Upgrade cheap old Ryobi flasjlight

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

I am in the process of converting my power tools to 18v rechargeable Li-ion power tools and I have settled on Ryobi.

I just recently bought used drill, circular saw, sawzall, jig saw, vacuum and several of the old style flashlights. The used tools came with 2 chargers and two batteries, one Ni-Cd one Li-Ion.

I have also ordered new a DC charger and two new Li-Ion batteries as well as a refurbed impact driver.

My question is this, "What LED replacement bulb can I use in this device?"

I've tested the battery with a Multimeter and it seems to register at about 21v, same as the leads to the bulb when it's removed and I turn the flashlight on. There are bulbs available that are rated 3v-18v and others that are rated 5v-24v. Then of course they are rated by watts as well, 1, 3, and 5 watts seems standard. If I understand correctly the higher the watts the brighter the bulb and the quicker the battery will deplete.

I *THINK* what I want is a 5-24v 3watt p13.5s replacement bulb. Can someone please confirm this?

 

[DannyB1954]

I think it would be rare for an LED bulb to need replacing.

About xmas every year you can get a 2 for the price of 1 on 4 ah Li iOn batteries. watch for the sale.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

I think it would be rare for an LED bulb to need replacing.

About xmas every year you can get a 2 for the price of 1 on 4 ah Li iOn batteries. watch for the sale.

The bulbs in both flash lights now are incandescent and I want to convert to LED.

I'de like to expand my collection of this brand of equipment for simplicity if nothing else.

They have a fan with a misting pump and a boom box that I am considering purchasing. All of these appliances run off of the same batteries.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

Have you found a number on the original bulb? You could use that to cross reference a LED replacement. If no number is obvious then you should be able to use the model number of the light to find the original bulb or LED equivalent.

You say that you are converting to 18 volt Li-Ion, was that the same voltage as the NiCad?

Using Google...
https://www.google.com/search?q=i&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=ryobi+flashlight+led+bulb

Guy

Yes. I am converting to Ryobi One+18v tools and purchasing new 18v Li-Ion batteries. All of the Ryobi 18v batteries are forwards and backwards compatible. This includes the older Ni-Cd batteries. Using the 18v Li-Ion batteries with the older blue tools gives them a serious power boost and they are considerably less expensive.

My thoughts on the flashlights is that by switching from Incandescent to LED I will get more use out of the charge of a battery. I can also use the Ni-Cd for the flashlights and save the litihiums for the tools.

I did some googling before I posted this. Enough that I have the form factor size code and have bothered to check the voltages on the battery and the leads that connect the battery to the bulb, it is 100% direct to the battery and measures exactly the same as the battery itself. The "replacement" batteries for sale from homedepot.com range from 1-3 watts and 3-6 volts DC. Some are xenon and most are incandescent and some are LED. My question still remains.

Since the leads to the bulb read as 18vDC (measured closer to 21vDC at 100% freshly charged battery) if I want a modest increase in lumens (light output) but also a savings in terms of amp hours used by switching to the LED. What are the pros and cons of the different voltage and wattage measurements? Do I use a bulb that is rated at a lower than 18 voltage? The watts rating should indicate how bright the bulb is and how much power it draws. I *THINK* I want to go withe 5-24v (to match the battery) and 3 watts which seems a mid ground for these bulbs. To go to 10 watts I would need to install a mini power supply and a heat sink ... which is cool but unnecessary.

 

[B and C]

Since the leads to the bulb read as 18vDC (measured closer to 21vDC at 100% freshly charged battery) if I want a modest increase in lumens (light output) but also a savings in terms of amp hours used by switching to the LED. What are the pros and cons of the different voltage and wattage measurements? Do I use a bulb that is rated at a lower than 18 voltage? The watts rating should indicate how bright the bulb is and how much power it draws. I *THINK* I want to go withe 5-24v (to match the battery) and 3 watts which seems a mid ground for these bulbs. To go to 10 watts I would need to install a mini power supply and a heat sink ... which is cool but unnecessary.

I think you are making a good choice.  When using LED bulbs, you want it rated at a higher voltage than what you are supplying.  The LED's you are choosing are the better ones as they are not one voltage.  All the LED's in my van are the 10-30 volt jobbers and I haven't burned out one yet.  When I first started with LED's, I went with the cheap one's labeled 12VDC.  The got very hot and burned out in short order when charging voltages where applied to the batteries.  Three watts should be plenty bright and you could probably operate on squirrels if you had a mind to .  The LED's in my interior fixtures use about .2 watts and one light's the inside well.

 

[SternWake]

I've found that most of the regulated LEDs that say 10 to 30vdc, cause pretty bad radio interference, knocking out or detracting from some TV signals.


I have mostly negated this by tightly twisting the wires leading to the LEDS, and the use of snap on ferrite cores.

https://www.amazon.com/Ferrite-YAMAY-10-Pack-Suppressor-Antenna/dp/B015E8DH70

I've also found the regulated LEDS might not resond to a pwm led dimmer, and I am now hooked on these.

While the LED bulb might consume 0.08 AMPS  at full brightness, at 80% brightness it will consume only half of that.

Regarding flashlights, My choice was LED flashlights designed around an LED emitter, and using 18650 or 14500 lithium batteries in them.

This was my first one, also works with normal AA alkalines, which are the same size as 14500( 14mm diameter, 50MM long)

https://www.amazon.com/Hausbell-Ult...qid=1482108831&sr=8-8&keywords=led+flashlight

That light has incredible throw^^

I likely have hundreds of hours of this light on my head:

https://www.amazon.com/NiteCore-XM-...&qid=1482108929&sr=8-1&keywords=nitecore+hc50

Best of luck upgrading the Ryobi light source.  Many years ago i put an LED bulb in my 4D cell maglite and it was impressive, but that light was stolen by someone I had considered a friend.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

I've found that most of the regulated LEDs that say 10 to 30vdc, cause pretty bad radio interference, knocking out or detracting from some TV signals.


I have mostly negated this by tightly twisting the wires leading to the LEDS, and the use of snap on ferrite cores.

https://www.amazon.com/Ferrite-YAMAY-10-Pack-Suppressor-Antenna/dp/B015E8DH70

I've also found the regulated LEDS might not resond to a pwm led dimmer, and I am now hooked on these.

While the LED bulb might consume 0.08 AMPS  at full brightness, at 80% brightness it will consume only half of that.

Regarding flashlights, My choice was LED flashlights designed around an LED emitter, and using 18650 or 14500 lithium batteries in them.

This was my first one, also works with normal AA alkalines, which are the same size as 14500( 14mm diameter, 50MM long)

https://www.amazon.com/Hausbell-Ult...qid=1482108831&sr=8-8&keywords=led+flashlight

That light has incredible throw^^

I likely have hundreds of hours of this light on my head:

https://www.amazon.com/NiteCore-XM-...&qid=1482108929&sr=8-1&keywords=nitecore+hc50

Best of luck upgrading the Ryobi light source.  Many years ago i put an LED bulb in my 4D cell maglite and it was impressive, but that light was stolen by someone I had considered a friend.

easy enough to turn a van in to a big Faraday Cage. I'll keep those ferrite cores in mind when I go to do actual wiring.

As for these flashlights, they are simply extras and something to help learn with without sacraficing something of more worth. I'm not a huge fan of flashlights for getting around in the dark I find them only useful fora few things. BUT ... If I'm going to keep them around I might as well through a couple bucks at them and do what I can to improve them and I think I just did that.

A head lamp is something that I do need to figure out. I thought I had one around but I can't seem to find it.

You bringing up the 18650 battery led me down some interesting Google searches. Now that I'm learning more about what all of the different numbers associated with batteries and electronics I'm starting to see a whole world of possibilities opening up. For instance 12v in vehicle AA and AAA battery chargers. I suppose I had never thought about it before but they exist. Going to solar and batteries seems like such a good way to go! Now that I'm finding all of the 12v appliances and chargers I'm so ready to drop a dime for a solar set up!

 

[SternWake]

I have the Nitecore I4 version 2 charger, but since then they have come out with this better version, which i would love to justify owning.


https://www.amazon.com/NiteCore-D4-...=UTF8&qid=1482113183&sr=1-3&keywords=nitecore

Best part of these is one can use them on 12vDC, and of course they can charge most any cylindrical battery no matter the chemistry.

One should not use Offbrand 18650 cells.  Many sold are just rewrapped used laptop cells with ridiculous capacity claims.

While I have harvested many 18650 cells from used laptop battery packs, their capacity is nearing Joke levels and I have to swap out batteries too often.

i now use only my Panasonic ncr18650B cells.

Be very wary of 18650 lights which come with batteries and chargers.  These cells should never be charged above 4.2v.

I had one such flashlight  provided charger that was still going after cell read 4.56v, and I basically had to discard that 12$ cell.

Tesla's battery packs use something like 2300 of these 18650 cells, but i hear they will be moving to a different size format as soon as the super battery plant in Nevada is up and running.

This here is really the forum for topics such as flashlights and current battery technology for them:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...s-Included&s=3381a9acfb2a35093f7ffbe746715329