Twist Off MadMax

I recently got a mini mini mag and have placed a Madmax sandwich in it. After futzing around with those worthless kroll tail caps and being dazzled by their amazing inconsistency, I installed a mineral lens in front of the NX05 optic and replaced the Kroll with the original mag tail cap. To turn the light off, I just twist down hard enough to push the pill away from the body tube. This seems to work but I was wondering if over time this will damage the pill. If so, what other options, besides the Ram tail cap which does not work with the new threads on the mini mini mag, are available for a tail switch.

The Kroll is crappy, but it is particularly bad in the Mini-mini-mag. This may be due to reduced power from a single cell being more susceptible to resistance from not-quite-perfect connections. I've also noticed that, when loaded with a pill and battery and placed head-down, the space between the top of the battery and the top of the tube is slightly greater in my MMM than in a stock MM, which means the spring from the kroll isn't getting compressed as much. I don't know if this is enough to make any significant difference in battery contact, though.

dat2zip says here that he uses the twist on/off method for his EDC.

The 2AA's I have at home are MiniMags and I use the twist on/off method with no problems. The 2AA's I have at work I prefer a tail switch so I use Brinkmann Legends.

I have a Ram switch I don't use sitting here at home. It screws onto a new MiniMag with no problems.

Edited- oooh, Mini-MiniMag, I missed that.

I have a MMM and the spring pressure is not as much as in a regular MM. I would suggest shaving some of the tube length down to regain back the spring tension.

In my case I built a custom module that is slightly taller than normal and when that is inserted in a MMM it is back to normal. Otherwise, my MMM flickered a lot. It was not the Kroll in my case.

As long as the module doesn't get overly hot to the point where the epoxy softens inside the module the twist on/off should last a long time. There may be wear on the contact point of the LED and optics which might wear over time.

It is highly recommended to remove the module, clean the top off and the inside lip where the module makes contact to keep it in top notch condition. Couple times a year should be sufficient.

I prefer the twist on/off since the Minimag is more in it's original configuration. You retain the lanyard attachment and it fits in a smaller holster.

Wayne

Thanks. I was worried about using it this way but now I guess its OK. I did not want to damage the module.

I posted that my Ram switch doesn't work in my M³. But, my Ram switch is damaged.

Rothradir said that he cut the M³ a bit longer than one cell. For what reason, I don't know.



[ QUOTE ]
ksbman said:
I have a Ram switch I don't use sitting here at home. It screws onto a new MiniMag with no problems.

[/ QUOTE ]
Do you want to sell it?

I've been using the "twist on/off" method for six months now with my EDC BB500. I just pulled the module out and it shows very little wear...

Now if i can just figure out how to get one of those Q or R ranked emitters put on it... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jon

yes, the first few i sold were slightly longer than the newer ones. it shouldn't affect things much, but the newer ones are shorter to increase the pressure. dat2zip was the first to actually notice this.
the best way to remedy this might be to add a solder blob to the positive contact of the pill
imworking has one of the "newer" ones btw.

shankus, what i meant by that, was that i cut it longer than 1 cell, then shortened it down until it fit. the older ones vary slightly in length, but the new ones are all pretty much the exact same pressure as the standard mins.

if anyone would like theirs shortened, i will shorten it free of charge.

as far as why the rams don't work...i have no idea /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
i think it might be that i don't bore the walls as thin as a normal minimag. i do this because it is more waterproof that way. both the stock cap and a kroll work. i dont' own a ram though, so i dont know why that is.

I fixed mine with a rolled up piece of aluminum foil I stuck through the battery spring all the way into the body spring. This has completely eliminated the flickering with the kroll.

FWIW, the stock minimag tailcap does not have this problem at all, even though it does not protrude into the battery tube as far as the kroll when fully screwed in.

I bought a new Ram- didn't work! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif (Seems to be a fairly common complaint.)

Larry

yes, from what i've heard, rams are crap.

i really think someone needs to come out with a killer switch /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
arc, mclux, mag, and some custom jobs /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Tonight, I disassembled my Ram, cleaned it with alcohol, and applied Loctite to it. Now it doesn't come apart while screwing it in.

In fact, now it works in my M³. Only problem is, it is so dim. I think the light length needs to be shortened, as you offered, Rothrandir.

I tried it in a two cell Mag, and it works fine.

I want to send mine in for the shortening.

I'm with Jim, with all of the mods available for Mini mags, its amazing that someone has not come up with a reliable clicky switch thats made of metal for good conductivity. I guess for now I will try Tyler's idea of using the aluminium foil to make the Kroll more reliable.

Just thought of something. Since the problem with Krolls seems to come from poor contact between the body spring and the battery spring, has anyone tried soldering a length of braided wire to the end of the body spring and the bottom of the battery spring. Seems to me that would resolve the issue. I don't know if it would cause a short if two contact points (i.e. the braided connection and an inadvertent connection between the two springs themselves) came about but that could be solved by placing a thin non conductive disc between the two springs with a small hole for the braided wire to pass through.

The body spring can be extracted quite easily (I took mine out to stretch it a bit), so I don't think it would be that difficult.

I don't have a soldering iron, or know how to solder for that matter but it would be an interesting experiment for someone with the ability.

So, do you guys think that in order to have a reliable dropin in the m*g you need the kroll? Or you can just use the twist cap without any damage?

I didn't mind the twist on/twist off function but I am kind of fond of the intermittant switch function. So I took the plunge and learned a valuable lesson today. Soldering irons can get quite hot. I went to Lowe's today at lunch and bought a 25w soldering iron. I soldered a short length of wire from the body spring to the battery spring and after painstakingly inserting back into the end cap was pleasantly suprised....no flicker.

Tylers idea of the foil was a great idea but over time the foil compressed and would have to be re-adjusted. I don't know if this is the cure for Kroll switches but I am quite happy at the moment. I will keep you guys posted on how this fix works out. Did you also know that the Kroll on an Arc LS could be replace with a Ram tailcap? The nice thing is, when the light is activated, it can stand on its end.

Zorba: I think in the long run the twist method is going to be more reliable, less mechanically to go wrong.

Tyler: thanks for the good idea.

Could you elaborate on the body spring?
It can't be the one that contacts the tailcap threads, because that would be a short.

The body spring is the small ball point pen looking spring located under the spring that contacts the battery. If you remove the battery spring you will see a little hole with a spring in it, that's the body spring. It can be removed by carefully tilting it away from the lip that holds the battery spring in. There is a little extened piece on the lip that stops it from just shooting out of the body when the battery spring is removed.

To the best of my knowledge, this spring causes the flickering when there is not enough battery pressure to maintain the contact between it and the battery spring. It appears that inside the body, there is a little disc (connected to the thread spring) that operates like a ball point pen. When the switch is activated the disc settles into a position that causes constant contact with the body spring and completes the circuit. I was also thinking of putting some of that goo that brinkmann puts on their switches in the body to further assure a good switch connection.

Oh, I see.

What I have done with all my Krolls is, rotate the battery spring clockwise (as viewed from the spring side), until the end of the spring catches under the body spring.
It kind of screws into the the body spring, and they are meshed together. Each spring's end tension is squeezing the other spring.

I had no flickering after doing this to my Krolls.