D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
Hello,
Is it hard to convert a 2aa maglite to an
led light?
Thanks
Todd
Is it hard to convert a 2aa maglite to an
led light?
Thanks
Todd
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
check out:
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It was my first LED conversion yesterday. Takes about 5 minutes if you have the LED, a spring and a battery. I guess some clipper to trim the leads down... oops and a drill 3/16" to make the hole in the reflector bigger to fit the LED.
<a href=http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000255>http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000255</a>
It was my first LED conversion yesterday. Takes about 5 minutes if you have the LED, a spring and a battery. I guess some clipper to trim the leads down... oops and a drill 3/16" to make the hole in the reflector bigger to fit the LED.
vcal
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've had some EXCELLENT recent
conversion results with the new
little 3mm LEDs. (now 2600mcd)
What's the big deal about this?
(even though the 3mm has less
output than a 5mm-it will FOCUS much better (shorter length),
and will be a PERFECT fit in the reflector.
without any surgery-except for trimming legs on the led.
Put away your drill!
-this will also avoid any "switch-on" problems and allow
the lite to activate exactly as it normally does.
p.s.-those powerful little LEDs can be gotten from jbechto (seen elsewhere in this forum)
or from whiteLEDs.net
Have fun!
conversion results with the new
little 3mm LEDs. (now 2600mcd)
What's the big deal about this?
(even though the 3mm has less
output than a 5mm-it will FOCUS much better (shorter length),
and will be a PERFECT fit in the reflector.
without any surgery-except for trimming legs on the led.
Put away your drill!
-this will also avoid any "switch-on" problems and allow
the lite to activate exactly as it normally does.
p.s.-those powerful little LEDs can be gotten from jbechto (seen elsewhere in this forum)
or from whiteLEDs.net
Have fun!
D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
Hi,
I just wanted to put in my two cents worth on mini maglite conversions. I just finished doing this conversion and was highly impressed with the results and think it's well worth the time to do it.
I began my conversion by grinding down a Nichia 5600 mcd LED. I used LEDCorps' picture as a guide to the proper shape. I then polished it with progressivly finer grits of sandpaper from a kit used to polish scale model finishes. For the final polishing step I used smoker's toothpaste.
For the next step I trimmed the LED's leads and filed them with a fine file until they fit the maglite lamp socket.
Next I bored out the reflector until the LED fit smoothly through the opening.
After reassembling the whole flashlight, I dropped in two AA cells and turned it on. I was amazed to be able to focus a spot on the ceiling from about 6 feet away in broad daylight with 2 AAs!
The last step is as follows:
1. Cut a 100 mm piece of ½" O.D. rigid plastic tubing of the type you can find at your local aquarium store.
2. Cut a 12mm piece of 7/16" doweling
3. Clamp the piece of doweling in a vise and cut a small groove down its length using a hacksaw or a small file.
4. Push a thumbtack part way into the center of each end of the piece of doweling.
5. Place a 33 ohm ¼ or 1/8 watt resistor in the groove and wrap each resistor lead around a thumbtack for one turn.
6. Push the thumbtacks the rest of the way in and cut off the excess wire.
7. Using a small amount of hot glue, glue the resistor block into one end of the tube with the end of the dowel flush with the end of the tube.
8. Drop 3 N cells down the tube with the negative ends towards the resistor block.
9. Put the tube in the maglite, close it up and you're ready to go.
I found this conversion to be very bright when focused sharply. It operates exactly as it did before with the original bulb in terms of focusing. If you take off the head it makes a great area light that will easily light up the inside of a tent. If you can't find replacement N cells you can take out the N cell adapter and use AA cells. It won't be as bright but it will work. This light will definitely be on my belt the next time I go camping.
Mark
I just wanted to put in my two cents worth on mini maglite conversions. I just finished doing this conversion and was highly impressed with the results and think it's well worth the time to do it.
I began my conversion by grinding down a Nichia 5600 mcd LED. I used LEDCorps' picture as a guide to the proper shape. I then polished it with progressivly finer grits of sandpaper from a kit used to polish scale model finishes. For the final polishing step I used smoker's toothpaste.
For the next step I trimmed the LED's leads and filed them with a fine file until they fit the maglite lamp socket.
Next I bored out the reflector until the LED fit smoothly through the opening.
After reassembling the whole flashlight, I dropped in two AA cells and turned it on. I was amazed to be able to focus a spot on the ceiling from about 6 feet away in broad daylight with 2 AAs!
The last step is as follows:
1. Cut a 100 mm piece of ½" O.D. rigid plastic tubing of the type you can find at your local aquarium store.
2. Cut a 12mm piece of 7/16" doweling
3. Clamp the piece of doweling in a vise and cut a small groove down its length using a hacksaw or a small file.
4. Push a thumbtack part way into the center of each end of the piece of doweling.
5. Place a 33 ohm ¼ or 1/8 watt resistor in the groove and wrap each resistor lead around a thumbtack for one turn.
6. Push the thumbtacks the rest of the way in and cut off the excess wire.
7. Using a small amount of hot glue, glue the resistor block into one end of the tube with the end of the dowel flush with the end of the tube.
8. Drop 3 N cells down the tube with the negative ends towards the resistor block.
9. Put the tube in the maglite, close it up and you're ready to go.
I found this conversion to be very bright when focused sharply. It operates exactly as it did before with the original bulb in terms of focusing. If you take off the head it makes a great area light that will easily light up the inside of a tent. If you can't find replacement N cells you can take out the N cell adapter and use AA cells. It won't be as bright but it will work. This light will definitely be on my belt the next time I go camping.
Mark
Just converted one using the 20,800 mcd Blue-Green LED. I fixed the "ring" problem using a wet 600 grit silica "sandpaper". Definitely the brightness suffers from the "frosting" of the led. But it's nice. About as bright (perceived) as the 5,600 mcd white.
