Another Maglite Conversion Question

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Hi all,

I’m new to the forum but been lurking a while and read many threads trying to gather info on my Maglite 2D from ~2005. However I’m struggling with specifics and figured this corner of the internet is the place to ask the experts.

My Mag is a 2D LED Rebel. The switch has been replaced here in Australia (where i live) but the shop that did it (official Mag repairer in Aus) couldn’t tell me anything about the LED emitter, lumens etc. I also contacted Maglite in the US and they also said they dont have the serial number in their system but going by the DL200114387 serial number it is either 168 or 213 Lumens (the original switch assembly includes the LED so the replacement is likely the same i guess).

Either way its pretty underwhelming for light ouput especially as i have a few other new and nice LED flashlights including: Sofirn SC31 Pro, Wuben C3, Sofirn SP36, BLF LT1 and a Convoy C8+ on order. Plus some Fenix and Nitecore headlights. All are great new lights and i love using them for camping and around home, in the yard etc.

HOWEVER…I do love my old Maglite! Its been with me travelling all over Australia and i wish I could breathe new life into it. I got in contact with the very helpful guys at Lumencraft but unfortunately they said they didnt know of anything they can provide for an upgrade apart from potentially a new POC kit they may get sometime soon.

So…im wondering if anyone on this forum has any ideas for me on what i could do to upgrade it? OR am i better off getting a new incandescent and upgrading that?

All i really want is the Mag 2D size form factor with a bright LED output and either 18650 or 26650 cells in it. I can solder but very roughly and dont have/cant use a lathe or anything so really looking for drop in or a basic bit of modding (cutting pvc, sanding back the tail cap anodized paint, etc).

Also one other question…can i easily replace the plastic lens which is all scratched up? Is the size different for my model than other models?

Some pics of the unit for reference:
https://i.imgur.com/vCNmo8r.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/n28QvCb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Dj3xc8Y.jpg

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any tips anyone can give me.

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I had 3d led with rebel led. I was able to replace led switch /led assembly with an incandescent model switch, and installed teralux tl 300 module. even thou the thread on led light body were a bit shorter than incandescent body, it still worked out just fine.
unfortunately there is nothing off the shelf that would work with DLxxxxxxx lights without modifying them

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For the plastic lens, you can use the Magcharger glass lens. The LED on your light looks like a first gen Cree XP-E judging by the size of the die. The easiest thing you can do is buy a incan switch assembly that can be used with a Lumencraft drop-in. Everything else would involve too much soldering and machining.

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I think TUIG101 is correct, in regards to the easiest option.

What other things can be done? The normal upgrade path goes like this:

The switch housing can be removed with a T8 torx bit, but it will need to be ground skinnier in order to fit in the switch hole.
The shaft needs to be ground a little to match the tip diameter.
An easy way to do this is to install the bit into a drill, and with it rotating, use an abrasive dremel wheel to uniformly reduce the diameter, or use a bench grinder if you have one.
This style and length of bit, or longer: McMaster-Carr
Remove the rubber switch boot, and insert the torx driver into the hole in the switch. It takes a lot of force to break the set screw free. The set screw establishes GND to the body.

Now you can slide the switch housing out of the back of the light body. No need to remove the retaining ring.

Now what? Generally the “bulb pillar” which protrudes out of the switch housing, is sawed off.
Then you can solder wires to the bat+ contact and bat- contacts on the switch housing.

Now you’ve got a big hollow space to put stuff in.

A heatsink is generally installed. This can be a solid plug of aluminum press fit into place, or something more fancy, like my adjustable expanding heatsinks which I produced a small batch of but never actually showed anyone or sold…

The “cam” portion of the reflector, the extension that sticks out, can be sawed off and cleaned up, then you are left with a normal deep LED reflector.

KaiDomain sells glass windows, as does Lumencraft. The Lumencraft one is thinner, which should create less of a gap between the bezel and the head when installed with the stock reflector.

The heatsink should be the easy part, but there aren’t any available now a days as far as I know. I have designed and machined a half dozen variants over the years. I just figured selling them would be more hassle than it’s worth. But a part of me always wants to do that. I’ve also made some battery carriers, 1s2p 26650, and 3s2p AA.

After you’ve got the heatsink part figured out, you need to choose a driver and an LED. There are a lot of options here.

You get the idea. I’ll stop here for now.

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Thank you! This sounds an easy path for sure.

The guys at Lumencraft didnt mention this as an option so im still a bit hesitant however.

Are all the Mag switches (incandescent and my model that is) interchangeable in terms of size, width, lengths etc or some cutting involved? Ill check out where to buy them now anyway and see if i can figure it out.

Thanks for mentioning about the first gen Cree XPE LED btw, i have been wondering what it was in terms of specs, all i could figure out was it was a Rebel.

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Looks like this would be suitable?

Ebay link so not sure if it will be allowed:

It has a note on the listing saying also compatible with DL models to enable upgrades…

Screenshot_20230729_060346_eBay
Screenshot_20230729_060346_eBay1080×2400 204 KB

So then all I’d need to do is purchase an upgrade kit like from Lumencraft to fit a 2D? No modding required to the new incandescent switch? Seems too easy! :slight_smile:

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Some more thoughts as ive been looking around on the net today…

If i buy an LED upgrade kit (emitter and reflector) but i want to also change the battery setup to take 18650 or 26650s or whatever, id need an LED that can handle the increased volts i understand? And a battery holder and possibly spring modded too of course. So i need to choose carefully so i dont paint myself into a corner with a 3V limited emitter.

Also if i buy the incandescent switch assembly for $60AUD i could actually just buy a whole new Incandescent 2D Mag from Amazon for $80AUD…so wondering if thats a better option then i have a whole new host and all the parts and can swap and change to make a new LED either out of my original or the incandescent. If that makes sense?

And finally the glass lens from that same aussie seller on Ebay looks good, and looks like a straight, easy replacement so I’ll go ahead with that (just thinking out loud here!). He also sells the T8 tool specifically for Mags which appears to be the Wiha T8 torx winged screwdriver. Although i managed to get my switch out with a 2mm allen just by luck as it is definitely a torx for the GND screw.

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Yea with those prices it definitely makes sense to buy a whole new Maglite.

Drop ins, most of them, do nto require reflector, they come as a single unit. the lens can be plastic, there is no need for glass, it is not a high wattage bulb, so no heat out of the front that would melt plastic. regular AR glass is brittle, if you getting a glass lens get borocilicate, aka borofloat, but i’d leave plastic, they are cheap to replace if scratched, and will not crack as easy. you only need to replace when scratches are so bad that it makes the lens look frosted, small scratches do not affect performance much.

As far as battery fit, 2x26500 fit into 2D, but you need smaller spring that sits deep into the tailcap, cuz cells will be longer than regular D cells. you will need to remove anodizing inside the cap, for spring to make a contact, either physically with sanpaper, dremel tool, or something else, or chemically with acid, Drano for unclogging pipes works, thou it may depend on specific product some maybe be stronger than others, A 1 inch pvc pipe is a perfect fit for D maglite, and 26500 batteries. not sure if you have those in AU you are a metric country, so maybe it is called differently.

When you buy a drop in, make sure it is safe with 2 li ion cells, if it can take 6 alkaline cells, it will be fine with 2x lion

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The D switch housing is interchangeable between the incan mag and the LED mag, yes. No grinding needed.

You are correct that replacement parts aren’t worth the cost vs buying a new Mag.

But with your switch housing out, if you chop off the “pillar” and solder wires to the exposed contacts, you could just solder these wires to the drop-in module, depending on the drop-in you are looking at. Then your only expense is the drop-in.

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Thanks both! That all makes sense.

I reckon I’ll go with a new incandescent Mag for now and either have a play with a mod myself or go with Lumencraft kit including their battery adapter etc.

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I was meaning to convert my 2D to LED (aside from the dinky little drop-in bulb).

Got myself a… Thrunite??.. drop-in which is reeeeeally close to the required dimensions, but requires a little chopping down on the reflector, and rounding a squared-off ledge on the dull/outside part of the reflector to fit the Mag’s head.

Unfortunately, it’s still sitting here, and I haven’t gotten arsed enough to do it.

Where the spring sticks out from the driver board, you just need a flexible sleeve to be able to stick down the bulb’s socket and keep the spring from touching the ground part. And a flexible metal sleeve (eg, bigger spring) takes care of that.

A 32650 or somesuch, plus a dummy cell, would let it run just like that at up to 4.2V. Not sure if it could take 2 series cells for 8.4V, and don’t want to pop the driver.

I’ve seen drivers labelled as “3V-9V” or so, but… no. Had an LED go instablue from a pair of 16340s or 18350s or whatever they were, to see if the driver could in fact take 2 cells. Different driver, not the maybe-Thrunite.

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Thanks for the reply @Lightbringer. Im hoping not to have to chop or solder anything (realising I am in the modding sub forum!) But all the info people including you have replied with is all really useful stuff.

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Matt Smith (not the Dr Who guy) has a store Adventure Something, and sells true drop-in Mag parts.

He’s here under Vesture Of Blood. Yeah, sounds kinda yicky, but he’s a nice guy.

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:+1: Pinging @Lumencraft-Matt .

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That’s Lumencraft, which has been mentioned several times by the OP.

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Really? Hmm, must’ve misremembered…

Wouldda sworn it was Adventure SomethingOrOther…

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No, you remembered correctly. I have done a horrible job keeping my brand cohesive over the years. My CPF/BLF name has always been “vestureofblood” which was a name I used back when I was a gamer. Its from the book of Revelation, but also made sense for a tough sounding Conter-Strike screen name. Flash forward years later and my business name was Adventure Sport Flashlights, which I was unable to trade mark, so I picked up the Lumencraft mark when I found it had been cancelled by the original owner.

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18

I’ll throw in my 2 cents here. If I’m understanding correctly your goal is to have the perfect maglite. Bright and running on the batteries that you want. Your okay with doing some work to get there but “modding” is not the goal.

What I suggest is just making sure you get exactly what you want the first time, and don’t spend a lot of time and money trying to just make it work with something because you’ve already got it. I tear into things all the time because I want to see if I can make them better, that part is fun to me and not just a means to an end. If you plan on getting parts from us anyway we can also sell you a host so you can put it all together, or we can deanodize the tail cap and put everything together for you. Either way you get a rock solid light that brings you joy every time you look at it because its exactly how you imagined.

Alternatively if you did decide you want to try and convert that host to run a high power bulb it is possible. It looks like you have the old style LED mag, which should have the incandescent head (measurement video on my website). In which case you could pull the LED module out of the center and then make an isolator out of some plastic or something to ensure your + and - contacts keep separate. Its been like 10+ years since I did so I can’t recall exactly what it takes, but remember doing it once.

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19

Ah, got it!

I got especially stuck after having followed Action Adventure Twins (caving, urbex, etc.) on the yoo toob, and was like, “No, not ‘Action Adventure Something’… but ‘Adventure Something’… maybe ‘Adventure Lights’”? Nope, not familiar. Was jiggling my brain trying to remember…

Lumencraft… now that you mention it, it does sound familiar. Wasn’t there a thread about coming up with the name, or the logo, or both?

Think I need to take more gecko bilbao for my memory…

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Thank you @Lumencraft-Matt! Ive been talking to Lee and hes helping me out heaps. Think im gonna go with a new incandescent host and get the parts from you guys to upgrade that rather than my old DL LED.

Like you, i think i just wanted to see if i could do something with my original DL Mag! But it sounds like a bit too much modding for me that i probably cant do.

Cheers.