Questions reguarding aspherical maglight mods(noob)

[Queeuqueg]

Hi, ive had the pleasure of browsing these forums for months now, but this is my first thread...so take it easy on me.

anyway I've got a mini collection of lights to my name thats crying out for an aspherical mag, i just have a few questions id like to bounce off you more experienced folk.:thumbsup:

i was planning on using the KD Aspheric/LED drop in kit hopefully with a 1D mag body.

my first question is this, would you recommend the KD lens and LED? or is there a DIY set up with similar ease of installation and superior performance? could i simply replace the Q5 wc bined LED with an XR E in the KD kit for a boost in performance?

my second question reguards the LED/driver in the KD mag led. im confused about the input voltage of the LED, on the one hand in this thread he says he is using 4 AA's with his light, witch would work wonderfully with the 1d quad bored mag im hoping to use. however on the other hand Kai himself on the forums claimed 4 AA's would "poof" the led(sorry i could not find this thread), does anyone have any experience with this LED using 4AA's? i suppose i could use 3 AA's in the quad bored mag, but that bothers me for some reason.

my third question is a quick one, do Kiu's beautiful mag bezels fully cover the KD lens such that it can fully stand on its head without damaging the lens? i understand KD will offer a bezel, but i seriously doubt when it finally comes out it will be the same quality.

oh and final question, is there a relatively cheep carrying case that will accommodate a 1d mag semi snugly? i've seen the custom leather cases on the marketplace, but that does'nt seem to be my kind of thing, im thinking something along the line of a felted pistol case with a shoulder strap.
something like this but a few inches shorter would work perfectly.

thanks in advance for the help.

oh, and i understand i misspelled the "Queequeg" (Queequeg is a character from Melville's Moby ****) , for some reason the forums have my university email account banned and im to lazy to start a 3rd email account. lol, ill have to contact the admin at some point, and see whats going on.

 

[SafetyBob]

Since I have to go to work shortly let me welcome you to the wonderful world of modding m@glights.

First, IMO the cree is the correct choice for using an aspheric lense since most of the light goes straight forward and does not spill well (that's why I use Seouls for my regular modded flashlights, good spill, hotspot and color).

Second, you will need to spend some time in the Incan forum and start looking for the Aspheric light something or another. JimJones and others have spend a great deal of time and effort explaining the ups and downs of this lense. Most of your answers about lenses are in that forum.

Three, unfortunately we need to convince someone to make a bezel that is a little longer than is currently available so that we can set our flashlights, lense down on a table. No bezel I have is quite tall enough to do that with. I have considered making one and now that I finally have the proper tooling for the lathe I may try it.

As far as the driver is concerned, you need to post a link to it so we can see what your are trying to use.

Bob E.

 

[Queeuqueg]

As far as the driver is concerned, you need to post a link to it so we can see what your are trying to use.

Bob E.

sorry,heres a link.
if maximum input is 4.5 volts then it would fail with 4AA's correct? or am i missing something... with resistances and such.

oh and how would a single 18650 compare to the AA's in terms of runtime?

thanks again.

 

[Furrballz]

Hi Queeuqueg! :welcome:

I'm new myself and I've been browsing the forum's threads looking for answers too. From what I've gathered from the beamshots posted by many of our fellow respected CPF members, it seems that the CREE Q5 LED is indeed more suited as a thrower. (great hotspot and very little spill). From Rizky_p's thread http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=196159 - it would seem that the SSC P7 provides the best of both worlds (a thrower when required, and good flood on demand) and best of all - you get a crosshair!

 

[Queeuqueg]

heh, thanks thats the thread i was talking about, hes useing 4 cells with the KD dropin, in that setup witch confused me.

TBH the p7 dos'nt do anything for me, i think i'm just a junky for the light saber like beam of the single die Q5.

 

[Furrballz]

The SSC P7 does project some "lightsaber" characteristics as depicted in the following thread. :thumbsup: It may change your mind about the SSC P7!

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=199533

 

[Queeuqueg]

wow, i havent seen that thread. i wonder how far it throws.

 

[Gunner12]

The P7 would not throw as far as the aspheric lens or have as narrow of a beam because of the larger die size.

But it will have more output.

It should throw at least 100 meters usable light(The P7).

 

[LukeA]

The SSC P7 does project some "lightsaber" characteristics as depicted in the following thread. :thumbsup: It may change your mind about the SSC P7!

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=199533

The P7 isn't a really good choice for aspheric lenses. The dies are fairly far apart and aren't tint-matched. (We don't even know if they're Vf-matched, but that's a different matter all together.)

 

[Furrballz]

Hi LukeA, what do you recommend as the best "lightsaber" maglite mod? (intend to utilize it as a throw monster and if possible to momentarily stun animals while hunting - thanks!)

 

[LukeA]

Hi LukeA, what do you recommend as the best "lightsaber" maglite mod? (intend to utilize it as a throw monster and if possible to momentarily stun animals while hunting - thanks!)

Single high-bin Cree at high current. I built one myself that runs a Q5 at 1A and it throws fantastically. I have on order from Kaidomain two of their Q5 Mag dropin/lens kits. If I had them in my hands, I could give you a better idea of their performance, but if they equal the one I built myself, then they'll be great for you.


This is what I have on order.

 

[Furrballz]

I actually purchased the same kit too - last month. Waiting for it to arrive. Seems like its taking forever....and the tracking does nothing but say that its left HK. Oh well...
I wonder how it will compare to your personal mod. Do post beamshots and comparisons when you get your kit? Thank you!

 

[gallonoffuel]

I have the 'kit' from KD, minus the lens. I had a few 52mm aspheres I bought from an optics company and didn't see a need to buy more. My lens is similar, with a 32mm FL as opposed to the 34mm from KD.

There are a lot of threads on the aspheric mags with LEDs, and one thing that bugs me about most of them is that people do not use a reflector. Their solution to get the LED to the focal length is to unscrew the bezel. With the KD CREE Dropin, the emitter sits about as high on the switch tower as it could possible be, and does not allow for a cammed reflector (the heatsink is quite big). The result is that, without a reflector, to get the projection of the die, you need to unscrew the bezel until its almost falling off.

Additionally, using some simple geometry and the spacial emissivity plot from the Cree data sheet, it's clear that at 32mm focal length, the 52mm lens is only collecting the area of +-37 degrees from the emitter. Theres a good percentage of light in the area outside of that angle thats being absorbed by the black anodizing of the bezel. I used a stock mag reflector and filed it until I got down to the correct FL. It gives the light one more chance to make it out of the lens, and has the added benefit of allowing the bezel to be securely screwed down all the way. I known that every time I turn on my KD aspheric, I get the properly focused die image. I've lost the adjustment feature though, so I can never use that light for flood. I use it in a 3D running regular D alkalines, seems to run forever.

I have also built a Terralux TLE-6EX aspheric using the same lens. That dropin does allow a cammed reflector, and I only have to unscrew the bezel about 1/4 turn to get the die focused. It's not as bright as the KD CREE though. That one is a 2C with a sleeve I made to run 3x CR123As. Good runtime on that one too, and it impresses everyone because it's relatively small.

Just my $.02