Gutted ancient LED conversion bulb & 10mm XP-G board
Hacksaw blade laid flat on workbench to cut a step on the backside to fit into the bulb housing
Voila!
Still undecided which direction to go with a driver - I have two drivers from the Luxeon conversion bulbs, one for a 2D and one from 3D, I haven't measured either to see what kind of output current they run yet. Also haven't decided whether it'll go in a 2 or 3D host. I tend toward the lazy option of "direct drive ALL the things!!!!11" but I don't think either would work well in DD - 2D not enough voltage, 3D too much current. Anybody have suggestions or used similar parts before?
Sweet mod! If it were me I’d definitely stick to a driver if I had an option.
I recall that a member (may have been PCC) did a similar mod, and used the stock driver from a MagLED Luxeon bulb and got over 150 OTF lumens. I can’t remember the number of cells with which the driver was intended to be used. The thread was on CPF…
For a boring, 'safe' first version I used the 3 cell driver in the 3 cell host. It's feeding it 820mA and making basically no heat at all. Indoors, it looks pretty pathetic but outside HOLY COW does this thing throw.
According to Match's emitter test thread (https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/11018) he got right at 300l at 800mA, don't know if that'd be affected by cooling but probably not, as it doesn't get hot at this level. Now to see what it does with the 2D driver overdriven by 3 cells...
No driver, potted with JBweld special imported ultra-performance thermal epoxy. Another XP-G2 R5. It gets hot, but I let it run for 30 minutes and nothing melted, so it should be fine.
that’s some fantastic craftsmanship there comfy, it looks fantastic! Sort of steampunk too What did you stick it in, the 2D? I imagine D cells can provide quite a lot of current direct drive. Still, as long as the housing is getting warm and no magic smoke gets released, it’s all good You could always put AA cells in D cell adapters if you wanted to moderate the current some…
DD module in the 3D host, only pulling 1.8A with fresh cells. Maybe the stock Mag bulb holder/switch assembly with its 387 parts (...tab>button>spring>another button>tab>button>plate>etc.) is keeping things at a reasonable level? One day I will recheck it with the cells out of the light and connected direct to the G2 module to see if there's any difference.
I have yet another 3D Mag I'm building a new tower assembly/bulb mount for with some big chunky aluminum round bar, for a direct drive XM-L2, waiting for a batch of parts to arrive before I finalize how it'll be set up...
edit: Oh, another thing- I figured out that since the whole thing sticks up into the stock Mag reflector, the wires/solder blobs create artifacts in the beam pattern if the stick up higher than the base of the LED, that's why I used such small wire (I think it's 28ga) and filed down the solder blobs.
Which type of cells are you using alkaline. I would think Nimh’s in DD would make the led go “poof”.
If your using alkaline that’s probably all the current the batteries can give.
Yes, plain Duracell D cells. Any more current than this and I'd worry about the plastic bulb holder/tower starting to melt from the heat.
Weird thing I noticed, sure, that's not an insignificant increase from 1280 to 1800mA, but it makes a huge improvement in the light color. Granted these G2s are 3D tint/5000k, but the first version using a driver is way too yellow and incan-looking for me. The DD version looks a whole lot nicer - I didn't check it, but I wonder if that's down to a difference in voltage? The DD one is still noticeably not cool white, but the other one is almost sickly looking.
The folks who like yellow flashlights are probably the same ones who think tube amps sound better... lol
I officially hate the idiots who made my camera. These really needed a shorter exposure time, but the color & pattern is pretty accurate. Manual mode f/2.8 1/25sec 1/50sec ISO-400 etc., all the stuff I've never ever had reason to mess with before, lol.
edit: First set of pics were crap, these should be better. For anybody who saw this before the edit the only change in camera settings was to go from 1/25sec to 1/50sec exposure.
For reference, the only light I have that's not been hacked on, a Streamlight TLR-1s, allegedly "300 lumens", whatever that's worth...
...and something that should be familiar to most folks around here, a P60 with XM-L2 T6 3C/5000K driven at 3A:
The 3D Mag XP-G2 R5 3D/5000K tint, set to max spot:
and the XPG2 Mag on the left, TLR-1S on the right:
I`m looking for a kind of driver… or something that I can use my Nichia 119 in my 3D…
does anyone know where to get such a small driver, or how I can make one on my own.
I want to have it run for many hours… And something that can do 4.5input to 3V output…
With a draw of about 100-200 mA.
I tried to use it DD, but the LED turned BLUE in a few seconds…… never seen this before!
(by the way, I just used a spare old incandescent maglite bulb, took the bulb out, and attached some wires for Positive and Negative…, it worked for a few seconds)
What did you stick it in, the 2D? I imagine D cells can provide quite a lot of current direct drive. Still, as long as the housing is getting warm and no magic smoke gets released, it’s all good 
