Intova 3W LED Dive Light?

[Alex777]

<< the Scubapro Nova has a pushbutton switch on the butt end >>

Sorry - quite right. But you can also turn it off by twisting the head, so it is unlikely to come on in your gear bag.

 

[D_B]

Ok, just wanted to be sure it was the same light

I just picked up the Intova from my LDS, and they even price matched CircuitCity's price .. Thanks Henrik

 

[mikeguerrero]

I placed the Princeton TEC LED 3watt against this Intova and went with the Princeton. Two things I didn't like about the Intova was the switch and the thin key ring that holds the lanyard.

You would need to replace it as it is extremely frail. The intova also doesn't use standard AA batteries which you can find at every liquour store in the state.

It uses two thick little camera type batteries, I don't know how much they cost or where you can purchase them.

Where it does win is with the lumens, it out shines the Princeton with 67 lumens of power wheres the Princeton comes in at 41 lumens.

I really liked this light a lot when I saw it at my LFS and I almost got it, however they were charging around 60 dollars and I passed.

 

[HenrikBP]

12 or even 10 hours is quite impressive burn time. If you buy the batteries online that becomes quite reasonable in "running cost".

Is it possible to twist the Intova head to prevent accidentally turning on the light?

Here are a couple of places that sell DIY electronics for flashlight building:

DealExtreme: Flashlight DIY Parts & Tools

Flashlights-DIY- Product Category , Kaidomain.com

Dealextreme is much easier to navigate. I've bought flashlights from Kaidomain before. Both vendors are known in flashlight circles as reliable, but sometimes slow to ship. Just something to keep in mind.

edit: from a couple of sites, incl. scuba.com, it looks like the torch uses 2 CR123A batteries. These are crazy expensive if you buy them in stores, but can be had for much less online: CR123A Photo Lithium Batteries 123A DL123A SF123A EL123A

Henrik
(no affiliation etc. etc.)

 

[Alex777]

<< Is it possible to twist the Intova head to prevent accidentally turning on the light? >>

No. That's my only complaint about it.

 

[D_B]

That looks like a really nice platform for a home-brew LED upgrade. If you can get one for $44, add some $20-30 for a Cree or Seoul LED and controller board, you'd end up with a *very* nice dive light for the $$. Depending on the board it might even be possible to add multiple light levels. Hmmm.

Found it online at Circuit City for $39.99

Buy the Intova Torch Waterproof Aluminum Flashlight and other Lamps & flashlights at circuitcity.com

Thanks for the idea. Of course I might end up frying everything in the attempt

Henrik

I unscrewed the head on mine and it looks like it has this LED at 700ma ... Luxeon LEDs - LXHL-LW3C Luxeon III Star - White Lambertian .. looks easily replaceable

Might try this one with the 1000ma driver (there is no 1500ma drivers yet) ... Luxeon LEDs - 5027-PW14 Luxeon K2 Star - White, 130 Lumens @ 1500mA

 

[HenrikBP]

Alex; thanks for the no-twist info. Too bad.

Might try this one with the 1000ma driver (there is no 1500ma drivers yet) ... Luxeon LEDs - 5027-PW14 Luxeon K2 Star - White, 130 Lumens @ 1500mA

Excellent find! Please keep us posted if you go ahead and give it a try.

I don't remember the specs, but the Cree *may* be even brighter than the Luxeon. You can get the Cree already mounted on a Luxeon shaped star. don't know about the driver/circuit board necessary. You may be able to direct drive the Cree.

Would be nice to have a couple of light levels, if it was done with current control and not pulse width modulation.

On a similar note. I opened up my UK Q40 eLED today, and it looks like it'd be possible to build up a replacement LED element. Also, I was disappointed to realize that the Q40 eLED doesn't have a reflector. Anyway - fun projects

Henrik

 

[D_B]

That other one above is only rated at 75Lum at 700ma ..
Might try this one, 135Lum at 700ma ... Luxeon LEDs - LXK2-PWC4-0160 Luxeon K2-TFFC - White, 160 Lumens @ 1000mA
Or this one ... 170Lum at 700ma ... Luxeon LEDs - LXK2-PWC4-0200 Luxeon K2-TFFC - White, 200 Lumens @ 1000mA ... (It shows in the spec's page that a star configuration is listed, might inquire about it to make it just a drop in replacement)

the above options depending on burn time ... and if you wanted to directly replace the LED without messing with the driver circuit

 

[HenrikBP]

Keep in mind that my understanding of electronics is limited to "if you let the magic smoke out - it's dead" , but:

The existing circuit in the Intova may not be up to driving the brighter LED, in that if it controls current it may send less than 700 mA max to the LED?

Henrik

 

[D_B]

Keep in mind that my understanding of electronics is limited to "if you let the magic smoke out - it's dead" , but:

The existing circuit in the Intova may not be up to driving the brighter LED, in that if it controls current it may send less than 700 mA max to the LED?

Henrik

Keep in mind I'm using a bit of guesswork here, but .. the LED in the Intova looks just like this one ... Luxeon LEDs - LXHL-LW3C Luxeon III Star - White Lambertian and if you look at the specs for that LED, it says 65Lum at 700ma .. and 65Lum is the specs for the Intova light, so ...
I'm asuming that the driver in the Intova is a 700ma one
The figures for the output for other LED's I've listed are are at a 700ma level