Turning a 2D Maglite into a 3up XM-L flooder - Let's change it all up shall we? 1D host, not 2D

You're welcome. I find that even when I think I have done something new, 99.9% of the time it has been done already, as with this mod. Once I make something, I usually google it and sure enough it's been done before, many times. Nothing new under the sun as they say. I did the video because, for me, it is easier to understand. I know I can watch a video and do better than with written words.

THANKS JUSTIN! Thats a neat deal. I have sure never seen it done before!!

I owe you another “Thank You” as well. While working on the lathe today I had faced off a piece of aluminum…. With the material still in the lathe, I needed to really see the placement of jaws on a set of calipers, but with the freshly faced aluminum, it was like looking into a searchlight and the jaws disappeared when I laid them on the material. … SO… I took a magic marker like you did in one of your other videos…painted the material face black… And it worked like a charm to kill the glare!!! THANKS!!!

I’m anxious to see the rest of this mod. Dan.

Another excellent project, nice work! (x3)

Yet another great idea from Old Lumens Labs.

Nice idea. I may borrow it in the future as I have been thinking along the same lines. Like you I'm in no hurry. I should add not in a Mag light though. Looking forward to see the rest of it. Cheers.

Excellent work, Can’t wait to see the rest.

Without trying to take the thread off topic, do you know where to get TIR's for XPG's?

That aluminium heatsink looks a tad bit rough. For better heat transfer, back in the days when I use to use heatsinks for my PC (I watercool my PC these days), I used to lap my heatsink to smooth out the micro ridges and have the heatsink mate better with the CPU. I’m sure you know what I’m referring to, but just in case you don’t, linky here.

I tell you what Old-Lumens, you are some amazing cross between a professional modder and a brilliant artist. :smiley:

Yes, I didn’t bother to finish the heat sink just for the photos, but I don’t lap these either.

Updated the first post.

Should be great, Justin!

Just a thought here, but 3 x 2.8A Nanjg drivers might be a little overkill for the Nichia 219's. On my 18650 EDC that I converted to Nichia, I put a Nanjg 105c 2.8A in it and it still only pulls 1.6A at the tail and that's with a good Panasonic cell. Might be cheaper to run three 4*7135 or 6*7135 drivers together or use a single 12*7135 driver. Of course if you only have 8*7135 drivers then go right ahead. ;)

Yes, I only have 2.8a drivers and I plan on taking 7135's off them.

Updated the OP, with a couple more photos.

I know you have done the driver before but I'm still lost, and how you manage to solder the little buggers. Nice job.

Honestly, that makes two of us. I get the shakes every time I go near a driver. I could solder pipe all day, but it’s the tiny stuff that usually bites me in the butt. Especially when trying to make the master/slave mod. Those legs on the 7135 chips are so tiny and trying to solder two wires to one tiny leg on the first one (master), is plain murderous. The connections are delicate, as the legs are so small and the traces on the board can’t take a lot, before they will lift off.

The thread on the drivers is still on the site here, somewhere. Basically, the one micro controller on the master board, now controls PWM to all the 7135 chips on all three boards. The wiring to the LEDs is parallel, but because each led is wired to a board, the amperage is controlled, instead of uncontrolled.

In a regular parallel setup without regulating the amperage, the differences in three LEDs Vf can cause one led to see more amperage than the others (the one with the lowest Vf) and as LEDs heat, Vf lowers, making imbalance even worse, but this way each led still only sees a regulated amperage from the board it is wired to. It keeps parallel LEDs from having the issue of different Vf causing a possible thermal runaway, but still allows for the lower voltage found in a parallel circuit.

The reason I like the circuit is the fact that I don't have to use higher voltage found in series circuits. I like NiMHs and the higher the voltage, the more room I need for NiMHs. It allows me to still do a 1D with three LEDs, using NiMH batteries. With the Nichias only getting 1400ma each, I am still only drawing 4.2 amps from the Eneloops. That's a lot, but still within their ability. It won't run a long time on high, but that's why there's modes. It should run quite a while on low or medium. I am using 4 Eneloops due to the voltage drop that is going to happen from 4.2 amps and with four in series, I should still have good run time, even with the sag. Even at 1v each, I will still be putting 4v to the drivers.

The reasons I don't like it are, the added costs of using 3 drivers and the added risks of having some old fart wire it up wrong or solder things together that shouldn't be, due to the close quarters I'm dealing with. Really, I should farm out this stuff to someone who does this all the time and does it right.

Of course, with all that I don't know about this stuff, I could be just shooting my mouth off and be totally wrong.Tongue Out

This is turning out real nice! I like how you do the drivers...file them flat and solder the negative rings together - Great solution. Ya know, I still haven't tried the whole master/slave driver thing yet... but the photo's of your work are inspiring me to try. Thanks again for the build post!

Yep, got that. Thanks. I followed your other thread when you did it. If you were shooting your mouth off I would not respond. (Insert happy face). Like Match your work has the rusty gears turning. Cheers.

My sentiments across the board. Great work so far! :slight_smile:

I think you, in particular, need to do these multiple drivers.Wink This fits in a bored Maglite tube, but it would be harder to get into a stock tube. I have to use a copper sleeve, since I don’t have 1-3/8" rod stock and the 1-5/16" has to be sleeved. The drivers will not fit into the sleeve, so I had to notch the sleeve, for them to fit. It’s that tight.

Those photos are in the first post now.