New guy here

[peppy]

Hello,
This is my first post. I have been wanting to learn how to modify my flashlights and I figured this would be a good site to start with. I dont know much about leds and resistors but I am hoping someone on here can teach me or at least point me in the right direction. All I have right now to work with is Maglites. An AA and a 3D Mag. Any help is appreciated on letting me know how to make them better. thanks.

 

[IlluminatingBikr]

Welcome to CPF!

First of all, a 3D Mag is an excellent place to start. What kind of budget are you working on for that light?

 

[Vortex]

I'm at work now so I don't have access to my book marks. Try using the Search function and search for topics, also read the electronics/battery section, here I found this for you to start reading: http://kevin.htgk.org/

Welcome, Good luck and hide your walet and credit cards /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[greenLED]

Welcome to CPF. Take a minute to read this thread. Best explanation of how the search function works I've found so far.

You'll end up spending a lot of time in the Custom and Modified section of CPF. The first mods I ever looked at are the ones at flashlightreview.com (before that I had no clue people even modded lights!... weirdos! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif)

G'luck!

 

[ACMarina]

Yeah, who would want to mess with a good thing like a M@g?

 

[peppy]

I thought Maglites was not a good light?

 

[peppy]

Thanks for the links. Also, is there a post that has what everything means and does? (ex: A driver /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif)

 

[mateen]

Do yourself a favor and cut up your credit cards before continuing on this site...cpf WILL spend your money /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[NikolaTesla]

Hide your credit cards and delete this site.....
or continue on. Read alot.
There are many, many ways to improve MagLights. The are inexpensive to start with and can be highly modified in many directions-

If you decide to stay, Welcome!

 

[IlluminatingBikr]

[ QUOTE ]
peppy said:
I thought Maglites was not a good light?

[/ QUOTE ]

A stock Maglite is not held in very high esteem here, but a modified Mag can be a pretty nice light.

There are a few options. The easies way is to get a tube that will allow you to use 3x123A's and drop in a different bulb. Shorter runtime, but a lot brighter. You could also add an LED.

A driver is usually a term referring to some sort of electrical device. It "drives" or provides the right amout of power to your light source (usually LED).

 

[peppy]

Ok. So now I want to mod my Mag. Where do I go to to get the parts?

 

[scudinc]

It depends on the mod.

For the 3D: PhotonFanatic sells Luxeons, georges80 sells driver boards, modamag sells "perfect tri-sinks" (my personal favorite and probably a good starting place), and flashlightlens.com sells heat sinks and lenses.

For the MiniMag: dat2zip's Sandwich Shoppe sells a wide selection of MiniMag mods (called sandwiches, pills, or "sammies"). Lambda also makes a MiniMag pill called the MiniPro, although availability is unknown at the moment.

I would suggest that you get a BadBoy 500 from PhotonFanatic and an O-sink from flashlightlens.com. Choose a Luxeon III emitter. You'd do best with a TX0K (slightly cool color) or TW0K (almost perfectly white). If you want the easiest mod possible, go for one of modamag's Perfect Tri Sinks. Make sure to consult modamag's DD reference sheet and Wayne's LED bin guide.