RARE MAGLITES

[Icarus]

The ROP must have been a super duper thing to behold at first. 1000 lumens from a 2C maglite that ordinarily put out what, 20? 25 with new a brand new one?

The super duper ROP light did involve some modification. A custom delrin sleeve, upgraded switch and the tailcap was modified with a copper ribbon and much smaller spring to allow batteries to sink into the tailcap as two 18650's stick out beyond the body. There was also some with a spacer added between the body and tailcap to make even more room for batteries.


Here's one that turns off light sensing porch lights from 100' away.

The tailcap mod.

When the on switch is clicked you can almost hear it hum with 20amp batteries.
Before the kadomain reflectors came along you had to have the reflector custom made by folks like the Sandwich Shop. I scored this one already built for a lot less than it would cost to build. Finding Pelican Big D halogen bulbs was the hardest part. Pretty scarce these days.

I think fivemega still has some bulbs that get pretty bright though.

I didn't mention the battery sleeve because I think it's obvious. Other than that my Blue 2C ROP is just using a Pelican 3854H bulb, a Borofloat lens and metal reflector. Nothing more than that and it works great. The 3854H bulb is a 6V 25W bulb. At 6V the bulb is drawing a little over 4A. With 2x 18650 fresh from the charger it might be a little more but never so much the stock switch can't handle it.

I see you installed Download's MagRing2 kit which gives you a little more room for the cells but my Blue 2C has just a short spring in the tailcap and 2 unprotected cells fit without needing the lanyard attachment from the kit. You might get a little less resistance (= higher output) because of the copper braided strip but I can tell you even without Download's kit my ROP works great and the light is pretty bright. Back in the day metal reflectors were offered by some of our members (I got mine from litho123). The reflectors from Kaidomain with removable cam have a big hole (15mm) while the reflector in my Blue ROP as well as the Red deep reflector from Fivemega only have a small hole which fits the Pelican bulb much better.

 

[Icarus]

My shortest MagC. :candle:

 

[borrower]

My shortest MagC. :candle:

Nice, but please tell us more about the battery/switch relationship...

 

[LiftdT4R]

Nice, but please tell us more about the battery/switch relationship...

That's an awesome light and I'd like to know about the battery too, it must be tiny! That's the first and only 1/2 C I've ever seen.

I just got an awesome 1C from jayrob. I'll have to post some pics here soon along with my 1D.

I am also working on buying another extremely rare Maglite that I've never ever seen before in all my years of collecting. It's from over seas but I'll post a little more info about it soon.

 

[Icarus]

My short Purple MagC is, except for the short body, still stock. It's part of my Maglite collection and probably will never see any use. However, I have the same cut down MagC in black that I built 5 years ago and was intended to use on my bike trips in Asia. Unfortunately because of the large capacity lithium cells I can't take it on the plane. :shrug:

The light has an XM-L2 emitter on a copper heatsink, LD-2C 3A step-down driver and is powered by 2x 10Ah litium-ion cells wired in series. It throws very well but also has good spill. Because of the large capacity cells it has plenty of runtime which makes it perfect for long night walks.

 

[LiftdT4R]

Very awesome!! Jayrob recently did a 1C for me and it came out totally awesome!! I just use a warm PR based LED drop in and a sputtered stock reflector. It puts out only 60 lumens but the tint and beam are really nice and the run time is awesome. It reminds me very much of a 2C Kel-Lite.

 

[Icarus]

Jayrob recently did a 1C for me and it came out totally awesome!! I just use a warm PR based LED drop in and a sputtered stock reflector. It puts out only 60 lumens but the tint and beam are really nice and the run time is awesome. It reminds me very much of a 2C Kel-Lite.

Very nice! :thumbsup: Cut down MagC's make great little lights. In the past I made several. I'll try to post some pictures later tonight.

 

[jayrob]

Very awesome!! Jayrob recently did a 1C for me and it came out totally awesome!! I just use a warm PR based LED drop in and a sputtered stock reflector. It puts out only 60 lumens but the tint and beam are really nice and the run time is awesome. It reminds me very much of a 2C Kel-Lite.

From the picture you wouldn't think there is a protected 18650 cell in there.

Probably 1/2" of the battery is up inside the tail cap.

 

[jayrob]

Sorry for the double post - I wanted to show this new one that I just finished.

It was a 3C ML50L.

I cut down and bored to fit a nice 26650 cell.

I like the smaller head and deeper reflector (better throw) on the ML50L, plus no need to modify the light engine at over 600 lumens. Also 3 mode. (H/M/L)

I put a nice UCL anit-reflective glass lens on it as well.

 

[Icarus]

Not too much work and no extra parts needed (except for the UCL). Not a bad idea. :thumbsup:

 

[xxo]

Nice work JayRob - I like it!

 

[Icarus]

Over the years I built several cut down MagC's and MagD's.
Tube length varied by battery length and whether they still had the stock switch or a tailcap switch.

MagSC with LuxIII emitter and Wiz2-933 driver powered by 1x18650 cell. I built this light in 2003!

Triple-XRE with Flupic driver powered by 1x26500 cell. Built in 2008.

Aspheric MagSC with XR-E emitter and GD1250 driver. Powered by 1x18650 cell. Buit in 2010.

 

[jayrob]

Over the years I built several cut down MagC's and MagD's.
Tube length varied by battery length and whether they still had the stock switch or a tailcap switch.

Those are some NICE keepers!

 

[LiftdT4R]

Love that cut down ML50L. It's the light Mag should have made. I wish they had a higher support for Lithium Ion batteries.

I also love seeing those classic high end Mag mods too. Sometimes I go back through some on the old fivemega for sale threads and look at the elephants and hot wires. Unfortunately for me I wasn't into modding back then and I missed out on all of that. It's an era I wish I could revisit if I had a time machine. I especially like that cut down C with the tail light switch. Did you have to re-thread the barrel for that? I've been tempted to pick up a hobby lathe a few times but the threading looks very difficult.

 

[jayrob]

Love that cut down ML50L. It's the light Mag should have made. I wish they had a higher support for Lithium Ion batteries.

I also love seeing those classic high end Mag mods too. Sometimes I go back through some on the old fivemega for sale threads and look at the elephants and hot wires. Unfortunately for me I wasn't into modding back then and I missed out on all of that. It's an era I wish I could revisit if I had a time machine. I especially like that cut down C with the tail light switch. Did you have to re-thread the barrel for that? I've been tempted to pick up a hobby lathe a few times but the threading looks very difficult.

Yeah finally they came up with some decent output but I agree. Falling short on the Li-Ion supply.

I love Mags though and Modding mags.

Check out this one with a tail cap switch: (it was a while back when I made it. XM-L emitter, custom heatsink, 6000mAh 32650 Feilong cell)

P.S. I still prefer the stock Mag side switch though. My favorite build shown here: Factory Dedomed 5000k XP-L HI Stubby with Rebel Reflector - Long Throw

 

[Icarus]

Those are some NICE keepers!

These are just a few examples. I made several more but they were all built on order. :shrug:

I still have a similar empty host in my collection as the one with the tailcap switch although I personally prefer the stock side switch.

 

[Icarus]

Love that cut down ML50L. It's the light Mag should have made. I wish they had a higher support for Lithium Ion batteries.

I also love seeing those classic high end Mag mods too. Sometimes I go back through some on the old fivemega for sale threads and look at the elephants and hot wires. Unfortunately for me I wasn't into modding back then and I missed out on all of that. It's an era I wish I could revisit if I had a time machine. I especially like that cut down C with the tail light switch. Did you have to re-thread the barrel for that? I've been tempted to pick up a hobby lathe a few times but the threading looks very difficult.

The cut down body was indeed rethreaded.<

 

[Icarus]

I love Mags though and Modding mags.

Check out this one with a tail cap switch: (it was a while back when I made it. XM-L emitter, custom heatsink, 6000mAh 32650 Feilong cell)

P.S. I still prefer the stock Mag side switch though. My favorite build shown here: Factory Dedomed 5000k XP-L HI Stubby with Rebel Reflector - Long Throw

+1 on modding Maglites. :buddies:

+1 on preferring the stock side switch. :twothumbs

I like you mods! :goodjob:

 

[jayrob]

+1 on modding Maglites. :buddies:

+1 on preferring the stock side switch. :twothumbs

I like you mods! :goodjob:

Thank you! :thanks:

Your work is amazing!

Did you do the machine work on this one?

 

[bykfixer]

Future collectables arrived. Something for the grand kids to sell on eBay someday……
No special colors, just a memorial light using standard production items. Yet probably not all that many produced.

I cast a shadow over them since the over head light causes such a glare.

Remenents from Bonnie made stepping outdoors for pix impractical.