Mini-Mag LED conversion

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I have no idea the manufacturer of the LED but I put a white one in a mini-mag and I am running it at 4.5 volts. Using (1) AA 1.5 volt lithium and (1) 2/3AA 3 volt lithium battery. This gives nice , bright white light without overdriving way too much. A #4 spring takes up the extra room in the battery compartment. Cool part of this conversion is the lens(s) I have put under the rubber accessory cap. Found (2) plano convex lens stacked gave me a perfect circle of projected light without the usual LED wire shadows. This is basically using an eyepiece for a telescope/binocular backwards. Using one on a normal maglite bulb just gets you a detailed projection of the filament, but using it on an LED will give a nice perfect circle of light that will knock your socks off!

lite1.jpg


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The circle of light as seen from 6 foot away shining on ceiling. The circle is about 2 feet in diameter. White light with lite blue fringe at edge.

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The lens(s) end. I put a 2 wrap layer of black electrical tape around head so rubber would stay on tighter and lens(s) would not rattle. This light has become my favorite and I wouldn't give it up for a $50 bill!
 
Hey Star....

This conversion sounds very interesting..
Seems that there is little work to do with electronics,,soldering and such..

A couple of questions..

1 Where does one get such LEDs
2 Where do you get the lenses ??

I would like to convert my AA Mags to LED with the least amount of work....

Thanks,,looks pretty cool..

ttyle

Eric...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stargazer:
... Using (1) AA 1.5 volt lithium and (1) 2/3AA 3 volt lithium battery...

...Cool part of this conversion is the lens(s) I have put under the rubber accessory cap. ... gave me a perfect circle of projected light without the usual LED wire shadows
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nice idea with the lens in the Minimag conversion. I made some similar experiments with an ARC AAA but did not realize it because on the long term I prefer the wider beam in this kind of flashlight. The lens should be removable but stay in the flashlight like the red and green filters I once had in old army flashlight. Otherwise I would loose it in a short time.

I dont't know how it works with the two different batteries. What's about their capacity? You have to replace first the 2/3AA an then sometime later the AA. In the meantime the 2/3AA is again on the half of their load .... - I think this will be confusing after a short time. Most people use for such a kind of conversion 3 N Cells.

By the way: There is already one thread running about converting Minimags. Take a look at http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=001221 and share your knowledge with us. Together we could this topic keep running over a long time and could gather all informations about converting Minimags in one single thread. Would be much easier for us Newbies to find the informations which are at the moment spread over a lot of threads.
 
Eric,

Yes this is a very basic conversion. Use a 3/16" bit to hollow out the reflector for the LED. A slight "wallow" or two gives the LED room to breathe and not rub reflector.

The battery selection was what I had on hand and I thought I would give it a try. I was going to try (3) 2/3 AA's in series and use a resitor inside the spring for the current limiter, but the (1) 1.5V and the 3V together really made for a resistor free install. I got the 2/3 AA's really cheap so I can go (4) battery swaps before I have to procure more.

As for the lens, I sure wish I could just say guys order a #xxxx from Edmunds, but that ain't gonna happen. The lens I came across were almost identical, rectangle shaped as if I had pulled them from some sort of eyepiece or something. But later experiments showed that the lens(s) from an old eyepiece, binocular or telescope, will give the same effect.

I've also converted the Solitaire to the 12v battery with white LED. AWESOME keychain light! Much brighter than bulb and 1.5 volt battery. Sure it'll only last battery wise an hour or so, but watch the crowd follow me to the mall exit when the lights go out!

Also converted a normal 2AA Mini-MAg to just LED with (2) AA 1.5 volt Lithium's. This light is the "last forever" one. The 4.5 volt light will be used as my as working light as I pull wire through ceilings every day and need to know exact wire colors up there.

The LED's were purchased from a local electronics parts outlet store called Tanners in Dallas. I'll be getting more and will ask if the origin is known. $2.95 each and I have only fried (1) in the experimenting process.

Does anyone know if eyeglass places will check lens such as these to see what the parameters really are? I'd like to make more of these in different voltage/battery combinations, but finding the lens(s) needed to make this circle of light just by stacking them might not be easy. Maybe promising one to a an eyeglass tech in exchange for help identifying the lens would work!
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More pixs of the conversion. Below first see the lens shape and rubber cover.


lite3.jpg


And then the lens(s) shown edgewise for clarity of shape and are being illuminated by the LED light itself sans the lens(s).


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Very nice job with the lens. I've always wondered about that. Someday I may try to make a similar conversion with 1 led and 1 AA battery and a step-up circuit.
 
Led was found to be a standard 5 mm Nichia(sp). Also, a 7/8" rubber crutch/chair leg cap from the hardware store for 50 cents works better than the rubber Mini-mag filter cap. It fits the head deeper and tighter than the accessory cap. The hole drilled/cut into the end will depend on your particular lens setup you find. "O" rings can be used to keep smaller diameter lens centered and in place and rattle free.
smile.gif
 
I wonder if the Mag manufacturer is going to make any LED lights?

The currently make great lights and it would seem to me that they would want in on the LED market.

I think it would be great if they would come out with a LED light similar to the Mini-Mag 2 AA flashlight.
 
This is basically using an eyepiece for a telescope/binocular backwards.

This is the best way to get a collimated beam.
This principle is widely used in lasers, the assembly called 'beam expander'.
The larger lens has a longer focal length, making a narrow beam.
As it also has a wider diameter, the total throw is increased a lot.
The Deft with precollimating lens works the same.
 
now, this is really bringing life to a totally buried thread,
long gone and no longer of any use
:rolleyes:

PS: at that time the best way to get the tightest beam possible from a led-modded minimag has already been explored:
putting an acrlyic ball, w. the inside diameter of the head, into the MM, instead of any reflector/optic.
 
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