R11GS
Newly Enlightened
What are good bulb options for D-cell mags?
Bulb options for Mag
- Thread starter R11GS
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jimjones3630
Flashlight Enthusiast
There are so many I don't know where to begin.
LEDs or incandesant?
Using primary cells or rechargables?
Here's a thread that may help.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=97856
Jim
LEDs or incandesant?
Using primary cells or rechargables?
Here's a thread that may help.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=97856
Jim
R11GS
Newly Enlightened
I started to read that thread - I'll spend more time with it, thanks.
I'm looking for reasonably inexpensive and easy to do incandescent "upgrades". First thing that came to mind was to simply put a 3D bulb into a 4D. I'm mosting looking for better throw with a decent beam.
It likely won't get used much. I think I'd prefer primary cells.
I'm looking for reasonably inexpensive and easy to do incandescent "upgrades". First thing that came to mind was to simply put a 3D bulb into a 4D. I'm mosting looking for better throw with a decent beam.
It likely won't get used much. I think I'd prefer primary cells.
jimjones3630
Flashlight Enthusiast
There are many options and you have narrowed the search some.
Here's a link with some primary cell mod options.
http://homepage.mac.com/rouses/flash/hotlamps-short.htm
4C primary cells will fit in 3D mag and could run a xpr 103 Radio Shack or ROP drop in bulb but haven't done it myself.
Jim
Here's a link with some primary cell mod options.
http://homepage.mac.com/rouses/flash/hotlamps-short.htm
4C primary cells will fit in 3D mag and could run a xpr 103 Radio Shack or ROP drop in bulb but haven't done it myself.
Jim
R11GS
Newly Enlightened
From that link, it looks like the best option for a 4cell would be the 1160....
Where's a good place to get those? What other options might be good at 6V (4D)? How does a 3D bulb do in a 4D mag?
Thanks in advance...
Where's a good place to get those? What other options might be good at 6V (4D)? How does a 3D bulb do in a 4D mag?
Thanks in advance...
CLHC
Flashaholic
Checkout Light-Edge<.>Com for them TurnKey Mags. Also CPF's fivemega.
Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!
Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!
mdocod
Flashaholic
the 1160 is what we refer to as a superbulb. You can not simply drop one in a mag and run on alkalines... it draws ~3.45Amps, which alkalines can not deliver, and to really get "exciting" it actually need to be overdriven beyond 6V some (more like 7V range as I recall)... On 4 D alkalines the 1160 would probably be dimmer than the stock bulb, but would make a ton of heat, lol.... Which is the other half of the equation, you can't go dropping super bulbs into stock mags without upgrading the reflector and lens, a 20+W bulb like the 1160 would make quick work of the plastic reflector, anything over 10W will generally melt a plastic reflector.
experiment with some various PR based lamps and battery configurations.... you might check out carley lamps, I think they have PR based xenon and krypton lamps that are ~1.2A draw (listed under rechargeable use) that might work reasonably on alkalines... hard to say.
Alkaline discharge characteristics are just really bad to begin with, so upgrading the bulb will never get you out of the nastry alkaline trends of steadily declining light. NIMH or li-ion rechargeable is the way to go.
experiment with some various PR based lamps and battery configurations.... you might check out carley lamps, I think they have PR based xenon and krypton lamps that are ~1.2A draw (listed under rechargeable use) that might work reasonably on alkalines... hard to say.
Alkaline discharge characteristics are just really bad to begin with, so upgrading the bulb will never get you out of the nastry alkaline trends of steadily declining light. NIMH or li-ion rechargeable is the way to go.
I think that you can simply use some nimh...you can get free lumen!:naughty: (4 C/D nimh aren't very expensive and you can recharge them more than 500 times)
so, you can run the 1160 into
mag 4D with 4D nimh
mag 3D with 4C nimh + adaptator tube
mag 4C with 4C nimh
:thumbsup:
so, you can run the 1160 into
mag 4D with 4D nimh
mag 3D with 4C nimh + adaptator tube
mag 4C with 4C nimh
:thumbsup:
HI R11GS mdocod speaks the truth. 4nimh wont drive those bulbs..
If you want a setup which you will rarely use, Id suggest the 6Cell Mag Xenon Bulb running on 6AA Lithium Batteries. These will give the bulb overdrive performance starting at 1.6V+, 1.05A and drain very flat finishing at close to 1.4V so likely .9A+. What this means is beautiful white light from start to finish (probably just over 2hours), a very low weight system, and a 15yr shelf life. Also shouldnt melt the reflector as its an original item, though 2 hours use straight at optimum power may cause slight melting on inner edge.. I have this setup as my emergency light. Always ready.. Reliable.. Good light start to finsh. No charging.. tight wound filament reasonable concentrated spot. Standard KRypton bulb in tail as spare.
Your mag size/style may require a joining wire with 2 sticks of 3 and tape/paper to make a tube that fits. Or go upmarket and get a holder + dummy cell..
Goodluck
If you want a setup which you will rarely use, Id suggest the 6Cell Mag Xenon Bulb running on 6AA Lithium Batteries. These will give the bulb overdrive performance starting at 1.6V+, 1.05A and drain very flat finishing at close to 1.4V so likely .9A+. What this means is beautiful white light from start to finish (probably just over 2hours), a very low weight system, and a 15yr shelf life. Also shouldnt melt the reflector as its an original item, though 2 hours use straight at optimum power may cause slight melting on inner edge.. I have this setup as my emergency light. Always ready.. Reliable.. Good light start to finsh. No charging.. tight wound filament reasonable concentrated spot. Standard KRypton bulb in tail as spare.
Your mag size/style may require a joining wire with 2 sticks of 3 and tape/paper to make a tube that fits. Or go upmarket and get a holder + dummy cell..
Goodluck
R11GS
Newly Enlightened
Since the intention is to store the light in a vehicle, use intermittantly and infrequently, primaries seem the way to go. Li rechargeables could be considered, but..... Li primaries, even with tubing and solder is totally ok.
sysadmn
Enlightened
Do you want to use C Li-ion, or an adaptor and Li-ion 18650/17670/AAs?
Here's my "cheap thrills" version, but you don't get Li-ion:
2D mag running 3C cells, or 3D Mag running 4C cells. If you're not looking for flashy (oops, no pun intended), don't overdrive the bulb. If it's in the car, you want it to work when you need it. So run a 3 or 4 cell Magstar Xenon. Total cost? $4 for the C cells, $1-3 for a bulb, and maybe $0.85 if you replace the tailspring. (You can generally remove the spare bulb and foam carrier and reverse the spring; you can also buy a replacement spring at Home Depot or Ace Hardware).
If you want Li-ion, figure $22 per C; you can find 6-9v bulbs that will work, but I don't know how the plastic reflector will hold up.
You should also consider running a 4D Magled ($18) or TL-5/6 LED drop-in ($24-32). The incandescent is brighter, but the led has longer runtime, and won't break a filament rattling around in the trunk.
Here's my LED "dream version":
1 Li-ion C + 1 dummy and Gene's 4.5v drop-in. Search for Malkoff Devices - a 240 lumen drop-in (with 4D alkalines) for $75. Sold from his website, or on eBay.
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R11GS
Newly Enlightened
So maybe now my newb question (and I knew itwas) becomes the very slightly more informed questions:
What are good sources of reflectors and bulb adapters for a D-cell mag?
What are good source for bulbs for the above adapters?
What are good sources for battery holders/adapters that will allow me to put AA's (or something else) into a mag?
Should I simply approach this differently?
Should I simply look for a better off-the-shelf solution?
What are good sources of reflectors and bulb adapters for a D-cell mag?
What are good source for bulbs for the above adapters?
What are good sources for battery holders/adapters that will allow me to put AA's (or something else) into a mag?
Should I simply approach this differently?
Should I simply look for a better off-the-shelf solution?
R11GS
Newly Enlightened
It's funny how I go 'round and 'round. Ya know, my first really nice light was a SF 6P. But as much as I don't like incandescent bulb's short life, lack of ready availability and potential co$t, white LED's just never grabbed me, their "color" is unfriendly to me and they just weren't bright. Luxeon's and some others came out and I saw a couple of lights that were more acceptable as a pocket light. The Cree's came out and are pretty cool, but for anything more than a pocket light, they just don't cut the muster. The color is still far inferior for me and you can't truly make a bright enough throw monster.
So here I am getting back into incandescent. And I've digressed.
I suppose one could suggest I buy a SF M6 and have the light I'm looking for concerning this application. But it's way too expensive [for me] to leave in the car. So I thought "I bet some of those guys on CPF know how to mod one of those silly Mags I have laying around and *never* use. I've seen a lot of modded ones over there." The 6P replaced the 3D and 4D long ago. So I threw the newb type question out there "bulb options for a mag" to see where I got.
But more so, I prowled around the incan section of the board. And I understand things better. There are probably some drop-in bulb options, but I doubt I'll get very far that way. For giggles, I put a 3cell bulb into the 4D unit. And that was pretty nice. Good and white and nice throw for the twenty minutes or so that the bulb lasted (I didn't expect it to last long). As good as the 6P, but side by side it really makes you appreciate what the SF beams are all about; so smooth and useful.
I do understand now that minimally to make a mag much better than stock, I will have to look into not just bulbs, but most likely a bulb adapter and reflector. Battery change would be a strong consideration. I've worked with batteries for years and understand that with alkaline primaries, the bigger cells (D vs. AA) don't give you more current (power); at least not much - just longer run times. So throwing more AA's can give you more power simply because they'll do the same current as the D's and you can get some more voltage because of more cells. I figure you can safely draw up to about 1Amp from D's or AA's; give or take. So 4 cells will get me around 5Watts of useful. With eight or ten AA's I can get maybe 10-12Watts.
I might consider secondary (rechargeable) Lithiums, but for the toss in the car use it seems any kind of primary is better since they won't see a charger frequently and the unit won't get used a lot. It does not have to have reliability at the top of the list - I always have other lights.
Heck, maybe I'll just get a SF M4 or M6 and throw the 6P in the car!
So here I am getting back into incandescent. And I've digressed.
I suppose one could suggest I buy a SF M6 and have the light I'm looking for concerning this application. But it's way too expensive [for me] to leave in the car. So I thought "I bet some of those guys on CPF know how to mod one of those silly Mags I have laying around and *never* use. I've seen a lot of modded ones over there." The 6P replaced the 3D and 4D long ago. So I threw the newb type question out there "bulb options for a mag" to see where I got.
But more so, I prowled around the incan section of the board. And I understand things better. There are probably some drop-in bulb options, but I doubt I'll get very far that way. For giggles, I put a 3cell bulb into the 4D unit. And that was pretty nice. Good and white and nice throw for the twenty minutes or so that the bulb lasted (I didn't expect it to last long). As good as the 6P, but side by side it really makes you appreciate what the SF beams are all about; so smooth and useful.
I do understand now that minimally to make a mag much better than stock, I will have to look into not just bulbs, but most likely a bulb adapter and reflector. Battery change would be a strong consideration. I've worked with batteries for years and understand that with alkaline primaries, the bigger cells (D vs. AA) don't give you more current (power); at least not much - just longer run times. So throwing more AA's can give you more power simply because they'll do the same current as the D's and you can get some more voltage because of more cells. I figure you can safely draw up to about 1Amp from D's or AA's; give or take. So 4 cells will get me around 5Watts of useful. With eight or ten AA's I can get maybe 10-12Watts.
I might consider secondary (rechargeable) Lithiums, but for the toss in the car use it seems any kind of primary is better since they won't see a charger frequently and the unit won't get used a lot. It does not have to have reliability at the top of the list - I always have other lights.
Heck, maybe I'll just get a SF M4 or M6 and throw the 6P in the car!
Brighteyez
Flashlight Enthusiast
For a simple mod with mostly readily available resources, you might want to try the 3 123A mod using a Mag 2C from http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglite_2c-123a_mod.htm. For a bit longer runtime, you could use 2 3AA-D serial adapters with 6 AA alkalines and 6 cell Mag Num-Star bulbs, or alternatively use a 5 cell Mag Num-Star with 6 AA NiMH batteries in the same adapters with a 2D body. The throw is just a little bit less than what you would get out of an SL Ultra Stinger, and not much less than that of a MagCharger. You can probably figure on having usable light in the 100+ yard range in the dark.
But more so, I prowled around the incan section of the board. And I understand things better. There are probably some drop-in bulb options, but I doubt I'll get very far that way. For giggles, I put a 3cell bulb into the 4D unit. And that was pretty nice. Good and white and nice throw for the twenty minutes or so that the bulb lasted (I didn't expect it to last long). As good as the 6P, but side by side it really makes you appreciate what the SF beams are all about; so smooth and useful.
I do understand now that minimally to make a mag much better than stock, I will have to look into not just bulbs, but most likely a bulb adapter and reflector. Battery change would be a strong consideration. I've worked with batteries for years and understand that with alkaline primaries, the bigger cells (D vs. AA) don't give you more current (power); at least not much - just longer run times. So throwing more AA's can give you more power simply because they'll do the same current as the D's and you can get some more voltage because of more cells. I figure you can safely draw up to about 1Amp from D's or AA's; give or take. So 4 cells will get me around 5Watts of useful. With eight or ten AA's I can get maybe 10-12Watts.
I might consider secondary (rechargeable) Lithiums, but for the toss in the car use it seems any kind of primary is better since they won't see a charger frequently and the unit won't get used a lot. It does not have to have reliability at the top of the list - I always have other lights.
Heck, maybe I'll just get a SF M4 or M6 and throw the 6P in the car!
sysadmn
Enlightened
Heck, maybe I'll just get a SF M4 or M6 and throw the 6P in the car!
Search for Brinkman Maxfire in the forums, or read the review. Buy one for less than the cost of a spare lamp assembly for the M4, then buy the M4/M6 and keep the 6P in the house as well!
