What did you mod today?

Anyone ever use the Mag “drop in” that Kirill sells? I don’t have a machine-shop nor access to one, but I really want to update my trusty (and pristine) 2D to something more modern, but can’t hack it up to make things fit.

There were drop-ins on FT that would’ve been nice, but they’re (of course) discontinued. I’d be okay with K’s drop-in and shaving off the “bulb-tube” from the come-with reflector, minor hand-tool stuff like that, but I’d really rather not destroy the light itself in the process if I screw up. “Measure once, cut twice… aaauuugh!!”, y’know?

I vaguely remember craziness like doing this with the set-screws, doing that with the switch, etc., which I’d rather avoid if I can help it. I’d really like something as “drop-in” as possible.

And I’m okay with 1 mode on/off, not belting out 20W, 30W, 50W, or more, etc., just upgrading the rather feeble hotwire bulb or “LED bulb” replacement like Mag’s own (1W?). Modest. :smiley:

I just tested this 4D Mag build,

With 4 LiitoKala Black 26650’s at 5500mAh capacity and rested with a little use on em it makes…

Low 96 lumens
Medium 856 lumens
High 2563 lumens

215.25Kcd for 927.9M throw. Pretty daarn respectable for a Maglite! :slight_smile:

The package says it made 98 lumens for 267M throw in stock form. :wink:

Nice X3, good thinking on the mechanics there! I thought about a set screw but it’s a tight fit and hammered in and the modified Mag LED reflector is seated against the 32mm Noctigon so it’s not going anywhere. I need to remove the rubber switch cover and release the switch assembly to get at the wiring and fill it with Sugru or JB Weld to pot it… the LED4POWER driver is already sealed both sides in Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive but this is a working man’s light and will be used daily, possibly abused daily, so it needs to be virtually bullet proof. Also intend to put a glass lens on it so it can take more abuse than the plastic stock lens.

I built a purple 2D Mag for my wife a few years back with an MT-G2 emitter and Kaidomain reflector, used a battery check module intended for a wireless helicopter and a fiber optic cable to show state of charge, this little fiber optic is just above the rubber switch cover and does a check list then glows at current state. Really like it, she’s somewhat spoiled to reverse clickies and can’t remember that this one is a forward though…

On this 4D, I know the 26650’s are considerably longer than a set of alkalines so the spring needed to bottom out, but I didn’t want to weaken the tail cap at the o-ring and there’s not a lot to work with there so I cut the base of the hole to match up top and then ramped it, left the area at the o-ring full thickness. It was a bit of a hassle forcing the spring past the o-ring section but then it flared back out into the wider base and is fully intact, seated on bare aluminum and putting quite strong pressure on the 4 cells so it should be able to be used as a baton and not lose contact. (This is a night security guards flashlight)

So, all this messing with Maglite’s got me looking at my old chopped 1D from JayRob. The Elektrolumens puck style triple drop in is very outdated, so I set out to fix that issue this afternoon. Boy what a chore! lol The aluminum heat sink is a thick walled bowl that holds a triple aluminum MCPCB and a CUTE-3 optic, there is a positive plunger/post that fits into the standard spring loaded tower in the Maglite such that you put the puck in the head and screw it back on, bingo!

I removed the aluminum non-direct-thermal path MCPCB and worked on a 32mm Noctigon to get it aligned with the mount screw holes that Wayne put in this puck. Then I used a brass screw and washer from the kit I bought from Old-Lumens to make the post with a brass Acorn nut topping it off to go into the original Mag tower. This is easy enough to say, but it took some doing! But now I have 3 Samsung LH351D 5000K 80 CRI emitters in the Elektrolumens puck (it came with XM-L T6’s), courtesy of some bits and pieces from Old-Lumens, and the puck is mounted in my ChicagoX finned head which attaches to my chopped Jay-Rob battery tube. I had long ago removed the cumbersome and high resistance bits and pieces from the original Maglite switch assembly so with this now being a full direct drive and proper DTP copper MCPCB I’m looking forward to getting some real results. :smiley:

On an old Novae 32650 with the protection circuit removed it makes ~2500 lumens…

After I took these pictures I removed the bulky steel screws and re-threaded the holes to accept brass screws, gave me a better ground and a lower profile. The long coil spring in the base of the switch assembly is removed and a solid 12ga copper wire is coiled in and soldered solid in it’s place. In the sliding tower up top, I have a 20ga spring bypass carrying the current. Also have a 20ga bypass in the tail on the thick robust spring Mag uses, with the spring cut down and seated in the very base of the tail cap… the tail cap is also bored at the opening to allow the longer 32650 to protrude into the tail cap slightly. :wink:

12AWG wire?

Damn. Isn’t that a bit overkill even for a spring bypass?

Way to go Dale. :beer:

If you’re not real familiar with a Maglite and it’s inner workings, they build in a LOT of resistance!

Where the solid 12ga wire is coiled in at the base of the switch there was what appeared to be a small low profile spring. It’s far longer than it looks and of course it’s steel, residing in a chrome plated steel cup. They don’t make them like this anymore, this is an older light. Nowaday’s they have a simpler switch assembly.

Oh, and that’s not 12 AWG, it’s a solid piece of 12ga Romex house wire. :wink:

Wow. That’s a lot of resistance!

I personally get my wire from power cords.

Dumpster diving behind Staples is really helpful to find 18650s and power cords, and even a power tool once :smiley: :smiley:

Could someone explain to a newbie where in that picture is the resistance?

I understand what has been said about the spring. But I got an impression that the picture was supposed to show other significant sources of resistance and I fail to see them….

The spring which is hard to see is long and probably made from steel. This is a point of high resistance. By running a wire from the top of the spring to the bottom of the spring the spring resistance is bypassed.

Where to get this host?
I have seen it months/years ago, but I did not found it yet.

OK, thank you. :slight_smile:

The beauty came from my private reserve sir. Post a WTB here, they sucked in stock form and I’m sure they can be found in other people’s junk drawers too lol.

Agro, here’s how the Maglite D cell switch and springs are laid out…

There’s a rather long path for both negative and positive to travel, with the switch breaking the positive path for on/off. The bi-pin Xenon bulb is modern, used to be a drop in with ground in the housing and a lead positive cap. They at least did away with the very long flat style coil spring at the base of the switch assembly, there’s still plenty of resistance in the long travels through steel.

This brass bearing is what allows the beveled lead in to the reflector to push the bulb assembly up and down for focus, by simply rotating the lights head (screw it on/off)

Look at this monster of a tail spring! They changed that for modern lights too, not nearly as many coils but still the very thick steel construction…

The inside of the light is anodized so they use a needle point on the set screw to break through the ano for ground to enter the switch assembly. Steel set screw of course. And this is the key to disassembly of the light… you remove the cells, click the light to on then pinch the rubber switch boot to remove it. A Torx 8 (with skinny shoulder) is inserted through the push button actuator into the set screw and it’s backed out like 6 full revolutions, then the assembly will drop out the bottom of the tube. Tricky, if you don’t know this!

There is a steel split ring in the upper section of the tube that the switch assembly keys off of. This steel ring is very difficult to remove (and completely unnecessary to do so)

My bad, I left out the black plastic insulator sleeve that surrounds the long spring that resides in the tower. This is necessary to separate the spring from the housing where ground is conducted, as the spring carries positive to the bulb. I took all these parts out of the Mag kit I got from Justin (Old Lumens) He loved these lights and did a lot of mods on them, taught me how to get inside actually… I played havoc removing the split ring the first time I attempted this! lol (Actually on this red chopped light, the scars reside inside the tube to this day!)

Thanks DBC. :slight_smile:

It lives !!!

Now it only misses the glass lens to replace the stock ones which is already scratched…

The beam is not to my taste however, I might try to apply some varnish on the reflector to blend it a little…

Nice work on the Mags :+1:

Still waiting on boards for the rook driver but in the mean time I decided to find a way to put BLF-A6 FW on some more old lights and what do you know, cut one trace, solder one bodge wire and you’re G2G!

Cut trace (done on bare board for the pic)

Run jumper from star 2

Its good to see your back in action Ck. Nice work. :beer: