2c bulb in 3d mag?

[jac2001]

Hi all! My name is Jay, and I'm a Flashoholic....I did not realize this about myself!!

I've been lurking for a while and taking all of this stuff in. I'm really interested in LED's, (Surefire and Gene Malkoff ROCK!!!:twothumbs) but after talking with a co-worker about improving performance in his 3D Mag, I got my old 3D out and started playing. I took the bulb from my 2C Mag and put it in my 3D. There was a dramatic improvement in performance. About 40 to 50 percent to my untrained eye.

What are the problems associated with this? There has to be something, it couldn't be this easy. Seems like something would have to give, bulb life, runtime, something!!

Thanks in advance and for the great site for all of us recently admitted junkies!

 

[Sampolainen]

Bulblife shortens. But otherwise it is the easiest way to increase performance I'd say

 

[AMD64Blondie]

Hi and welcome to Hotel California.. (You can check out anytime you like,but you can never leave..) Some wise words... hang on to your wallet..it will deceive you at every chance it gets.

 

[jac2001]

Hi and welcome to Hotel California.. (You can check out anytime you like,but you can never leave..) Some wise words... hang on to your wallet..it will deceive you at every chance it gets.

You're right about that!! Within 3 days of finding this sight I had my brother and I ordering Malkoff M60's for our Surefires!! All I can say is...COOOLLL!!!!!

Thanks for the input! My buddy at work wants something like my Surefires but is too cheap to put any real money towards a light,( he already has a 3D Mag, like every other person on the planet!) so I told him about the MagLED drop-in's, the Terralux's and of course Mr. Malkoff's wonderful products, but wants to stay below $30. I realize that like all things there are trade offs, but am I better off to advise him the Mag, the Terralux, or depending on how cheap he really is, the 2C bulb swap?

Again, thanks in advance!!

 

[Mr Happy]

Let's see. A 2C bulb is rated at 2.4 V. Three brand new D size alkaline cells will provide 4.8 V before resistance losses. You will be very close to :sick2: :mecry: territory. You can try it, but don't count on it working forever.

 

[Inliner]

I've tried it twice on fresh cells. Instaflashed the bulb both times. There's also no difference between a "2C" and a "2D" bulb. It's simply a "2 cell" bulb.

A 3 cell bulb in a 4 cell Mag works nicely though!

 

[jac2001]

Let's see. A 2C bulb is rated at 2.4 V. Three brand new D size alkaline cells will provide 4.8 V before resistance losses. You will be very close to :sick2: :mecry: territory. You can try it, but don't count on it working forever.

That's kind of what I figured!! The D cells in mine are not 100% fresh, so maybe that's why I haven't seen the dreaded , but I figure what's <$5 in the name of tinkering for a buddy!! These aren't really frontline lights for me right now anyway!

I must be kinda weird, I kinda like , as long as it's cheap!!
Thanks again!!!!

 

[Bullzeyebill]

You have got to go to the threads of interest in this Incanderscent Flashlights forum, and start reading. You will learn how to combine bulbs with different cells to get brighter beams, and which bulbs to use, and much more. A wealth of info there.

Bill

BTW- welcome to CPF.

 

[flashburn72]

you can fit 4 c cells in a 3d mag. Then I would go to the nearest radio shack and find the xpr103 bulb. buy them all if you can find them. these bulbs are much more forgiving to overdriving(or at least from what I have read on here)
Then other 3.6v bulbs. I think this is the cheapest performance boost you can do to a 3d mag. bulbs are about 3 bucks for 2 and we all know primary c cells are like 50 cents a pop.
:welcome:

 

[rockz4532]

forget the bulbs, make a mag85

 

[Mr Happy]

forget the bulbs, make a mag85

The thing about a Mag85:

1. Cost of Mag host: $18
2. Cost of upgrade parts: $100
3. The look on someone's face when they see the result: priceless!

 

[jcvjcvjcvjcv]

The other point about a Mag85 is that it gives much nicer light then a LED. Another point is that the runtime is very short compared to LED.

I say: P7 for that budget.

 

[Dr Phil Panter]

Hi Jac2001

I wrote about this in another post, as I found after some experimentation that a Krypton 2.5v 0.5 amps works slightly better than the stock 2 cell Mag bulb. I also found rechargeable work better than alkaline batteries

Because of the overdriving of the bulb, it won't last long and it heats up very quickly.

I currently run my 3D cell Maglite with a 2.5v 0.5 amps Krypton bulb on rechargeable D cells.

I have also replace the stock lens with a better diffuser lens.

But as I have mentioned the bulb life is radically shortened, however in the uk replace 2.5v 0.5 amps Krypton bulbs can be bought for under £1.

 

[swampgator]

Everytime I've ever tried to run a Mag 2 cell bulb in a 3 cell light I've instaflashed the bulb. As someone else pointed out a 3 cell bulb works better with 4 cells. Somewhere there's a thread, I can't remember who it was, but they said something along the lines of: a 2 cell bulb on 3 cells is being overdriven at 150%, whereas a 3 cell bulb on 4 cells is overdriven at ~ 133%. The theory, if I read it correctly, being that Mag bulbs can't be overdriven that much. However all standard aveats apply.

If I had a 3D (and I have many) and didn't want to spend a whole lot on an upgrade, I'd go with 4 C cells with the stock 3 cell bulb. It's a good, cheap, upgrade suitable for non-flashaholics. I've done it with several lights for other people.
See: this post

 

[Bullzeyebill]

If I had a 3D (and I have many) and didn't want to spend a whole lot on an upgrade, I'd go with 4 C cells with the stock 3 cell bulb. It's a good, cheap, upgrade suitable for non-flashaholics. I've done it with several lights for other people.
See: this post

Run four C cells in a 3D Mag.

Bill

 

[Big_Ed]

Another vote for 4 C cells in the 3D Mag. Just get yourself a piece of PVC pipe a little shorter than 4 c cells. This will allow the ends of the batteries to stick out and make the + and - contact and not rattle around inside the light. It will be a tight fit, and a bit harder to put the tailcap on, but it will work. Sorry I cant remember the diameter of the PVC pipe needed, but there is a size readily available that is a perfect fit. Good cheap simple mod.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Another vote for 4 C cells in the 3D Mag. Just get yourself a piece of PVC pipe a little shorter than 4 c cells. This will allow the ends of the batteries to stick out and make the + and - contact and not rattle around inside the light. It will be a tight fit, and a bit harder to put the tailcap on, but it will work. Sorry I cant remember the diameter of the PVC pipe needed, but there is a size readily available that is a perfect fit. Good cheap simple mod.

Then run four C cell NiMH's with a least a 5000mAh rating.

Bill

 

[swampgator]

Run four C cells in a 3D Mag.

Bill

Isn't that what I said?

Sorry I cant remember the diameter of the PVC pipe needed, but there is a size readily available that is a perfect fit

I'm thinking it's 1 1/4". I'll check it later and post it.

Another advantage to this set up is that if you're using akalines and they leak, they swell to the size of the PVC pipe. You pull it and toss, put a new battery and tube set up back in.

 

[jac2001]

Thanks for all of this great info. I think I'll try the 4c-cell conversion. Sounds fairly cheap and has the added advantage of using the same batteries in my two Mags!!! My buddy at work should like this as well!! Thanks again!

 

[Big_Ed]

Also, consider this: When your c batteries start to die and the light gets a bit dim, you can swap bulbs out and put the 3 cell bulb in to regain some brightness for a while. By that time, the total voltage should be low enough to not blow the 3 cell bulb.