I have always wanted to mod a MagCharger and I finally found one at a low enough price, to be able to pick it up. I thought about going LED, but I just had the need to do one more Hotwire. It's been a while since I did one and I've never done one on a MagCharger. Of course I could go look for previous mods and do them that way, but I tend to like to just look it over and figure out what to do for myself.
Here's my rendition of the 5761 hotwire for the MagCharger.
First of all I needed a MagCharger and I found one on ebay. I also got a MagCharger battery for it (NiMH) and a couple Phillips 5761 bulbs for it. I stripped the light down completely and it was in really good shape. It looks like it didn't get a lot of use, but it is definitely used.
The first thing I wanted to concentrate on was the bulb holder. I wanted to use a ceramic G4 holder, but I wanted it to fit inside the stock metal holder. Well, I found it on Buylighting. It's a G4 holder, but it's a slim version.
Product Code: D3783
Product Notes: Accepts G4 bipin base bulbs.
10 Inch, 18AWG silicone & fiberglass leads.
Rated at 200C°, 50 Watts, 24 Volts Max.
Length: 9/16"
Lip Diameter: 11/32"
Body Diameter: 5/16"
Well, it fits in the stock metal holder sleeve, but it's not a good fit, so it was time to do something crazy.
I just love copper, don't you? I decided to use a copper coupling and copper pipe to make a bushing, so everything would be fairly snug.
And now it is. It fits much better and hopefully, it will take more heat.
But I also wanted to keep the stock plastic holder, at least the bottom part of it,
so I split it apart and I will use the bottom half along with a short section of the copper (cut the same length as the top half of the stock plastic holder).
A little Arctic Alumina adhesive here and there and it should work pretty good.
One wire comes thru the center for + and the other goes up the side between the plastic and metal, just like the stock way, for the -.
Back together in the housing again.
Inside view.
That's all I have today. I work a little at a time, so it might take a few days to finish... Or I might work all week-end on it, who knows?
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Yep got that (sitting here shaking my head in wonder).
BLAM
Cool! Like so many others, incandescent flashlights got me into this hobby. There are only two mass-produced incandescent flashlights that I’d keep +/- stock should I ever own one.
I look forward to reading your impressions of a hotwire classic (of course with some O-L secret sauce), since I’ve never seen one myself.
Wow, you make stuff faster than I can read about it.
Have you checked to see if the opening of the metal magcharger reflector is large enough to allow the bulb to fit?
Wow, incandescent lights… how quaint.
No it isn’t. The hole has to be enlarged to clear.
I pretty much gave up completely on this mod. I remember now how much I don't like incans and how glad I was when the first P7 leds came out.
I got it done, but the reflector is old and scratched all to heck. I ended up sanding (yes) it and sputtering it. The beam is almost usable now, but it's still terrible.
Beam Shots.
I was hoping to sell it, but I can't do that with the bad reflector and I've already managed to sink over $65 into it with the bulbs (now only 1 left), the battery and the rest, so I probably will have to throw it on the shelf or give it away. It's just a waste, but that's how it goes sometimes. They aren't always winners.
It’s in great shape and doing nothing for me, I swapped the bulb for a TerraLux drop in a few years ago. It’s yours if you want it, just shoot me a PM.
Matt
Yep just added new bulb and ni-mh battery awhike back however, i did it just to see what I do different and went with a Osram 54621 which is a 20 watt bulb. Gives a little better throw a brighter white light and adds flood due to the bulb sticking up higher the reflector. Just a little drilling out of reflector and one bright mag charger. needed new battery anyway and bulbs were 1.99 