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Review: "Black Beauty" Match Mod Custom Mini Maglite AA (3 x XP-G/14500) | BudgetLightForum.com
<----more proof Old-lumens was a good guy
Match did an excellent job detailing his mods, the reason itās difficult to provide specifics is because the parts used vary and will dictate the resulting dimensions. Iāve put together a handful of these Mini Mag AA mods inspired by Match, hereās what I can share.
Hereās an example of the typical parts used/needed -
Glass/lens - Optic/reflector - spacer - emitter on pcb - āpillā - driver and spring
These are only typical parts, one can choose different configurations depending on the desired result. The dimensions of each of these components will vary. The optional glass or lens used varies in thickness , the optic or reflector used will vary depending on desired beam profile, the (optional) spacer varies in size, and the emitter PCBās varies in thickness. The brass (or aluminum) āpillā itself may also vary depending on supplier. The components when stacked together will dictate the final needed depth of the bore,
The width of your bore will also vary but at least there is some discretion there. Basically you want to bore wide enough to get a snug fit of the pill when inserted into the head/bezel of the mini-AA. For those mods Iāve done, I usually sand off the threads (see red line in photo) in an attempt to get a smoother surface for increased thermal transfer between the brass pill and the aluminum head of the mini-AA. Good thermal transfer will be important if you intend to use higher power as indicated by your next question.
From the Cree LED emitter tables, one would typically need at least 2000 mA at 3V to get 600 lumens āat the emitterā. To achieve 600 lumens āout the frontā of the light would, depending on efficiency or performance losses of the components involved, require more (e.g. 2800mA?). 2-3 Amps would be pushing the batteries used as well as the heat handling ability of the mini-AA.
As suggested by others, give the sticky posts a read, thereās a lot more collected info there. I hope this helps.
[edited exploding photo]
Helps a bit. Need to see how to put it all togetherā¦pill, emitter, pub and wires. Do you have any detailed threads?
The parts are assembled in the same order indicated in the above photo.
(1) The LED/emitter, typically on a 16 mm diameter PCB (also sometimes referred to as a MCPCB), sits in the pillās front cavity with some thermal compound under the PCB to help with heat transfer/dissapation.
(2) The driver, 17mm in diameter, has two wires red+ and black- (not visible in the above photo) that must be run through two holes in the pill leading to the LED/PCB side. They are soldered wire+ to PCB+ and wire- to PCB-. After soldering, the driver is fitted into the pillās rear edge.
The entire assembly is then insertion into the mini-AA head (from the front bezel end) and finished with spacer, optic/reflector and finally glass/lens.
The entire mod involves $15-20 in parts, and once you have the parts, assembly will become evident. I donāt have anything more detailed but a search on āP60 modsā should provide any needed insights.
Happy surfing/modding.
Could you put together a first timer list of parts and where to find them? 350 to 400 lumens would be great.
In choosing components there are a LOT of options for how one might want to approach this mod. There are beam profile options; emitter color temperature, tint and CRI options; battery power options, etc. I suppose there are so many options that it could seem daunting to the novice so I understand your desire to short circuit the learning process. BUT youāre really missing out on a lot of learning by not browsing the various sticky threads.
My first preference was to recommend Mtn Electronic and/or Illumn for the parts, my two favorite component suppliers in the U.S., but neither had all the parts youād need, so Iām going to offer a China based supplier for the sake of convenience. There are many vendors you can choose from and a read of the BLF threads on them is once again, highly recommended.
For the sake of convenience here is a sampling of parts I might suggest for a first timer. I have absolutely NO information on the quality/performance/equivalence of parts being recommended beyond that they apprear appropriate for the mod being pursued.
Glass/lens ā Optic/reflector ā emitter on pcb ā āāpillā:https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10002206/1164600-2pcs-empty-aluminum-drop-in-module-w-brass-pillā ā driver
Due to the constraints of the available height inside the pill and working with 2xAA batteries as the power source, this configuration will be limited to about 200-300 lumens. Your target 350-400 lumens will require a driver delivering more current (about 1.2+Amps) and/or perhaps a change to an SST-40 emitter but there werenāt any listed on the source site. Perhaps a driver from another vendor would do the trick but I wanted to keep it simple.
Do share your final mod when done,
Has anyone here ever taken apart the Pill on an LED minimag?
Iād like to open mine and see if there are any components inside I can change (like a sense resistor) to get more power out of it, but I would prefer not to tear it up getting it apartā¦
Havenāt done this myself, but recently learned that it should be possible, as there is an upgrade kit for minimags that are already LED: Mini Maglite (Factory Fitted LED) Upgrade for the 2 AA Torch
The instructions are not posted but maybe one can write to them and ask. Alternatively, maybe reach out to the person I learned this from, u/Existingsquid on r/flashlight, somewhere down this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/1s1swpb/upgrading_the_red_mini_maglite/