I've put a TerraLux LED in my old 3D maglite, and I have seen a lot of $100+ mods that you can do to the older Maglites, but I don't have the budget for that.
Anyone here messed with their old Maglite, other than the Terralux and Fusion 36 drop-ins?
I did the Fusion 36 for it's simplicity and price. I agree, if I were going to drop $100, it wouldn't be to upgrade my 6D.
The 5xR2 drop-in from DX is a little over $33, and gives out a ton of light. Fairly easy mod with a little grinding. Good throw as well. Look back in the mods section, there's a few posts there on it.
Along the lines of what Match said, I recently ordered this http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/triple-cree-q4-led-3mode-memory-white-light-dropin-led-module-84v-max-p-5521 from manafont. For $20 it seemed like a good program for my 4D Mag...I wouldn't want to put anything more into it than that. I was more interested in just seeing how it would come out, and to modernize it a bit.
The fusion 36 is the simplest mod. It can take up to 9V. Mine works great with two 18650 (3D mag). But I might have to try the 5R2 drop in
I have a pair of 3D Maglites I have modded successfully. I made one by using three individually-driven R2 emitters with a reflector from DealExtreme filed down to fit the head. A second one is modded with a single R2 and an aspheric optic to make a thrower. I am experimenting some with a XM-L emitter and a DX 52mm dropin module. My main concern is going to be heat-sinking the assembly as the dropin doesn't have a lot of mass.
Both of these mods involved removing the switch assembly, removing the bulb post, and soldering directly to the switch contacts at the switch assembly. I use the JST leads from DX to make it easy for me to swap between drop-ins making my mods easily interchangeable.
I currently have (via my workplace) discarded non-rechargeable 3.7V Lithium D-cells. These are discarded due to age while they still have plenty of capacity left for me to use in my lights. These cells are usually $20+ each! I also have a limited supply of 18650s salvaged from laptop battery packs so I'm looking into making a battery holder to use these in my Mags.
I know this isn’t an LED mod. But there’s always the old ‘Roar of Pelican’ mod. This, of course, uses the Pelican 3854 incandescent bulb in a Maglite, along with a metal reflector and glass lens to take the heat. Different battery packs are required in smaller lights (ie two holders with three NiMH AA batteries in each in a 2D light). But it can also be done with ordinary D-cells (preferably NiMH) if you mod a 6 cell light.
You can make a cheap but very functional copper heatsink for a mag C, D? size using a thick copper tubbing cap, a dremel and some sandpaper, then just get a driver and XML to finish the job
Take your Mag to the hardware store and something that fits or almost fits your light, something like this
Sand it flat to a mirror finish using sandpaper on a piece of glass this will be the heatsink of the led’s star, Then just use copper tape and wrap it around it until it reaches desired inside diameter of the Mag tube, drill holes for the wires, glue or make screws for the star and center it properly. And you got yourself a cheap Mag mod that works as good as the custom heatsinks.
HTH
AlexGT
Uhhhh, Maglite Mods? Never heard of 'em.
Do you want to do any actual modding or just drop-in? It makes a big difference.
If you want to actually do a mod and have at least a dremel tool, you can put in this reflector, this lens and go to a local place that sells materials like aluminum round stock (someone has to in the area) and have them cut off 3/4" of 1-1/4" or 1-5/16" aluninum rod. Wrap that with some copper or aluminum sheet, from a local hobby shop or Hobby Lobby to fit the Mag tube. If you use 1-1/4", then use .025" thick sheet. If you use 1-5/16", then use .012" or .010" sheet. to wrap the heatsink.
Drill the heatsink for your wires, mount an XM-L on it with an isolator over top and the driver underneath the heatsink. Cut the tower off the Mag switch and solder wires to the positive and negative terminali and you have a very nice light, with decent throw and some spill.
Honestly, if I had a lathe, I would make kits people could build themselves. All it would take is to use the lathe to cut down the OD of the reflector to fit the head, make a heatsink from 1-3/8" rod stock and drill the holes. If I had a lathe....
OL you would be an out of control master mag modder if you had a lathe. lol
8)
Its your skill as a human lathe that makes you unique, Justin. But I certainly wouldn’t want to stop you from getting one.
im actually thinking of modding a 2c or 2d mag. similar to the ROP, but i think it is called the mag85, but not positive…
the mod needs:
Metal reflector - $10.05
Bi-pin adapter - $9.04
Glass lens - $6.25
$25.34 + bulb and batteries…
havent decided what bulb to use yet, or what battery configuration…. but seems like this mod can be pretty impressive with the right bulb/battery config.
im laid off again, so tinker mode activated…
this thread at the dark side has some pretty good data on incan bulbs.
i have a few good led lights, but no decent incan… and i have a handful of old mags
That bi-pin adapter has been sold out for ages and probably never will be back in stock. Sadly…
Fivemega over at CPF have something for sale that you might be able to use though.
that stinks… fivemega is pricey, and looked like all his are sold out
The Kiu socket is the way to go for G4 (and you can get ceramic sockets that fit all sorts of bulb types for very little money) if they are still being made - you should find details on them over in the Other Plaice.
Is this reflector actually metal? It doesn’t say that it is.
It can be assumed since it has a removable cam and it is machined in steps.
You could always do something like this. I did one with a single XM-L drop-in around a year ago and it was really very simple. DX no longer sells it but KD has the triple XM-L for $33. Makes for a sweet light for little bucks.
Yeah, but those are a pain in the but to modify to fit in the maglite.
I don’t know about that. I didn’t think it was too bad.