Hello!
I have an old 2AA Mini Maglite. I know is old and there are quite better flashlights in nowadays and I have a few far more recent. I have the Mini Maglite since I was a kid, so it’s more nostalgic than any other thing. A few years ago I bought a led from Nite Ize but it didn’t last much, the 2 pin lamp system fails quite a lot, so I was thinking to do my own mod.
I know I want to use a Nichia 219C led, I would like to have 3 modes Low-Med-High…with memory better, but if not it’s ok…and I am thinking to use a tail switch, it’s better to change modes. I was also wondering if there is any driver that could handle 2xAA or 2X 14500? So I could use the 2 types of batteries if I want.
Thank you for your help in advance
I don’t have any suggestions but 2.4-8.4v is quite the input voltage range, might be easier to source a driver that has a 2.4-4.2v input (2XAA or 1x14500 and run a dummy cell when you want to run it on li ion.
its going to be a lot of work to fit a nichia led into a mini maglite as someone who has been working on modding a maglite for the past two days id just recommend getting a P60 drop and doing this unless you really want to put in A LOT of time and money
Thank you so much for your reply!
I will take good read that threat Lightbringer and paragon! A dummy cell could be an option but I loose a bit of the advantage of having lion cells over the NiMH, since I can have 2000mHa with some Eneloop AA cells I have…2x 14500 I would have better voltage over the NiMH and some okish mAh…the driver’s size maybe can have maximum 17mm on the top, the tail maybe it could fit a small 12mm driver. I have an old Nite Ize switch tailcap that isn’t working, maybe I could refit a driver inside.
You can try to contact a brand that uses 2xAA drivers such as Lumintop (Tool25 –15mm diameter), Sofirn (SF13) or eventually Jaxman (M2) and try to get a driver suitable for your needs!
As you want to maintain the use of alkaline cells, that can be an option!
OR, in case you don’t mind having only one mode, you can get one of those cheappo lights that sometimes have drivers with 1 mode ranging from somewhere like 1.2V to 4.2V . It won’t get you the max power you could get once 1.5V+1.5V is only 3V, but it may work in some way…
Been reading quite a lot lately and I found very interesting the use QTC replacing the driver and switch. It’s hard to find it, any place I can buy or any product with similar proprieties that I could apply?
To directly compare you have to convert to watthours:
2x 2000mAh NiMH would be 4.8wh, a single 1000mAh 14500 + spacer nets you 77% of that amount, or 3.7wh. Seems worth it to me to not have the issue of finding a tiny sized, large input range driver that works from 2.4v all the way to 8.4v. Plus the 2.4v from the 2xaa is still gonna have to be bosted which costs efficiency and runtime where as the single li cell can run an LED in linear mode.
When I built my mom a mini mag years ago I bored out the throat to accept a p60 drop in and just used a 2AA single mode driver, she didn’t care about multi-chemistry compatibility or modes. Just like the original mini mag but way brighter and more efficient (and built be me).
QTC is linear only, it only functions with 1 li cell to a 3v led. 2XAA wouldn’t even power it up, it has no buck or boost ability so you’re back to 1x14500 + dummy spacer.
