BLF edition Mag-Lite Mod?

[DavidEF]

@wight

@DavidEF

@wight

DavidEF, have you had a chance to read any build threads?

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!

I know I’m not breaking new ground, and my build is gonna look a lot like a lot of other Mag builds, maybe exactly like one or two of them. What I meant by not cloning someone’s build is that I want to learn something, not just do what someone else has done like a Chinese clone maker. At the end of the day, I want to know what’s in my Mag-Lite and why it’s there. That’s why a lot of my questions are general flashlight related stuff. I still need to learn all that stuff.

There is no special reason why I’m doing a Mag-Lite. It’s really very simple - I already own a few of them, so at this point it’s basically a free host. Same with the XM-L2. I’ve got it, and I want to use it. I don’t want a stubby Mag-Lite for the purpose of a stubby Mag-Lite. I’m not looking for a fad item. I’m interested in it because it’s easier to carry than a full sized 3D Mag-Lite. I’m trying to make practical choices. I’m not wanting to push the XM-L2 to the max, but I also don’t want to leave too much of its potential untapped. But, I don’t know where that balancing point is. I’m okay with using the 3A driver, taking the XM-L2 to its rated maximum. Though, I might prefer to have a turbo mode that takes it a little further. It is mounted on a copper Noctigon, so that will help heat dissipation to a point.

I’m looking for all-around greatness in a balanced way. But, I don’t know yet which things are important and what can or should be compromised on. I want good reliability, not a hand-held toaster-oven. I want decent run-time, balanced out with surprising brightness. If you think of every element of the build as a scale from 1 to 10, I’d rather have more 6’s and 7’s versus having one thing at 9 or 10 that makes something else have to be a 3 or 4. That is, unless the one item is very important and the other is not of much importance at all. I know a lot of the documented specs of things, but I don’t know how they relate to each other and how to match a particular driver to a particular emitter on a particular heat-sink to get the best possible results. That’s what I’m really trying to learn here.

As I said in a previous post, I want to skip over learning by trial-and-error, learning from mistakes and failures of my own. I want to learn from you guys who have already learned, so my chance of success is greater from the start. If that means my Mag-Lite ends up being 90% similar to every other modded Mag on this website, that’s okay. But I want to know why those choices are made the way they are. I don’t want to have to build 2 or 3 Mag-Lites before I get one that won’t burn itself up because of poor heat dissipation or one that isn’t hopelessly underpowered because of poor battery selection. Also, I know I’m gonna make plenty of mistakes while building it. I just don’t want mismatched components to be one of my mistakes.

I just went back and read some more Mag mod threads, and it seems to me that the singularity still hasn’t come. So, I ask for your help in trudging through all the little decisions, big decisions, and yes, even the needlessly complicated, yet hopelessly unimportant decisions. If all goes to plan, I hope to accomplish three things: 1) build a successful Mag mod that I and maybe some new owner in the future will be very happy to own 2) Learn a lot about LED’s, drivers, batteries, heat dissipation and flashlights in general 3) Test out James’ LED and give him a build thread.