Red 2D Maglite Mod with an "Angel Eyes" ring - Finished! Outdoor beam shots tonight.

01-05-2013

I have a couple 2D Maglites hanging around here and there, so I figured I would do something with one of them. Something I haven't tried yet.

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Actually, I have a Red Incan too and I might just use the Incan first and save this one.

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I have a bunch of 3mm LEDs hanging around also and I thought I must find a way to use them. I have the black holders for them too.

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Problem is what do do with them? I really would not want to make a "shower head", but maybe they can be used as an accent to a regular LED?

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I had a couple 2"x3/8" aluminum heat sinks from when I did a 3up, so I thought I might make a ring out of one. It was more than I figured on, but I ended up drilling a bunch of holes and then using a dremel to cut the rest away, with some filing and sanding to get it fairly round inside. A reflector in the center and a bunch of 3MM LEDs embedded in the ring, all around the reflector.

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I also had two plastic reflectors that were 51mm in diameter, so I figured I would try cutting one to make a smaller diameter reflector, to fit in the ring. Good thing I had two of them. The first one is in the trash.

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I cut the reflector with a hacksaw and then I used my sanding blocks and sanded till I got the thing even. It's going to be stippled anyhow, but I got lucky and there's no marks inside the reflector.

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Here's how the ring "may" sit on the reflector. Too soon to tell, but probably it will be like this, with a bunch of 3mm LEDs evenly spaced in the ring.

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I will be gutting the stock Mag switch and using one of these. One is a pushbutton 3 position and the other is rotary 3 position. Both operate 1-on/2-on/1&2-on/off. That way the ring can be on, or the led can be on, or both cam be on at the same time.

I still have not decided on the drivers yet, but the led and the 3mm LEDs will be driven with separate drivers, (I think).

I plan on using 6AA Eneloops in a 3S/2P configuration. 3.6V/4000mA.

That's about it for now... more when I get more done...

01-06-2013

I managed to do some more with the light (Now called "Angel Eyes").

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20 Holes! These were all drilled by hand, holding the ring in the vise and drilling with my Dewalt drill.

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That's not the worst of it! I also had to drill 20 More Times on the back side with a larger drill, to make the step for each led, so they would fit flush to the front. 40 Holes and the step cuts were hard. I had to constantly check each one as I drilled, so the leds would be in the same depth. I did not have a depth stop and I tried the old tape method, but the aluminum shavings just rip the tape up.

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I put the leds in and the center reflector and poured some two part epoxy in, to keep everything where I want it. I just wrapped a piece of masking tape on the outside, so the epoxy would not run off.

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Here, you can see the thickness of the epoxy and also the step that I had to dremel on the aluminum ring, so it would fit in the Maglite head. Now it's the same top spacing as a normal reflector.

That's it for a while. All of my components are due to arrive from China by the end of this year, (if I am licky and the slow boat does not capsize), LOL. Hopefully they will arrive in a couple weeks and I can finish the build. For now, all I can do is the cosmetics and make up the heatsink.

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These are "Warm White" leds. I had both warm and pure white. I decided on the warm white.

Later.......................................................................................

01-07-2013

I managed to wire up all of the 3mm leds this morning. I used 22ga solid wire.

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It looks terrible, but it works!

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They really are warm white. Well at least neutral to warm.

That's all for now.....

01-08-2013

I try to work an hour or two a day, before work, if I can. I got a little more done today.

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I decided to use one 7135 chip for the 3mmLEDss, so I cut 3 thin pieces of some copper plate and soldered the chip and wires on it. That's Kapton tape and I used it to hold the copper in place, while I soldered everything together. It works well for holding small parts while soldering. I will attach this to the large heat sink, when I get to that point.

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Here's the driver for the XM-L. I have not used one of these before, so I will have to test the different modes it has. It has three stars for different mode sets (I believe) and I will need to test each one.

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I put an XM-L on a heat sink so I could do the testing of the driver. I also wired up a 3xAAA holder to the driver for power during the tests. Now I can find out how these drivers work. They were less expensive than the normal NANJG 105C drivers. I hope they work well. They are assembled well, so we will see.

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I am also working on putting the 3 way switch into the stock Mag switch housing.

That's it for today!

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Angel Eyes

01-10-2013

Where were we?

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The Judco switch has been installed into the Mag housing and it's potted in with some of the 2 part epoxy stick that I like to use. I get it in Wal-Mart, but any hardware should have it in the plumbing section. It's just a stick of putty that is two part and you cut off what you want and knead it together till it is mixed. It sets hard as a rock in about 4-5 minutes and it works great for this kind of thing.

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Battery contact.

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Here's the Mess. The 7135 chip on copper is there, covered with AA and the XM-L driver is there as well.

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XM-L and leads for the 3mm LEDs.

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Set in the head. It all works as advertised. 3 way switch turns on the outer ring first, then both the ring and the XM-L, then just the XM-L and lightly depressing the switch changes modes on the XM-L.

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The battery holder is ready. I did it a little different this time. I wanted to just parallel the two holders and that's what I did by using copper strips to channel the positives and negatives together.

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The strips take both negatives to the bottom and both positives to the top. All copper on the outside is covered with a coating of epoxy, so it can't short out. Besides, the body is anodized.

All that is left is a little file work. I am not going to do a lot of that. I want the ring to be the focus of the light, so I will just do some on the bezel to accent the ring and on the tail cap, so when it head stands, it will still look sharp.

That's all for now. I hope to get it done by Friday and I hope it's not a rainy night then.

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01-10-2013 NOON

You know I can't wait till Friday!

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Shot of the ring

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Shot of the ring and the XM-L on LOW

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Shot of the ring

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MOUSEOVER, Low without the ring and Low with the ring

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MOUSEOVER, Medium without the ring and Medium with the ring.

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MOUSEOVER, High without the ring and High with the ring

Outdoor beam shots tonight.

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Angel Eyes Ring

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With XM-L on High

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With XM-L on Medium

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With XM-L on Low

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XM-L at about 50 yards.

That's it. Amp draw with the Angel Eyes read about 500mA. The XM-L on High it was about 2700mA, Medium was 1000mA and low was 500mA.

I have saw this posted a few times. What is the purpose of saying it after the first post? I have been curious about it. Thanks.

It’s so he can add further updates and they all appear as a group of posts. It’s really handy for people looking at old posts as they can see the full build in just a few posts without having to read all the comments.

is that an older luxeon mag in the picture?

Yes it is.

Well played sir!

That had me laughing.

This looks like a pretty neat idea, kind of like the Surefire A2 but better. ;)

Looking good. The work you do with hand tools is nothing short of amazing.

Wow. You cut a reflector in half without trashing it. Seems every second reflector I look at ends up in the bin. This is looking good so far.

Great Build Justin…. I can’t wait to see how it comes out!!!

Dan.

You never cease to amaze me.

Got a song for Angel Eyes?

Ask and ye shall receive. See Post #1

Can’t wait to see how you drive it. H)

More photos added in the OP. The "Angel Eyes" ring is about done.

That light is really looking nice!

I tend to post at the bottom then update the first post.

Justin, this is sick. Should be a decent thrower (even better if XP-G2) and a great flooder. I’ve got my eyes on this one.

Do you already have a particular power emitter in mind?

You aren't the only one. ;)