Project Gemini – Two 2C M*g with SSC P4 (pictures)

Project Gemini – Two 2C M*g with SSC P4 (pictures)

The impetus for this little project was the complete lack of any good LED upgrades for the Maglite. The TerraLux drop in was a bitter disappointment for me…
(I'm really amazed and disgusted at the total lack of options for LED Maglite upgrades outside of DIY projects)


Parts and price list:

• 2C Maglite - Home Depot $26.97 Canadian + 7% GST + 6% PST Taxes ($3.51) = $30.47 ($28.54US)

• LITEmania Heatsink for SSC P4 on MagC $12US (x2) + $5US shipping = $14.50 each ($29US Total)
  (alternate CPF link to LITEmania thread here )

• SSC Seoul P4 (U-bin) SW0 Bare Emitter $6.95US from DealExtreme
  here with Worldwide free shipping.

• MicroPuck SHO (Super High Output) $9.99US from Led Supply here Shipping to Canada – only option available FED-EX @ $19 !!! Additional Fed-EX delivery at the door fee of $12.98 ($12.16US) Canadian. 4 pucks @ $9.99US = $39.96 + $19US + $12.16US = $71.12US. Therefore each MicroPuck cost 71.12 / 4 = $17.78US each. (DealExtreme and other Asian online retailers will eat US online retailers alive with their prices and FREE Worldwide shipping =)

• UCL glass Maglite lens (52.1mm x 1.90mm) $5.50 each from flashlightlens.com. Shipping was $1.50US. I ordered 5 UCL's so the shipping only added 30 cents to each lens. $5.80US per UCL.

• Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive from The Sandwich Shoppe here
  For $13.25US + $5US shipping = $18.25

[FONT=&quot]So total project cost per light $91.35US - not including Artctic Silver.
$18.25 / 2 = $9.12US added to each 2C Mag total cost since I have no use for the arctic silver anymore = $100.47US per light.

= = = = =

Conclusion and other points:

• Maglites were disassembled and washed in hot soapy water to remove the oily residue they come with. All threads were cleaned with old toothbrush and detergent to remove oil. New clear silicone grease was applied as final finishing touch.
• The 2C Maglite is a beautiful host for the SSC P4 LED. It is very bright and demonstrates the utter feebleness of the stock MagLED 3 cell!!!
• LITEmania's C size heatsink is awesome! It is heavier and better designed than I thought!
• The MicroPucks were even smaller than I had imagined too... even with all the excess wire and blue crimp covers, it all tucked inside the C Mag easy enough.
• I used Arctic Silver Thermal paste all around the outside of the LITEmania heatsinks where they press into the Maglite. (left over from my PC modding days)
• I disassembled the entire Maglite Switch to gain access to the metal tabs. I removed them and wound the MicroPuck leads together onto the tabs and soldered carefully. Tabs were first cleaned with 300 grit sandpaper and 99% isopropyl alcohol prior to soldering.

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• Blue plastic crimps are just covering the precisly wound and solderd joints. I have no shrink wrap tube... tape comes undone... what else to use?
• I was able to wrap the orange and green wires around the SSC P4's leads, fold the metal lead back onto itself crimping the wires, then solder quickly. No chance for a cold solder joint to come loose.

Great job!!!

Nice job.
I was also surprised by the cost of shipping from LED Supply. Everything outside the U.S. pretty much falls under one fee. In the end I bought the converters from the Shoppe since I needed supplies from there anyway.

Wow, I'm surprised at how much extra expense you got hit with due to being up in Canada. 2C Maglites cost more than $10 USD extra, plus over $20 in additional shipping costs per light. I ended up doing a 2D, and a 2C maglite (with only 1 micropuck each for long runtime, UCLs are on the way) for a total of $55 each, although a few things like ArcticSilver I already had around, for other projects.


Speaking of DX, they just recently put up some cheap boost circuits that might work for applications like this in the future:

Boost Drivers -- nominally 700mA, 3V input. $9.95 shipped for 5. Haven't used them so don't know about efficiency, but worth gambling on at least.

Buck Drivers -- 800mA, 3.6-9V input. I've actually used these already, they're actually surprisingly efficient, around 90%, and they only set me back $1.60 each! I have some more to use in a multi-emitter build (it's much cheaper to buy several of these than a single board robust enough to drive the whole string in series)

I didn't mind about the 2C Maglite costs too much... it was the disgusting FED-EX only shipping option from Led Supply that really did it. I'll never order from them again. There was another place that sells MicroPucks, a little more expensive... but perhaps a cheap USPS air mail $5 shipping option?

DX and their drivers... I'm sure they are good, but the MicroPucks are so small and even waterproof which is the kind of ruggedness I was looking for

This was my first DIY LED project of any kind. I am pretty sure it will be my last too... (next projects will all be hotwires, starting with a good ol' Mag85 )
The most lumens out of alkaline batteries was the goal of this LED project and I am really happy with the results. Now I want to experience 800 incandescent lumens bouncing off the ceiling!

Oh wow.

Good job Cy, you make us proud here in Vancouver.

:twothumbs

Just nuts how much it costs to get stuff sent to Canada at times tho.

:green:

Hows the throw on those puppies? Shine it across the to the island? :naughty:

Dude after reading your two write ups, I can see where your high standards point of view comes from...got to tip my hat off to your work. Even though I often find your points of view a bit elitist, I will say that you've done some excellent work here...got to give credit where credit is due. I've got a few of Litemania's D O-sinks lying around that I've been meaning to do a Mag mod with. Seeing your write up makes me want to get off my slacker butt and do some modding...but for the sake of variety, I've got other emitters I want to try. I can see a Mag mod with all the new different high power emitters that I've got right now: SSCP4, Edision Opto KLC8, CreeXRE Q2 and Lumiled K2 GenX emitters. Now I've got to put words to action...

very nice, except price,...

I don't know this driver, would it be possible to do some kind of regulation, like only one driver ~500mA and both drivers ~1000mA?

What would happen if you just cut off the input voltage to one driver and the output wires stays connected to the LED?

Good dual Mag.

Person who knows what he wants & hates junk! aack! Elitist!

Tidra said:

very nice, except price,...

I don't know this driver, would it be possible to do some kind of regulation, like only one driver ~500mA and both drivers ~1000mA?

What would happen if you just cut off the input voltage to one driver and the output wires stays connected to the LED?

Click to expand...

They are regulated according to the data sheets linked below. I think (?) you can place a switch between two MicroPucks in parallel, at the power inputs (not between the LED and the MicroPuck because it burns out without a load).

MicroPuck Applications Note.pdf
MicroPuck Online Datasheet.pdf

Super job on the twins!!!! I have always liked the 2C maglite form factor, the most eleglant and hand friendly of them all IMHO. Your mod has inspired me to try this very thing. Hopefully I can do it alittle cheaper here in the good old US of A.

Thanks for sharing.

Gary

Nice write up, you finally got round to making them.
Those micropucks really are small, even after seeing pictures, it's not until you have one in your hand you understand how small.

(not between the LED and the MicroPuck because it burns out without a load).

Click to expand...

Yep thats right, I proved that!

Sorry to hear how much the pucks cost you. Almost as bad as here in the UK, although there are only two suppliers in the UK. The one I used charged £7 each + postage, the other wanted £10 each + postage !
Mind you I would have trouble finding a C cell Mag in the UK, and then it would cost the earth.

These are great lights to make, nothing beats the satisfaction of saying "I built it myself" when asked where you got it from.
Please keep us upto date with your hot wires when you build them, intreasting stuff.

How do they look outside? Great work. Maybe you should sell a few?

Cydonia, hey, another Vancouverite!!!!

:wave: