Mag 2D Q? ( No.2.)

[vinny]

I thought id start this thread up again because for some reason it was'nt there when cpf came back online,

My original question...........(sort of)

Hi i would like to know what bulb and batteries to use in a 2d maglite to make it brighter than a 4d with a budget of £30.00 gbp, ive never owned a maglite before because i prefer led's blah blah blah etc,

I then ended up with a 2d maglite with a 5 cell mag-numstar xenon bulb powered by 2x18650's, after making a battery sleeve, i was pleased with the brighness and runtime but was not pleased because the mag xenon bulb was'nt centred properly and no matter what i tried it would not focus nicely at all,

I was then advised to try a GH24 bulb from reflectalite as it was similar to a rop low bulb and wouldnt need an aluminium refelector or glass lense, which was an advantage as the budget was already strechted lol, i ended up not doing this because after trying to clean my stock reflector and lense i made some horrible swirl marks and was ready to pack it all in,

I then ordered an cammed FM Bifocal reflector, glass lense, and a rop 3854 bulb pack, i put all this together using 2x18650's again and was happy with both the high and low bulbs output and that oh so nice round beam shape that the bi focal reflector provides (highly recommended!)

I was then advised that the amp draw from the rop high was to high for regular 18650's to handle (high draws 4.4amp!) and there was a serious possibility of them going BOOM! inside my light!, which is something that i wanted to avoid so i was advised to switch to imr 26650's as i would get better runtimes and they could handle the current draw of the high bulb safely,


Then sometime later CPF shutdown and i was sad.........!

And bored............

So here i am now up to date, i decided to ditch the whole 2 cell idea and go with 6xaa nimh batteries instead, while cpf was down i did as much research as i could of other sites and found that nimh is safer than li-ion (18650's) which is what i want,

Fast foward..............

I ordered myself 8x duracell 1.2v 2450mAh (cheaper than eneloop's) and began making a battery pack to save costs of buying a battery holder,

Ive been using both the high and low bulbs with my new battery pack and im even more impressed than i was before, previously with 2x18650's the high always looked more yellow than the low bulb which looked very white, since switching to the 6aa 7.2v 2450mAh pack the high now looks just as white as the low bulb did! The bi focal reflector is still doing an amazing job of keeping the beam nice and neat aswell.

I may also post some pictures up as i now consider this light finished, that is unless the high bulb burn's out in which case ill be looking at upgrading again lol, for the minute though im happy with this light im also getting good runtimes compared to 2x18650's maybe because the ultrafire 18650's are very over rated on the labels, i dont know,


Thanks to everyone who inputted on the old thread,

Vinny.

 

[vinny]

Here are the pic's..................

2D mag with homemade battery pack.....

Bi Focal reflector...(low bulb installed)...

Tailspring.....(high bulb hiding in there lol)...

The batteries i used to make the pack.......1.2v 2450mAh...

Iknow the pack looks rough and ready lol, because it is, yes i used masking tape because thats all i had around at the time, it works perfectly and is only seen when charging so im not too bothered by the way it looks,

This is definately my new favourite light!

thanks again

Vinny.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Nothin' wrong with that pack. They all look the same with the tailcap installed!

I wouldn't be too scared of the IMR26650s so long as you use reasonable judgment. They are actually much less likely to do something dangerous than are some of the other chemistries.

They really hold their voltage well under load. I run a pair of the batteryspace 4000mah on ROP-H, and WA1111 bulbs. Very white!

Speaking of which, when you get bored, do try the WA1111 bulb and also a MOP or MS reflector. Less throw than the bi-focal but just seems like there is a LOT more light.

Why the WA1111 when the ROP-H is brighter? Perception. The WA1111 is being driven so hard (very close to POOF!) and is soooooo white with such a nice beam that it actually seems just as bright upon startup and even BRIGHTER than the ROP once the cells are off of peak (from say 5 minutes on out). It maintains it's whiteness throughout the runtime instead of getting noticably dimmer and yellower as the voltage continually tapers. And, of course, it gives better battery life. It is a great bulb, try it.

 

[vinny]

Yeah i might try a wa1111 but im going to wait untill the rop bulbs are dead, im seriously loving this light at the minute i think i would probably prefer an op reflector for close up stuff but to be honest the high puts out so much light that its still more than useful as it is,

A word of caution........

I keep this light next to my bed incase i ever need it at night, example if i hear one of the car's alarms general noises etc, well the other night i was woke up by what sounded like a group of young lads arguing outside, it was about 3.00am and id been asleep for a few hours, i grabbed the light stumbled out of bed (completly dark in my room) turned it on and was instantly blinded lol, id manged to shine it on the white wall about 4 feet infront of me with my eye's still adjusted to the pitch black, basically it hurt! and i had a green splodge in my eyes for a long time afterward lol,

Now i always make sure i have the low bulb installed and point it at the floor when i first turn it on in complete darkness,

Vinny.