Different, M@G G4 mod!

First off i hope this is in the right section:thinking: it seemed like the best place to put it anyway:laughing:

Basically i bought my girlfriend a 4d mag to keep in the car while shes driving around on her own at night, it was bright enough i suppose but there never really bright enough, so i was considering buying a terralux 140 lumen upgrade for it which are on ebay for £15.95 gbp, not bad to be honest.

I then realised that i had an old beat up romisen rc-g4, you all know whats coming dont you..............:laughing:

4d maglite..............



What's this i see in there........?



It lives.......!



I did this mod for a bit of a laugh and to cure a short spell of boredom, unfortunately i didnt take any build pictures as i honestly didnt expect it to be as nice as it turned out, i used the rc-g4 reflector because it focused a hell of a lot nicer than the cut mag reflector.

After making this i was thinking to myself about whether or not i would of been better buying the terralux 140 lumen drop in, here is my comparisons.....

Price...........

Terralux...£15.95
Mine...£10.95 ish for the rc-g4 and about £1.00 for the glass lense

Lumens.....

Terralux...140 lumens
Mine...160 ish lumens

Modes...

Terralux...1 mode (on/off)
Mine...3 modes (hi/low/strobe)

Runtime...

Terralux...No idea
Mine... Havent tested yet:thinking: going to be a long time me thinks as its still running on 4 d cell's.

Yeah im pretty pleased with this light, yeah it looks a little strange but i can get past that purely because it now has modes:laughing:

Thanks vinny.

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

If someone with a greater knowledge than mine could work out an approximate expected runtime for a romisen rc-g4 on 4 x duracell alkaline d cell's i would greately appreciate it?

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

So did you just stick the p60 module right in there? Can you show some inside pics?

Runtime will depend a lot on the driver and emitter in that module. The quickest way to tell would be to measure the current draw at the tailcap (use HJK's excellent guide if you don't know how) and calculate from there. If the current draw on high (for example) is 1A, the average quality alkaline D cell has 10,000mAh capacity (I believe), therefore you would get ~10 hours runtime on high.

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

I cant show any inside pic's unfortunately, as i said before this light is for my girlfriend and i didnt want her tightening or loosening the head so i loctited it all together except the tailcap obviously lol,

I took the rc-g4 apart so that all that was left was the pill with the driver in one end and the led in the other end, i cut the mag switch tower and soldered a + and - lead to the contacts, then put the switch back in and soldered the pill module thing to the leads, i then ground the rc-g4 head down untill it was a tight fit in the mag tube and screwed the pill module back in, there was no way to hold the reflector on to the pill module except by tightening the head with the lense down on to it to hold it all together, i used a glass lense and lock tighted it so that it cant be over tightened and crack the lense.

Its all worked out very nicely and has had the desired effect, which was a brighter led upgrade, i definately acheived that but with the added benefit of having three modes and it cost less than buying a terralux 140 lumen drop in,

As for measuring the current, unfortunately i have no means of doing this i was asking just on the off chance that someone would have a better idea than me with regards to what the rc-g4 draws on high and low modes,

All i can say is i really like this light, ive always liked the rc-g4 anyway and now with the added benifit of extra runtime and a nice impact weapon to boot i think im on to a winner, its just a shame its my girlfriends lol, but with how cheap it is to make i might just make myself another!

thanks vinny.

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

Also i dont think its a p60 module (incan) its a cree p4 module (led)

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

That entire form factor of module is referred to as a P60 module

I don't think anyone's though of sticking one in a Mag before, at least!

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

mvyrmnd said:

That entire form factor of module is referred to as a P60 module

I don't think anyone's though of sticking one in a Mag before, at least!

Click to expand...

Im still a noob as you can tell from my previous post, yeah i stuck the p60 module along with the rc-g4 head in the maglite lol,

thanks vinny.

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

I took some pictures of the inside with the bezel and lense removed to give a better idea of what i did, i still cant remove the head but it should shed some light on the internals lol,

Also i played around around with my camera so it takes close up pictures in better focus....




With bezel and lense removed.....



With bezel lense and reflector removed, you can now see the rc-g4 head sitting inside the mag head....




All back together again.....



All back together again, different angle....



Trying to photograph the led while on low....




I may even put some beamshots up,

thanks vinny.

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

Beamshot time, its a dull overcast day here in sunny great britain lol, but its still daylight...

Mag g4, (thats what im calling it) on low at 9 feet....



Mag g4, on high at 9 feet...



Even on low it blows the stock 4d away, and dont forget these are indoor daytime pictures, with the stock 4d on in the daytime its barely visible lol.

Thanks again vinny.

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

I like that, great mod.

Now the all imporant question.............does she like it?

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

Essexman said:

I like that, great mod.

Now the all imporant question.............does she like it?

Click to expand...

She loves it, but the problem is i do aswell so at least i have an excuse to build another lol

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

Nice mod! I'm into Mag modding a bit also lately and i really like your concept! I take it you are running NiMH (friends don't let friends use alkalines)? Also, did you just keep the standard clicky?

I currently have 2 Magmods in use, my 6D travel tube (2.8A P7 on a single 18650 with about 5.5 d-cells worth of storage in the back and my nice little 1/3D aka 'Baby-D' (2.8A copper board XML on a single 18650). I just love those beefy mags and with a nice mid like this they even become quite usefull!!

Re: Different M@G 4D mod!

Alkalines all the way! and there dated march 2009, Shh dont tell err indoors lol! Im using the standard maglite switch, i can still cycle through the modes by either repeatedly clicking on and off or slightly pressing the swith over and over using what maglite call signal mode.

Im liking the sound of the super storage mag lol, with 5.5 d's space you could probably get a mini samurai sword in there lol, but we mus'nt do things like that lol.

nice mod!
having lived in both the country area, and the city, driving down country roads at night can be a bit creepy (only because of all the scary movies i watch), but id rather be stranded and knocking on a door out in the country area, than the city area any day. country areas (well at least my town), are small close communities, so people get along much better, and youre far less likely to run into people who will give you trouble. still i also carry a 4D flashlight in my car, and bought a 2D for my grandmother, while its a good light, its a much better weapon, which gives me peace of mind.
im considering upgrading my old maglite (about 6 years old), after reading your success, im very eager to try my own now!