Who makes an LED head for MagLite?

etc

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
5,777
Location
Northern Virginia
I want a kick-@ss head for 4D MagLite. I want brightness but also good run time. About 80 Lumens would be good and 10+ hours. Heatsinking definitely. Good throw.

I don't want it so bright the run time is drastically reduced over MagLED module.
 

Meduza

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
421
Location
Sweden
ok...

if you can assemble the parts yourself:

Buy this:
DHS Heatsink from H22A - 10$ - Good heatsink for single Lux emitter.
Downboy 750ma from Sandwich shoppe - $16.50 - Good step-down converter
UW0J LuxIII from PhotonFanatic - $20 - Great LuxIII bin, both in flux, tint and vF.

And if you want to go rechargable:
CTA 12000mah D Cell 2 pack - $19 / 2cells (4 needed)

That should give you at least 90 lumens with good throw for about 17h regulated with rechargable cells,
alkaline will propably drop out of regulation earlier than 17h, propably around 12-14h, but will keep running a longer,
slowly dimmishing tail afterwards.
 

etc

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
5,777
Location
Northern Virginia
medusa,

Are you saying that this setup is brighter than either standard MagLED drop-in module and brighter than TerraLUX MaxStar2N?

I am not sure what the Lumens rating of the MagLED module is. It's OK, but not real impressive.
 

Meduza

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
421
Location
Sweden
Yes, that setup will surely be a lot brighter than that TerraLux.
The MagLED drops a lot the first 15min because of heat, when it settles it outputs the same light as a 1w luxeon...

This will be quite a bit brighter than the MagLED the whole time and wont drop as much because of the much better heatsinking.

I would guess the double output from this light than from the MagLED when both lights have settled.

If you want it even a little brighter, buy a 1000ma Downboy instead of a 750ma:
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_49_61&products_id=478

And get 20% more lumens and a runtime decrease to about 13-14h.
 

rscanady

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
785
Location
Beaverton, OR
etc said:
I want a kick-@ss head for 4D MagLite. I want brightness but also good run time. About 80 Lumens would be good and 10+ hours. Heatsinking definitely. Good throw.

I don't want it so bright the run time is drastically reduced over MagLED module.


If you dont consider 80 lumens bright, I am curious as to what you do consider bright?

Sounds like you are looking for a U bin driven at stock using a DB 750. Using 4 D cells (6 volts) I would expect your current in to be around 500-600mA, giving that some alkaline have 18000 mah ratings, in a perfect world you could see ~30 hours. Of course you need to factor in effeciency, voltage sag and so on, but getting 10+ hours shouldnt be a problem while pushing the LED at spec.

Ryan
 

Meduza

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
421
Location
Sweden
If buying a U bin, i would drive it at least at spec (700ma), and you will still get like 15h+
But of course can you use a 500mah for that, but then why do you use a Lux3 and dont drop down to a S-bin LuxI driven at 400ma for about 60lm and get even longer runtime?

But then we are down to the output level of the MagLED... and that is not too bright...

If i would do this mod, i would go with a U-bin driven at somewhere between 700ma and 1 amp.

For me, a Good bin Lux3 driven at spec is just right for a general use light.
 

etc

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
5,777
Location
Northern Virginia
If you dont consider 80 lumens bright, I am curious as to what you do consider bright?


No, I consider anything over 50 Lumens very bright. What I meant to say I don't want brightness at the expense of run time.


S-bin LuxI driven at 400ma for about 60lm and get even longer runtime?


What kind of a run time could I expect from this? Can I get 30 hours?
 
Last edited:

Meduza

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
421
Location
Sweden
With a LuxI, SxxH bin driven at 400ma you would be off to the 30h+ lands i think...
 

etc

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
5,777
Location
Northern Virginia
But would it mean any advantage over the 3W MagLED I already have in the 4D MagLite? According to the charts, it runs for 24h+ with a long tail.
 

Meduza

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
421
Location
Sweden
I made a calculation with:
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/resistor_calc.php

With a 12Ah source (thats about what good rechargable and alkaline cells should do at that current draw) it tells me that it should have about 35h runtime.

I would guess that maybe 33h regulated and then a long tail.

No huge effenciy drop as in the MagLED, and about the same brightness (and you can change LED when better bins come).
 

Brocken

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 20, 2002
Messages
87
Location
Southwest Michigan USA
Meduza said:
ok...

if you can assemble the parts yourself:

Buy this:
DHS Heatsink from H22A - 10$ - Good heatsink for single Lux emitter.
Downboy 750ma from Sandwich shoppe - $16.50 - Good step-down converter
UW0J LuxIII from PhotonFanatic - $20 - Great LuxIII bin, both in flux, tint and vF.

And if you want to go rechargable:
CTA 12000mah D Cell 2 pack - $19 / 2cells (4 needed)

That should give you at least 90 lumens with good throw for about 17h regulated with rechargable cells,
alkaline will propably drop out of regulation earlier than 17h, propably around 12-14h, but will keep running a longer,
slowly dimmishing tail afterwards.

Could these same parts be used with a 2D or 3D mag with the same results, just maybe a shorter runtime and/or less light?

dave
 

etc

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
5,777
Location
Northern Virginia
Obviously, I don't understand the input fields, as I got:



The computed run time is 20000 Hours

For a Badboy configuration the Badboy would come out of regulation around 0.6 Volts





Compute the battery run time for Downboy or Badboy converter board. Enter the values needed.
The formula used is (Vin * Iin)/ (1.2 * (Vled * Iled) )
Where 1.2 factors in 80% efficiency of the converter board.

Desired LED Current (in Amps): ???? 0.5
LED Vf Voltage (in Volts): ???? 1.5
Battery Input Voltage (in Volts): ????? 1.5
Battery Amp/Hr capacity (in Amps): ????
 

Meduza

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
421
Location
Sweden
Brocken said:
Could these same parts be used with a 2D or 3D mag with the same results, just maybe a shorter runtime and/or less light?

dave

No, then you cant use a Downboy that is a step-down converter because you havnt enough voltage headroom.

for a 3D you can use the Wiz2 driver or just make it a resistored DD.

etc said:
Obviously, I don't understand the input fields, as I got:



The computed run time is 20000 Hours

For a Badboy configuration the Badboy would come out of regulation around 0.6 Volts





Compute the battery run time for Downboy or Badboy converter board. Enter the values needed.
The formula used is (Vin * Iin)/ (1.2 * (Vled * Iled) )
Where 1.2 factors in 80% efficiency of the converter board.

Desired LED Current (in Amps): ???? 0.5
LED Vf Voltage (in Volts): ???? 1.5
Battery Input Voltage (in Volts): ????? 1.5
Battery Amp/Hr capacity (in Amps): ????

Desired LED Current (in Amps): 0.4 (400ma)
LED Vf Voltage (in Volts): 3.15 (middle of range for H bin)
Battery Input Voltage (in Volts): 4.8 (4 NiMh cells voltage)
Battery Amp/Hr capacity (in Amps): 12 (12.000mah)
 
Last edited:

Meduza

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
421
Location
Sweden
With a SxxH, i would guess about 60lumens from LED under the regulated time.
 
Top