First MAG85

Second mod first was a MAG3D P7

Doing a MAG85 with a 9AA-3D FM adapter, SS Bipin adapter (from FM), And a WA1185 bulb. My use will be to light up houses when I deliver pizza's so max on time will be less than 3 min so I shouldn't need a metal reflector. Any other tips tricks I may need so I don't my bulb. I am looking at this classic thread that I found doing a site search. I haven't decided on batteries yet there are some listed in the tutorial that I will take a look at. If I just throw in alkalines will that work for a bit for testing untill I get the batteries. Just making sure since this is my first incan mod. Many thanks :huh:

SneakyCyber said:

My use will be to light up houses when I deliver pizza's so max on time will be less than 3 min so I shouldn't need a metal reflector.

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Wrong,
For continuous 3 minutes run you will need aluminum reflector and Borofloat lens.

SneakyCyber said:

Any other tips tricks I may need so I don't my bulb.

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Make sure let batteries rest several hours after charging/trickle is completed.

SneakyCyber said:

I haven't decided on batteries yet there are some listed in the tutorial that I will take a look at.

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Take my advise and don't look at anything other than Eneloops.

SneakyCyber said:

If I just throw in alkalines will that work for a bit for testing untill I get the batteries.

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Just don't do that.

fivemega said:

Wrong,
For continuous 3 minutes run you will need aluminum reflector and Borofloat lens.



Make sure let batteries rest several hours after charging/trickle is completed.


Take my advise and don't look at anything other than Eneloops.


Just don't do that.

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What he said!

The heat from that bulb is really intense, a rop hi bulb can warp a lens in only a few minutes. The alkalines won't provide the current for you. Definitely do the Eneloops!! I wish I had done them the first time around, so much better that most anyting out there. You will end up buying brand a batteries and be sorely disappointed with your runtimes/output. Take a little time and save some extra cash to do it right once, otherwise you end up buying all that stuff anyway.

Thanks for the help. I will wait and do It right the first time and make purchases as the budget allows. I did that with the SSC p7 and I am very happy with how it turned out.

fivemega said:

Just don't do that.

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LOL. you should try posting a helpful response.

Yes you can throw in alkalines to check the setup. It wont be bright, but it works just to see if everything was assembled correctly

luckybucket said:

LOL. you should try posting a helpful response.

Yes you can throw in alkalines to check the setup. It wont be bright, but it works just to see if everything was assembled correctly

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LOL. you should try posting a well thought out response.

Yes, he could throw in alkalines to check that it lights up. However, the high draw won't do well with, or for, the alkalines. It would also sound like he plans to actually use the light with alkalines until the proper batteries arrive, and even if that isn't full-on use it still wouldn't be a great idea. A new light is awfully tempting to play with, and the last thing a person wants is to have alkalines leaking inside their new toy.

fivemega said:

Make sure let batteries rest several hours after charging/trickle is completed.

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If letting the batteries rest several hours isn't convenient, then refrain from doing "resistance mods". A stock Mag may not milk every last lumen, but it'll keep you from ing bulbs left and right. Ideally, rest the batteries as long as you can though, its a lot easier on the bulbs. (And stuff an extra bulb in the tailcap!)

SneakyCyber said:

Thanks for the help. I will wait and do It right the first time and make purchases as the budget allows. I did that with the SSC p7 and I am very happy with how it turned out.

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:thumbsup:
I recently did a few mods with the help of FM and I think if he gives you advice, you'd better take it....


and of course, get extra bulbs when you can. I know you will be very pleased with your upcoming Mag85! It's definitely worth the patience. In the meantime there is a ton of information here at CPF about a Mag85.

I don't know what may happen if you use 9 ea. AA alkalines in your battery pack. They are 1.5v and I just checked some that are 1.625v.x9=14.625v. That may not be too good for your bulb.
Edit: Just look at the price of AA alkalines!! You wouldn't want to use them if you could.
Billy

Eneloops are good in this application and plenty bright enough, but I use 9x Elite 1700 high discharge NiMHs in my Mag85, and get a noticable output boost from them as comapred to Eneloops. They do drive the bulb harder, so the advice about resting them a bit after a charge is even more pertinent if you use them. Obviously you will get more runtime with the Eneloops, the usual trade off between output and runtime I suppose.

That said, I haven't had any issues with flashing any bulbs in my Mag85 or ROPs that use the Elite 1700s, but I also have not done any low resistance mods to them (yet) which apparently makes this more likely in conjunction with firing them up fresh off the charger.

Billy Ram said:

I don't know what may happen if you use 9 ea. AA alkalines in your battery pack. They are 1.5v and I just checked some that are 1.625v.x9=14.625v. That may not be too good for your bulb.
Edit: Just look at the price of AA alkalines!! You wouldn't want to use them if you could.
Billy

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That is the voltage of alkalines WITHOUT load. WITH load, they will have a much lower voltage than Nimh cells, so there is no way that they will blow the bulb. That is why alkalines are not very good batteries... They can't handle very high loads at all.

Mjolnir said:

That is the voltage of alkalines WITHOUT load. WITH load, they will have a much lower voltage than Nimh cells, so there is no way that they will blow the bulb. That is why alkalines are not very good batteries... They can't handle very high loads at all.

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I didn't know for sure.
Thank you for clearing this up
Billy

Thanks all for the tips, keep them coming if there's more out there. I just got my first load of parts from fivemega. When it all comes together I will be sure to post pictures (it may be a few weeks budget allowing).

Again Thanks for all the help with this I have the plans nailed down. This one will be put on hold while I build my 3 SSC P7 mag.

Look at destructive test for 1185, the voltage range goes up. But for a fool-proof solution guarenteed %100 of the time, you could try running the 1185 at spec, 9.6v (8AA).

Also, you're of course free to do as you please, but can we consider if a 3C M@g is the easiest thing to use for your deliveries? Most delivery people could use an additional hand to handle money, product, door handles, dogs, etc. Is this the situation to have a high-powered incan? It would be real unfortunate to drop it and the hot bulb. I'm not going to say you should keep the M@g85 in the car for spotting addresses, but a small single cell high output light, say something with a clip or that has a finger holder, could be very helpful.

FiveMega said everything I would have said.

I just made the same build a few months ago.

I bought a smart charger which stops the hard charging when my eneloops are full, There is still probably a very small maint. charge but I feel very safe using all 9 aa within an hour or two. I'm using the same bulb FM mailed me with my order 2 months abo and I use it intermitently every day. Many hard starts and no flash.

Try not to jar your light or drop it, put it on the seat of car don't toss it etc.. That will help.

You might be interested in some of the resistance fixes for a little extra output, but even with stock you are running some nice volts through that bulb and are probably very close to what you want and NOT doing the resistance fixes also adds bulb life by adding a resistance to the circuit thats just about right for starting up that nice bulb.

I like having a short lanyard on small lights so I can turn it loose when I need to.
Billy

@Linger

Dropping a hot wire would not be good. Most of the time I use the large light for lighting up addresses and I use a stock 3AA mini mag if I need additional light at the house. However some deliveries I take the big light for protection it sits nicely In my back pocket until I need to blind or use it against someone. This would be a rarity since I live in a small town, but I am used to delivering in a large city (Indianapolis In) some habits are hard to break. Dropping an LED light would be disappointing but the bulbs are not subject to breakage like the Incandescent are. I still have the bulb and holder for the mag85 so I may build one in the future for now I am going with the Triple SSC P7 for my next build.

SneakyCyber said:

Most of the time I use the large light for lighting up addresses and I use a stock 3AA mini mag if I need additional light at the house.

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Glad to hear. Having someone walk up on a rainy night and drop a prized hotwire would be depressing. (but you could get a high power single AA cell light that out performs the mini mag for brightness and run-time)

Host complete! Got a red 3D today and put it together with duracell's its very bright with the standard batteries I can't wait to get my rechargeables. I will post beamshots when it gets darker. I will be going with this charger and eneloops for my MAG85 and tripple P7.