Maglite 7 C = club

I have looked through all the pages here in the moded section and didn't see anything about a maglite 7 C being modified. Can this be made into a decent light.This Mag is from the late 70s but is in new condition and still works, its just to many cells for no more light than it produces. Any help would be appriciated.

It is a collector's piece now. It is a long time since Mag made 7 cell lights. I'd probably sell it for a decent amount of money rather than mod it. They are quite rare these days so you might be able to get a decent price for it. A few years back on CPF people were paying north of $60 for them imported from old stock in Switzerland.

One went on eBay last year for more than $200.

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?167042-Selling-Mag-Lite-7-Cell-quot-C-quot-Size-SOLD!

Still want to mod it?

If so I'd start with a 5-cell Mag bulb in it. Or if that blows, a 6 cell bulb.

With more modding, you could put in just about any LED you can get a Mag C size heatsink for. But the older ones are larger in inside diameter than the current ones so heatsinks will be harder to find. With decent NiMH cells and a suitable driver you could run several XM-Ls at full power. It'll still be a bit of a club though - like my two 6Ds are.

Well I guess I gave up my age on collecting lights lol. I have a bunch of 2 - 3 - 4 D cell mags from back they were the hot item, funny how we thought they were so great then and dim they are now.The 7 C I have looks like new maybe I should put it up for sale seeing how Im just starting to get into modifying although I would like to upgrade the other ones I have. Thanks for the info Don

For a 4D try the Fusion 36 dropin - it works best with 4-6 cells. Runtime is at least all night.

For a 3D see the crazy thing Match built.

My favourite 2D mod is a pair of lithium D cells from KD, a metal Mag reflector and a glass lens then feed it ROP high bulbs every 6-8 hours.

Or get two of the dirt-cheap 3AA-D adapters from KD and use 6AAs to run the Fusion 36 dropin.

People do loads of crazy things with Mags. These mods are simple (except Match's one), fairly cheap and easy.

I assume KD is a parts supplier you use? and the ROP bulbs? I looked at Match's upgrade and at some point would love to try it but I have a lot more to learn.

KD is

Lighthound in the US sells the ROP bulbs - they are intended for a Pelican 6V lantern and produce quite a lot of light (but poor bulb life) when driven hard. Mine gives 700 or so lumens.

http://www.lighthound.com/Pelican-Big-D-Rechargeable-Lamp-Set-FL-3854_p_1506.html

But an XM-L can do more than that so is probably a better idea these days and doesn't generate 30 watts of heat.

Wow...7C...I'm already staggered by the possibilites. I'd love to get my hands on that. Then again, I'm not nostalgic and would ruin any "collector" value by modding it. Like Don said, your best bet is to either hold onto it or sell it for $$$.

*Or* There are a few non-destructive mods that can be done to the light that will allow it to return to stock easily and retain value.

A few that come to mind are:

-ROP (like Don suggested)

-Fusion36 (would be crazy bright with 7 cells, but may burn up - could always use a dummy cell)

- Triple XML direct drive on a custom drop-in running off alkalines (would give off a ton of light and not overdrive the emitters)

I'm sure I've left some options out, so I'll get back to you if I think of any. You can probably guess which option my vote goes for . (7xXML's driven by 7 regulated 26500's...hmm....)

You'd have to bore the 7C... have fun doing that with a brake hone!

I went looking for the parts Don mentioned for the 2D and they were out of the short spring for the trail cap so unless their is another place that sells them I could try to mod the one in it. Second finding a charger for the Lion cells neither place had one so off I go. I never thought just updating my lights would get me addicted to another hobby.

No...no you wouldn't.

Scorpion, I think they've been out of stock for awhile, although it's easy enough to trim down the stock tailspring.

I just remembered another option for your 2-3D...fairly easy and a lot of output. See this thread by ezqdb who put a 5x XRE-R2 into a 3D and I did one on a 2C. The D cell mag would be easier because it would only require a little grinding.

For a 26500 cells? I'm pretty sure you would.

Well with all the options you kind people have given me Im jumpin in! Im going to start with the last one Match talked about the one ezqbd did with the 3 D cell, I have 2 of those brand new just begging for help.....well or maybe disaster. I do have a 7 x 14 lathe I use for making small gun parts so that may help. One other item Ihave that you may help me with is this charger Ihave, it is from my RC days and it was a nice unit for doing what we called sub C cells that we made into a set of 6. I dont do any rock climbing with my trucks but I wonder if I could make use of this for charging batteries for my lights. I will be honest when it comes to the electrital end of this Im dumber than a sack of hammers but Im trying, here is the web site for the charger I have.

Thanks again

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-charger-nimhnicd-eagle-racing-acd2-battery-eagle2295-p-14999.html