Hi all! I’m really itching to mod a Mag-Lite 2D/3D with a de-domed XM-L2. I’ve got both a 3D LED Mag-Lite and a 2D incandescent Mag-Lite. I don’t know which would be better/easier. I had bought an XM-L2 on aluminum star off eBay and was going to try that. But then, I was given another XM-L2, this one being de-domed and mounted on a copper Noctigon, so I want to use that instead. Besides, I kinda owe it to James to do something with this one.
The problem is, I’ve never successfully done anything like this before. So, I’ll need lots of help. That’s where you guys come in. I’ve read through some of OL’s Mag-Lite mod threads, and other various build threads, including all of the scratch-built contest threads. I’m still trying to figure out what driver I want/need. Although the Mattaus driver that OL recently featured seems almost obvious at this point, I’m not really comfortable with soldering, like at all. I’m very bad at it. I also have a very limited tool set as far as this stuff goes. I mean, I’ve got plenty of tools to wire a house, but Channel-locks and side-cutters aren’t gonna help me here! I need help forming a pill of some sort, putting everything together in the best way for heat dissipation, focusing the reflector, etc.
So, I want ideas, options, free stuff (hey never hurts to ask). I want to know what you guys think will help me be the most successful with this build. That’s where the “BLF edition” in my post title comes from, by the way. It will be a group effort, because I need your experience to guide me.
Here’s* the pill you want. You can email the guy if your not a member there.
Before we can help you with a driver we need to know what cell configuration you want to run, I recently did a 2D host with 6AA in an OSHPark board / brass rod carrier I built and was really happy with how that came out.
Those pills look really good. I was thinking of a couple of things concerning batteries. If I use the 3D Mag-Lite as my host, I could just keep the standard 3S battery configuration with standard alkaline batteries. Or, I know a machinist. I thought I might get him to make a 1D out of it, in which case, it would take a battery holder with three AA’s or I could use a single Li-Ion of an appropriate size. I guess there are lots of options, really, and I’m not beholden to any of them. I just want something that works.
You have to figure out which way you want to go with batteries first, then build accordingly. If you have someone who is a machinist, then he can also make a heat sink, from photos of the H22A style. For a driver and for suggestions, contact BLF member RMM here or at http://www.mtnelectronics.com/opencart/index.php?route=common/home
He can fix you up with a driver and give you suggestions for which one to use, once you decide on batteries.
I'd say first thing is to figure out how "hot" do you want it?
A full blown barn burner? An all around powerful light? Something I havent even thought about.
Then batteries.
Then driver.
Then heatsink.
I did a "muggles" mag mod for a friend once that he is truly pleased with. A 3 D incan maglite modded with a ~800 mAh 3 mode driver and XM-L on sinkpad. Not dedomed or anything. It is his allround light at home now and he loves it because he can use alkalines when his 3 rechargeable D cells are on the charger.
Just imagine what you want to do with it. And then the rest will sort of sort itself out. With a little help from the guys in here who are a LOT more experienced with mags than me.
I want to test out the magnitude of this de-domed XM-L2 on Noctigon. But, I want a light that is not going to burn itself out in 3 minutes or need active cooling or anything like that. I’d like to be able to keep the light burning for several minutes without heat issues. I also want it to have a decent run-time. Then again, that’s what modes are for, right? I still need to talk to my machinist friend. I don’t even know if he works with aluminum or not. But, I’m super flexible when it comes to batteries. I really like the idea of cutting it down to a stubby, but I just have to ask if he is able/willing to do that for me. And I don’t even know whether a stubby with fewer and/or smaller batteries would give me my good run-time. Help me there, would ya?
I’d like to know whether you guys recommend the 2D incan as a host or the 3D LED Mag-Lite. I’ve never had the 3D guts opened up, so I don’t know what it’s like in there. Also, there is a chance this light may be a gift in the future (maybe a GAW ) so I want it to be all-around useful, somewhat impressive, and fairly well built (I’m afraid “fairly” is probably the best I could do with no experience). I want to do a lot of this myself with all the cuttin’ up, fittin’ in, and all-around butchering ghetto style, versus buying ready-made replacement parts. I mean for this to be a learning experience for me. But, I’m not opposed to using some pre-made items when it is critical to get it right. Like heat dissipation. At first, I was wanting to hack up a heat-sink or something to make my pill, but I’m wondering if buying a pill that’s been machined to fit properly in a Mag-Lite might be a better option for me this time.
As far as the driver goes, I want it to be able to carry all the current the XM-L2 needs, and have Moon, Low, Med, High modes, and maybe a Turbo with step-down if need-be for getting everything out of the LED without killing it. Have I mentioned I know nothing about heat dissipation? A hidden strobe may be a cool thing to have, in case the future next owner may like that sorta thing. Last mode memory is a strong preference for me.
We are all now going to inform you that you won’t be exploring squat on alkalines! Seriously. So it’s time to think about whether you want to use NiMH rechargeables or Li-Ion rechargeables. You can use expensive D-cell NiMH with a somewhat-pricey charger, cheap AA NiMH with a reasonably inexpensive charger and battery carrier (to fit 3 to 9 of them in the tube), or do the widely popular option of 18650 Li-Ion rechargeables and an inexpensive charger and a bit of PVC pipe to keep them centered in the tube.
[depending on your definitions] You simply are not going to have runtime issues with something that fits in 2D and runs an XM-L2, so that’s not a concern. There is no 15-minute barn burner build in that scenario, that’s an incan thing.
If the light is going to be for gifting, consider who you’ll gift it to and what type of batteries you want them to be dealing with. (also consider whether they think a 6*AA carrier is a hassle)
Another thing I think is worth mentioning is that while your local machinist can replicate H22A’s work, he probably can’t do a single heatsink as well and for the same price as H22A. He might be able to do it as well, or he might be able to do it for the same price, but I doubt both. H22A has it down to a science. If your local guy is curious about it or a friend of yours then that could still be a great route to go down. Also worth mentioning is that Bucket on this forum does heatsinks and as far as I know he’s got it down plenty pat! So if you want something custom and shipped from the US, he should be a good option. His pricing is very reasonable.
Why don’t you do some searching on BLF for “mag build” and “maglite build”. If you haven’t done that yet you’re doing yourself a disservice.
I still haven’t talked with the machinist. I know, time to get off my rear. But I wasn’t thinking of using him at all for a heatsink or pill. I basically had that down to two options. Either I would personally rip and shred some valuable piece of metal and force it to work for me, or I would buy a well-made pill from someone who already knows what they’re doing. I just haven’t decided which yet. The machinist work was going to be to cut down the length of the Mag-Lite if I choose to do a 3*AA carrier or a 1*18650 with a piece of pipe to hold it centered. I don’t have a way of re-threading the cut tube myself.
I don’t know how long the pill, driver, switch area will be until I start hacking it together. Therefore, I don’t really know how much space I’ll have for batteries in the standard tube length. If I can get it machined down, I can use a 3*AA carrier or 1*18650 and pipe, and get the tube cut to the right length. But, I can’t stretch a tube to fit a battery configuration that is too long. I really don’t understand how choosing a battery first is going to work for me. It would seem that choosing a battery configuration first would limit the flexibility of my other choices. Of course, that may be the very reason to do it first, but I don’t know that. That’s why I’m asking for help.
I don’t know how long the pill needs to be or how short it can be. I don’t know how much power to send to the LED, because I don’t know how much heat it will generate, and how well the pill will be able to dissipate that heat. I don’t know what driver to use, because I don’t know what the input voltage will be or the output current. The only things I know definitely are that I want to somehow use one of my Mag-Lites as a host, and I want to use this de-domed XM-L2 as the emitter. My preference would be to cut one down and use a 3*AA carrier for power source. But, that may not be the best option for several reasons that I may not know or understand. I may end up gifting this light, but that decision would be made after the light is done. So, the decision to give it away or not, and to whom I should or shouldn’t give it would be influenced by the battery config, not the other way around. It would also be my preference to use the stock reflector, lens, bezel and head if possible. What I’m thinking is that I want this thing to be a surprise when you turn it on. Sorta like a “sleeper” if possible.
I’m trying to make it as clear as possible that I don’t know what in the world I’m doing, but I want to do it anyway, and have a fair chance at success. So, I’m gonna need all the help I can get. If it really is true that I NEED to choose a battery configuration FIRST, then help me know what’s going to work best and why. I’d like to gain at least a little bit of understanding about the reasons for doing things a certain way, and why some ways of doing things are better than others. I’m trying to tap into the massive amount of experience in you guys at BLF to avoid having to learn from my own mistakes and failures. I want this thing to work the first time, not two or three tries later.
I agree with everyone else. Battery selection is going to be #1 to figure out. Then you can figure out which driver you can use. And if you are keeping the stock switch then your heat sink won’t interfere with how much room you have left for battery length. Also I would recommend getting your heat sink machined by someone with access to a lathe. For optimal heat transfer you want it to fit as tight in the light as possible. It would be very hard to accomplish that with hand tools. You will also have to mod the stock incan reflector if that’s what you use. FWIW I copied Jayrobs mag lite build and for max runtime I use protected 32650’s. I have ran it for over 2hrs on high without heat issues. Its one of my favorite lights.
This build?
I’m a little scared of the 32650 options. There are not a lot of field test reports and I haven’t always been thrilled with what I’ve seen. And good/easy charger options are limited. Also, I didn’t think that two 32650’s would fit inside a 2D mag with the stock switch. I guess I’m wrong about that? Maybe I’m thinking of not being able to fit 3x in a 3D mag.
Okay, since it seems to be unanimous that I need to choose my batts first, I’ll see if I can get in touch with the machinist about cutting down the tube. If he can do that, we’ll call it a 3*AA carrier. If not, we’ll stick with the 3D Mag and either way I’ll get 3 NimH cells to use with it, since alkalines are so old fashioned! :bigsmile:
So you twisted my arm and got me to commit to a battery config (or two). So, I guess we’re moving on to drivers. Is there a favorite driver we can all agree on? Or at least can we narrow it down to a couple of good ones for me to choose from?
Yes that is the build. And 2 32650’s will fit with a tailcap mod as jayrob mentions in his build. As far as battery options go I agree with you. I saw a review somewhere ( maybe even on here) where the guy tested trusfire flame protected 32650’s and they tested pretty close to the advertised ratings 6000mah. So those are what I went with and I use a trusfire tr-008 charger for them and I am very pleased with them. Theoreticaly you should be able to get around 4hrs runtime on high. I left mine on for over 2 hrs before I got bored and shut it off.
I did a quick Google search a while a go, and supposedly (it was a very quick search) a size “D” battery is a 34615. So, a 32650 should be a little slack on the sides, but just a little bit longer than a “D” cell.
OL is a good person to listen to when it comes to these Mag mods.
If you are already having a machinist cut down and rethread the mag, is it that much bigger of a deal to either single or quad bore to accommodate 4*AA? That should get you good regulation driving an XM-L2 with the popular 7135 based drivers.
I’m not sure everyone agrees with OL about the stock incan reflector. I have done two Mag D builds and did not find the stock reflector to be terrible. YMMV I suppose.
Thanks O-L for such a great response! I was wondering about using the stock switch. I know you’ve been using the switch housing to host an e-switch in your mods. But, since I was sorta thinking of trying my hand at hacking out a CPU heatsink to make a pill, I wasn’t sure the stock switch stuff would still fit. Since it seems now that it isn’t going to be a good idea to hack out my own pill, We’re back to keeping the stock switch housing. I suppose I’ll buy the pill from H22A at the link provided.
I do already have a 3D LED Mag-Lite, so I will take your advice and use it to host this mod. If I get it cut down, you suggested a single 18650 instead of 3*AA carrier. What about a 3*AA carrier in parallel configuration, holding three 14500’s? Would a single 18650 still beat that? I’m just thinking about how not to have to fill the extra void an 18650 would leave. I’d rather not have to buy a 26650 or a 32650 just for this light, but I guess I would if it were really the best option all around. If I don’t cut the tube down, would three NimH “D” cells give me plenty of power? I also need a good source(s) for quality NimH and protected Li-Ion batteries.
Thanks for the recommendation for a stock Qlite 3A driver. I will check that out when I get a chance. Any other recommendations from anyone on a driver? I like having choices, so two (or more) good ones to choose from would be a great thing to me. Also, any other advice on anything else is still greatly appreciated.
I have a few 3D Mags that use D cell NiMh, they are beastly things. There are other, easier hosts to start with that don't require cutting or rethreading if you want a single cell stubby light.
I’ve read a few of Old-Lumens’ Mag-Lite build threads, and several other non-Mag build threads, including all of the Scratch-Made Contest build threads. But, as far as I recall, none of them say why they are making the choices they are, except for instances of personal preference. I may go back and read some more Mag build threads to give my brain a second chance at “getting” it. I was really NOT wanting to clone someone else’s build, though. And I really want to push this XM-L2, but I don’t want to break it with heat issues or poor quality work.
I don’t mean to be a downer, but you won’t be breaking any new ground with this build. Mag builds have been done six ways to Sunday, so you almost certainly will be building an exact replica of another build, especially with the path you’ve started going down (stubby 1s). For 1s driving an XM-L2 at high currents you won’t find a better regulated solution than a 7135 based driver such as a 105c. All the 7135 based drivers are functionally very similar. Your only other option is unregulated DD drivers such as the BLF20DD. You’ll be using an H22A heatsink and you’ll probably glue a cut-down Noctigon or SinkPad on top of it. There’s no originality there… and there’s no shame in that. Build it, learn from it, and enjoy the whole thing.
Pushing an XM-L2 all the way to the limit without burning it up is difficult with buck drivers that fit inside a maglite, read the HX-1175b thread for some info on poofing emitters. That’s probably one of the reasons OL recommended sticking with 1s Li-Ion or 3/4s NiMH. Notice that he also did not recommend DD, he specifically recommended a linear driver and he recommended 3 amps (which is not close to the “limit”). That leads into another thing…
The questions you are asking are not “mag build” specific, they are really just broad flashlight questions… batteries, drivers, etc. Nothing makes the Maglite special except for it’s size (and build quality). Jumping in to the deepest part of the pool is just going to land you a bunch of burned parts and a lot of dissatisfaction. The Mag builds you saw with little explanation as to the parts don’t really need explaining - they are self evident based on the components (batteries, LED, driver). Take a look at the information on HKJ’s website about batteries and drivers. Take a look at the information djozz has posted here as well as potentially the information Match posted earlier in order to learn about emitters and their limits. Most of djozz’s relevant threads are titled “crash testing”. This is the relevant XM-L2 thread.
Comfychair pointed out that for a 1s build you might consider going a different route. There are build threads around for other things, such as C8’s or HD2010’s. Maybe consider doing some learning there?
While I’ve never had a stubby Mag, I no longer see the allure. If it’s not a full 2D or 3D I’d just as soon go with a different host.
EDIT: You may later find that led4power’s LD-1 driver is a good alternative for linear drivers, but it’s not available for sale yet!
