Hey everyone! I've developed a flashlight solution to replace all the guts of the old BMW flashlights (both the early white and the later E39/E46 black ones) to include both a charging regulator chip and a fast charging chip, along with an LED bulb for a much brigher (and also actually usable compared to our factory incandescent bulbs) beam of light.
The old white BMW flashlights (Part #82119413147, came in E30s + E12, E21, E23, E24, E28, E31, E32, E34, E36, Z3) came with two 170mAh batteries (Varta V170R) connected with a constant trickle charge - since the batteries are being trickle charged constantly at all times, this limits the battery life to about 6 years. The charging regulator chip I'm including inside the flashlights will boost the life of the upgraded genuine Varta V250H batteries I'll be including (250mAh) to well over a decade. These are the closest thing to the factory battery, made by the same company, and have a higher capacity, so they can only be viewed as an upgrade from the originals. The fact that the batteries will not be overcharged past 2.75v will also severely reduce the likelihood of battery leakage at ANY time.
In addition to the trickle charge chip, I'll also be including a fast charging chip into the design. This will boost charging power from 6.5mA to 16mA - a roughly 246% increase in charging power. This extra power will be regulated by the regulator chip, resulting in charging cutout at exactly 2.75v and not allowing an overcharge to occur.
I'm known for my fuel injector remanufacturing where I offer a lifetime warranty on every injector I sell. These flashlights will be covered by the same lifetime warranty I offer on my fuel injectors, along with every other product I sell to both private forums, public sites, and IRL areas like swap meets (besides things like partouts).
The final product will be $80 for either the white-style or black-style flashlight, $30 for a conversion kit (to convert a white flashlight car to use a black flashlight, or a black flashlight car to use a white flashlight) or $100 for a full conversion kit (either conversion kit + the restomod flashlight meant for the conversion kit. Install a restomod rechargeable BMW flashlight in your Honda Ridgeline for all I care, I'll give you everything you need for it).
I only initially ordered enough parts to experiment with, HOWEVER I have huge bulk amounts of the parts needed coming on their way at the moment. I'll be accepting pre-orders for NO LATER THAN a month from now, if you'd be willing to wait until then. Otherwise, if you're not comfortable with sending your money until a final product can be sent out the same or next day, definitely wait a little bit and they'll be on sale soon!
(*****PLEASE NOTE***** This isn't exactly my original idea. This concept was first brought into light by Mark Smith of Surfncircuits. If you're handy with soldering and circuit boards, you can create your own charging regulator chip using Mark's diagrams, images, and links to purchase the parts required. If the regulator chip is a beginner's difficulty, then the fast charging chip is intermediate difficulty; Mark did not offer any links for the parts required for the fast charging chip and the diagram isn't 100% clear. If you're handy with electrical diagrams, you can definitely figure out the capacitor required, however the Zener diode required is just labeled "Zener" with no wattage or voltage rating. His guide can be found at: https://surfncircuits.com/2017/08/04...7#comment-2122.
As far as I can tell, Mark only made one flashlight with a regulator chip as a one-off and has no intent on making them for sale himself. He only supplied images of one with a regulator chip and, as far as I can tell, has only made a diagram of one with the fast-charging chip and has never made one himself. As this is his original concept, I'd gladly advise you to buy from him if he ever publicly sells these flashlights under his own name. Until then, you're limited to either making one yourself using his diagrams and parts links or to purchase one from me.
TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK, I am not responsible for you grenading your own bulb or batteries if you have no clue how to solder and want to save a few bucks doing it yourself. The V250H batteries themselves are pretty pricey, so you could either experiment a direct replacement or inegrating them in a more complicated circuit, or you could buy a tested and warrantied unit that will get the job done without any issues that you have to worry about. You've been warned.)
The old white BMW flashlights (Part #82119413147, came in E30s + E12, E21, E23, E24, E28, E31, E32, E34, E36, Z3) came with two 170mAh batteries (Varta V170R) connected with a constant trickle charge - since the batteries are being trickle charged constantly at all times, this limits the battery life to about 6 years. The charging regulator chip I'm including inside the flashlights will boost the life of the upgraded genuine Varta V250H batteries I'll be including (250mAh) to well over a decade. These are the closest thing to the factory battery, made by the same company, and have a higher capacity, so they can only be viewed as an upgrade from the originals. The fact that the batteries will not be overcharged past 2.75v will also severely reduce the likelihood of battery leakage at ANY time.
In addition to the trickle charge chip, I'll also be including a fast charging chip into the design. This will boost charging power from 6.5mA to 16mA - a roughly 246% increase in charging power. This extra power will be regulated by the regulator chip, resulting in charging cutout at exactly 2.75v and not allowing an overcharge to occur.
I'm known for my fuel injector remanufacturing where I offer a lifetime warranty on every injector I sell. These flashlights will be covered by the same lifetime warranty I offer on my fuel injectors, along with every other product I sell to both private forums, public sites, and IRL areas like swap meets (besides things like partouts).
The final product will be $80 for either the white-style or black-style flashlight, $30 for a conversion kit (to convert a white flashlight car to use a black flashlight, or a black flashlight car to use a white flashlight) or $100 for a full conversion kit (either conversion kit + the restomod flashlight meant for the conversion kit. Install a restomod rechargeable BMW flashlight in your Honda Ridgeline for all I care, I'll give you everything you need for it).
I only initially ordered enough parts to experiment with, HOWEVER I have huge bulk amounts of the parts needed coming on their way at the moment. I'll be accepting pre-orders for NO LATER THAN a month from now, if you'd be willing to wait until then. Otherwise, if you're not comfortable with sending your money until a final product can be sent out the same or next day, definitely wait a little bit and they'll be on sale soon!
(*****PLEASE NOTE***** This isn't exactly my original idea. This concept was first brought into light by Mark Smith of Surfncircuits. If you're handy with soldering and circuit boards, you can create your own charging regulator chip using Mark's diagrams, images, and links to purchase the parts required. If the regulator chip is a beginner's difficulty, then the fast charging chip is intermediate difficulty; Mark did not offer any links for the parts required for the fast charging chip and the diagram isn't 100% clear. If you're handy with electrical diagrams, you can definitely figure out the capacitor required, however the Zener diode required is just labeled "Zener" with no wattage or voltage rating. His guide can be found at: https://surfncircuits.com/2017/08/04...7#comment-2122.
As far as I can tell, Mark only made one flashlight with a regulator chip as a one-off and has no intent on making them for sale himself. He only supplied images of one with a regulator chip and, as far as I can tell, has only made a diagram of one with the fast-charging chip and has never made one himself. As this is his original concept, I'd gladly advise you to buy from him if he ever publicly sells these flashlights under his own name. Until then, you're limited to either making one yourself using his diagrams and parts links or to purchase one from me.
TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK, I am not responsible for you grenading your own bulb or batteries if you have no clue how to solder and want to save a few bucks doing it yourself. The V250H batteries themselves are pretty pricey, so you could either experiment a direct replacement or inegrating them in a more complicated circuit, or you could buy a tested and warrantied unit that will get the job done without any issues that you have to worry about. You've been warned.)
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