8AA 2D Mag?

Hi all,

I'm a real newbie when it comes to flashlights, so this might sound obvious to some of you.

I want a simple "regulated" bright Mag by using ni-mh instead of alkaline cells. My plan is to put 8 AA cells (9.6V) into a 2D body and use a 6D bulb (regular or xenon). I plan on using a 8AA battery holder from Radioshack and maybe do a little trimming so it'll go into a Mag body.

What do you guys think? Would the holder fit into a Mag body? I know I can get a AA holder from the dealer section, but ordering from the internet is a PITA from up here.

Any other ideas of obtaining a SIMPLE (I'm a newb ) regulated and bright output from a Mag body? The Diamond leds are not really regulated. The Everled is but is too weak IMO. I still don't know how regulated the MAG-LEDs will be. But Ni-MH cells at 1.0A should give an almost flat curve.


Thanks in advance.

i would skip the DIY step on the holder and get a real holder from either fivemega or modamag.. or build your own using similar plans as the 12-cell holder i recently made.. http://rouse.com/circuits (click on mag625 BP).

modamag ships very quickly and i think just charges postal rates for shipping, very cheap.

If you want reaally bright there are many possibilities.. just browse CPF for a couple weeks before making any decisions.. put your wallet in a safe first (i warned you).

check the links in my sig. to see some of the cutting edge stuff..

http://M66.rouse.com and http://M85.rouse.com are a couple goodies as well.

-awr

Thanks,

I've been browsing here for a while, so I know there're much better mods out there (some 400 - 500 lumens). However, I'm not really a flashaholic, I just want something for general camping / off-road expedition work.

The reason I want the radioshack holder is the obvious $2 versus $20 factor.

If it doesn't fit then I can do the teflon mod to the batteries, and if that won't do, I'll take a brake cylinder hone and bore the mag maybe.

To put 4- AA's in a mag, the batteries have to touch each other, with nothing between them, and nothing between the batteries and the inside of the mag body. Even then not all batteries will fit. I got some Energizer batteries at around 1800mah that fit, and some slightly higher capacity batteries that don't fit.

It might be easier to get a 3D mag and put 9 AA's in it, then you could have them assembled into a shink-wrapped pack and use a pack charger on them.

look at my home-made solution... it costs like $2 in parts.. wwaaaaay better than what you are describing.. I like that DIY and save a buck philosophy.

You could make the thing with parts from RS, etc.

-awr

andrewwynn said:

look at my home-made solution... it costs like $2 in parts.. wwaaaaay better than what you are describing.. I like that DIY and save a buck philosophy.

You could make the thing with parts from RS, etc.

-awr

Click to expand...

Yeah I saw the Mag625 holder you built, and it's really good. But again, I don't have a drill press; my hand drill has neither the torque nor the accuracy to spin a holesaw.

I want to keep this mod simple and cheap. I'm not looking for crazy brightness; a 6D Mag is plenty bright if the brightness can be regulated, and therefore the ni-mh mod (almost a constant regulator if the drain is only 1 A).

I'll have to do some dremel work on the radio shack 8AA holder so the batteries can touch, then according to modamag teflon tape should further provide 0.30mm of clearance. If that's still not enough, I'll start honing (don't have a lathe to do a proper bore).

you don't need a drill press.. you can actually just use cut the circles by hand. keep us posted though. many people have done very similar mods.

Don't forget the PR base SMJLEDs. If they are bright enough, you won't find an easier or cheaper mod. $9 - $10. I have been having fun dropping my three into every 2 cell light I can get my hand on.

You are looking for this:


http://www.lightingpro.org/products.htm?#PS1


Powerstick.

I have 2 and several people on the forums have some.

Regulated. Good, long runtime. Low battery warning. Nice white light. Cheap.

Mr_Light said:

Don't forget the PR base SMJLEDs. If they are bright enough, you won't find an easier or cheaper mod. $9 - $10. I have been having fun dropping my three into every 2 cell light I can get my hand on.

Click to expand...

Looks interesting, good price for sure. Don't know if that's bright enough though. I didn't even feel the Diamond 3W was bright enough (it only runs at 50% output), it has the same output as a 3D Mag on fresh batteries.

I believe a 6D Mag bulb on ni-mh should be about the same as a 100% driven LuxIII? (output, not throw)

Alright, here's an update guys:

The good thing is, I did it. My first flashlight "mod" ever. The bad thing is, it really doesn't look all that good, and long term reliability is a problem.

I used 4 2000 mah Rayovacs and another 4 of 2500 mah. 4 2500s would not fit across the unbored color Mag, but mix and match with the 2000s it fits just fine (very tight though).

For the holder I used the Radioshack 8 AA plastic holder. It took a lot of dremel work before all 8 batteries were touching each other. What followed though, was a very messy job of solder + hot glue to create the terminals. But after all was done, I used some brute force and crammed it all into the Mag.

I couldn't find any 6D Maglite bulbs, so I just used a plain old 7.2V (6 cell) 0.55A bulb. To my non-flasholic eye, even this was bright as hell. I'm waiting for a local store to order me a xenon Mag bulb, should be an improvement.

My next step would be to build a better and more reliable holder.

turbodog said:

You are looking for this:


http://www.lightingpro.org/products.htm?#PS1


Powerstick.

I have 2 and several people on the forums have some.

Regulated. Good, long runtime. Low battery warning. Nice white light. Cheap.

Click to expand...

Does a CPF sponsor sell them? How much is "cheap"? I saw those some time ago, and wondered how similar to a ROP the end result might be.

Paladin

Any updates on this?

I want to do a similar mod using a 3D mag and 9AA > 3D battery holder using one dummy AA. The problem is, I've converted all my mag switch to the Kiu's socket. I'm just waiting for my shipment of mag switch to arrive.

I bought 8 of the 6D krypton bulb (from Sport Mart at @ $2 for a 2 pack) which I plan on using with 8AA and I also bought 8 of the 7 Cell Xenon Star bulb. Anyone know if this 7 cell bulb will work with 9 AA nimh or should I just be safe and stick with 8 AA?