Re: 3 cell c/d mag regulated lux3 drop-in (LARGE pics)
1. Ok, I have cropped the pics.
2. Cost... prob about $40 if memory serves me
3. Not yet. I will say this, spot is VERY tight if you want it that way. I figure spot is approx 1.5' diameter @ 50'. Of course you've got mag's wonderful focusing mechanism.
4. JB welded the emitter to the copper bar. The "battery" is a battery upsizer (do google search for this). I soldered the upsizer's neg terminal to the badboy's positive in lead. I soldered the upsizer's positive nipple to the badboy's led positive output. The badboy's negative is attached to a very thin wire that runs between the regular batteries and the body tube of the light to simply lay underneath the bottom cell. The upsizer/regulator goes in as the first cell.
5. 2 cells of your choice in a 3 cell light with this unit inserted first.
6. Seems plenty bright and does not get hot enough to have to use a hotlips/etc heatsink. Heat flows from the emitter to the copper to the brass collar to the metal post in the mag light. I am sure you could push this some further past bb500 though.
7. Well, what's a collar cost when you're buying all these other parts anyway.
My main goal was to build a
:
adjustable focus
regulated output
lux3 (plenty bright)
can actually still use in candle mode
Think of it as an everled on steroids.
I got lucky on the soldering. The bulb collar is plated brass. A little sanding and it was ready to solder.
The donor bulb... broke the bulb and used a dremel with a grinding stone the finish cleaning out the innards of the bulb. Unsolder the positive lead, push a wire through the lead hole, flare all the strands outward, resolder it. The bulb is soldered to the bulb collar, then the copper bar was put in place.
Centering the emitter.... luck... I mean skill.
The battery upsizer's terminals also took solder really well.
The limiting factor in this whole thing is heat from the emitter. However, all other scenarios I have seen lose the ability to focus the light.