaper
- Work gloves
- Masking tape
- Needle-nose pliers
- Flat-edged jeweler's screwdriver
- Soldering iron
- Desolder bulb
- Solder
- Ruler
- Wire cutters
- Resistor, 47 Ohm
- LED, 5,000 mcd
- Electrical tape
Instructions
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1
Unscrew the battery cap from the back of the Streamlight-brand flashlight. Remove the batteries. Place the cap and batteries aside for later. Unscrew the reflector from the front of the flashlight. Poke out the plastic lens on the inside of the reflector with your finger. Dispose of the plastic lens. Place the reflector aside for later.
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2
Unscrew the incandescent bulb from inside the front of the flashlight with your fingers. Remove the bulb. Place a sheet of newspaper on a work surface to protect the top from damage. Put on the work gloves.
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3
Wrap strips of masking tape around the glass part of the incandescent bulb. Grip the side of the bulb over the tape with needle-nose pliers. Squeeze the pliers until the glass breaks.
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4
Remove the masking tape from the bulb. Clean out any loose pieces of glass from the bulb's base with the tip of a flat-edged jeweler's screwdriver. Sweep the glass pieces into a pile with one hand. Pick up the newspaper and empty the glass into the trash. Return the newspaper to the work surface.
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5
Stand the base on the newspaper with the open end facing down. Heat up the soldering iron for five minutes before proceeding. Apply the tip of the soldering iron to the solder on the top of the base. Remove the soldering iron after 20 seconds have passed. Remove the solder from the top of the base with a desolder bulb. Let the base cool two minutes before proceeding.
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6
Measure 1/4 inch from the resistor outward on the conductive pins on each side. Cut the conductive pins at the 1/4-inch mark with wire cutters. Bend the longer of the two conductive pins on the bottom of the LED at a 40 degree angle with the wire cutters. Measure 1/4 inch from the bottom of the LED outward on the two conductive pins. Cut the conductive pins at the 1/4-inch mark with wire cutters.
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7
Solder one of the conductive pins on the resistor to the conductive pin on the LED that was not bent. Let the solder cool for a minute before proceeding. Scuff the tip of the LED with fine-grit sandpaper. Wrap a strip of electrical tape around the conductive pins that are now soldered together to insulate them.
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8
Solder the end of the free conductive pin on the LED to the side of the base. Let the solder cool for a minute before proceeding.
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9
Turn the base over. Solder the free end of the conductive pin on the resistor to the contact inside the base's bottom. Let the solder cool for a minute before proceeding. Unplug the soldering iron.
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10
Place the LED into the opening on the base. Tape the LED to the sides of the base with a strip of electrical tape.
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11
Insert the base into the flashlight. Screw the base into the socket where the incandescent bulb was. Screw the reflector back on the front of the flashlight. Return the batteries to the battery compartment and screw the battery cap back on.
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