direct drive minimag mod

i would like to convert my sacriligious mini-mag, but can't afford a dc/dc boost. what batterys should i use to power a luxeon at or slightly about specs. any other useful/helpful information would be appreciated. i have only modded 3d's thus far.

Stick a Red/Orange in it and drive w/lithiums. You would then pretty much have built a copy of my new 2AA Legend called "Holy Sh*t".

"Holy Sh*t" was named for the first 2 words out of everyone's mouth that see's it.

About the only way is to use 3 N cells and a spacer in the minimag. Or, you could use 3 rechargables that would be the length of 2 AA's (they would need to be SLIGHTLY shorter than 2/3 AA's as 2/3 AA's would most likely be a LITTLE bit too long, hopefully not though) IF your particular luxeon is happy at 3.6 volts. To test this, I'd suggest using a DMM with around a 1 amp fuse. If it sits happily at .4 or so amps, you'll be fine, much higher, and because of the high current capacity of the NiMH's, you could easily ruin a luxeon.

Or, you could use a red/orange high dome and DD off of 2 AA's

Spud

Edit: Slick, I know the feeling, my particular red/orange is around .4 amps with 3 NiMH's and is QUITE bright!!! I may try 3 AA alks soon....I bet it will be bright (duh

Spud

Originally posted by Rothrandir:
i would like to convert my sacriligious mini-mag, but can't afford a dc/dc boost. what batterys should i use to power a luxeon at or slightly about specs. any other useful/helpful information would be appreciated. i have only modded 3d's thus far.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Try modding that mini-mag with a luxeon from Inretech, and power it with 3 x 2/3 AA NimH. (easily available from several sources). The 3 cells are shorter than the 2-regular AAs, so you will just need a small spacer..-which you can make very neatly out of tightly formed Aluminum foil.

Activate the flashlight for 5-10min.
If the head becomes very warm, you may have to resistor it. It probably won't, because I suspect most of the Inretech Luxeons have a relatively high forward voltage, and the smallness of those 2/3AA cells will help limited the available current also. You can, of course easily check it out with a DMM-shooting for under 500mA.

Also, if you happen to get a bit of a greenish tinted one, the higher voltage will "wash out" a lot of that unwanted tint.
-That's how I would do it on the cheap.

Yeah, not that a bunch of us are just LURKING here or anything....

Why would I do that? I'm not, I am uhhh...doing my chem homework. Yeah, that's it, I'm not avoiding it at all....

Well, I guess it is just that we all just got the URGE at the same time to post to this thread.

Moved to the Mod forum

If cost is the premium variable IMHO expensive batteries are possibly not the best solution. Inrtech drop-ins are a very reasonable $20.00. A dat2zip BB 400 is little more increase of cost than one set "special" batteries. A BB 400 is highly sought after and available.

Originally posted by Icebreak:
If cost is the premium variable IMHO expensive batteries are possibly not the best solution. Inrtech drop-ins are a very reasonable $20.00. A dat2zip BB 400 is little more increase of cost than one set "special" batteries. A BB 400 is highly sought after and available.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Those cells I recommended can be had for anywhere from 50 cents each(if you know where to look ) to a mere $3. ea. and can be recharged at least 500 times over...resulting in considerable operational cost savings.

Actually, I get my 2/3 AA Nicads absolutely free -from cordless phones that other people thoughtlessly throw away!

Yeah, plus they are rechargable! Even at $3 each, you spend $9-$15 (shipping and max cost) and no more batteries! They have about the same capacity as a AAA (nimh's do anyway), so you rig up a fake AAA battery with the contacts going to the real battery, and you can charge the individual cells in your rayovac 1 hour charger!

Spud

I got 2/3AAs from TNR Technical for $1.50 each. 3 are actually a wee bit shorter than 2AAs

Beware - while only 650mAh, these little buggers are POWERFUL! Before adding resistance, 3 of these drove a somewhat low Vf Luxeon at 1.3A

-Darin

well, the point of my question was really to avoid drop-ins and such. i have this thing about making my own lights myself without special drop-ins or regulators. also, i don't want to mess with any of this resistance crap. i plan on mounding a copper heatsink to the top of the minimag, and arctic silverizing the led to that. if this was done, then i would need a battery combonation slightly larger than the origional 2aa's.

i would love to use a red/orange luxeon, but the slug is not electrically neutral, it is positive (why on God's earth would they do that?) and i don't know how to mound it as such....maybe if i put the batteries in backwards???

Understood. You are building not buying. I guess I forgot what forum I was reading. I would be the one to suggest putting the batteries in backwards. I see now that I was making a suggestion on how to do something I don't know how to do. I'll be more careful here. My apologies.

no apologies needed, believe me, i have considered that option, and eventually i will undoubtedly get one.