New Maglite LED ?

[fitzgood]

Hello, first post here so forgive the stupid question...

I just bought a cheap combo pak of LED Maglites at Costco. One is a 3D and one is Mini 2AA with some variable modes. The package was 29.99 and came with bateries.

I also own an old 4D maglite incan.

I was wondering if a person could swap everything out of the 3D LED from the combo pak and make a 4D LED out of the incan I have? If yes, would this change performance or reliabilty or just increase run time?

 

[wingnut86]

The 3D mag LED is made to run with 3 cells. However, I took the pill out of my 2aa multimode mag and put it in an old 3aa lux mag, and it performed much better with the extra cell, and retained the modes.

You could always try it. But just know that you run the possibility of frying the circuit and or the LED.

 

[Robin24k]

I'm just curious...why would you want to do this? Do you need a longer light?

First thing to note is that the lights with serial number DLXXXXXXXXX (new 3D) and DXXXXXXXXXX (old 4D) have different heads, reflectors, switch assemblies, and threading. If the 4D is very old and doesn't have a D in the serial number, swapping anything will be physically impossible.

Secondly, 4D will probably fry the LED module. The 3D is likely to be direct drive, and 4D will be putting out close to 6V, which is way too much. A 4D LED would need to step down the voltage.

Now onto a recommendation...search online for the MagLED upgrade for 4-cell lights (such as the one in the link below) and the TerraLUX TLE-6EX (see if you can find one with the Luxeon Rebel LED).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220546025130

 

[Zeva]

ohh... my bad... well i have three maglites now... 2x 3D and 1x4D the 3D i bought from costco has a rebel in it... i took the rebel switch assembly out and put it into a 4D maglite with no issues... So YMMV?

 

[Robin24k]

Did you notice any difference in output? I'm not sure what the technical details with the modules are, but it sounds like the 3D's module might have step-down circuitry if that's the case.

But to be safe, I would recommend keeping it in the 3D.

 

[Zeva]

Hold up ill check draw and stuff... but i cant stick it back into the 3D because both have been modded with a P7 i dont remember the output though...

 

[Zeva]

.45 draw from 3D .6 draw from 4D so its drawing more? how would you tell what type of driver it uses?

 

[Robin24k]

*waits for an expert to chime in*

I would think that 4D's to an LED would either fry or seriously overdrive it, but if it seems to be working normally, then that would imply that it has step-down.

 

[Zeva]

.03 draw from 2D and i cant measure draw from 1D probes too short! haha this info helpful for anyone? lol

.03 draw from 2d
.45 draw from 3D
.6 draw from 4D

please help interpret! also how could you tell the maximum voltage the led could take? thanks

 

[Gunner12]

Sounds like a buck driver since the current with 2D is that low. Shouldn't work with 1D then.

 

[Zeva]

Oh ya measured the batteries too all of them are at about 1.43 or so

 

[Benson]

Secondly, 4D will probably fry the LED module. The 3D is likely to be direct drive, and 4D will be putting out close to 6V, which is way too much. A 4D LED would need to step down the voltage.

No, the 3D is not likely to be direct drive -- it wasn't in the old Lux-III Mags, and there's absolutely nothing to suggest it would be here. Since it's almost certainly a buck or buck/boost driver anyway, odds are actually fairly decent that it will run fine on 4D, but it's not clear what the efficiency will be.

NewBie did a great review of the old ones here -- I haven't taken one of the new ones apart yet, so I don't know whether they're the same circuit or not.

 

[Robin24k]

Well, not direct drive as in true direct drive, but 3D = 4.5V, so voltage adjustment isn't required. Whether it drops it down a bit is beyond my technical knowledge, but the 3D is probably the simplest of them all.

 

[fitzgood]

I'm just curious...why would you want to do this? Do you need a longer light?

First thing to note is that the lights with serial number DLXXXXXXXXX (new 3D) and DXXXXXXXXXX (old 4D) have different heads, reflectors, switch assemblies, and threading. If the 4D is very old and doesn't have a D in the serial number, swapping anything will be physically impossible.

Secondly, 4D will probably fry the LED module. The 3D is likely to be direct drive, and 4D will be putting out close to 6V, which is way too much. A 4D LED would need to step down the voltage.

Now onto a recommendation...search online for the MagLED upgrade for 4-cell lights (such as the one in the link below) and the TerraLUX TLE-6EX (see if you can find one with the Luxeon Rebel LED).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220546025130

I don't know why I would do it. Just curious really. If it would make a longer run time or give a performance advantage I would do it because the old 4d incan is way to expensive to feed so I wouldn't be out much.

Thanks for the info everyone. If I try it, I will let you know what happens.