2D revival help

gurdygurds

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Hey all. Wanted to get some advice/opinions on what to get to revive an old 2D incan Mag. I'm planning on using Eneloops to power it so no sure what bulb is best to look for and I think I'd like an orange peel reflector to clean up the beam as possibly a glass lens. Not interested in led upgrades. Just bringing my Dads old Maglite back to life for more years of use. Thanks
 

broadgage

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The simplest upgrade is arguably a 5 cell bulb, and 6 AA rechargeable cells in a couple of adapters each one of which uses 3 cells in series.
This will slightly overdrive the bulb and thus give a brighter and whiter light.
 

LeanBurn

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I left my 2D in all its glory with the stock incandescent bulb (and the bi-pin adapter option for use with the stock bi-pin bulb if I run out of original bulb types) and perfect stock plastic reflector. I did upgrade to a glass lens which was an immediate improvement over the plastic one. You can even feel the heat coming out the front as projected by the stock bulb and the glass lens allowed the beam pattern to be more precise.

Now it is optimized to the best it can be in stock form, which is what I intended.
 

id30209

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Other simple option is to get 2x26650 cells, get your self a simple PVC tube to stop rateling of cells. Buy TadCustoms G4 bipin adapter and Philips 7388 bulb. You'll get 400lm +
 

gurdygurds

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Thanks for he responses so far. I should have stated that I'm looking more for a good beam and long runtime over brightness.
 

LiftdT4R

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The KAI Domain OP and MOP reflectors are hands down one of the best mods for a Maglite. Coupled with a new lens its the light Maglite should have made. No more artifacts, no more black hole. I've been using these with either the $5 Nite Ize LED drop in or a Malkoff drop in. It's a little cooler than I prefer but there aren't any warm tint options for Mags. Try it with a stock 2 cell incan bulb and you might find you really don't need anything more. If you do the posters above are right switching to Li-Ions or AAs in series is going to be your best bet. Most Li-Ion options will require setting the spring inside the tail cap though or using one of the kits available in WTS. In the pic below on the right I have an old 2D with Malkoff and KAI Domain stuff I put together a while back. It sees a lot of use.

Px8a1Tz.jpg
 

gurdygurds

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Thanks Liftd. I know I asked you a similar question before but then had to clear out space and lost your response. So with that reflector and glass lens the black is gone even with the stock bulb?
 

LiftdT4R

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If you set the light right, with the bulb at the bottom of the cam in what would typically be the spot position, yes it's gone. Because of the OP on the reflector it will function as flood no matter what the position so you won't have a real hot spot like on an SMO reflector. I do that with mine, leave it, and just never adjust it. If you adjust it to any other position yes, the donut hole is back.

EDIT: If I have some time tonight I grab ya a couple beam shots.
 

LiftdT4R

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All right! I was bored due to the lousy weather here in NJ tonight so I grabbed ya a few pics in my basement:

2C Maglite, Xenon Bulb 25 lumens, 3 hour run time (8 hours on 2D), MOP Kai Reflector and Glass Lens (could use a good cleaning)

FyQ3y8g.jpg


2C Maglite, Nite Ize 55 Lumen LED, 7 hour run time (18 hours on 2D), MOP Kai Reflector and Glass Lens (could use a good cleaning)

7rnu4rg.jpg


AA Lumintop Tool, Nichia LED on High 80 lumens, 30 min run time

DbT8pCU.jpg


2 x CR123 Surefire G2, P61 Bulb 120 lumens, 30 min run time

OQiA1Ho.jpg


Here's a group shot of the lights.

N2TcBbZ.jpg


We use the purple 2C Mag around the house and for walking our dog quite a bit. I like the Xenon bulb much better than the LED but 3 hours run time just isn't enough because we do a 1 1/2 hour walk every night so I switched it to the LED. I really wish someone made a warmer or neutral LED drop in. The P61 has the most flood and looks the brightest in the pics above but the run time, for me, is lousy. I use a Light Miser switch and knock it down to 20 lumens but even then the voltage cuts off at 3.2 volts so the run time isn't great it's maybe 2 hours on a good day. I have the Mag set on spot mode so it doesn't have a black ring so that's why it still looks like it has the least amount of flood.

I really like the 3D Mags better because they double the lumens, ~40 and the run times stay about the same. 40 lumens is about perfect for most of the stuff I do. The run time is so long on the 2Ds I can never figure out why they didn't offer an ~40 lumen factory bulb for it. I very very rarely use any of my 100+ lumen lights although when you need them you do need them. For me that's less than 3% of the time though so while I have them they see very little use.
 
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fivemega

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Using this adapter will allow you to use any D26 module including incandescent or LED in M*glite C or D like P90, P91 or any other aftermarket lamp. Power supply could be pair of protected 26650, 18650 or 6 Eneloop AAs
Also possible to use 3.7 volt incan bulb with 3 rechargeable 1.2 volt C cells.
There are more options with different bulbs and different battery setup.


IMG_0744_zps4654dab5.jpg

Left side Lumens factory D36 incan
Center bulb is genuine P60
Right side aftermarket 3.6 volt D26 powering by single protected 26650
 
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gurdygurds

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Awesome. Ok here's my plan, mind you I won't have the light until after Christmas but I wanna have stuff ready to make it nifty when I get it. Kai OP reflector, 3xaa to d cell adapters, and either a glass lens or a diffused acrylic lens. I'll try all that with the stock bulb and see how it goes. There might be a spare bulb in the tailcap but not sure. Which size OP reflector fits the mag 2d incan by the way?
 

gurdygurds

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Thanks again and will do. By the way, I know Mag doesn't offer the bigger lights in their new warm white, but the leds they're using in the smaller lights are the best, most incandescent looking output I've seen to date. I like it better than warm yuji as well as Malkoff neutral and warm. I really hope Maglite will put these warm emitters into their C and D cell lights in the future.
 

gurdygurds

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2D running original bulb using 6xAA Eneloops. Any idea of approximate runtime?
 

alpg88

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get aluminum reflector, glass lens, best one is borocilicate glass, 2 li ion cell, from 18650 to 26650, and everything in between, use rop bulb, rop ho (iirc 3854) will give you about 1000lm, runtime will be from 30 min to an hour depending on cells.
 

thermal guy

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Using this adapter will allow you to use any D26 module including incandescent or LED in M*glite C or D like P90, P91 or any other aftermarket lamp. Power supply could be pair of protected 26650, 18650 or 6 Eneloop AAs
Also possible to use 3.7 volt incan bulb with 3 rechargeable 1.2 volt C cells.
There are more options with different bulbs and different battery setup.


IMG_0744_zps4654dab5.jpg

Left side Lumens factory D36 incan
Center bulb is genuine P60
Right side aftermarket 3.6 volt D26 powering by single protected 26650

OMG! Why are we not funding this!!!!! I have never seen this before will Malkoff Dropins fit??
 

bykfixer

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I found the PR based xenon bulb and an ultraclear lens breathed new life in an old classic like my late 80's 2D Maglite. Flashlight lens dot com has poly lenses that let out up to 97% of the light and the cost is pretty reasonable.
 

alpg88

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OMG! Why are we not funding this!!!!! I have never seen this before will Malkoff Dropins fit??

because it is a poor design, was ok maybe 10 years ago or more, today there are much better drop ins. as well as lights made as leds from the start
 
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