I took the LED circuit board out of the NS. The LED itself isn't too bad, and if you can't get a hold of ultra brights, take those resistors out. All they're really there for is to take some of the voltage and heat off of the LED, which makes it dimmer. Some people say you need at least a 300 ohm resistor with LEDs or they burn out, but I've never had it happen. The current's the same since they're in series with the LED so it's not like there's going to be to much of a current draw since it would be the same with or without the resistors. Most LEDs max out and go into saturation at 3.4v or higher, so if you're only using two AA or AAA (1.5v each), you're only getting 3v so you still don't need to worry about keeping a resistor...
So now you can just desolder or cut that board off and solder the LED on. Just remember which lead's positive or you will have to put the batteries in backwards!
Now you'll notice that the original red LED had a black housing on it that kept it in place.
Way in the back also. This made it so that a concentrated beam of light hit the lens and stayed small, as opposed to putting it right up close and shining a cone of light on it, which gives you more light. I cut a bic pen to the length of that light tube and put the LED at the front. Then I jammed the pen and LED in the tube and pushed it up so that the LED was like 1/4 inch away from the lens. This way, it puts out a nice wide beam.
So ummm.... that's basically it. Reassemble it like it used to be and now you have a bright flashlight instead of a wimpy red dot! I'll have pics as soon as the bondo on my gun dries!
Edited by Katachi, 29 June 2004 - 12:57 AM.