What's the latest for 2D Maglite mod?

[Orion]

I'm getting a 2D Maglite in a few days [found color I wanted] and was wondering what is being done with them these days.

What drop in LED units are being used? What battery options?

I'd like to have the ability to use the reflector, though I'd mostly use it in spot. An LED that has a lot of lumens, but will not have the donut hole.

Is there a 2D to CR123X3 battery adaptor available to help with the power needs?

Any helpful information would be appreciated.

 

[HarryN]

Hi, while I like CR 123s, we tend to have AAs around the house, even though I am not a big fan of them. (my wife likes them) I like having setups that can run from either primaries or R cells if possible.

The most common method to do a CR123 to 2 D conversion is to make a sleeve from pvc pipe.

There are at least 2 people on cpf (customer bst section) that are selling 8x AA to 2 D adapters, so that is an option as well.

You are almost always better off using some method to get the battery voltage up and using electronics to regulate them to the LED (s).

I guess you didn't mention if you want to do an "incan" bulb" upgrade of an LED upgrade.

There are quite a few 2D upgrades around - perhaps a budget goal would help. If it is less than $ 100, you might want to just buy the light you are interested in off the shelf.

 

[alpg88]

the brightest drop in you can get now is sst50 drop in sold on here, thou no use of stock reflector, and you will need no more than 6v for it, you might fit 6cr123 cells, wired 2s3p, holder, however you will have to build yourself.
malkoff drop ins are good, if you can find them, p7 is good too, thou it is not exactly a drop in, you need some skills to install it, but you will be able to use original reflector,
2d to cr123 adapter, i have not seen one, but you don't really need one.
what i do when i use smaller cells i just roll thick paper and insert it into a battery tube.

 

[bigchelis]

I'm getting a 2D Maglite in a few days [found color I wanted] and was wondering what is being done with them these days.

What drop in LED units are being used? What battery options?

I'd like to have the ability to use the reflector, though I'd mostly use it in spot. An LED that has a lot of lumens, but will not have the donut hole.

Is there a 2D to CR123X3 battery adaptor available to help with the power needs?

Any helpful information would be appreciated.

Currently; you can get the MacCustoms SST-50 Mag Drop-in. There is one in the MarketPlace for $85 right now. It is regulated at 2.8A and 4500k tint. These have a 6V Max, so you can run 3 NiMH C cells in there for less cell sag and more runtime.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=239831

bigC

 

[Orion]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Yes, I'm only interested in the latests LED technology.

As for battery options, I didn't want to go with any alkalines because I have had several instances where they leaked and ruined a flashlight. So, lithiums or even NiMh would work. I can get another pack of Eneloops if I have to.

 

[Orion]

BTW, is the Mag reflector still one of the best choices for throw?

 

[bigchelis]

BTW, is the Mag reflector still one of the best choices for throw?

If you have an SST-50 in there and a Mag Rebel Deep Reflector = 30k~35k lux.

If you take off the dome it will reach over 55k lux, but you better have alot of copper or a hella of a heatsink to keep those lumens steady.

My SSR-90 I just de-domed and as expected the throw is about 50% more, but the light gets hot after 10sec or so vs. before it would take 3~4min.

bigC

 

[Orion]

So the original mag reflector should be replaced for the best results in throw. Where can I find one, and how well does it work with a P7 LED?

 

[The Jinx]

I'm sorry to digress from the topic but are the most common led mods for 2D maglites the incan 2D version or the led 2d version. I don't know which maglite to buy.

 

[bigchelis]

I'm sorry to digress from the topic but are the most common led mods for 2D maglites the incan 2D version or the led 2d version. I don't know which maglite to buy.

You have to purchase the Mag 2D LED version, which comes from the factory with the DEEP REBEL REFLECTOR.

Good luck,
bigC

 

[alpg88]

well stick has 2 ends.
1 rebel reflector suits leds better, yes.
2 led needs to be position deeper in the tube with rebel based light, you need special heatsink, kits for incandescent mag will not work with rebel mag. to be honest i don't know who sells such part,
there is a sst50-90 heatsink sold on here made for rebel lights.
you could use that and sst50 instead of p7, even at 2,5amps it will be brighter than p7,
(there are videos on you tube of ppl swapping lp7 for a sst, it became noticeably brighter)
also you can run it at 5 amps and get a lot more than you would from p7.

 

[Orion]

I think I'm going to be over my head on this. I have a nice Copper 2D Maglight coming that I would like to use, but I may not be able to do much with it myself. :-/

 

[fivemega]

I'm getting a 2D Maglite in a few days [found color I wanted] and was wondering what is being done with them these days.

What drop in LED units are being used? What battery options?

Not a drop in but pretty easy.
SST-90 powered by 4S/2P Eneloops (4.8 V) in quad bored 2D M*g

 

[Orion]

Help me out. What do you mean by "4S/2P"? I use Eneloops already, but not sure how I could get 4 of them in a 2D platform.

Also, would there need to be a driver for the SST-50?

 

[fivemega]

Help me out. What do you mean by "4S/2P"?

4 Serial/2 Parallel connected. So the pack will be 4.8 volts, 4000mAh

I use Eneloops already, but not sure how I could get 4 of them in a 2D platform.

Battery barel must be quad bored or all the way around bored out to accomodate bundle of 4 AAs.

Also, would there need to be a driver for the SST-50?

You need driver for SST-50 but you can direct drive SST-90 if it's well heat sinked.

Why don't you contact Dave "Nailbender" see what he can do for you?

 

[Orion]

Thanks for the information.

 

[Orion]

I don't want to spend a LOT of money on a mod, so can someone suggest something that isn't expensive? I'm good with using 2D to whatever type adapters, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on having someone carve out the insides to fit 4 AA size batteries.

Please make suggestions. Thank you!

 

[Slasher42]

I am looking at doing similar to what you are ORION.

You can get a 2D > 6AA carrier from member here named fivemega, and it does not require the mag body to be bored out, and 6 eneloops or similar in there gives 7.2v which from what I've seen is a pretty decent place to be, lots of drop-ins and mods available that run well with that voltage.

Malkoff led dropins are supposed to be high quality... or there are numerous options on Kaidomain or DealXtreme that have 1,3 or 5 led's in them. If you want throw then you'd probably want one of the single led drops ins with a smooth deep reflector.

I havent done the mod yet myself.. been buying other lights and stuff, but want to do it soon.

 

[Nokoff]

drop-ins are deceptive, total cost is great when you start from scratch with only a new 2D host.....I always ask myself will it outperform my TK40...no donut hole, levels, options, long run time, 1D size...sounds like you would like the TK40, and just turn the 2D into a ROP.

 

[bigchelis]

If you Direct Drive an SST-50 you need NiMH C cells because they will deliver the voltage alot better then IMR 26650 or IMR 26500 cells. At least from what I can tell those NiMH high current Tenergy cells dont seem to sag as much. The problem is that the SST-50 can turn blue on you.


The good news is that the sST-90 will take the 4~6A that you will get when you Direct Drive that off 3 NiMH C cells ( which fit perfect in a 2D).

At 5A I get 2000 real OTF lumens from my 2D SSR-90 Mag build. AT 6.88A I got 2200ish. I did tested at alot more current, but the OTF numbers suffered. I got my OTF numbers using a 2lbs slug of copper as a heatsink with no cavities. I think you will see 500~1000 less OTF at the same current because you will use a smaller aluminum heatsink. I dont know of anybody who sells the massive copper heatsinks right now.

check out my 2D SSR-90 thread: PCC helped me out and I just swapped the guts to my 2D LED Mag.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=286477

bigC