<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lambda:
Could you provide photo, drawing or better details on the Mag mod; I've thought about if flashlights were designed for LEDs, it would be as you describe; heatsink disk to flashlight body...... you're ahead of your time..<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Lamda,
I have the MAG LITE Luxeon mod out on loan at the moment, so I cannot take pictures of it. It is very simple, however.
Remove the flashlight head, and measure the flashlight diameter. Make a aluminum disc this size. I mix the 2 part epoxy with aluminum powder to make a heat conductive epoxy, and epoxy the Luxeon to the disc. Either grind the side of the disc for the wires from the Luxeon to pass through, or drill holes for the wires. Put the wires through the drilled holes and put the wires throgh the retainer Mag uses to hold in the bulb. Solder the wires to the PR base.
Now you can put the PR base in the socket, and screw down the holder, and you have a perfect solid power source for the Luxeon.
Now you can do one of several things to hold in the Luxeon/heat sink. You can epoxy it to the flashlight, or you can use the reflector to hold it down. I chose to use the reflector, so I cut it down just enough to go around the Luxeon optics holder. I put the reflector in the head, and screw the head on, until it touches the Luxeon/heat sink and presses it down to hold it tight. (The reflector around the Luxeon looks very nice. )This allows the heat from the disc to transfer to the body and head of the flashlight.
I use a 3 'D' cell flashlight, and I put one of my MAX757 step up regulators in a 'D' cell dummy I made and slide this inside the flashlight. I had to make a ground wire that goes to the back of the negative end of the batteries where the spring touches the batteries. I soldered a copper disc to the wire and it goes between the spring and the battery to provide solid negative grounding. Screw on the cap, and I have 3.3 volts regulated power to the Luxeon.
This is a very nice and clean mod. When I get it back I'll take some photos of it and perhaps if someone wants to they can post them for me. (I really need to learn to post this stuff myself I guess.)
If you don't want to use a regulator, I suppose resistors could be used, and use 3 'D' cells. This is not a bad idea either. Just make a thin disc with resistors in it, and place it in the battery housing between the batteries and the positive contact, and put in the 3 'D' cells. However, if you ever forget to put in the resistors, the Luxeon is history!
Hope this helps.
Wayne Johnson