M*g Lite 3D mod

Hi all, getting more and more hooked by the modding virus

What would you guys suggest for a mod for a 3D m*glite?

I thought of the following combination:
- Three ' 3AA-to-D' elements (when they come available from electrolumens)
Should they be in series or parallel??
- M*glite 3D flashlight
- Glass lens
- New optics
What types of optics are available for a M*g 3D?
- And last but not least a super bright incandecent lightbulb that could handle those 9 AA rechargable batteries (AA Ni-MH 2100mAh Sanyo 1.2V) What type of bulb would be advisable. I'm looking for maximum throw and brightness. (I guess there wouldn't be a LED alternative for the setup I'm looking for?)

Thanks

Chris
The Netherlands

I recommend reading the "modified flashlights database" sticky thread at the top of this forum.

Everything you're looking for can be found there...

Not to pick on you Chris, but is there a specific reason you chose to spell it M*glight? do you also have a problem with that company, or is it because everyone else does it? I know there are a lot of people around here that don't like maglights for some reason, and make up silly names for them, but now it's gotten out of hand to a point where if someone tries to do a search for mods (like yourself), they'd probably miss all of the good info on it just because they didn't know what to search for. Can we at least standardize on a made-up name for them so we can search without having to figure out how it's spelled?

Try searching under M*gl*te (or any combination of * and letters), Gaglite, ***lite, Craplight, etc. mabye you'll find some useful info.

Anyway, back to your topic. There are a lot of different bulb options and battery combinations for that light, you could go with 8 AA's if you have the machining skills, 6 AA's, maybe 3-4 CR123's with a spacer tube, or leave it at 3D's. Maximum throw would probably be an incandescent, but the new 5 watt Luxeon LED's are coming out, if you can stuff 7.5+ volts in there somehow with one of those battery combinations, you could drive a 5 watter. Or if you want a simple, reliable, long lasting light, but not extremely bright, you can just mod the bulb to use a 1 watt and 3D size batteries.

I'm assuming that it's a trademark issue causing everyone else to do it... Sometimes some companies are a bit overzealous about trademark enforcement, to the point where even those who used the name when simply talking about the product would live in fear. (UN*X was one such example...)

Maybe, but it seems to be the new trend on CPF to come up with some different name for Maglight. They've been sueing companies for as long as I've known them, but only recently has this name changing been an issue on CPF. As far as I know, they haven't threatened to sue CPF for talking about them, so I dunno what the big deal is. I guess it was funny at first, mabye a form of protest, but now everybody and their mother is trying to think up a new name to call them, but the fact is a lot of people want to find out how to modify them, and they can't find info because they don't know what to search for. Ok, no more ranting. Just had to vent because I see this name calling as a useless fad.

I have complete upgrade kits for D-cell M@gl1tes coming out very soon on my website. These contain all the components you need to move your M@g from mediocre to outstanding.

For a brief preview see my January 8 post in this thread:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=001019

Thanks!

A.

Thanks for the quick replys on this matter!! The reason I posted this topic was to get some to-the-point info about how to improve the quality of my flashlight.

It's quite hard indeed to search this bulletin board due to the numerous way a spelling maglite. I guess a lot of people copy the use of the asterikses (*) to have some way off uniformity... New people (like me) have no clue why Maglite is spelled differently (I figured it out last nite after searching this forum for quite a while). I thought it was some kind of CPF jargon...I'll better my life from now on

Anyway, back to the subject:
Inthedark you speak of incandecents having probably maximum throw: which brands/types would you recommend? In combination with the AA batts.
Are there any bulbs around that handle 9x 1.2V from the rechargables?

Chris

PS please excuse the typos. I'm a DutchBoy

sorry, can't help you that much. I'd tell you to do a search but who knows what you'll find. But there are people who've done that kind of stuff already, I can't find the links, but here are some other ideas.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000939#000000

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=000782#000009

The only reason i'd suggest incandescent is because they're usually brighter than LED's (except for the 5 watt LED coming out soon). Check out Mr Bulk's 5 watt mods, you'll probably wanna change your mind about incandescents.

InTheDark: I agree totally. I've been saying for a while now that the misspelling of Mag-Lite is really getting way out of hand and is doing more to harm CPF members than it ever would to hurt Mag-Lite Inc. If Mag is willing to sue over anything, I would be more inclined to belive that they would be more willing to sue over the defacement of their brand name than the proper use of it. I, like most people here, thought it was kind of funny at first, but now it is just getting to be a real hindrance to efficient communication. I mean, come on guys, some of the misspellings are so off that I have to really stop and think about it to even figure out what light is being referred to. E. G. – CrapLite, FagLight, M*g*I*t*

Yeah, I think I'm going to mod a **g**** as soon as I get home..

www.carleylamps.com

Go to the xenon page

Lamp #809 10.5v 1.2 amps 12.6 watts

Order over the phone. Ask em to pot it into a PR base. This should be a bright lamp. 314 lumens. Expect less than that to come out of the polycarbonate reflector. Maybe 300 lumens, maybe less. At that wattage, there is a chance that the reflector might soften or might melt. But I think it should be alright. You might want to get a lens from www.flashlightlens.com so that more light can pass through.

If you get Elektrolumen's 3AA to D, what's the point having parallel? D cells have much higher capacity than 3 AAs, and with the same voltage, you're still stuck with standard bulb options.

In series, you'd be screamin'.

Originally posted by Onyx:
If you get Elektrolumen's 3AA to D, what's the point having parallel? D cells have much higher capacity than 3 AAs, and with the same voltage, you're still stuck with standard bulb options.

In series, you'd be screamin'.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">3 AAs are much easier to come by and usually cheaper than 1 D of the same capacity. Plus they're easier to charge. Also, if alkalines, 3 paralell AAs may actually be able to source more current than 1 D. (Internal resistance is typically lower for higher-capacity cells, BUT it's higher for higher-diameter cells. D cell internal resistances that some were quoting were a lot higher than 1/3 that of an AA.)

with respect to peter @ arc. this is a public forum and referring to maglite should be just that in its entirety. no maglite board member or sane or insane lawer representing the maglite company could sue anyone here with referance to whether they like the product or not. or make such a hindrance to the aformentioned company. it is free speech afterall. if one wants to license or market a product they of coarse need to be carefull. but out of respect to someone else whether they like the person or company or not, they should still feel free to go by the constitution.