Overdriving mag-lite-led

Hi fellas,

I am a new member from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
I am a closet flashlight fanatic and also awakening to my "inner survivalist".

I bought a Mag-lite brand 3W led to fit my 2D maglite last june. I have to say I am pleased with that "mod". The flashlight is much more effective than a regular "2D" Mag-lite. The throw is much, much more deep when the light is tighly focused. My regular 6D Mag-lite is still more powerful, though.

I suppose the usable reach of the modded 2D went from 30ft (before) to 100-120 ft (after) when tightly focused. It throws much farther than my two others 3W Nuwai flashlights- the beam of the Nuwais is much wider and cleaner however.

I am thinking about getting a Mag-Lite brand 3-watt luxeon designed for a 3D Mag and fitting it in a 5D or 6D flashlight. I know this will overdrive it and might make the beam stronger (and the LED hotter but we shall see). Do you think this would be a good idea? I like the throw of the mag-lite LEDS and want to experiment by possibly overdriving it. Any thoughts on that, anybody?

BTW I usually use D-Alkaline in my "D" maglites.

My collection:
Mini-mag with Nite-Ize adapter
Nuwai 3W (1-CR123)
Nuwai 3W (2-AA)
Streamlight Scorpion (2-CR123)
2D Mag-light with 3W luxeon
6D Mag-light with original lightbulb
Big 1 MCD spotlight
Golston 7W (2-CR123)- cool flashlight except for battery life less than 75 mins
I also have a couple of gas lanterns- I found out that they are better adapted for non-directional lighting- when working outside.

Hope to hear from you guys

Pierre said:

I am thinking about getting a Mag-Lite brand 3-watt luxeon designed for a 3D Mag and fitting it in a 5D or 6D flashlight. I know this will overdrive it and might make the beam stronger (and the LED hotter but we shall see). Do you think this would be a good idea?

Click to expand...

Hello Pierre and welcome to CPF

This will overdrive it and makes the beam stronger....but only for a second

But seriously, don't do it. It will burn out the led.

Best regards

____
Tom

I agree with Tom... you would stand a VERY good chance of seeing the magic smoke!

If you MUST use a 6D M*g, get a 4 cell LED and use a spacer for two cells. One cell spacer for a 5D.

Welcome

It would be Nice, white and very bright, but onlyfor a very short time

If you want brighter, forget about the drop in, go with a hot lips a driver and a nice lux

do a more involved mod like GarageBoy mentioned if you want more light. A LuxIII can be driven beyond the recomended "dose" but not without any good heat-sinking a mag-led dropin will toast FAST...

the easiest option... buy a LEDBEAM, has awsom heatsinking for the emitter, and driect drives it with 3 alks or NIMH in series, so it winds up running over 5Watts.