6 D cell Mag Modification.....

[LukeK]

Hello all, I'm back with another question.

I was not able to find a 5D Mag Lite anywhere around here, and I did not feel like paying for shipping. Instead, I purchased a 6D Mag. I will still use only 5 D cells since I'm running it direct drive. Where can I find a dummy battery or something of the same size to take the 6th battery's place? Can I use a dead battery as a space filler?
Thanks,

Luke K

 

[ufokillerz]

6D is fine for overdriving a 5W if you have adequate heatsinking.

 

[dw_1984]

I believe you can use a dead cell if you still want to DD it off of 5 cells. Just wrap the dead cell in aluminium foil. I'm currently doing that with one of my mags. And i think it's best if you make sure that the dead cell is not last because the tailcap spring will cause the foil to rip.

I'm not exactly sure why this works but it does. Or you could try to make a dummy cell out of a film canister and some screws as contact points and a wire running between them.

GL,
Daniel

 

[Rothrandir]

it should be fairly easy to fashion a dummy cell out of household ingredients...

if you're a risk taker, and have ample heatsinking, go for the 6cells /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[pjenkins00]

check walgreens or something like that to see if you can get your hands on these battery extenders. they're like plastic battery sleeves that can be used to use smaller batterys in devices meant for larger ones, ie turn a "aa "into a "C". you can take the outer shell and attach the two sides of it with a wire or resistor.

Pete

 

[Hemingray]

One precaution: if the "Dead Cell" wrapped in foil isn't the last one, next to the spring, it will short out to the inside of the body of the flashlight and cause problems for the last "live" cell. Unless it is then wrapped in plastic tape to insulate it.
Perhaps a dead C size cell, wrapped in foil, then make a sleeve for it out of 1 1/4 ID PVC pipe. Use enough foil to make it a fairly tight fit, and it should stay together nicely.

/ed B in NH

 

[LukeK]

Let me revive this thread for one more question. I'm looking at resistors. Again I will be using 5 D batteries. I was looking at voltage ratings again (at first I didn't realize I was ordering a 'portable' Luxeon) and noticed that typical foward voltage is 6.84v. Would adding a resistor to drop the voltage do much to save battery life or would I be best off just driving it directly?
Thanks

Luke K

 

[LukeK]

Anyone? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PsycoBob[Q2]]

Another idea I looked at was to add a dummy up near the switch, with a major fix. 6D mags have a BIG problem- the batteries are heavy. If you bump the light on the tailcap a little too hard, the weight of the cells compresses the spring, which promptly drives them back up... squashing the positive terminals on most of the cells. The fix: Replace the first cell with a spring-loaded dummy. I'd do it with mine, but I like the output of 6D-DD.

I think I'll make the dummy anyway, just for a comparison. Take a cheapo 1AA-D adapter, add an old d-cell flashlight spring, and wire it thru to a round-head bolt as the positive terminal. One more project... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

 

[PsycoBob[Q2]]

I'm sorry, I should have answered your question: I'd reccomend running without the resistor. My 6D works fine without one, and it's 1.5v higher.

5 and 6D lights are big enough that they should be really bright, just to compensate for the annoyance of lugging such a huge object around.