DIY MAG D Mod LED

luppolone

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Hi all,

I'm starting this thread because i want to build a diving torch modifing a MAGLITE 2-cell (or maybe 3) D, with LED emitters.
I am new to this kinds of mods and i need some clarifications and advices.
My idea is to buy a MAGLITE 2 or 3 cell D and change the emitter with a CREE XM-L2 U2 led (or another one if you say that is not a good idea), so i need a reflector, a driver, a battery pack, a switch and an heatsink. I have access to all tools needed to modify the housing of the MAG, but i have some question regarding the circuitry that i need to build-up.

Let's say that i want to have a 3 mode (high, med, low) driver, that control single XM-L2 U2 running for two hours at full stroke:

1) How many batteries i need? I've thought to use 2 32650 6000mAh. Is it wrong?
2) Is a single XM-L2 U2 LED enough for normal conditions or it is better to move to 3 LEDs?
2) Which driver is the best for this application?
3) Which is the best solution for the switch (piezo or click)? (i will dive not too deep, let's say 40m at best)
4) Which is the right reflector/lense for a narrow flood with a little bit of spill?
5) Shall i change the lense thickness due to pressure resistance?

That's all for now, as thigs becomes more clear i'll post some more questions about circuitry (temperature cut off, parallel/series batteries...)

Thanks to everybody for this amazing forum, i've learned A LOT of things...
 

Packhorse

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Mag mods are great. But there are plenty of hand held dive lights available that already use XMLs that would be an easy mod for a can light. DIV05 is one.


1. If they truly are 6000mah then you should get 5-6 hours run time. IF!
2. Define normal conditions! Problem with more LED's is that you need more reflectors. This either makes the light really big or the reflectors really small. Small reflectors= wide light beam. Some like this. Other dont. I dont. My main can light uses a single XML. ( maglite with 44mm aspheric lens).
2. ( again). There are heaps of drivers that will work. I like the DX $5 ones. Other like the $50 ones.
3. I like Piezo, or reed/hall effect switch via a magnet.
4.pass
5. Yes. I used a stock lens and a MR16 halogen with its own lens. Somewhere below 40 meters the maglite lens went concave and smashed the MR16 lens. Without the MR16 lens problems would have happened shallower.
 

luppolone

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Mag mods are great. But there are plenty of hand held dive lights available that already use XMLs that would be an easy mod for a can light. DIV05 is one.

I'm, intrested in hand held light at the moment, maybe in the future, i will build a canister one. :grin2:

2. Define normal conditions!

You are right. Normal conditions are sea dives, most of them during the day. So in water with good transparency and with sunlight. I will use the light also during nighttime dives, but not so often

Problem with more LED's is that you need more reflectors. This either makes the light really big or the reflectors really small. Small reflectors= wide light beam.

Ok, so i choose to proceed with single LED.

2. ( again). There are heaps of drivers that will work. I like the DX $5 ones. Other like the $50 ones.

Is this driver a possible choice?

3. I like Piezo, or reed/hall effect switch via a magnet.

I think i will go for a piezo, the only thing that i want to know if it is possible to switch between driver modes through a long press on the piezo. :thinking:

5. Yes. I used a stock lens and a MR16 halogen with its own lens. Somewhere below 40 meters the maglite lens went concave and smashed the MR16 lens. Without the MR16 lens problems would have happened shallower.

What about an acrylic circle with a good thickness? Is better to buy glass lenses?

Thank you really much.
 

DIWdiver

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Welcome to the forum!

Yes, that driver should work fine. However, you have to realize that the specifications are a bit ...well... let's say 'imaginative'. I wouldn't expect it to perform as well as promised, and I certainly wouldn't consider it highly reliable.

There are prolonged piezo switches available. They have been discussed at length. Just do a search. However, an ordinary piezo cannot be used to create a long press.

Acrylic, Polycarbonate, and glass (either standard soda-lime or borosilicate) are the common choices for lenses. I prefer polycarbonate because it's easy to machine and doesn't have the propensity for stress cracking that acrylic does. Some prefer acrylic - it's more available, cheaper, and slightly more clear. Member 350xfire sells borosilicate lenses for MAG lights. It's tough and more scratch resistant than the plastics. Ordinary glass is probably the least suitable, but some people use it.

There are some discussions in the forum of how thick a lens should be. It depends on the material, diameter, desired depth rating, and safety factor you want.
 

luppolone

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Yes, that driver should work fine. However, you have to realize that the specifications are a bit ...well... let's say 'imaginative'. I wouldn't expect it to perform as well as promised, and I certainly wouldn't consider it highly reliable.

Can you suggest me a better driver that match mine specifications and with a good reliability?

And can you suggest me also a good reflector?

Thank You!:grin2:
 
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luppolone

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I don't understand german, but i'm interested in a broken light. Is this a good deal? Or this?

something like (not cheap but ready for mod :)

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Aqualung-Alu...93640?pt=Tauchbeleuchtung&hash=item19e96689a8

trick is that you have plenty space for various combinations that means different focusing points (lens , reflectors and space needed for battery pack ) and still looks god .

This i a little bit too expensive for my pokets now, maybe in the future.:grin2:
 

DIWdiver

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Hartenberger and MBsub are both excellent lights. If you're looking to rip out the guts and rebuild, either would be a great host, if it's a form factor you like.

But if you don't understand German, why not search an English-language eBay site?

BTW, I understand at least two words on the Hartenberger listing: "Akku Defekt" means "Battery Defective".
 
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luppolone

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Hartenberger and MBsub are both excellent lights. If you're looking to rip out the guts and rebuild, either would be a great host, if it's a form factor you like.

I like that form factory, honestly i was oriented to maglite form factor, but if is better to start with one of those i am open minded to advices.

But if you don't understand German, why not search an English-language eBay site?

BTW, I understand at least two words on the Hartenberger listing: "Akku Defekt" means "Battery Defective".

Yes, i understood that too because once i had to replace my laptop battery and i found a ebay.de seller that sell spare batteries (akku) :)
I said that i don't understand german because i wanted to know if the two links that luca brassi provided were good deals or not, since i live in italy and i often buy from germany. In italian ebay i haven't found nothing regarding battery defected housings.
 

DIWdiver

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I said that i don't understand german because i wanted to know if the two links that luca brassi provided were good deals or not, since i live in italy and i often buy from germany. In italian ebay i haven't found nothing regarding battery defected housings.

Ah, that makes sense now. Your English is good enough I hadn't realized you weren't in an English-speaking country.

The advantage to using a body that was designed for diving is that you don't have to make it waterproof, like you do with a MAG. But MAGs are inexpensive and readily available (at least in the US), and many people like the size. There are also lots of discussions of making them waterproof. It's just a matter of what you like.
 
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That eBay is sometimes funny if you take ''world search '' you don't get all sites together (French , spain , german , co.uk , com( general)). I think that german site have the biggest and very separated subgroups like

techdiving , lamp ..group I think is much different from others -don't know why , but it is ). Other sites just have scuba and snorkling and there you get all crap and maybe some really usefull thing.

For me is Germany close ( not cheap) but I can get from there almost all things from UK, I have higher prices , longer way and higher costs....


If you dont understand text just copy it into google translate and go.... ( i have once from taiwanese tea bag copy search glyphs on taiwanese alphabet and copy them into google translate to my language - funny but

it works pretty good)

Hartenberger is little outdated lamp , I think that is halogen (D2 is HID) and have dimensions 180 x 89 Ø / 1,6 kg . It can take larger reflector ( ideal for some SST-90 ) , but cooling have a little long way (diameter ) to

the led and it is short ( cca10mm for glas +50mm for reflector +70mm for battery pack+15mm for electronics on backside +15mm back lid ) yo maybe have 20mm free space for cooling disc ( driver can be mounted at a

height of led - behind reflector at side ) . It is OK but you have to be carefull

I prefer the longer hosts and then just cut them to right size . In that case MBSUB I think have advantage.

Buying these defekt lamps is ok till price is low.
 

luppolone

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In that case MBSUB I think have advantage.

Buying these defekt lamps is ok till price is low.

Looked for some completed auctions of MBSUB lights and they are a little bit too expensive.
At the moment i prefer to try the maglite mod, i may be wrong, and maybe it will flood at the first dive, but i wont lose heart. :)
Maybe i will try a custom machined body, in the future, but i think that now i have to make the first steps in the world of dive lighting mod.

Back to us: i thought that i could use single piezo (not prolonged version) with a driver that can switch modes through ON-OFF cycles. I mean first time on: low. Second time on: mid. Third time on: high.
Is this a "smart" behaviour? Or is better to have a light that doesn't force you to cycle through 3 modes to work? (I think that on nighttime dives this shouldn't be a problem, since the light is always on, but during daylight dives, when you frequently turn on and off the light, it may be frustrating).

Is worth to think a different activating process, maybe through 2 piezo's (or 2 switch) that can turn in and cycle through modes? Any other smart ideas?

Thanks in advance.
 

DIWdiver

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Every way you have mentioned, and many more have been used on dive lights. Each method has it's own advantages and disadvantages. I won't even try to list them.

If you are going to turn the light on and off during the dive (which isn't necessarily necessary), then unless you are building a blinding monster, you really only need one setting during the day. If you are going to have it on most or all of the time and are worried about the batteries lasting through your planned dive(s), then a lower setting might be a valuable addition. Diving in darkness may also make a lower setting good, depending on how you dive.
 

luppolone

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Ok, understood. So i prefer to go with a prolonged piezo switch.

As always i have to search "locally", and i found this. Does it have the right characteristics? Do i have to provide it a circuit to handle the job?
 

DIWdiver

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That looks good. If you have the right driver (any one that uses momentary switches), you can connect it directly.
 

luppolone

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Ok, i got in touch with a user that already did mods involving this driver, asking if is possible to use a direct piezo configuration, since the website doesn't report any useful info about.
Eventually can you suggest me another 3 mode driver (max 3 Amp) that will work? Not taskled ones, since i unfortunately am italian, and they won't ship here anymore due to postal service unreliablity. :( Shame.
 
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