First post and a Maglite Solitaire mod

[boomhauer]

Hi all,

This is my first post and I want to thank all of you who make this forum great. Never been a hardcore flashaholic before, but I've always appreciated a decent flashlight; I have one "premium" light - a Surefire G2.

Anyway, I came across this site a couple weeks ago after stumbling across a Kipkay vid on making a $100 flashlight for $10 (who could resist?), then afterwards did the standard Maglite 2c mod with CR123s and a KPR 112 bulb - which I love, btw. Being a mechanical engineer with a desire to fix things that are not necessarily broken, I've been craving more flashlight mods ever since!

My latest mod is a Maglite Solitaire with a 5-mm, 20,000 mcd / 20-deg white led and A23 battery, and wanted to share a couple observations. In addition to opening the reflector to 7/32" to accommodate the larger diameter bulb, I also "painted" the underside of the reflector with epoxy to strengthen it, and added a nylon spacer to effectively extend the reflector for pushing down the switch (and keep the large led off the lens). For mine, the spacer had to be about 0.15" tall with an OD no greater than 0.30" to push the switch. I also opened the ID to 0.25" to aid in centering the spacer on the reflector.

I originally dissected a 12V A23 cell and taped together 4 of its 1.5V button cells in an effort to not overdrive the led and eliminate the need for a resistor, but had problems with brightness and connection. The taping proved a little problematic, so I eventually just threw in the whole A23 cell and have been lovin' it ever since. An aluminum binding post from Lowes provided a perfect length spacer (it's also adjustable), with no problems running resistor-less so far.

The result is infinitely better than the anemic incandescent, but not as bright as my Energizer 2-AAA led penlight (which is surprising bright with its stock Nichia led). Still, the Solitaire has been transformed into a useful tool - I took it with me recently for some late night field work and it worked great with a mouth hold while setting up hand-held electronic instrumentation in dark conditions. Handy size, too.

 

[Shsesc]

Re: First post and a Maglite mod

Nice work, I did the same mod without the post, but I will change from my current setup if I can find what you used.

 

[boomhauer]

Re: First post and a Maglite mod

Nice work, I did the same mod without the post, but I will change from my current setup if I can find what you used.

Just remembered that binding post came from HD instead of Lowes, but I imagine they are the same everywhere. The left side in the photo is actually a screw that threads into the center shaft, so it's easy to make adjustments and lock it with an extra nut, if necessary. If using just 3 or 4 button cells instead of the entire A23, the next larger post (3/16" x 3/4") would probably be better.

I really like the little Solitaire now - not high performance, but a functional restoration of a classic design.

 

[Gunner12]

Re: First post and a Maglite mod

:welcome:

This thread might interest you.

 

[boomhauer]

Thanks Gunner! That thread of yours is an excellent Maglite resource and one I've already read (if not fully digested). I am currently considering some sort of ROP with parts already ordered from KD - glass lenses, MOP reflectors and AA-D battery adaptors. Regarding the adaptors, they are only rated up to 1 amp so I'm not sure how useful they are, but at a buck-fifty I'm giving them a look.

LED drop-ins for Maglites were interesting to me until I realized the other finished options available which are smaller, brighter, more efficient and ultimately better priced - like a Romisen RC-N3. I like the "classic" aspect to the Mags, but as the assembled cost increases they are only interesting to me as "super" lights.

 

[Gunner12]

The KD adaptors aren't recommended for the ROP mod. They have too much internal resistance and could melt due to the wires heating up. The Low bulb and the Maglite 5 cell bulb should be fine though.

Have you though about an aspherical mod:naughty:

 

[boomhauer]

The KD adaptors aren't recommended for the ROP mod. They have too much internal resistance and could melt due to the wires heating up. The Low bulb and the Maglite 5 cell bulb should be fine though.

Have you though about an aspherical mod:naughty:

If I found a Low bulb, I'd likely use it for that particular project - somewhat of a "poor man's" ROP. I may post a WTB for one to see if any members bought the pair and have no intention of using the Low.

Was looking at KD's aspherical lens, is the main benefit the pinpoint throw? They bundle it up with a CREE Q5, which is interesting. I wonder if the lens negates the need for a reflector, and if a bezel is available to protect the lens.

 

[Gunner12]

The lens works better with a LED because a LED projects it's light forward instead of all around (180 degree for LED vs 360 for bulbs). It gives a pretty narrow beam that throw pretty far, search for aspherical mods for beamshots (some threads have them). A reflector will show up as "spill" and doesn't look very nice, that's why most don't have the reflector. There are bezels avaliable.

Cree is a company, XR-E is the LED model, and Q5 is the flux(output/efficiency) bin.

A 5 cell Maglite bulb (non xenon) also works as a lower bulb. It will be overdriven in this setup but works just fine.

 

[boomhauer]

Thanks for the info, all good stuff to chew on. The Cree XR-E Q5 looks like a nice drop-in for the Mag, but apparently there other aspherical lenses with optics superior to KD's.