Luxeon Star circuitry

[radellaf]

The direct drive "circuit" would be something like a 3-4 ohm resistor in series with the LED.

Or, you could save yourself the trouble and go to http://www.ledcorp.com

or, eventually, http://www.ledsupply.com

 

[jrunner192]

Thanks radellaf. I was wondering will the driver that ledsupply has for the 1W LS work with 3 D sized batteries or would it only work with 2 batteries. Thanks.

 

[Rothrandir]

with 3d's a curcuit is not needed. as long as you have adaquate heatsinking, it will run fine on the 4.5v. brighter too!

note: all my 3d mods are direct drive...haven't had one go poop yet...

 

[jrunner192]

So I can run a LS on 3 D sized batteries and I don't have to have any kind of resistor at all, just a true direct drive. By doing this what would the battery life be like? And how tough would it be on the LS?

 

[jrunner192]

Oh, I almost forgot, what is the best suggestion for a heat sink? The tube for the light is about 1 3/8 inches inside diameter but I really don't have much room to work with. My dilemma comes in the fact that I really don't want to cut or destroy the original optics of the light too much but I do want the LS to work properly. Also, which form of the LS emmitter would be best suited for my needs?

 

[Rothrandir]

i suggest you contact lambda about the heatsinks. he sells awsome aluminum ones. he has instructions somewhere on modding a 3d *ag, i can't find them, hopefully someone will come along and point you do them. (lambda, if you are listening, you need to work on your homepage

)

no resistance at all!

i let one of mine run for over 2months without turning it off, i only turned it off because i was tired of waiting and had no idea how much longer it would have lasted. don't worry about killing the ls. it will outlive you

if noone comes along and points you to his page, i will write some up for ya

 

[jrunner192]

Thanks a bunch Rothrandir. I saw lambda's 3d mod but I was thinking of doing a little simpler mod. I just need to decide which LS emitter to use.

 

[Deleted member 684]

Side Emitter

That is if you want throw.

 

[Rothrandir]

low-dome

the se's are pretty good for throw, but the ld provides the most even, useful beam (imnsho (in my not so humble opinion

))

also, the se requires that the emitter sit furter down, which can be problematic when trying to cover the o-ring

his instructions really aren't that complicated as i remember, if you have any questions, just ask. also, if you could post the link, i could see what improvements should be made

( i do some of the things differently)

 

[jrunner192]

Here is the link to lambda's 3d mod site:
http://lambda10.tripod.com/3dmag.htm
The only thing is I want to do the least amount of damage to the original reflector as possible.

 

[Rothrandir]

shouldn't be any damage unless you try to clean the damn thing. *anything* will scratch the reflectors

basically any ls mod you do will require reflector trimming. it still works quite well in origional mode after modified (although why you would want to go back is beyond me...)

those instructions are a little old, any heatsink you buy from him will be automatically fitted to the right size, so you won't need to mod the heatsink.

a hint: when drilling the holes for the wires...make them as far apart as possible. once i was careless and drilled them too close together, and the emitter wouldn't fit

also, i stead of using the bulb, use a wooden dowel that will fit inside the hole where the bulb goes, and trim off all the black stuff around the bulb-hole so the luxeon can go further into the light. don't worry about being un-even or anything, just break that black crap off.

and when usinging the dowel method, after trimming that black crap off from around the bulb hole, push the bulb=socket down as far as it will go (the socket is the metal hole that was inside the black plastic hole) and push it down as far as it will go, then take that brass strip and bend it over the metal-bulb hole to hold it down.

take the brass strip that is holding the metal bulb-hole down, and slip your negative wire underneath it (make it at least 6 inches long, you can trim afterwards) after you have the negative wire soldered around the brass strip, you can insert the wooden dowel/bulb that you made.

also, don't bother sanding off the paint inside the body of the flashlight...this won't really improve thermal transfer, and is a pain in the butt, will probably make the thermal transductance worse due to the larger gap between the heatsink and the body.

anyway, after doing the body modding, attach the emitter between the two wire-holes as shown in lambda's instructions. after letting the emitter set undisturbed for at least 40 minutes, take the emitterized heatsink and apply artic silver to the outside of the sink, (or the inside of the *ag body) then poke the wires through in their corresponding holes (negative wire goes to the ls lead that does not have a hole), and shove the heatsink down as far as it will go, while pulling both wires to assure they don't get cramed down into the body and broken. then but them to the appropriate size, and solder them on.

easy huh?

you'll notice that i didn't expain everthing, just elaborate on some things lambda may not have mentioned.

if you search in the "homade and modifed lights" for "cyclops instructions" or something like that, you will find better instructions, and i have some pictures in there that might be helpful, and the way it did the dowel/bulb works better than any other way i have found.

 

[PsycoBob[Q2]]

First, Call the poor thing a Mag- not a *ag. They can't sue you for anything you do to your personal property, though they CAN laugh if you try to get warranty service, etc. So long as you're not selling the modded Mag-lite's, or accessories that don't say something to the effect of 'this product not endorsed or reccommended by Mag Instrument of Ontario, California, and will void the manufacturer's warranty' then they can't bother you.

Patent law is specific- if it's an aftermarket accessory, so long as you don't imply that Mag-Instrument endorses it, they can't do jack. They might send someone a nasty note, but they can't actually DO anything to an end-user who modifies their product, other than the warranty crap.

 

[jrunner192]

Thanks for all of your help. I'll have to go and order the LS then start on the mod when I get the free time. Oh this is going to be one awesome light! Thanks again Rothrandir.

 

[Rothrandir]

i don't spell it that way because i am afraid of being sued.

actually, i do sell modified ones...and no, i don't say that the product is no longer under warrenty, i figure it to be obvious to the user, and i feel that my mod is much better than their stock light, and good enough that it will not break, and if it does, then the customer will come to me instead of them.

i understand that adding the * does absolutly nothing to hurt or help anyone. i merely dispise "*ag" for their litagous nature and their lack to identify with their customers needs.

not a problem jrunner, just be sure to ask if you have any questions...nothing is worse than having to purchase a replacement light or emitter

 

[jrunner192]

I did forget to mention that I am not using a Maglite but it appears that it is somewhat similar. I would really like put all of this together myself but I'm kind of in college and it is somewhat hard for me to put it all together. I was wondering if the kits that lambda makes with the heat sink emitter and bulb adapter might work on my light to. Unfortunately I don't quite know how to post pictures yet to show you my light.

 

[Rothrandir]

hmmm. not using a different light?

the heatsink may be too big or too small, if so, then you might need to figure something else out.

what kind of light do you plan on using?

i wasn't aware that lambda offered "kits" i just buy the heatsinks from him because they work *great*

 

[PsycoBob[Q2]]

Rothandir, I can only think of one downside to calling them *ag or M*g lites- trying to search the forum for 'Mag' misses the thread, until someone gets sloppy and calls it a Mag.

Needs? Customers have needs?

I'm just annoyed that they've made 2 changes in 20 years- finally got krypton bulbs, and making colors other than *black* common. Oops- they made some change to the minimag's switch recently.
[/edit] Mag-chargers don't count- I only know flashaholics who've SEEN them- noone I've ever met has so much as seen one. Catalogs don't count.

 

[jrunner192]

The light that I have is just the Sears Craftsman ripoff of the Maglite. I guess lambda doesn't have kits. I just saw the completed units he had and mistook them for kits. I'll just try to figure out a way to alter both of your ideas to fit my light.

 

[jrunner192]

I'm going to e-mail you some pictures of my light Rothrandir to see if you can maybe offer some suggestions. Thanks.

 

[jrunner192]

Yeah, I was wondering how to make a simple circuit for the LS emitter. I am not a genius when it comes to electronics but I do have a simple knowledge of how to wire things up and solder. The only reason I need to do this is I am trying to do a very simple retrofit of a LS into a 3-D flashlight. Nothing fancy just to show my friends that my flashlight is brighter than theirs. Also, I know that I will probably need a heat sink and I was wondering where I could find one. So if someone could just explain the easiest way to make a simple circuit for a 3-D flashlight I'd appreciate it. Thanks.