Match's Mods: 15min mini mag mod

M.... those are 15 bucks shipped at the cheapest.

Depends where you live. A Minimg will cost $18 if you get a good price round here. Shipping will be more.

A 25/32 drill bit will take some looking for as a 19.84mm drill bit isn't going to be available. I suspect a 20mm drill bit will do just fine.

[quote=srfreddy]

M.... those are 15 bucks shipped at the cheapest.

[/quote]

$13.25 shipped from ebay after a few minutes search... Do a dozen of the mods and spread out the cost!

Mate, I can't spoon feed you any more than I already have...

I don't know how well the tightening to On works, but you could also get a Terralux tail clicky for Mini Mags. They have a simple On/Off and an "IQ" switch that has 5 modes built in. I already have a simple clicky.

Do you have to have a drill press, or can you do it with a handheld drill?

Any guesstimate on lumens using that DX driver? I like the idea of being able to use NiMH's.

The terralux tailcaps are known to destroy threads.

[quote=brted]

I don't know how well the tightening to On works, but you could also get a Terralux tail clicky for Mini Mags. They have a simple On/Off and an "IQ" switch that has 5 modes built in. I already have a simple clicky.

[/quote]

The tighten to "on" actually works quite well. One could use the various aftermarket clickies available, I've tried em and they seem to do ok. Call me a purist, but I like the clean look of the stock minimag.

[quote=brted]

Do you have to have a drill press, or can you do it with a handheld drill?

[/quote]

I won't lie, a drill press makes it much easier along with a vice and a strap of leather to keep from marring up the head. But yes, it can be done by hand.

[quote=brted]

Any guesstimate on lumens using that DX driver? I like the idea of being able to use NiMH's.

[/quote]

I was actually suprised by the output using that driver/xpg combo on 2 alkalines. It compared favorably with my H51. Output was in between high1 and high2. I'd guess 150-160ish lumens? Needless to say I'll be ordering some more of those.

Match, thanks for taking the time to post all of this information. It'll give rookies like myself a chance to get our feet wet modding......without blowing anything up.

Match, that is so cool. I have 3 Mini Mags that are "loved" but not used. The truth is; I've always secretly thought the Mini Mag was a handsome little devil, just not enough umph for my needs/wants. I'm going to try this with an XP-G R5.

Foy

Outstanding mod Match! Thank you very much

Thanks for the kind comments. I'm glad you guys can benifit from this.

Match this is a great mod, well done indeed. The only probelm is now I'm going to have to build one, so little time and so many thing s to play with, sorry I mean build.

Hi Match,

This is just an awesome mod for mini mag...cheap and easy...thanks for showing us.

Suddenly... demand for 2xAA drop ins. ;) That SolarForce looks nice, but I wonder for how long it'll go before it's sold out. I'm looking at a MiniMag right now, the "ED" my boat carries will take a quantum leap. I have a Brinkmann 2D Mag clone I want to mod too, but the switch got chewed by a dog. (not even a hint of a scratch in the anodizing) Is it possible to get replacement switches for those?

Unexpectedly my brother gave me one minimag to play with , therefore I'm able to follow the path which was marked by the mod's guru BLF has, Great Master Match...

The idea is put it a tir optic from DX which look promising ,21 mm...I have a doubt , with this TIR lens the frontal lens go or not ?...if yes a coated lens from KD is in order soon together with the empty p60 set up

I don't know about the guru thing....I'm just a guy who likes tinkering. My father always told me, "it's better to be lucky than good..." I'm just lucky

For this particular mod, I stuck with the stock reflector to keep things cheap/simple. As far as TIR lens go, I have experimented with the 20mm narrow TIR from ledsupply and it works out well. Fitment wise, the diameter is about 1mm from perfect, meaning it will fit the head without the stock plastic lens, but won't self-center perfectly. One could probably adhere an o-ring around the edge to help with this. I've been playing with a few more variations of the "mini-match" theme, and one of them does use a TIR. One of these days I'll get around to posting some of them up.

Shopping at Target when i saw Mini-mags for $7.86. Grabbed a sweet red one immediately! The hard part is finding the proper bit locally. Looks like I will settle for 3/4" since it's just 1/32 off from 25/32. I can sand down the pill threads the rest of the way to make it fit. I'd rather figure out a way to get the best heat sinking out of it since i have an XM-L and a 2.8mA 5-mode driver i plan to run with two 14500 cells. High mode wil be just for show and low and medium for real use so I'm not too wworried about heat killing it. It's going to be a beast!

Cheers,

Johnny

[quote=JohnnyMac]

...since i have an XM-L and a 2.8mA 5-mode driver i plan to run with two 14500 cells.

[/quote]

Good luck with the mod, Johnny. Let us know how it turns out. Which buck driver are you planning on using?

I have 1 already and 2 more on the way in for a few XM-L mods I plan on doing but on further digging I don't think any of them support 8.4 volts so running 2x14500 in the mini-mag will be tough unless you can direct me to a suitable driver. If not then I will have to go with regular AA rechargables.

These first two I ordered yesterday from SB:
This one runs on 2.8V-6V input: http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-132/3-dsh-Mode-Regulated-Circuit-Board/Detail
This one will work fine on 2xAA recharbables (0.9-4.2V): http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-252/**NEW**--3-dsh-Mode-Regulated/Detail

The last one I already have from KD and is the standard 5-mode 8xAMC7135 driver: http://kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=10995
I'm afraid the last one doesn't list input specs but one of the reviewers said 2 Li-Ions would burn it out. I need to research it further to be sure. I wouldn't have thought it too hard to find a 2800-3000mAh multi-mode driver that handles 7.4-8.4V. I hope you have a suggestion.

Huh...it states on that link that due to low voltage li-ion warning, that driver would be less than ideal for 2xAA. Let me know how it works though...

For 2xAA I really like the one I linked to up top. For buck driver for an xml, this is a good one.

I like the modes of that driver but at 19mm does it fit a standard p60 drop-in pill? I thought 17mm was the correct size for the p60.