3D Mag goes LuxIII LED (w/ pics)

[Nereus]

I finished this mod some 1,5 years ago but now that I have learned to post pics, it is finally time to report about this mod, too. I built this to my mom and brother who live at countryside. That is why I paid quite a lot of attention to the runtime and robustness instead of squeezing every lumen out of the light.

Specs are:

- 3D Mag bored (=sanded :green: , I don't have a lathe) out to accept oversized Energizer 2500 mA nimhs. Alkalines can be used, too.
- Hotlips D heatsink
- Standard polycarbonate lense for robustness
- Self-made 12 AA battery holder
- McR45 reflector
- Luxeon III Ux1J emitter
- Downboy 500/1500 mA adjustable (2-stage switch) converter
- Runtimes 20 / 6 hours accordingly

Here is a general foto of the mod. Next to the standard switch you can see the current setting 2-stage switch. The converter is a standard DB500 but with the switch you can add second 0,05 ohm sense resistor in parallel with the original one (0,1 ohm) which makes the converter DB1500.

Here is a closer look at the business end. Yes, that's a Ux1J lux3 staring at you through a McR45 reflector And a reflection of my camera!

Self-made 12 AA battery holder:

Here is a beamshot @ high. This light has been in daily use now for 1,5 years so every imperfection you can see in the beam comes from the scratches in the lense. Should I have installed a UCL lense (which I usually do), it would have broken long time ago... I think the beam is very nice! Seoul P4 led should work also very nicely with the McR45 reflector.

Thanks for looking!

-N

 

[flex76italy]

Hey Nereus, simply :goodjob:

 

[Nereus]

Hey Nereus, simply :goodjob:

Thanks! This must be one of the most reasonable mods I have ever made. Usually I prefer taking some feature(s) of the flashlight (usually brightness) to the extreme but in this case the users wanted a balanced solution. And that is what they got!

-N

 

[jsr]

I recently converted my 2x 3D Mags to LED also having received a couple of H22A's DHS heatsink. My black 3D Mag is running a LuxI I took out of my SL Scorpion LED while my pewter 3D Mag is running a TWOH LuxIII that also used to reside in my Scorpion LED (after the stock LuxI was swapped out). The DHS dropped in the black Mag perfectly, but the pewter Mag took me 2 days of sanding and grinding with my dremel and sandpaper on both the Mag and the DHS to get them to fit together. Anyways, I'm lazy and cheap and am running them DD off 3x alkaline D-cells. Good beam and throw. I didn't want to get a converter for a couple reasons: 1)didn't want to spend additional money on my mags...this was just something so I would use them more, and 2)wanted to keep the ability to convert them back to incan since I have a few bulbs still.

 

[aml]

if you change nothing but the emitter, you should keep the same runtimes but UP the lumens right??

Id be interested to see it if and when you convert to SSC/Cree.

are the borofloat lenses a little more robust than the UCL's??

 

[Nereus]

if you change nothing but the emitter, you should keep the same runtimes but UP the lumens right?? Id be interested to see it if and when you convert to SSC/Cree. are the borofloat lenses a little more robust than the UCL's??

Aml, those are my thoughts exactly... I suggested that to my mom and brother: "Do you want to get double brightness with the same runtime?" the answer: "No, we have been using this light now for 1,5 years and it is good like it is." me: "But that would be an IMPROVEMENT." answer: "But sorry, there simply is no need for that."

That conversation is just plain incomprehensible for a flashaholic! And I am sure that even a borofloat would not have tolerated the punishment the light has taken during 1,5 years... Sometimes I can not help wondering if they use it as a hammer ?!? Furthermore, when they "ordered" this flashlight from me they told me that it has to be able to take lot of mechanical stress... Did they know in advance that they are going to torture the flashlight? :thinking:

-N