First maglite modification - where am I going wrong

So this journey started about a year and a half ago viewing this forum and wanting to have a modified flashlight since I'm a tactical flashlight type guy. I had an extra 3 or 4 D cell maglite laying around from a supressor and AOW project I was working on, and I thought it would be nice to have brighter flashlight than my Fenix tk15 that I still run when at work.


Anyways , this is the head that they recommended to install into the maglight body that would be the most minimal of modifications and most of that had to do with the switch assembly, which btw I cannot find an Allen key the correct size to release it from the body. http://www.dx.com/p/6-cree-q5-wb-5-...odule-52-7mm-42mm-8-4v-max-65153#.U7T_OmK9KSM


My problem is that as it says it is drop in, it doesn't drop in exactly as I can't get the plastic glass ring to thread to the bulbous portion of the light without removing the plastic glass completely.


And the second problem is that I'm not sure if it's working or not electric wise as I removed the glass and got the ring on slightly and then tried installing it / inserting it into the cavity where the former basic led conversion bulb went and was working. It was one of those $20 Home Depot pop in led bulbs to get better light and life out of the maglight, so I know that the light has power from the D cells and the switch works, but when I tried to get the new conversion head to power up, nothing happened at all.


Is it that I have a bad connection or need to modify power connection, or do I need to ditch the d cell batteries for ones like I have in my tk15 , aka cr123 / 18650 , and if so what is my best economical option in the long run just in case I want to get into more flashlights and higher lumen flashlights. This is my first venture into the custom flashlight realm and would like to make it a positive one.


Thanks.

Andrewbp said:

My problem is that as it says it is drop in, it doesn't drop in exactly as I can't get the plastic glass ring to thread to the bulbous portion of the light without removing the plastic glass completely.

Click to expand...

:welcome:

It says "Drop in" it doesn't say Maglite dropin or specify any particular flashlight. But it can be done using a maglite body and switch, I'm sure more helpful members should be along shortly,

Hi AndrewBP :welcome:

As pointed out, it is a drop-in module. And the particular one that you linked to is sized for MagLite C/Ds. Unfortunately, it does not simply "drop-in" without major modification to the MagLite head. Another alternative you can consider is getting one of the "Kit Only with No Module" option that FiveMega is selling here:-
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?353885-3XML-M*g-C-amp-D-drop-in-by-Fivemega

That would be a screw-in... Bloodless... Painless... Tearless... Drop-in option for the module you have. (Plus FM's got everything at 20% off for the Independence Day Sale).
And, you can revert it back to stock incan form easily if you need to.

Oh, almost forgot to mention... Remember that the drop-in you linked to is 8.4V MAX... Use the appropriate fuel, be they NiMH or Li-Co cells that you are going for.

So to make it work I would be a $60 kit if I'm reading correctly ? Or I just need the power adapters in the kit. Go figure, I've built. 100s of ar15s and have done car audio for 14 years but can't make a custom flashlight work.

Is is there any easy method to use to see if the head is good and I haven't accidentally let the magic blue smoke out of the module I have and chasing circles for nothing. I've got a bench top adjustable power supply but it's in another city at family's house.

If you prefer to get more hands-on with your light... Here's a link to some nice build photos posted by pyro1son previously.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?361745-My-first-Maglite-mod

So I'm going to go with the cut and modify the tower. A few questions I have are what gauge wire do I use for the soldering of the system, and for the led head that's listed in the first post, which I think is 8.4 volts , is that the minimum or maximum voltage for the head to operate. I kinda ghetto rigged wires into the head itself and used 2 cr123 batteries stacked, to see if the drop in head would turn on. And it did , but I swear the "1200" lumen head only put out roughly the same output as my tk15 which is about 350-450 advertised lumens. So I'm thinking I haven't hit maximum potential on the head or it's severely over advertised on light output.