Match's Mods: 3XP-G modded Mini-Maglite (version 2.0)

Thanks for the kind words guys. This torch is quickly becoming my favorite. I'm not normally a fan of twisties, but when the stock plastic junk is removed and the threads cleaned up the action is silky smooth...and very precise: A 1/4 turn will lock it out. I've caught myself just sitting there turning it on and off ... I really need to get some outdoor beamshots up. Amazing amount of light for such a tiny package, and I love the beam pattern.

[quote= scruffy dog]

how much could you do a few for your friends at BLF?

[/quote]

Good question. Honestly I don't know... I make these posts to help show others how to make/mod their own lights. I never intended for it to sell, and I would be embarrassed to mention how much I'd need for this particular one considering the hours of design, testing, machining, and assembly. But, once the first one's done, the rest is merely repetition. That's a good question though...How much do you think something like this should be priced at? Or, more obscenely, how much something like this would go for on another site? Please note the materials alone would probably be closer to $50 (I had either stuff on hand or found a rediculously good deal on the others).

[quote= Don]

What really impresses me is that you did it all without a lathe.

[/quote]

Sorry to disappoint you on this one, Don...but I did use a lathe on the heatsink. Hand filing 1" barstock down to exacting dimensions didn't sound like a good plan. Even with hand fitting, I would never have been able to hold the correct tolerances if done completely by hand.

[quote= okwchin]

Wonder where you got the triple emitter star.

[/quote]

The star and optics come from ledsupply.com I think I'm going to do another one in Warm tint!

[quote= Old4570]

Question . what driver did you use ?

[/quote]

I had an unused driver laying around from an old failed project. It came out of this drop-in. I was able to change the current output by varying the sense resistor. I'm going to try to find a different one though....after seeing how nice the twist action on the head is, it'd be nice to have a multi-mode, not to mention would make it immensely more useful (It's hard to imagine NOT needing 1k lumens all the time)

[quote= Oldienea]

I suggest to call it Mini-Match 3-G

[/quote]

Well, Mini-Match it is! (3G edition)




Thank you ..

Multi mode 17mm driver for 8.4v ??? Does such an animal exist ..

19mm I know of ..

This is just beautiful :)

man. i dont have access to the tools to make the pill in this one! nice tho anyways!

Crap... no machining access either... that's a beautiful job.

I'm certain the star came from LED Supply. I use them a lot-real good people!

I seriously want to do some of these, like my triples I did.

If you could make these heatsinks, I'd take at least two, depending on price. I don't think the plumbing aisle would have anything I could use.

Seriously, please let me know.

Rich

very nice dropin and mod

Hey guys...I just shot this tonight. It's my first attempt at a video, so please be gentle. I grabbed 3 other ligths at random aid in comparison. They are a stock 2xAA mini mag, an EDI-T T11, and a Zebralight SC60. The little "shoot-n-share" camcorder I used looked like it only captured a fraction of the light from all of them, as they're all much brighter in real life.

A few notes: Wanting to keep under the 1.5C max discharge of my trustfires, I'm running the mini-match at 2.2A total (1.15 at the tailcap). Besides not killing my cells, this seems to be a pretty good sweetspot for output vs heat and battery life. In usage it looks like it's easily putting out double the light of the Zebra, with a huge hotspot. I just got a luxmeter so I did some ceiling bounce lux readings (I really need to build an I.S.). Here they are:

Stock mini-maglight: .6 lux

Zebralight SC60: 9.3lux

Mini-match: 20 lux

Manafont XM-L drop-in (3.2A taildraw): 25 lux

More to come later.

WOW

Cool video Match. I was wondering if you can do a whole lot more video time with the triple on your neighbors house. :bigsmile:

thanks for sharing

VERRRRY NICE

Excellent mod, match :crown: Do you have any wall beam shots?

I was just playing around with NiZn cells in this just to see what it would do. I was actually suprised. They drove it for over a half an hour (when my patience ran out). Obviously not as bright as the 14500's, but still brighter than the Zebra SC60. Here's my little comparison with the NiZn added:

Zebralight SC60: 9.3lux

Mini-match (NiZn): 11.5lux

Mini-match (14500's): 20 lux

Manafont XM-L drop-in (3.2A taildraw): 25 lux

Not suprisingly regular alkalines would not fire it up.

Ok...here's some white wall shots as compared to the Zebralight SC60.

SC60 always on left, Mini-Match on right:

Very nice work Match. I admire you guys that have the patience and skill to create items like this

Very impressive Match! Thanks for posting.

It would be great to find a driver with modes for this light

i think you should start selling the heat sinks/pills

Update:

I have finally been able to source another driver for this project. The only problem was it was 19mm vs 17mm, which required a complete rework and redesign(big pain in the butt...). It was just easier to start with a new light (red one this time). Here's the list of changes:

- 3.2A supplied to the triple xpg star

- Neutral White

- 3 Modes: low, med, high

-Mode memory

- Reverse battery protection, low voltage protection,and probably most importantly, thermal protection ( the board will drop to low mode if temp gets too high)

May I present the Mini-Match version 2.0

I'll try to get some better pics and some beamshots up later.


Wow what a set of features. Looks like a sellable product in a much higher range than budget easily.

Neutral tint + multimode with no-strobes + thermal protection.. thats a dream.. I want one..