Any source for a replacement glass lens for the mini-mag? Or are you all using the stock plastic lens?
-Garry
Garry,
Lighthound sells glass lenses for $1.99.
Oboy, gotta try this with a Brinkmann 2AA and 3AA, which come with a tailswitch.
So, I guess a lot of people modded their minimags by now.. any new stuff we should know about? "Perfect" recommendations or should I still go with the solarforce XPG dropin? How does it compare to the same dropin running on 18650?
What exactly is that carlco frosted lens in Itinifnis post?
I can't comment on the Solarforce drop-in. I haven't even done this mod yet (on my "to do" list). However, I wanted to point you to this post in Match's 1D Mag mod where he recommended a specific driver for 1 to 3 Alk/NiMh cells or 1 Li-Ion cell. It is only 1 mode though. Could be a good driver choice if you would like flexibility between 2 AA's/NiMh's and 1 14500 (with a dummy cell if you don't cut it down). I wish there were a 3-mode version though.
-Garry
It’s a TIR lens made by Carclo with a wider beam spread combined with a frosted finish to give a smooth floody beam.
http://www.ledsupply.com/10140.php
They are available for in a number of styles and are perfect for the minimag application when using Match's p60 mod.
Well, I didnt really want to order from DX, but it seems theres not much of a choice..
I want to mod 2 minimags, which carlco lens would I use? 20mm.. but narrow frosted, wide frosted, medium frosted? I guess I will lose some lumens.. but that beamshot just looks sweet.. no need for the reflector then, right?
I think I should go with XPG.. in neutral white I guess (not blue, not orange)? Any better buy than the one Match recommended in the first post? Also, where will I get an empty pill? That link to KD is dead.
Thank you guys :)
NightCrawl, are you in the US? Illumination Supply has some 20mm Carlco optics now and they have empty P60 drop-ins. Here are empty P60 drop-ins at DX. Here is the KD empty drop-in. Shiningbeam has a nice Neutral White XP-G R5.
Hope that helps.
-Garry
NightCrawl, the Carlco optics from ledsupply are $1.25 each so I ordered most all of them to try out (wish I had ordered one of the elliptical). You don't need the lens holder. The 20mm TIRs fit right into the mini-mag head with or without using a lens. I place the TIR in the bezel and use a GID "O" ring between the TIR and head for centering (adds a cool touch when the light is turned off). These TIRs will work with either XP-Gs or XM-Ls. I like the wide frosted or wide ripple for close up work.
I've made quite a few now using Solar-Force P60 drop ins, XR-Es, XP-Gs and XM-Ls. The low voltage driver XR-Es and XP-Gs are nice if you're going to cut the body down to a single cell because they will work with a single Alkaline (not recomended!), NiMH or Lith-Ion. The XM-L requires a Lith-Ion if you go with a single battery.
Good luck.
First problem: I'm from Germany so most US-sellers wont send me anything.. and there are only few shops in Germany which are mostly expensive and dont sell much stuff.
Illuminationsupply, shiningbeam and ledsupply dont deliver germany, at least not at reasonable cost.
What does the beam look like when using a rippled lens? I wont cut down the body, they will run on 2AA and eventually be modified with a piece of QTC.
I ordered the drivers ( http://www.dealextreme.com/p/1-5v-4-2v-3w-cree-circuit-board-for-flashlights-16-7mm-5-6mm-25505 ) and dropins ( http://www.dealextreme.com/p/26-5mm-aluminum-reflector-drop-in-module-set-without-emitter-5955 ).
Maybe this emitter from KD: http://kaidomain.com/product/details.S009864 ?
Lenses are available in Germany.
I don't have any experience with that emitter, but I know it's pretty well respected around here. Have you searched the forum about it? Run across this thread with beamshots?
-Garry
It was recommended, but the beamshot comparing the 3 tints almost convinced me. But I might end up bying from led-tech ( http://www.led-tech.de/de/High-Power-LEDs-Cree/CREE-XP-Serie/CREE-XP-G-R4-auf-Star-Platine-LT-1651_120_138.html ) because the KD star seems a little small..
The one you linked is a 20mm star, you planning to trim it down to 16mm to fit the P60 pill? Also, is that one neutral? Sounds like it's a typical cool white (6,000 to 6,500). EDIT: wait, that is neutral (3,900 - 4,500) - I had ended up on a different emitter page after browsing their site, sorry.
-Garry
Yes. Not a good plan?^^ I feel like you are telling my I should go with the KD one, which I might even do, now that I think about it. A smaller star might take away less heat, but it will definately fit without me having to work it and eventually destroy it.
Well it depends on how carefully you can grind/trim down that 20mm star and if you'll have contact points remaining for the wires to solder to. I have just recently ground down a 16mm star to about 13mm and I almost slipped and knicked the emitter dome a few times. I only used a file. It wasn't hard to do, but I was running out of solder pad too. This was on the Shiningbeam 16mm Neutral XP-G R5 I linked above.
-Garry
Ok, I just ordered 3 of them.^^ You convinced me. ;)
Now I'll have to figure out which lenses I want.. I only found some MCE beamshots comparing some tight, medium and wide lenses, tho I dont know which ones exactly.. any beamshots out there?
@garrybunk: I really have to thank you for helping me out so much. :)
@Itinifni: You said you tried almost all of them, which one did you like the best?
Your welcome. I try to help out when I can (I try to give back since I've learned so much here). I had inquired about trimming emitter boards before, but didn't listen to the warnings. Sorry I can't help with the optics at all. I know I've seen some beamshots around here and I'd be interested in seeing again. I'd like to try them out myself.
-Garry
Yeah, same for me. I've learned so much here in the rather short time of being here, thats just insane. I saw some Carlco beamshots too, but most were not for XPGs but for MCE and XRE. Maybe I'll just go for the wide frosted ones. Or order one of each, tho thats pretty expensive here. led-tech charges 2€ for each.. usually those are around 1.25$. :/