Looking For Some Coatttails To Ride

[ChzSoda]

Howdy CPF'ers
I'm not 100% sure this is in the right forum, but I'll throw it out there anyhow.
I'm looking to mod a 2D Mag that's been sitting unused on my desk for several years.
My knowledge of electronics is limited to the basics that were gone over in a high school physics class a couple years ago...
But ignorance has never stopped me from diving in head first before, and most of the time things work out pretty well

So, introduction out of the way, I'm looking to make an LED powered light saber out of this thing... Ideally it will roast weenies across a football field haha

I can fit 8 AA NiMH cells in the bore without any modifications, so I think that might be the way to go. They're labeled as 1.2V 2300mAh if that makes any difference towards choosing guts for this. I don't need any flood at all, runtime isn't a great concern either, but hopefully wallet friendly to some degree.

So, the part where I need help is in working out what kind of LED, driver, reflector, lens, etc would be best for this type of setup. I can handle soldering and assembling the thing, I just don't know jack about LED's and I don't want to be the guy that gets hustled down at RadioShack... "Oh yes, this is exactly what you need sir"

I've sort of browsed through the Sandwich Shoppe on here, but I don't even know enough to feel confident wading through there.

Anyone interested in taking on an e-pprentice?

 

[dom]

Hi Bud Welcome to CPF
Type in the search box :-

2d mag aspheric

Lots of stuff to check out.

Cheers
Dom

 

[ChzSoda]

So I read through maybe a dozen threads generated by that search. Am I wrong, or do all of the aspheric beams have a square hotspot in them?
Is that just due to a specific LED?

 

[tx101]

The short answer is to look here :naughty:

Are you sure that 8 AA cells will fit in your Mag ?
Because most Mags have to be bored out to fit 8 AA and cell carrier
Search for Sales threads by Fivemega for the cell carrier.

With that number of cells you are looking for a buck board.
Something like a SOB board from the Sandwich Shoppe

LED wise, you wont find any high powered LEDs at Radioshack
Go over to CPFMarket Place, the Dealers section and look for Sales
threads by members Photofanatic and Litemania, they both sell high powered LEDs

The kind of LEDs your looking at are Cree Q5s or R2s, SSC P4s, these are all single die emitters which argueably throw better than Cree MCEs and SSC P7s which are multi die emitters (more floody)

For your build, you also need a heatsink which the LED will sit on.
Again, these can be found in Sales threads by Litemania and H22A

If you want to build an Asphercial Mag, you will need a Cree LED, either a Q5 or R2, these along with the lens can be brought at Kaidomian
but before you purchase anything from them do a SEARCH on them.
Buying from them can be hit or miss
But they are cheap and I personally have not had any problems with them

Do a search for tutorials by 3rd_Shift and Essexman to give you a better idea of the actual mechanics of modding a Mag with a LED.:twothumbs

 

[LukeA]

So I read through maybe a dozen threads generated by that search. Am I wrong, or do all of the aspheric beams have a square hotspot in them?
Is that just due to a specific LED?

That's a projection of the LED's die. If the light is focussed properly (a little further away than that, the hotpsot will only be square-ish.

 

[ChzSoda]

I can definitely fit 8 cells in. They're snug for sure, but they fit. I have to lightly tap the bezel on my palm, but they slide down to the bottom all next to eachother, and come back out with the same technique.I plan on making my own backwoods holder, so that shouldn't be an issue.

As for the thread you suggested, I've actually read through 95% of those builds, and they were what made me realize I am noooowhere near being able to do this on my own haha

Is aspheric the only way to go for LED + throw? It looks like a lot of fragile material to be lugging around. Even with an extended bezel, it seems like the shock from a drop of more than a few inches could be the end for one of those lenses...?

 

[ChzSoda]

Bump.
Still looking for help on this.
Thanks.

 

[Justin Case]

First, make sure your 2D Mag has a serial number that begins with the letter "D". If it doesn't, then the heat sinks that people sell for Mag mods won't fit.

Second, make sure that your 8AA setup really works. If it doesn't, you'll waste your time.

For an initial mod by a novice, I'd suggest something straightforward. If you want throw in a basic build, I'd stick with a single die LED and use the stock smooth Maglite reflector. I've measured 19,000 lux at 1 meter in one of my SSC P4 Mag mods. That will give you good throw. Spill is also decent and beam quality is pretty good when focused, so the beam is quite useful for general purposes as well.

Thus, I'd build a standard SSC P4-based Mag mod, driven by your 8xAA NiMH. Your desired battery source dictates a buck driver. These are the parts I'd get:

- LED: Seoul P4 U2SWOH-bin from Photonfanatic (check CPF Marketplace)
- Heat sink: LITEmania, 4sevens, H22A, or Britelumens (search both CPF and CPF MP)
- Driver: SOB1000 from The Sandwich Shoppe
- UCL or Borofloat glass lens from flashlightlens.com
- Teflon-jacketed, stranded 24 gauge wire from mudman cj (check CPF)
- Arctic Alumina thermal adhesive (epoxy) from Photonfanatic or The Sandwich Shoppe
- Optionally (if you want to coat the heat sink before inserting into the Mag tube), Arctic Alumina thermal compound (same sources as for the adhesive)

If your 8AA setup doesn't work, then instead of the SOB1000, I would suggest getting 2xAccupower NiMH low self-discharge D cells for your power source and using a Badboy Nexgen 1000 or GD1000 from the Sandwich Shoppe.

There are plenty of posts on CPF that can guide you for actually doing the mod. If you run into any trouble during the work, just come back here and everyone will be happy to help.

Good luck.

 

[ChzSoda]

I don't need any spill at all, actually... The less the better. If I could find a neutral laser pointer with a 24" beam, I'd get that haha

From what I've read, that means I do actually want the aspheric... Yes?

I have ~3 grams of Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound laying around from some recent computer builds. Would that have enough of an adhesive effect, or is the "epoxy" version mandatory? AS5 is marginally more conductive than the Arctic Alumina is, if that's important.

Battery question:
What gauge of wire would be smart to use when constructing my battery holders? Last thing I want is some sort of fire/explosion haha
And I assume I want all 8 cells in sequence, pos to neg , aye?

 

[Justin Case]

See the advice given in Post #4 re: AA battery holders.

Arctic Silver's slightly higher thermal conductivity doesn't matter for something like an SSC P4. Thermal compound is a goo. It'll have some "stick" just because it is gooey. But it's not going to hold an emitter securely to the heat sink. You need to glue it with thermal epoxy to hold it in-place. Some folks use thermal compound underneath the emitter to take advantage of the greater thermal conductivity of thermal compound vs thermal epoxy. Then they use regular epoxy around the emitter to secure the LED to the heat sink. That might be a good thing for something like a P7 or MC-E at full power, but again I don't think it really matters for a single-die LED like a P4.

You need to sort out your battery situation first before worrying about aspheric vs reflector, thermal compound vs thermal epoxy, etc. However, if you do go with an aspheric, then you should use a Cree XR-E LED, not a Seoul P4.

I suggest either getting the FiveMega or mdocod AA holders or else buying some Accupower D cell NiMHs instead of wasting time with trying to shoehorn 8 AAs plus a holder into a non-bored D Mag.

 

[ChzSoda]

I can slide 8 cells in no problem... Don't ask me how or why, but it isn't difficult at all. I'm going to rig my own holder up. Mechanically, I'm a genius... It's just the electrical stuff that I'm clueless at lol

My NiMH's are marked as 1.2V 2300mAh. I have some floating around that are 2100mAh. Would one be better than the other? Whichever, it'll be 8 of them.

If the Alumina epoxy is the way to go, I'll rummage around for some of that.

Serial number does indeed start with a D.

So... All systems go. What's the next step? Finding the LED, the board, or both?

 

[Justin Case]

Use whichever NiMH cells work best. Printed ratings on the wrapper are advertisement, not necessarily actual performance. The CPF Electronics/Batteries forum has lots of good "sticky" (FAQ) information on batteries. It's best that you do some background reading. That same forum has lots of test data for AA NiMH cells. Do a search to see if your cells are included in those tests.

Have you successfully soldered or spot welded electrical connections to battery terminals before? If not, then I would say get the FiveMega or mdocod AA holders.

AA vs AS depends on whether or not you use a Cree vs Seoul, your heat sink is anodized or not, your comfort level in gluing down the LED without shorting the slug, etc. The Seoul slug is connected to the anode, so you don't want to use AS or otherwise short it to an unanodized heat sink. If you have an anodized heat sink, then the anodized layer should insulate the Seoul slug and you could use AS.

IMO, the best approach is to build the simplest, most straightforward mod using proven components. See Post #8 for my suggestions. They already answer your questions as to what LED, what driver, etc.