3D Magmule with triple Nichia 219s

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Here's a 3D MagLite that I'm working on for a friend and fellow CPF'er. He wanted a bright mule (reflectorless light) and a diffused reflectored light would not do. He wanted either a high CRI or neutral tint light and the Nichia 219 offers both in one LED. If one is good then three would be that much better so we decided to go with a triple MCPCB wired in parallel driven at 3A giving each LED 1A.

Pictures:

The aluminum heatsink sleeve still being cut

The aluminum sleeve with the threaded copper heatsink partially threaded in

The heatsink fully threaded into the sleeve. I used Arctic Silver thermal epoxy to attach the two as well as the star (not epoxied in this photo)

The sleeve is a press fit into the host. It's been tested and now I need to make a lens out of clear acrylic and I need to make a bezel to finish it, which needs to happen tomorrow.

2

I am constantly amazed at the amount of work that people put into their projects, Looks nice! What sort of lumens are you expecting from that star at 3A?

3

Heres the last photo.

To be honest with you, I don't know. I don't care, really. It's bright enough on high and the tint is really nice. The fact that it's both high CRI and neutral tint are just icing on the cake.

My soldering sucks, by the way. LOL!

4

why reflectorless, just out of curiosity? Beautiful machining too, especially the threads.

as for your soldering - it doesn't suck, it's a sign of how effective the thermal transfer to the pill is. I didn't realise it until I read it on another thread, but it explains why my soldering of LED pads looks like a blind 3yr old's compared to other soldered joints in the light. Next time I'll solder the leads to the LED first before mounting it to the host and hooking it up to the driver.

5

Generally reflector-less gives pure flood I have a xm-l in a mini-mag without a reflector and that is my edc. It just gives a huge amount of flood.

6

Flood and light clarity. I use reflector-less too on my work headlamp. Much better light to work with.

7

Beautiful work, as usual.

Your stuff is inspirational, PCC. Thanks for sharing.

8

Thanks, guys! Yes, reflector less gives you a very even beam, almost like turning the light on in the room.
Here’s a missing photo showing the heat sink before the wiring was done.

9

I may have missed this but is this DD or does it have a driver?

10

Beautiful work! Did you buy the star assembled? If so.. where? :D

11

It's using a 3A AMC7135 driver and triple Nichia 219 purchased from Illumination Supply.

12

850 - 950 lumens

13

That is beautiful work PCC.

I love the attention to detail. And the massive heatsink.

In your opinion, does the light become warmer than a XML @ 3A ??

Thank you for sharing.

14

I was guesstimating 750 lumens.

With regards to heat, it should be little different regardless of what the LeD configuration is because 3A is 3A.

15

I agree that 3A is 3A. But the more light that travels out the lens less energy is transformed into heat (in the flashlight body).

And I was thinking that maybe the evenly spread out source points of heat could perhaps lead to a better (shorter) thermal pathway to the outer side of the light thus making a difference to the perceived heat. I guess not.

But thanks for answering my question :-)

16

Okay, I made a bezel for it. Here are the pictures.

I chucked a big piece of aluminum in the lathe and turned it down. I then drilled a hole in the end and started boring it out. This is what it looked like after that:

I threaded it and got it to fit the flashlight:

I then trimmed it down a bit and grooved it so it didn't look like a simple sleeve. I had thought about knurling it, though I decided that a cleaner look would work better:

Either the lens is super clear, or, there's no lens there. Yeah, I still need to make a lens for it.

17

Nice! So this is not going to have the normal maglite head?

18

Nope.

19

So whats the cost?

20

The cost as in how much am I charging my friend for this or how much would I charge to have another one made? It’s a gift from me to him so it’s gratis for him. Cost to have another one done? Haven’t really given it any thought. Since this is my last 3D Mag you’ll need to supply the host or I can run out to HD/Costco/Lowe’s and buy a 3D MagLED for you and build around that. Parts alone is about $50 ($19 for the triple, $6 for the driver, $25 for the Mag). My materials cost isn’t that much so I’ll absorb it into the labor costs, which would be in the neighborhood of about $75, making it $125. Wow, I’m having second thoughts about giving this one away!