My $2.24 triple emitter Mag Mod

My simple Mod started with one of these
http://dx.com/p/mr16-3w-3-led-270-lumen-3200k-warm-white-light-bulb-12v-901047356
That particular closeout deal is sold out but there are various other deals available such as this
http://www.tmart.com/MR16-3W-240-Lumen-3500K-Warm-White-LED-Light-Bulb-12V_p124150.html
It is twice the price, but will work just the same. Both of these are warm white, but there are other colors available.

Here is the original 12V LED

The whole piece drops right in, as is, in the Mag head! a perfect fit!

Some modifications are needed as the star is set up for 12V, disassembly is required. Here is the aluminum heat sink, the 3 emitter star, the lenses and the face plate. The base and its circuitry is discarded.

Here is a closeup of the star, notice that the 3 LED’s are wired in series as 12V is supplied by the original driver.

I want to run these 3 LED’s off the original 3 D cells or in other words 4.5 volts. I needed to separate the series configuration so that I can run them in parallel. What I did was drill through the traces connecting the 3 LED’s in series.

After the drilling, I checked to make sure that the traces were not shorting out to the metal star where I had drilled through. From here all I had to do is wire the 3 LED’s in parallel and to the original switch and put it back together. I did not have to modify the original MagLite in any way, only remove some parts from the switch.

Here is the finished lite

Nice work! Does the heat heat up at all? (a.k.a. is there enough contact to keep the LEDs cool)

Looks good

awesome… it look original :slight_smile:
now let’s see some comparison beam shots :bigsmile:

There is only 3 watts or less involved, so no there is no heat buildup at all. My next try will be to try 3 of these on the star instead. http://www.fasttech.com/products/1609/10001590/1116609-3w-190-210lm-6000-6500k-white-bridgelux-led-emitte

This will give me 9 watts and a whiter light. Then there will be an issue with heat. The included heat sink is pretty massive, but there also has to be a drain for when it “fills up” Better thermal contact of the sink to the head will help. As of now it is not an issue.

Great idea! I've never looked at any of the LED light bulbs for the home. That's pretty cool!

Here is a source for them, the original website you posted is now out:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MR16-3W-3-LED-270-Lumen-6500K-Warm-White-Light-Bulb-12V-/160588983961?pt=Lamps_US&hash=item2563d96e99

Looks like a fun project, will try it, thanks…

These could replace the leds, at 3 Watts each, 10 pieces for 8.99:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10PCS-3W-White-High-Power-LED-Light-Emitter-6000-6500K-without-board-/320938698490?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab96fe6fa

I like your thinking. Very nice. Like previously asked, any chance of some night shots?

Hey, how big is that base, would this work?

http://www.fasttech.com/products/1609/10001315/1107700-cree-q5-3-led-emitter-on-50mm-base-board

Nice work.

Very creative!

I have three of those lying around, so I might try the same mod.

How would you describe the output vs. original 3D led mag?

Whats the measurements on that thing.
I bought the 4 led version and mine rattles real bad in mine.
Thought about using copper tape. But never got around to it.

Niiice!

Pity my only maglite is a 2xAA incand.

This is a great idea for updating my dads 3d mag, I was thinking about a nanjg and xp-g2.

Top mod. 8)

That star is too big, it is 50mm. Mine is 32mm as shown in the pic. I saw that too at fasttech and would love to find that cree q5 in a 32mm star. instead I ordered 6 3W bridgelux from them. In quantity they are .66 each - cheap enough! I am looking forward to seeing how fasttech does with my order, they seem to have a very good site.

Pure flood, and warm white approx same color as an incan. Now that I know this works, I will do a cool white version. I don’t know what degree the TIR optics are, but it is floody. Output is approx 270 lumen so there is more light that the LED mag which is around 130 lumen. As I said, I will next try 3 –3W BridgeLux emitters @6000K on the star. They are only 66 cents each at fasttech in quantities of 5 or more. So my mod cost is soaring!
$2.24 + (3 x 0.66) = $4.22

You must think we’re made of money, offering up fancy mods that cost more than 4 bucks! :wink:

Anyway, thanks for the inspiration. I just pulled an old 3d out of a box a few days ago, and I was wondering what I could do with it.

Thank, this is my kind of thread. Friend gave me a 3d Maglite some years ago and I have one if those bulbs in the post. Plenty on Ebay,and I suspect that they differ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400340018296?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&\_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Here are a series of pics with measurements


Here are some pics of the heat sink. There is definitely some meat on it.

If needed a copper slug could be added here. Being constructed for home lighting, this lite was orginally designed to run 24/7.

Lennart: That is the right one, keep in mind that it is warm white. You may want to use cool white for a flashlight

AU $1.00 = US $1.05, Ruffles is right, I am spending money like a drunken sailor!