I too am curious how dchomak wired to the Maglite switch. BTW – I’ve done nothing with my bulbs. I’m just too busy to get to this and I don’t even have a 3D Maglite yet.
-Garry
I was thinking to solder the positive to the little spring cap that the underside of the incandescent contacts. Then solder the negative to the inner wall of the housing for the incan bulb. That seems to make sense to me, but I’m not very keen as far as electricity goes.
Edit: The spring cap looks like stainless, dunno if solder will stick.
Check that you have no continuity between the metal bottom of the board & any of the traces.
Drilled spot and bottom of the board, or pos/neg at either side of the trace and bottom of the board? I see continuity when measuring from bottom of the board to either drilled spot, but not between pos/neg of the led blobs to the bottom of the board.
Great job! So you broke the glass off an incandescent bulb and attached to the internal wires to make your power connections? I only ordered warm, but then I also bought the FastTech Bridgelux LED's to replace with.
, MTBR’s Lights & Night Riding Forum NOTE: Now hosting my photos from my Google account. Post up if you can’t see them. Older photos hosted on Photobucket or Flickr may disappear (PM me if you want access to them).
Great job! So you broke the glass off an incandescent bulb and attached to the internal wires to make your power connections? I only ordered warm, but then I also bought the FastTech Bridgelux LED’s to replace with.
-Garry
Yep, first one was a pita. Broke glass, slowly dug out the material between the remaining glass and the housing, accidently broke the epoxy/black gunk at the bottom trying to drill a hole through it…
Second one was a breeeeze. I found out the ‘weld’ is actually just solder on both the bottom contact and the side ground spot. Wicked up the solder, broke the glass, drilled out the remaining glass and yellow/white filler crap. Black gunk at bottom 100% intact. There’s a small metal cylinder insert embedded in the black gunk where the filament went through the bottom; with the solder wicked away and filament removed some tinned 22awg fits right through, solder it up and it looks factory except for the wires sticking out the top. I attached the negative to the outside wall of the housing; older bulb had 1 filament attached here, but the newer bulb it was attached somewhere inside the housing.
You can see my professional soldering here:
I haven’t slept yet; still riding the awesome feeling from getting these mags upgraded!
, MTBR’s Lights & Night Riding Forum NOTE: Now hosting my photos from my Google account. Post up if you can’t see them. Older photos hosted on Photobucket or Flickr may disappear (PM me if you want access to them).
I took the switch out and soldered my wires to it. Your way is better, no need to take the switch out and you can quickly and easily switch back to the stock Maglite! Good job.
I am still waiting for my new, “designer” MR16. I ordered it 11/2 and it is still not here.
Here is a pic comparing the older lamp on top vs the new one on the bottom.
The stars and the drivers are identical. What is different is the lens, heat sink and plastic base. The heat sink is a little less beefy, but still the same size. Now instead of screws holding everything together, everything simply snaps together.
Because the stars are the same, I can merely swap my old modified “9W” star for the original and I am all set.
5 minutes later, done.
I think this looks much nicer, in fact it would seem that I spent hours working on it, but not so! I think this is a nice upgrade, even if you have already done the mod.
This is VERY important. The LED’s from the previous MR16’s must of had a Vf of around 3.7V. These newer ones seem to have a Vf of around 3.2V
I connected a bench supply to the driver from this new lamp and measured the voltage at the supply, to the star and the current flowing through the 3 LED’s in series (unmodified star). I varied the power supply voltage from 12V all the way up to 24V with no problems. In that range the voltage to the star and the current flowing through the emitters was constant. This is good news. The driver never even got warm.
Old star, voltage across the 3 emitters was around 11V. Current draw was .30A
New star was 9.5V and .30A
So this means that those emitters will probably blow up in a 3D mod. The GOOD news is that they are perfect for a 2D mod! I just checked, one emitter draws .30A with 2 D cells in series DD.
Are you referring to the Bridgelux emitters in the "old MR16" or the original emitters before the Bridgelux? I assume the latter. So what kind of vF do the Bridgelux have? Must be fit for a 3D as that's what you been running them with. (You do have them running DD with no driver or resistors at all, right?)
, MTBR’s Lights & Night Riding Forum NOTE: Now hosting my photos from my Google account. Post up if you can’t see them. Older photos hosted on Photobucket or Flickr may disappear (PM me if you want access to them).
Are you referring to the Bridgelux emitters in the “old MR16” or the original emitters before the Bridgelux? I assume the latter. So what kind of vF do the Bridgelux have? Must be fit for a 3D as that’s what you been running them with. (You do have them running DD with no driver or resistors at all, right?)
-Garry
What I just tested was the original emitters from the original lamp, comparing those to the LED’s in the new lamp. I eventually upgraded those original LED’s to the BridgeLux. https://www.fasttech.com/products/1116609
Looks good Dchomak. The floody nature of the original optics (and the new one just reported by you) seems perfect for a UV light. Those 1w and 3w UV emitters are in the same format too.
Did anyone ever try one of these bulbs stock with 3× 18650?
Would one be correct in assuming a large increase in output?
I found another 3d mag tucked away, I was thinking about using the newer bulb assembly, the 3w’s from FT, and 3× 18650.
I think the included driver is a CC driver, see my post above. So even though the HO FT LED’s (wow, 3 abbreviations in a row) have the potential to be brighter, they will be limited to .30A because of the driver. And going DD will probably blow the LED’s included in this new lamp.
Did anyone ever try one of these bulbs stock with 3× 18650?
Would one be correct in assuming a large increase in output?
I found another 3d mag tucked away, I was thinking about using the newer bulb assembly, the 3w’s from FT, and 3× 18650.
I think the included driver is a CC driver, see my post above. So even though the HO FT LED’s (wow, 3 abbreviations in a row) have the potential to be brighter, they will be limited to .30A because of the driver. And going DD will probably blow the LED’s included in this new lamp.
Hmph. :\
Any ideas on any of the single bulb assemblies able to handle 3x liion?
I’d like to do another one of these fun little buggars, but preferrably more on the throw side; otherwise I think I’ll just order another sst50, xml2/xpg2 on copper, make a beefy copper sink, and drop in a driver for 2/3 liion at 4-6 amps.. basically repeating my DST mod, which isn’t very exciting.
3 lions have 9-12V so you could simply check the original driver if it works below 12V….
I have done this with a mr16bulb from ikea for a friend, I removed the bridge rectifier to get another Volt back and it worked quite nice on a 6V PB battery…
And of course you could always use a different driver circuit, I have done this mod with a 2D Incan and a AA 1A driver, gives now continuously light…
Any ideas on any of the single bulb assemblies able to handle 3x liion?
I’d like to do another one of these fun little buggars, but preferrably more on the throw side; otherwise I think I’ll just order another sst50, xml2/xpg2 on copper, make a beefy copper sink, and drop in a driver for 2/3 liion at 4-6 amps.. basically repeating my DST mod, which isn’t very exciting.
They do make 9W versions of the MR16, it’s just that I don’t know if there are any in the new style. One of those should work straight out of the box with 3-18650
ImA4Wheelr wrote:
Looks good Dchomak. The floody nature of the original optics (and the new one just reported by you) seems perfect for a UV light. Those 1w and 3w UV emitters are in the same format too.
There are IR emitters also. I got a night scope for my birthday, it would be fun to try an IR Maglite with it.
Anyone measured there tailcap current?
I am asking because I have over 2A with two D cells and a 1A boost driver. What does the stock switch say with such a current?
As I now have learned a mag will be upgradeable too I will build a dropin for a two C maglite as a gift
Anyone measured there tailcap current?
I am asking because I have over 2A with two D cells and a 1A boost driver. What does the stock switch say with such a current?
As I now have learned a mag will be upgradeable too I will build a dropin for a two C maglite as a gift
I’m looking at 1.5A with 3 D at 4.5v with a warm triple drop in stock 3×3W LED.
I was thinking to solder the positive to the little spring cap that the underside of the incandescent contacts. Then solder the negative to the inner wall of the housing for the incan bulb. That seems to make sense to me, but I’m not very keen as far as electricity goes.
Edit: The spring cap looks like stainless, dunno if solder will stick.
If you have an incan version, you can always do this (pic borrowed from Finnish forum)
=the=
Nice! How do I pop this glass bulb out of the housing?
Edit: watched the how it’s made video on incan bulbs.
-So it’s soldered on the bottom and spot welded on the side.. hmm.
I think I’ll try to make one instead.-
Broke that sucker, drilled out the glass and threw in my wires.
The only thing I’m not sure of is
I have no continuity between pos and neg with the traces I drilled through… is this what is being referred to here?
Check that you have no continuity between the metal bottom of the board & any of the traces.
•
Counterfeit 18650s, 2,<a href=“http://
1 down 1 to go!
Warm is really warm. Thankfully I got one of each.
I was hoping for it to be a little more throwy, but instead it just lights 20-30 yards about 120 degree angle. Not bad for $1.47
Great job! So you broke the glass off an incandescent bulb and attached to the internal wires to make your power connections? I only ordered warm, but then I also bought the FastTech Bridgelux LED's to replace with.
-Garry
My Bike Lights Thread, Optics (TIR) Comparison Beamshots, Diffusion Techniques
, MTBR’s Lights & Night Riding ForumNOTE: Now hosting my photos from my Google account. Post up if you can’t see them. Older photos hosted on Photobucket or Flickr may disappear (PM me if you want access to them).
Yep, first one was a pita. Broke glass, slowly dug out the material between the remaining glass and the housing, accidently broke the epoxy/black gunk at the bottom trying to drill a hole through it…
Second one was a breeeeze. I found out the ‘weld’ is actually just solder on both the bottom contact and the side ground spot. Wicked up the solder, broke the glass, drilled out the remaining glass and yellow/white filler crap. Black gunk at bottom 100% intact. There’s a small metal cylinder insert embedded in the black gunk where the filament went through the bottom; with the solder wicked away and filament removed some tinned 22awg fits right through, solder it up and it looks factory except for the wires sticking out the top. I attached the negative to the outside wall of the housing; older bulb had 1 filament attached here, but the newer bulb it was attached somewhere inside the housing.
You can see my professional soldering here:
I haven’t slept yet; still riding the awesome feeling from getting these mags upgraded!
Thanks for that pic! That helps a lot! I'll probably attempt the same when I get around to this.
-Garry
My Bike Lights Thread, Optics (TIR) Comparison Beamshots, Diffusion Techniques
, MTBR’s Lights & Night Riding ForumNOTE: Now hosting my photos from my Google account. Post up if you can’t see them. Older photos hosted on Photobucket or Flickr may disappear (PM me if you want access to them).
That is very smart.
You have created a maglite dropin.
I took the switch out and soldered my wires to it. Your way is better, no need to take the switch out and you can quickly and easily switch back to the stock Maglite! Good job.
I am still waiting for my new, “designer” MR16. I ordered it 11/2 and it is still not here.
Here is a pic comparing the older lamp on top vs the new one on the bottom.
The stars and the drivers are identical. What is different is the lens, heat sink and plastic base. The heat sink is a little less beefy, but still the same size. Now instead of screws holding everything together, everything simply snaps together.
Because the stars are the same, I can merely swap my old modified “9W” star for the original and I am all set.
5 minutes later, done.
I think this looks much nicer, in fact it would seem that I spent hours working on it, but not so! I think this is a nice upgrade, even if you have already done the mod.
Thanks to Helios- for spotting this lamp!
Is it visibly brighter?
I only changed the optics and the heat sink that it clips to. Same throw also.
Ah you already had changed your LEDs…
Looks a lot nicer with the new lens.
This is VERY important. The LED’s from the previous MR16’s must of had a Vf of around 3.7V. These newer ones seem to have a Vf of around 3.2V
I connected a bench supply to the driver from this new lamp and measured the voltage at the supply, to the star and the current flowing through the 3 LED’s in series (unmodified star). I varied the power supply voltage from 12V all the way up to 24V with no problems. In that range the voltage to the star and the current flowing through the emitters was constant. This is good news. The driver never even got warm.
Old star, voltage across the 3 emitters was around 11V. Current draw was .30A
New star was 9.5V and .30A
So this means that those emitters will probably blow up in a 3D mod.
The GOOD news is that they are perfect for a 2D mod!I just checked, one emitter draws .30A with 2 D cells in series DD.EDIT: These LED’s will not run on 2 NiMH cells
Are you referring to the Bridgelux emitters in the "old MR16" or the original emitters before the Bridgelux? I assume the latter. So what kind of vF do the Bridgelux have? Must be fit for a 3D as that's what you been running them with. (You do have them running DD with no driver or resistors at all, right?)
-Garry
My Bike Lights Thread, Optics (TIR) Comparison Beamshots, Diffusion Techniques
, MTBR’s Lights & Night Riding ForumNOTE: Now hosting my photos from my Google account. Post up if you can’t see them. Older photos hosted on Photobucket or Flickr may disappear (PM me if you want access to them).
What I just tested was the original emitters from the original lamp, comparing those to the LED’s in the new lamp. I eventually upgraded those original LED’s to the BridgeLux. https://www.fasttech.com/products/1116609
Looks good Dchomak. The floody nature of the original optics (and the new one just reported by you) seems perfect for a UV light. Those 1w and 3w UV emitters are in the same format too.
Definitely like the newer one better.
Did anyone ever try one of these bulbs stock with 3× 18650?
Would one be correct in assuming a large increase in output?
I found another 3d mag tucked away, I was thinking about using the newer bulb assembly, the 3w’s from FT, and 3× 18650.
I think the included driver is a CC driver, see my post above. So even though the HO FT LED’s (wow, 3 abbreviations in a row) have the potential to be brighter, they will be limited to .30A because of the driver. And going DD will probably blow the LED’s included in this new lamp.
Hmph. :\
Any ideas on any of the single bulb assemblies able to handle 3x liion?
I’d like to do another one of these fun little buggars, but preferrably more on the throw side; otherwise I think I’ll just order another sst50, xml2/xpg2 on copper, make a beefy copper sink, and drop in a driver for 2/3 liion at 4-6 amps.. basically repeating my DST mod, which isn’t very exciting.
3 lions have 9-12V so you could simply check the original driver if it works below 12V….
I have done this with a mr16bulb from ikea for a friend, I removed the bridge rectifier to get another Volt back and it worked quite nice on a 6V PB battery…
And of course you could always use a different driver circuit, I have done this mod with a 2D Incan and a AA 1A driver, gives now continuously light…
3W are now 3.2V*0.3A…? That is a funny…
I tested the stock assembly on 6v 40amp using a battery charger to check the emitters were good and it worked fine.
They do make 9W versions of the MR16, it’s just that I don’t know if there are any in the new style. One of those should work straight out of the box with 3-18650
There are IR emitters also. I got a night scope for my birthday, it would be fun to try an IR Maglite with it.
Anyone measured there tailcap current?
I am asking because I have over 2A with two D cells and a 1A boost driver. What does the stock switch say with such a current?
As I now have learned a mag will be upgradeable too I will build a dropin for a two C maglite as a gift
I’m looking at 1.5A with 3 D at 4.5v with a warm triple drop in stock 3×3W LED.
A friend took my cool white.
I get 2.1A with a single unprotected 18650 in a Mag 2C with 3 -3W BridgeLux emitters from FastTech.
Thanks.
I will build a dropin for 2 nimh.
I don’t think it will work with only 2 NiMh. That is only 2.4 or 2.5 volts. With my 2C I am doing this
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