Introduction: How to Repair / Modify a 9-LED 3xAAA Cell Husky Flashlight
These are the steps i used to modify / repair my Husky(R) 9-LED 3xAAA cell flash light.
The initial problem began with the light going out while turned on. If i tapped the flash light it would work again. But this was an LED flash light so that shouldn't make a difference. This led to disassembling the flash light and finding 2 flimsy twisted wires that eventually broke while I had the 9-LED head off the flash light.
Unfortunately not all the steps have good photos since the thought to post wasn't until the flashlight was repaired.
The initial problem began with the light going out while turned on. If i tapped the flash light it would work again. But this was an LED flash light so that shouldn't make a difference. This led to disassembling the flash light and finding 2 flimsy twisted wires that eventually broke while I had the 9-LED head off the flash light.
Unfortunately not all the steps have good photos since the thought to post wasn't until the flashlight was repaired.
Step 1: Tools and Materials
Tools:
Leatherman
Nippers (optional probably)
Razor Blade (optional if your knife is sharp)
Soldering Iron
Materials:
Solder
Paper clip
Washer & Spacer that fits within the body of the flash light
Nail
5/16" of black 1/4 inch drip irrigation tubing
electrical tape (optional i bet)
My source of materials...
Leather man was in my pocket.
Razor blade from the bathroom.
Soldering iron in the office.
Nippers tool box (more a box of tools)
i am sure you could care less where i got the tools but the materials will be helpful.
solder lives with the soldering iron.
paper clip from my desk.
the washer and spacer that were used were left over from a toilet repair kit. these were a rubber washer that was fairly thick and a thin brass washer that were used to hold the toilet tank to the base of the toilet.
nail i used an aluminum nail used in forestry to hold tree tags on trees. don't go stealing a nail from a tree tag!!! but this nail had a large head and fit in the available tubing.
tubing was scrap from / in my garden.
Leatherman
Nippers (optional probably)
Razor Blade (optional if your knife is sharp)
Soldering Iron
Materials:
Solder
Paper clip
Washer & Spacer that fits within the body of the flash light
Nail
5/16" of black 1/4 inch drip irrigation tubing
electrical tape (optional i bet)
My source of materials...
Leather man was in my pocket.
Razor blade from the bathroom.
Soldering iron in the office.
Nippers tool box (more a box of tools)
i am sure you could care less where i got the tools but the materials will be helpful.
solder lives with the soldering iron.
paper clip from my desk.
the washer and spacer that were used were left over from a toilet repair kit. these were a rubber washer that was fairly thick and a thin brass washer that were used to hold the toilet tank to the base of the toilet.
nail i used an aluminum nail used in forestry to hold tree tags on trees. don't go stealing a nail from a tree tag!!! but this nail had a large head and fit in the available tubing.
tubing was scrap from / in my garden.
Step 2: Dismantle the Flashlight
we are only working on 1 end of the flashlight so i only removed the end of the light with the LED's in it.
before the next sentence you need to look at the wires and verify that the wire in the center of the base was indeed going to the center of the LED head. this was the switch to the center of the LED's for me. also verify that the outer wire goes to the outside ring of LED's and this was the ground for my unit.
At this point if things line up as stated above you can easily remove the 2 wires. For me they broke in my hand. very light gauge.
if the retaining clip that is the ground wire didn't come out yet now use your leatherman to remove the retaining clip carefully as it will be reused.
before the next sentence you need to look at the wires and verify that the wire in the center of the base was indeed going to the center of the LED head. this was the switch to the center of the LED's for me. also verify that the outer wire goes to the outside ring of LED's and this was the ground for my unit.
At this point if things line up as stated above you can easily remove the 2 wires. For me they broke in my hand. very light gauge.
if the retaining clip that is the ground wire didn't come out yet now use your leatherman to remove the retaining clip carefully as it will be reused.
Step 3: Prep for Assembly
take the brass washer (mine fit nearly perfectly in the flashlight) and center it over the spacer (rubber washer in this case) if the rubber washer is too large to fit in the flash light take the razor blade and trim to the size of the washer. this doesn't have to be done perfectly. in my case the washer was just smaller than the diameter i needed so by doing a crummy job of trimming this gave me a tight fit.
wrap the end of the tubing with electrical tape. i did 2 wraps. all this did for me was to make the plastic tube fit more snugly in the rubber washer.
now cut to 5/16" long with 2 clean square sides. this length may vary based on your flash light. i did some complicated measuring and then guessed on the length.
use the file in your leatherman to clean up the nail if there is any extra metal in the nail from being forged.
slide the nail into the tube and use the nippers to cut the nail 1/16" - 1/8" longer than the tube.
clean up the cut with the file to your leatherman. the nippers crimped the end of the nail and i wanted a larger surface area and really filed the nail until it was flat and the entire diameter of the nail.
straiten the paper clip. you will need 2 pieces. the first will solder to the brass washer and the ground clip. the second is a makeshift spring for the ground.
wrap the end of the tubing with electrical tape. i did 2 wraps. all this did for me was to make the plastic tube fit more snugly in the rubber washer.
now cut to 5/16" long with 2 clean square sides. this length may vary based on your flash light. i did some complicated measuring and then guessed on the length.
use the file in your leatherman to clean up the nail if there is any extra metal in the nail from being forged.
slide the nail into the tube and use the nippers to cut the nail 1/16" - 1/8" longer than the tube.
clean up the cut with the file to your leatherman. the nippers crimped the end of the nail and i wanted a larger surface area and really filed the nail until it was flat and the entire diameter of the nail.
straiten the paper clip. you will need 2 pieces. the first will solder to the brass washer and the ground clip. the second is a makeshift spring for the ground.
Step 4: Assembly
solder short piece of paper clip to the brass washer. this wasn't very fun but i had scuffed up the surface of the washer and paper clip to help solder flow.
line up the brass washer over the rubber washer and carefully press the paper clip through the rubber washer.
solder the ground clip as closely to the rubber washer as possible and clip the remaining paper clip off. be responsible and recycle the piece. :-)
put nail in to small tube. slide tube in to rubber washer with the head of the nail on the side of the grounding clip. this means the head of the nail will be on the opposite side of the rubber washer from the brass washer.
carefully hold the assembly and slide it in to the base of the flash light with the head of the nail down to make contact with the lead coming out of the switch. the assumption here is that the lead will act as a spring. you can now slide the assembly in until you hear the ground clip click in to place.
the base is now done. in theory the center lead is + and the brass ring is - (ground) i guess if you had other heads that could screw on this would make changing easy
this i found to be the hardest part as i have clumsy hands. as you saw in the prep section this ring was created as a spring. the lead has to be soldered on to the outer ring of the LED head.
now carefully bend the "spring" out so that it will make contact when assembled.
Screw the LED head assembly on to the base.
line up the brass washer over the rubber washer and carefully press the paper clip through the rubber washer.
solder the ground clip as closely to the rubber washer as possible and clip the remaining paper clip off. be responsible and recycle the piece. :-)
put nail in to small tube. slide tube in to rubber washer with the head of the nail on the side of the grounding clip. this means the head of the nail will be on the opposite side of the rubber washer from the brass washer.
carefully hold the assembly and slide it in to the base of the flash light with the head of the nail down to make contact with the lead coming out of the switch. the assumption here is that the lead will act as a spring. you can now slide the assembly in until you hear the ground clip click in to place.
the base is now done. in theory the center lead is + and the brass ring is - (ground) i guess if you had other heads that could screw on this would make changing easy
this i found to be the hardest part as i have clumsy hands. as you saw in the prep section this ring was created as a spring. the lead has to be soldered on to the outer ring of the LED head.
now carefully bend the "spring" out so that it will make contact when assembled.
Screw the LED head assembly on to the base.
Step 5: Conclusions
push the power button. you have light and now the flimsy wires are gone.
there are some soldering annoyances that most likely could have been avoided if i had used copper wires instead of paper clips. i had to repair multiple cold solder joints. but it is raining out and i don't want to go to the shed to get the wire. :-)
there are some soldering annoyances that most likely could have been avoided if i had used copper wires instead of paper clips. i had to repair multiple cold solder joints. but it is raining out and i don't want to go to the shed to get the wire. :-)