Inspired by A.J.'s mod, I went out and bought one of these
little lights to see how easy it would be to do a mod. I found
it to be a very simple and straightforward mod with a minimum
of soldering that needs to be done. Ray-O-Vac bills this headlamp
as a "children's" headlamp, but I found it to be of
surprising quality and suitable for adults as well (if you don't
mind the stars and lightning bolts embroidered on the headband!).
Step One requires simply that you take apart the headlamp.
Remove the bezel lens, reflector and look inside. There is
ample room for a mod in there. Surprisingly the headlamp comes
with a spare bulb inside! Save these bulbs for your MiniMag
- they're the same. Remove the screw on either side of the
black plate.
Here is the unit completely apart. Notice the black rubber
bezel cover comes off and reveals that the lens and threaded
portion is one piece. Squeezing gently around the bezel will
pop the reflector out.
We need to modify the black contact retainer plate so we can
thread the wires through to the Luxeon Star. With a hobby knife
remove the bulb holder on top and remove the spare bulb holder
on the side. Then carve a notch on the side under where the
spare bulb holder was. This is where you will run the wires
to the Luxeon Star.
Solder contact wires onto the Luxeon Star. Strip the ends
of the wires about 1/8" and push the stripped ends under
the contacts as shown. The wires will line up with the notch
we carved, above. Some model/hobby cement on the wires and the
end of the blue plastic will hold them in place without additional
soldering being needed. The positive contact goes on the right
(red).
Assemble and you're ready to go! The headlamp is watertight
and has the same lux output at 1 meter as a new production Lightwave
Illuminator headlamp or a Lightwave 2000, albeit in a tighter
spot
If you want to give the headlamp a more finished look and
you have a rotary hobby tool you can carve out the reflector.
Here's a handy tip: the Luxeon Star optics are the same size
diameter as a US nickel. Set the nickel into the reflector and
with a sharp instrument trace around its edges. When you carve
out the reflector, carve just a little larger than the line
you drew and the Luxeon Star will fit perfectly in the reflector.
