XM-L Micro "Maclight"

[JohnnyMac]

A couple days ago I posted a comment in another thread here about my micro maglite and someone suggested I create a new thread about it with a few more pics showing the teardown view as well, so, here goes...

She's an incan mini that I've shortened to single AA size (threaded tail) for use with 14500 Li-Ion cells. The head's been bored to take a standard P60 pill along with Carclo optics. In the pill is a 3.5A regulated driver with temp and power cut-off if voltage drops too low. It has 5 modes (L/M/H/Strobe/SOS) and modes can be quickly and easily changed using one hand. This is running an XM-L T6 emitter that is pretty much limited only by the battery. Heat isn't too bad an issue but it does get warm quickly and gets hot after 5 minutes on high. Fortunately the low and medium are perfect for long run times and still put out plenty of lumens.

As you can imagine, she is insanely bright and runs right up there with any of my other XM-L torches (16340, 18650, and even 3x18650 powered). Strong, large hot spot with tons of spill, it lights up the entire back yard on high. She's a keeper!

Below are a few pics of it and the holster I made for her. Enjoy!

Johnny Mac

 

[ssvqwnp]

Nice work, Johnny! Has a very nice sleeper look to it...

Are you using IMR 14500s to push that 3.5A?

Also, any chance of beamshots with that optic?

 

[JohnnyMac]

Nice work, Johnny! Has a very nice sleeper look to it...

Are you using IMR 14500s to push that 3.5A?

Also, any chance of beamshots with that optic?

Thanks! Right now I'm just using trustfire 14500 cells in it. No IMR cells yet. I know I'm not getting the full power to the LED but still getting close to 2A I'm guessing. I need thicker test leads on my DMM to measure actual amps and have some on the way. Will also try to get some wall shots and some outdoor shots as well in the next couple nights. I'll update the thread with them once I have them.

 

[oronocova]

Looks awesome, I really like the holster as well. Looking forward to beamshots.

 

[moderator007]

Very nice mod! I like it.
Did you use the stock reflector it appears you did? Also how did you know where to get the proper focus with the height of the pill.
Look forward to beam shots JohnnyMac.

 

[havnmonkey]

I saw the post yesterday in that thread, I like your light a lot! I actually have two Incan mini's that I was thinking about modding but couldn't find many threads on it.

One question.... is it still a twisty?

 

[Stephen Wallace]

Did you use the stock reflector it appears you did?

I'm guessing that the optic replaces both the lens and reflector.

Johnny - just wondered how you went about cutting the tail cap thread? Was a lathe used, or were you able to find a suitable tap to cut the threads manually?

 

[jabe1]

What driver are you using?

 

[JohnnyMac]

I'm guessing that the optic replaces both the lens and reflector.

Johnny - just wondered how you went about cutting the tail cap thread? Was a lathe used, or were you able to find a suitable tap to cut the threads manually?

Yes, the TIR optic replaces the reflector. You can use the original reflector and lens but it must be modified carefully to work and space is a severe limitation in this application.

I had to do a lot of tracking to find the correct tap but it is all done by hand.

 

[JohnnyMac]

What driver are you using?

I am using the "Constant Current LED Driver Board - 5 Mode" from LCK-LED

 

[jason 77]

I had to do a lot of tracking to find the correct tap but it is all done by hand.

Do you mind sharing what size and thread that tap/die you used and where you got it from?

 

[Stephen Wallace]

^^^
Exactly what my next question was going to be! :D

 

[sunny_nites]

Looks great!! Looking forward to some beam shots!

 

[PCC]

Do you mind sharing what size and thread that tap/die you used and where you got it from?

^^^
Exactly what my next question was going to be! :D

5/8" X 28TPI. I no longer need mine as I now can cut threads on my lathe and cutting it by hand using a tap is more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Bimmerboy]

Very nice, Johnny! :thumbsup:

How does it turn on and off? Is the positive spring simply short enough to lose contact when the head is screwed out?

 

[JohnnyMac]

Very nice, Johnny! :thumbsup:

How does it turn on and off? Is the positive spring simply short enough to lose contact when the head is screwed out?

Thanks! It is still a twisty but instead of turning off when tightened, it turns on. Because the threads are anodized they do not conduct electricity to the head. Only when the edge of the body tube touches the driver's negative ring does the light come on. The action is crisp and precise with no flicker. An 1/8th of a turn (if that) and it's securely off. The positive spring on the driver never disengages from the battery until you remove the battery to charge it.

 

[Bimmerboy]

Thanks for the info! Man, that is just too cool. I want one now... hehe.

Just noticed you opened up the inside lip at the top of the tube. I wonder if this whole setup might work better with a Minimag LED. There's no lip at the top of the tube, and the head is longer, possibly fitting some kind of reflector.

Last question... is the Carlco optic specific to the XM-L?

If I can figure how to smoothly bore out a head by hand with a dremel, or get someone to bore a head for me, I'm sooooo doing this. Thanks very much for the inspiration!

EDIT: Be careful about draining those 14500's that hard. Not much of a problem while running them, but the abuse puts them a bit more at risk for potentially hazardous problems during recharging. IMR's are the way to go.

 

[JohnnyMac]

Beam Shots

These pics were taken with a point & shoot digital camera with auto white balance turned off and the ISO set to 100. I have no control over shutter speed so I can't tell you what it was set to for the pics.

This first picture is the control shot...

This first set of pictures are ceiling bounce shots to show the amount of light put out.

The first shot is my custom 3D Cell Maglite sporting an XM-L T6 driven at 3A by 12V (3x18650) set on High mode. This light will be used as the comparison light to give you a reference for the ones that follow.

Next is The Micro Mag on High so you can easily compare it to it's big brother. Ceiling bounce gives the best way to visually compare the amount of light put out by a torch and I think the Micro really holds it's own compared to it's big brother!

Next is the Micro Mag on Medium.

This one is the Micro Mag on Low.

Now I'll show you the beam shots so you can see how large the hotspot is and compare it to the reference light. They are not blue at all in person, they just came out that way on camera for some reason.

First is the reference light, my 3D Mag on High. You can see the intense hotspot given by the large reflector combined with a very smooth and even spill.

Now here is the Micro Mag's beam on High. Since the hotspot is so much larger and not as intense, it would appear to be no where near as bright but as the ceiling bounce showed, the amount of light as a total from the broad center and distinguished zones of flood is really impressive. Clearly not a thrower, it's specialty is flooding.

Here are the two beams (High mode) next to each other in the same shot for a direct comparison.

I hope this helps to give an idea of what an impressive little torch this is. Thanks for looking! :)

Johnny

 

[cdrake261]

How much would you charge to convert my mini into that exact flashlight?

 

[ZuluWhiskeyFox]

You mentioned that you no longer need that tap. Would you be willing to part with it? If so, how much do you want for it?

Cheers,

zwf