I personally dont like the styling of the TR-1200. first off its WAY too nose heavy
Id prefer the Mag D conversion ANY day. why? confort AND portable power
if i need something THAT long, i need something with the power to come with it.
how long does 3 18650s last? not long enough in my book to warrant something that big. Id much prefer the bigger D li-ions.
simple, more power.
and i can still hit someone with it lol
The biggest revelation to me was that there is no substitute to the human eye when comparing beams, tint and output. This really becomes evident with higher powered flashlights
Technically it's down to the difference in dynamic range between eyes and cameras. That and a lot of beamshots are poorly done.
Even a sst-90 is not going to be that much better than a 1200L, certainly not in throw. The surface brightness is too limited.
My module admits 8,4V max in theory, but the one of the TR1200, up to 13v. Some people from DX use my module with 3 liions, and some other say they burned it.. i don't know if i should try or not..
A third battery will increase considerably the runtime, because it will be suck around 1.6A from each (now its using 2,5A from each), and lower current draws increases the battery life.
Sorry but I completely disagree with all of your observations, as would each and every of the 50+ law enforcement officers, bush pilots, firemen, professional guides and flashaholics that have handled it.
I think your driver is different from the TR-1200 so I wouldn't risk the 3rd 18650. Even if it would handle the extra voltage, it doesn't make it any brighter at turn on, but it does run for the length of the burn in full regulation (with 3 x 18650) till one of the pcb's on my protected cells disconnects. In 2 x 18650 config, it runs for about 30 min before going into direct drive and wont pop the protection circuits at all (typical of most all protected cells with this type of driver in direct drive mode when not driven hard near battery exhaustion). With so much light on tap, its hard to notice till the batteries are nearly sapped anyway. The third battery on the TR-1200 may only give you about another 20-30 min of run time, but it burns at maximum output during the entire duration due to the regulated driver. Again, I have an early TR-1200 and the new ones are built with crappy drivers. I think someone else on this forum bought a TR-1200 or one of its clones from another distributor and thought it was up to snuff, as indicated by DMM tailcap amperage readings and far better light output from the one he returned to DX.
exactly how long down that thing last?
20 mins? lol
Aprox 1.5 hours in regulation with 3 x 18650.
Aprox 1.5 hours continuously dimming with 2 x 18650.
thats better than i thought it would last, but not good enough for something that big in my eyes
to each their own
Thats the price you pay for high output that completely embarrasses most of its very expensive competition. Id advise those not looking for the brightest cheapie light to completely stay away. For kicks, I just compared it in 3 x 18650 configuration to my 3D rebel Mag. With batteries in both, the mag is HUGE, poorly balanced, has a larger clunky heavier head, is much longer in length, much fatter body tube, much more unwieldy and uncomfortable to hold, and weighs A LOT more. Do I still like my MAG? Hell yes! Very long reliable run times with mediocre output and narrow beam. It makes for a great club if necessary.
i figure if im gonna carry something that big, im not concerned as much about output as longevity.
i love my 3d for its HOURS of use.
i can expect to get the same retro-ing it to 5x R5 Crees
i figure if im gonna carry something that big
The 1200L isn't really that big. It's basically a 18650 thrower size with an extra battery section.
lets put it this way, if i cant put it in my pocket, theres no way its gonna be an 18650 light
that many 18650s in series can be VERY dangerous. i wont mess with it
ill make a driver for 3x D Ni-MH that are 10,000mah.
while a bit heavier, and not much more capacity than an 18650 (9.62 Whr vs 12 Whr, based on 2600 mah 18650)
its ALOT safer. also can drop alkaline or other D sized batteries without an issue
BIG plus for a big flashlight
and of course it works better as a weapon lol
i LOVE 18650 flashlights, BUT, i like pocket ones that can also take cr123a's in an emergency
whats the point of a flashlight if you CANT use it one your 18650's (which are RARE) run out? CR123's are in most stores in the US
for a flashlight of that size, that will be used out backpacking, in the wild, or at home as an emergency flashlight, it is MUCH better of an idea to leave it using standardized batteries.
you cannot go to most stores in the US and pick up an 18650. not a good survival idea to expect them to be sitting around CHARGED when the **** hits the fan lol.
I wont modify it anymore.. anything I could do, will cost me a lot of money, and will not increase the bright or runtime so much.. I know I can use a TR1200 body, but i like this one, i just find the 3D digital-camo a pretty nice body
I may wait some months, when newer leds were released, like XML or some new XPG that were much brighter than R5 i will reconsider it...
Thanks to all of you, and if you want to upgrade your maglite, this is one of the best options.
PS: do you know which is the cheapest heatsinks to mount a led in a maglite?
All of the Luminous/Cree headsinks are pretty much cross compatible, but the "cheapest" I've seen is ~$15-20, not surprising for such a limited market.
an R5 can produce almost 500 lumens at 1.5 amps.....
what more can u ask for? lol
XML will be more, but will cost more per LED
at 7 bux an LED, i would say the R5 is the BEST bang per buck LED you can buy at the moment.
that is until XML hits that price range on a 14mm board lol
5*R5 would be perfect.. but I still have the problem of finding a multimode driver with a max output of exactly 7,5A
There's that one 5*cree serial boost driver at DX with optional mode board. But it's 26mm and someone here who got a light similar to the 1200L says the circuit used by these 5*cree modules is 20mm.
It's 1A in serial instead of 7.5A, but there's probably some mod to go bit higher. You're not going to get a 7.5a "flashlight" driver for little $. However there is a driver (LDO10C) available at Arrow online that does this in another form factor.
ah but thats 10 amps... thats a bit steep for R5.
probably good for XM-L..... well 3 of them at least lol
OP, would you mind reposting your method of original mod for all of us here?? i dont speak spanish AND your link doesnt work lol
just out of curiousity