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spartan lite upgrade.

ca Offline armi101

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spartan lite upgrade.
on: February 12, 2018, 04:49:14 AM
As promised in another post. I decided to show my spartan lite upgrade.

I've read far too many of the modder posts and decided it was my turn. Personally I find the spartan lite almost perfect. In really want a climber lite and I will make one some day but for now...

. In one of the old posts I found a few people complaining that the lite is poor on the Sak. And I agree. It seems weak. But I figured it couldn't be hard to upgrade. So I went and ordered a 3mm 18000 mcd (Mili candle) led. Then carefully disassembled the spartan and took apart the lite portion.

I was pretty simple and the results are great. I didnt take modding pics. But I have posted the comparison pics. The difference between stock led and upgrade is substantial.

I suggest if you are into modding. This was a good upgrade. I actually acts as a small flashlight now. Not crazy, but good enough.


ca Offline armi101

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #1 on: February 12, 2018, 04:55:06 AM
Sorry. Had to resize the pics.
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* 20180211_201431-1328x747.jpg (Filesize: 54.5 KB)


us Offline sir_mike

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #2 on: February 12, 2018, 06:16:16 AM
Wow, that is great!  Now the light is usable!  I never cared for the stock one.  How much did the light upgrade cost?


us Offline Blackbeard

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #3 on: February 12, 2018, 06:25:31 AM
does it use the same battery?


ca Offline armi101

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #4 on: February 12, 2018, 06:38:12 AM
It uses the same battery.
I already had the pin stock so i dont know that cost, and i had replacement scales.

If i recall is was $.10 canadian for 10 led. 1cent per led, free shipping.



00 Offline Thunderpants

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #5 on: February 12, 2018, 09:52:02 AM
Fantastic! I had an old and very weak Spartan Lite which I sold - something I immediately regretted. My only "Lite" is the one on my Mountaineer Lite - it's not bad, now that it has fresh batteries. Better than no torch at all!
But this upgrade is great.


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #6 on: February 12, 2018, 10:03:44 AM
Only downside is that the battery will not last nearly as long.  :whistle:

Nice mod!  :cheers:
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


id Offline jaya_man

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #7 on: February 12, 2018, 10:14:18 AM
Nice mod... Any problems with heat from long period use?


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00 Offline Thunderpants

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #8 on: February 12, 2018, 11:31:57 AM
None whatsoever...

* cloud.jpeg (Filesize: 8.03 KB)


ca Offline armi101

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #9 on: February 12, 2018, 04:32:11 PM
No heat issues.
It will use the batter faster, but I never found it useful before because the lite was so weak.

I expect it will get used much more like this.


us Offline Spartan19

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #10 on: February 12, 2018, 11:31:06 PM
Love the Spartan Lite! As you can probably tell, the Spartan is one of my favorite patterns! :D :like:
Send In the spartans


ca Offline armi101

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #11 on: February 13, 2018, 05:07:06 AM
I am a fan of the spartan. But i find that typicaly my edc is either a climber, explorer, or pioneer x. However depending on what im doing that day sometimes i need a flashlight so the spartan lite fills a needed gap.


gb Offline craggus2000

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #12 on: March 02, 2019, 11:38:42 PM
Sorry to drag up an old thread but do you know the model of led you used please? The leds I've found for doing this run at about 3.6v but the spartan lite uses 2x 3v batteries = 6v.
Or is there something I'm missing?  ???

Thanks
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us Offline cody6268

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #13 on: March 03, 2019, 03:03:15 AM
Gotta find a beater "lite" model (preferably a Huntsman Lite) and try this. I have a Master Gardener, which being an older model has the old dim LED. Even dimmer than my ca. 2012 Wenger Microlight Esquire. But it's too uncommon to mess with.


ca Offline armi101

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #14 on: March 03, 2019, 05:19:11 AM
The  leds have a voltage bias typicaly between 2.9-3.6v. The will still work fine with a 3v battery.  The batteries are in parallel not in series like most flashlights. Eg. Two batteries will still provide only 3v.


gb Offline craggus2000

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #15 on: March 05, 2019, 11:22:41 PM
The  leds have a voltage bias typicaly between 2.9-3.6v. The will still work fine with a 3v battery.  The batteries are in parallel not in series like most flashlights. Eg. Two batteries will still provide only 3v.

Ahh I see :tu:
Just waiting for my spartan lite to arrive then I can begin tinkering  >:D
Is the original led round topped or flat top?
I've managed to find and 18000mcd cool white leds so thinking I might try one of them.
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us Offline kamakiri

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #16 on: March 06, 2019, 01:41:24 AM
The  leds have a voltage bias typicaly between 2.9-3.6v. The will still work fine with a 3v battery.  The batteries are in parallel not in series like most flashlights. Eg. Two batteries will still provide only 3v.

That doesn't sound right...pretty sure they are in series.

I'll have to try the mod regardless. It seems like there are different levels of brightness even with the original Lites. I think they're generally much brighter starting in '12 when the housing was changed. The newest clear ones are all brighter. I've noticed the same in the 58mm scale lights.

Ahh I see :tu:
Just waiting for my spartan lite to arrive then I can begin tinkering  >:D
Is the original led round topped or flat top?
I've managed to find and 18000mcd cool white leds so thinking I might try one of them.

They all look round to me. In both the 91mm and 58mm knives.
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ca Offline armi101

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #17 on: March 06, 2019, 03:22:50 AM
Opened the battery door. They are in series. My mistake.


gb Offline craggus2000

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #18 on: March 06, 2019, 06:55:20 AM
Are there any other components in there, eg resistors? Or is it just 2 batteries, a switch and an led?
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us Offline gerleatherberman

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #19 on: March 06, 2019, 07:13:35 AM
Are there any other components in there, eg resistors? Or is it just 2 batteries, a switch and an led?
Just the batteries/switch/led and simple conductors. :tu:
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gb Offline craggus2000

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #20 on: March 06, 2019, 07:48:08 AM
Just the batteries/switch/led and simple conductors. :tu:
I wonder if it needs a resistor in that case? Surely 6V to a 2.9-3.6V LED wouldn't do it much good without one?

Or try and re-wire the batteries to parallel? Maybe easier said than done though  :dunno:
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 07:49:58 AM by craggus2000 »
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us Offline gerleatherberman

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #21 on: March 06, 2019, 08:27:17 AM
I would just make a dummy battery(to put in the place of the battery not contacted by the switch) to reduce the voltage to 3V.

If you wanted to be creative, you could move the contacts to bypass the secondary batter place(the one the switch doesn't contact to). That way you have a backup battery on board.

All that said, why not just carry a real flashlight and have the dim Lite as an emergency backup?
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 08:29:19 AM by gerleatherberman »
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gb Offline craggus2000

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #22 on: March 06, 2019, 01:16:32 PM
If you wanted to be creative, you could move the contacts to bypass the secondary batter place(the one the switch doesn't contact to). That way you have a backup battery on board.

I like that idea!  :tu:

All that said, why not just carry a real flashlight and have the dim Lite as an emergency backup?

Because that's the easy option  :D :whistle:
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us Offline gerleatherberman

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #23 on: March 06, 2019, 02:48:16 PM
Fair enough. :cheers:

The Spartan Lite is one of the SAKs I've carried off and on before. Great toolset for simple electrical/electronic related work. :)
And yes, I did use the Lite feature many times when I misplaced my dedicated light.. :)
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us Offline kamakiri

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #24 on: March 06, 2019, 08:27:57 PM
1 battery mod is easy enough. Just bend the negative contact from the LED to touch the door contact. I have one that's bypassed like that for extra dim light.

Bend it over the battery (or side) if you want to keep one as spare.
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gb Offline craggus2000

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #25 on: March 07, 2019, 09:37:18 PM
1 battery mod is easy enough. Just bend the negative contact from the LED to touch the door contact. I have one that's bypassed like that for extra dim light.

Bend it over the battery (or side) if you want to keep one as spare.
Could you post a pic, as I'm trying to figure out the best way to bend it?
Thanks
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"If it ain't broke, break it and make it better!


us Offline kamakiri

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #26 on: March 09, 2019, 05:40:52 AM
Look like I modded it again after to use the other cell, but moved the switch side positive contact instead (outside of the red switch 'channel':



This way it works with 1 battery in either location. A spare can be carried, but MUST face the same direction (+ side up) or it will short when the switch is turned on.



Bend the negative tip up to touch the door contact. Make it go over the battery IF you want to store a spare batt there. I did not do that, just bent the neg contact up to touch the lid contact and could only use the outer battery location like that.

If you don't want to make it permanent, just stick a small ball of foil in there to make the contact. Just means you can't carry a spare.




Both lites are ON:


Light from my monitor about 2' away overpowers the light about 1' away from the wall.

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ca Offline armi101

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #27 on: March 09, 2019, 07:20:27 AM
Glad it worked. Such a simple mod and it makes the tool soo much more usable. I feel like the light is very overlooked.

I put one in an explorer instead of the mag. It might be my favorite toolset.



au Offline gregozedobe

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #28 on: March 09, 2019, 04:43:00 PM
It is pretty common to run "3V" LEDs on 2 x 3V button cells in series, look at any "Fauxton" as an example.  When in use not many 3V button cells will supply a full 3V for very long, and over-driving the LED does give a lot more light.

Most reasonable quality LEDS will survive being over-driven for short(ish) periods.  They might not last the usual 40-50,000 hours, but that isn't a serious problem for most people.

If you want an LED that will work OK on one 3V battery look at yellow or red LEDs, these seem to work better on lower voltages than white LEDs.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2019, 04:44:45 PM by gregozedobe »
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us Offline kamakiri

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Re: spartan lite upgrade.
Reply #29 on: March 09, 2019, 06:52:03 PM
Glad it worked. Such a simple mod and it makes the tool soo much more usable. I feel like the light is very overlooked.

I put one in an explorer instead of the mag. It might be my favorite toolset.

I haven't modded the LED just yet!  I gotta order some for future builds...

And I agree with you on the Lite modules...I'd like to put one in almost every mod.  I have lots of Spartan Lites for donors. One with the new clear case, a few with the newer '12+ gray case and several with the original '04 type.
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