2AA Mini-Mag with a Side Switch, DrJones driver and a 3-up - just another crazy mod... It's Finished!

I found this dark blue 2aa Mini Mag in Wal-Mart. I can't remember the last time I saw one that dark, so I took it home, to destroy it.Tongue Out

I am putting in a Nichia 219 3-up with TIR optic and a DrJones linear driver with ramping. In order to do that, I need to use a momentary switch, so I decided to try and put a SMD switch in the side of the body... Yes, a side switch in a minimag.

I made a little video of what I have done so far and when I finish it, I will update the video with the results.

Components:

  • 2AA Mini-Mag
  • 3- Nichia 219s on a triple star (parallel), from IS
  • 3-up TIR optic from IS
  • DrJones 3040mA driver with 3 chips added - 4 amps approx.
  • Various copper pipe components and copper discs
  • Aluminum rod stock for locating the switch and for the positive contact for the battery
  • Switch cap from a cheapie light
  • SMD switch
  • Efest 14500 IMR battery
  • Etc, Etc, Etc...

mmsw1

Here's the video teaser showing the start of this project:

Well, I am finishing this up with a few photos. As usually happens, once I get to finishing a mod, I don't want to stop and do a video, so a couple photos will have to suffice.

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I was waiting for a couple things. One of them was some 3mm copper discs, but I just went ahead and made one of my "almost round" ones instead. Here it is soldered to the positive wire, before using AA to glue it in place.

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Four wires are ground, positive and two for the SMD switch.

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Ready to add the driver. I drilled and put in a pin, to hold the center aluminum shaft to the outer copper shaft.

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Down inside I added a copper ring for the end of the insert to sit in, to help stabilize it.

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The driver is in place. I didn't take a shot when I put the led star on. As you can see, there's not much room and I could not add more chips, so it's a 3040mA driver, or about 1 amp per led. Not the brightest light in the world, but it should be ok for a Mini.

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Finished light

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I didn't even have a clear TIR optic. This one is frosted and I polished it up a little. I have to get a clear one.

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The IMR batteries have not come in yet, so all I have is a couple of "don't Trust Me" fire batteries. They can't put out the necessary amps, but at least it proves it works. This is on high.

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Lowest setting. My camera will not reproduce the neutral white color of the leds. It just shows up as white, when they are shining directly on the sensor.

I will do beam shots when I get the Efest batteries, but that will be a couple weeks most likely. It's finished for all intents and purposes.

This particular SMD gives an audible click when pressing it. It sounds like a muted clicky... sort of, but quieter. It takes a fair amount of pressure to turn it on. I ended up using just the rubber button and a thin spacer, so the rubber pushes directly on the SMD switch. It was because of tight clearances. The old 10 pounds of ____ in a 5 pound box kind of deal.

The DrJones driver has two main modes - High and Medium and then there's ramping and the other modes he normally puts in. I ordered mine with just high and medium, since the ramping will set the light wherever a person likes.

Reserved

I really like this mod!
I might be doing a few maglite mods this autumn, but when it comes to AA MiniMaglite, I dont think it gets nicer than the light you are making there in terms of how the build is done. The parts and the design are just brilliant! I really like the DrJones drivers too. Im not that into using dummy cells and such (which this light does not use), but the way you have utilized the space for heatsinking and the electronic switch is just really cool and nice!

As for the amps. 4 amps is more than enough for high IMO! Its already stupidity! Which is just perfect! J) :wink: Coupled with a DrJones driver where you can set high to be whatever you want you can actually make it more reasonable too. :slight_smile:

As you can see in a graph from HKJs review of the efest 14500. It should only be able to do 3+ amps with the required voltage for about 5 minutes, that is, if you start at 3 amps.
If you start at 4 amps, assuming it will do 4 amps maybe 1 minute. :stuck_out_tongue: My guess is that you are below 3 amps in less than 4 minutes if used on 100% output.
There should be no need to try and push it further than 4 amps. Its already insanity at its very best! J)

Crap, I was doing very similar thing with 2AA minimag, Dr Jones driver, momentary switch and TIR optics but I can’t find bloody machinist with a lathe which could make me a copper insert |(

On the bright side. Now you see how it can be done without a lathe! :wink:

As funky this may sound, doing this part on a lathe is much easier solution for me because I don’t have different sizes and thicknesses of aluminum and copper pipes and rods, and no one here is selling them in like 10 cm long pieces, you have to buy at least 1 meter and that would cost a fortune (copper)…

SMD switch. Nice.

I dont think I have ever seen a dark blue mag…Pretty neat

How much amperage can those 219’s take on copper?

I understand. I don’t have access to lots of copper stuff either. Although you can gets lots of various rods and stuff on ebay cut in small lengths or quantity.
Not that cheap when shipped, but doing “mechanic” custom builds aint always that cheap…
…or maybe we are just too spoiled with the stupid low prices from China… :stuck_out_tongue:

they definitely spoiled me with “free” shipping :bigsmile:

Brillant idea for the thermal management and keep the classic Maglite’s appearance.

Can not wait to see finished project!! Beam shots too!!

Been thinking about doing a switched AA for awhile. Not surprised OL beat me to the punch. Rivited

Was there invitations sent out for this party? Who’s shout.

Crazy indeed! Great job, thanks for sharing. :slight_smile:

Copper is definitely going up in price fast. Even copper plumbing fittings are getting way high. I usually buy from Lowe's and they have various small sizes of pipe in two foot lengths, but the new stock has gotten too high. I still have some of the old stock and that's what I have been using. Just trying to use up what I have.

That is the first dark blue Mag I have seen. I thought it might be a new color or someone sent a sample color out with the rest of a run.

With the temps in the 90's-100's it might be a few days to finish, since I just get an hour or two in the mornings.

We aren't spoiled by China, it's just that we don't realize just how much of our taxes go back to China, to subsidize their shipping. It isn't free, we are paying for it and paying for the manipulation of the Yuan.

Haha, tell me about it. I just installed 90 feet of copper pipe in my living room, for use as steampunk decor. It looks nice, but it could definitely stand to be a little cheaper.

The mod is finished. See the OP for the rest of the mod.

Orsm build OL. Did the switch rubber boot slip in after or before assembly?

Nice build!
A question though, does the driver accept more than 8.4V? Or does it have to be used with a dummy cell.