A2 Aviator mod LEDs to lamps

Got an A2, got Tad Customs socket and lamps, got Koala Ring(s) and various LED colors, then got another idea.

There are bipin lamps that fit in the Koala ring sockets and A2 reflector.

How do I know which lamps might actually produce some light (what is electricity, and how does it work? LOL)?

I suppose I'd need to know about the adjustable mA mentioned on the Koala thread linked above... choose a position, match voltages to lamps... so that's an adjustment for current, but what's the A2 voltage across the LED's?

I can't even pose the question right, so first please figure out what I'm asking with these vague fragments (dual-mode quad incan ftw), then please tell me what the range of the specs the lamps would need to be, beyond being nearly precisely the size of a prepared Koala LED. Then steal the idea and post pics, and don't spare the beamshots. Thanks CPF!

Xenon replacement bulbs for 5D or 6D maglites should fit the holes. The LEDs are fed direct drive so these bulbs should be fine with 2 16350 RCR batteries in an A2. But I have no idea if this setup would actually work. Single 5D/6D bulb is about as powerful as the main A2 bulb.

EDIT: I just made some measurements. The holes in my A2 are about 5.45 mm and the xenon lamp that I have at hand is about 5.3mm, so there it fits although the tolerances are tight and slight individual variations in bulbs could matter

The idea is to use lamps that match the voltages of the OEM LEDs, but direct drive gives some options. Using the brightest most power-hungry lamps would not be ideal, I'm looking for ~5mm bipin lamps that operate between 2v-2.8v, and I'd happilly use them even if they were 4 lumens each. I think anything above 20 lumens per lamp would be too bright, use too much cell capacity too fast.

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The more I look and cannot find, the more I'm starting to think 3mm MiniMag lamps with the contacts bent might work... and be relatively easy to find.

Ideal would be a slim T-1 3/4 bipin base rated for 2.8v and current of one of the three Onion ring settings: 3-5mA; 10-15mA; or 32-38mA. Minimag replacement lamps are T-1 bipin base 2.7v/380mA. Lamp 7375 linked below is as close as I can find at 3v/15mA... but that white apron might need to come off... hope it comes off... or can be filed down... that should do it

7838 - 2.7V / 60mA
expected brightness is 1/2 lumen at 60mA, perhaps 1/3 lumen at 38mA? For 3 lamps, maybe 1 lm total?

2A001 - 2.7V / 320mA

Lamptronix LM2A001 Mini Mag replacement lamps<----- recommending these for this mod

7375 - 3V / 15mA <----- that should work well, but very dim
specs list brightness in Mean Spherical Candle Power, 0.003

1 MSCP = 4π Lumens, so each lamp expected to be 12π/1000 = 0.038 lm,
thus three lamps we expect to give us about a 1/10 lm... incan with a firefly mode.

7732 - 2.5V / 100mA T-1

some more candidates, all 5V (would be massively underdriven):

5V / 21mA

5V / 60mA

5V / 60mA

5V / 60mA (red)

.05 MSCP = 2π lm = 6.28 lm driven properly, I'm grossly estimating driven at 2.8V / 38mA, or 56% of needed voltage and 63% of needed amperage, that it might shine 60% as bright as 6.28 lm, about 3.75 lm, and three of them would make it about 11.25 lm. I don't love embarassing myself by making up estimates based on how things likely don't work, but I'm hoping to attract posts that correct my poor math and physics.

5V / 21mA (green)

5V / 21mA (blue)

5V / 60mA (amber)

5V / 21mA (yellow)

ma tumba said:

Xenon replacement bulbs for 5D or 6D maglites should fit the holes. The LEDs are fed direct drive so these bulbs should be fine with 2 16350 RCR batteries in an A2. But I have no idea if this setup would actually work. Single 5D/6D bulb is about as powerful as the main A2 bulb.

EDIT: I just made some measurements. The holes in my A2 are about 5.45 mm and the xenon lamp that I have at hand is about 5.3mm, so there it fits although the tolerances are tight and slight individual variations in bulbs could matter

Click to expand...

Strion and TL2 bulbs have much longer pins than Mag bulbs giving you room to play. Strion uses a 16650-ish length cell giving about an hour run time. The TL2 bulb would likely play nice with some rested RCR's but run time would be like 30 minutes or less being you get about 45 on 123's.

If you can find them, Brinkmann 2aa bulbs have long pins like those Streamlight bulbs.

The beam willl probably not be very nice though. It also wont be very bright because the light from the bulbs wont be focused correctly (5mm LEDs have a focusing optic built in).

The_Driver said:

The beam willl probably not be very nice though. It also wont be very bright because the light from the bulbs wont be focused correctly (5mm LEDs have a focusing optic built in).

Click to expand...

I knew this was probably so going in... but if the lamp above I pointed to in red actually fits through the reflector holes, the business end should be poking entirely above the hole (unlike Onion-ring prepared LEDs), because it appears it is about a third taller. Still unfocused and probably unfocusable, yet the reflector will do something, though I'm merely hoping for a floody low incan mode.

Did you ever get this working? I had the same bonkers idea recently and just thought to search if it's been done. Glad to see I'm not the only one.

Unfortunately, no, this never went anywhere. As my flashlighting matured, I saw it as a silly idea (no offense), especially because my dexterity and skills are below average. There would need to be tiny vertical sockets for the bipin lamps to be replaceable, leaving less of a diameter for the lamps to fit, requiring even smaller diameter lamps. The sockets don't exist, and there isn't enough room for them in there anyway. But even if they did exist and could be soldered to the ring and fit in the reflector, and smaller diameter lamps could be found to fit these small sockets, the lamps would stick way out of the reflector rather than nestled in them. Maybe if lamps could be found to fit the Koala posts and match voltage, which is incredibly unlikely, chances are vey good the lamps would be pretty dim and wouldn't last very long.

I wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from trying, but a clearly better idea, because it is so very easily doable, is to install a Koala ring and use Yuji 5mm Warm White HiCRI LEDs and call it a day. The Koala ring itself is rather brilliant.

Hate to be the naysayer again ...

We agree that replacing the main beam bulb (regulated ! incan ! bulb) makes no sense?

What were the gain from replacing the led with low output bulbs?
Way dimmer, for way more power wasted, for way less reliable working, for a "beam" that can not be any different than ugly.

... for last statement: check the "beam" of the 2ndary bulb of a 9N.
Is that a "nice" beam, or was it - back that days - "just" a possibility to get a light for low light chores? Somerhing the led in the A2 can do much better.

The bulb of the 9Nit is "better" situated in a dramatically wider reflector - even this does no really help.
(Ps: do not forget, the no. 2 bulb of the 9N is about the power of a Maglite incan bulb)

yellow said:

What were the gain from replacing the led with low output bulbs?

Click to expand...

As I explained, my original idea is just not practical if even possible. But if it were practical and possible, clearly what there is to be gained simply is superior quality light, albeit at the expense of brightness and runtime.

Many have espoused the benefits and quality of light produced HiCRI LEDs, and I pretty much avoid anything but warm HiCRI LED. These LEDs are better than all the other LEDs, regarding the quality of the light. Using them when incan light is desired, however, is ultimately a compromise. Maybe not a big one, but a compromise nevertheless.

Anyone who claims or insists these LEDs are just as good as incan with better runtime is someone who is easily satisfied and not very discerning. LED simply does not produce incan light, and I'm not sure it ever could. The LED spectrum on even the best 3500K HiCRI LED with the most exquisite tint has a completely different spectral profile to ordinary incan light. To date, if you want incan, there's just no matched LED substitute, and the reduced runtime and/or brightness is an easy tradeoff to make when nothing but incan will do.

Easy answer from me. For the heckavut.

I've got practical lights for practical purposes.

When it is beam QUALITY,
then why even starting with the A2 at all?
;-)
... i did mention the 9N as "comparison", did i?

Well, it will be a hell of work to get some minimag bulbs working inside the A2, looking forward to results

yellow said:

... i did mention the 9N as "comparison", did i?

Click to expand...

Something I can't figure out is if the Surefire 9N uses the same lamp assembly as the Surefire 9AN (N90):