Got Badboy 500 Today

I'm very impressed with the mod. Extremely easy to install, and it is very white. This is the second mod I bought and it is whiter than anything I have seen.

The reason why I didn't buy it first was because I heard a few people complain about the mod acting all strange because of flickering that could only be resolved by adding an "ugly" kroll tail cap. Well, I bought a kroll clicky anyways, along with acrylic balls, mcflood optics, and mineral lenses.

I spent a few seconds installing the mod, and used the kroll clicky first. It looked nice, light was white, optics were all fun to play with. The acrylic ball was a really interesting accessory that I never see mentioned here. It gets some pretty good throw. With the kroll cap, the light worked flawlessly. No flickering or loose connections. I decided to try with the normal cap, and it works flawlessly as well. It works just like the original incandescent model. When the head is turned to the off position, it stays off. When turned a little bit, it goes up and stays on. I've decided to use the stock tailcap since my model is in silver and the kroll cap is black which looks a little off with the light.

Great mod, accessories can make the light do anything. I'm sticking to the mcflood right now since my LGI can do the throwing. Highly recommended.

Hath,

good deal. I have (had) one as well. But be carefull with
runtime tests. My Batteries leaked even the light had still an usefull output. Then I wasn't able to get the batteries out and pressed from the top. Now the LS is broken from the pcb. Just searching for time to repair the stuff and hopefully it works then again :-|

Cheers
Ralf

The flickering problem could be fixed by making sure the top of the module was nice and clean, because one speck of dirt could cause no contact.

-Dan

The BB is one cool mod. Unfortunately mine is quite yellow/green and I do have the flickering issue. Flickering seems to happen most when using my rechargble NiMH batts. They seem to fit just a little looser than the alkalines.

I have a BB400 (same mechanical specs, just lower current drive) in a MiniMag and I have experienced some very small flickering problems, mainly if you tap the tail of the light on a hard surface while it is on. I am using NiMH rechargeable cells, but the overall length (including nipples) appears to be about the same as Duracell AAs that I checked them with, possibly slightly longer. A quick fix would be to place a solder blob on the positive contact on the module, or maybe stretch the negative battery contact spring a little...or put something under or on top of the spring. I haven't really found it to be an issue.

When I disassembled my minimag to install the module, I carefully cleaned the inside of the lip on the top of the barrel. I used a contact cleaner, but just about any kind of solvent will do. That might help some flickering problems. It also helps to examine the top ring surface of the module for little flecks of solder or other debris, and scrape off the solder/wipe it clean before installation.

I was doing some runtime tests with some cheap AA alkalines, but I paused the test once when I noticed them getting warm. The second go around it took only a few minutes for them to begin getting warm, and I could tell the light output was reduced...so I stopped it there. Much beyond that and I probably would have had the same problem that Ralf had...sorry Ralf! Worst comes to worst, you could sacrifice the MiniMag and cut through the barrel about 1/2" below the top (but not through the AA cells inside!) and get at the module.

I too was worried about the on/off issues, but I have had no problems with using the stock tailcap. Installing the Kroll would have meant that I can't stand it on its end, use it in candle mode, or use it in the holster (its primary storage location, on my belt!) Without using the split ring, the head bottoms out on the threaded barrel and there is still movement in the spring. I don't mind the fact that the pill might come out when you slide out the batteries, it's easy to slide back in.

Just my two cents. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'll chime in and say how fantastic my bb500 is. I love it. The Luxeon does indeed have some greenish edges to the beam, but it is completely acceptable.

For those of you suffering from the flickering I recommend that you pull it out of those M*G bodies and put it into a Brinkmann Legend 2AA. Clicky tail switch lets you use a retaining clip to secure the BB into the light and once I cleaned mine of metal shavings left over from the threading I think it has worked flawlessly.

The flickering fix for my MadMax was to create four dimples on the Minimag housing by tapping a thin piece of steel through the top with the guts removed. I determined that the problem is inconsistent contact between the module and the aluminum housing because both units are too smooth. The dimples provide points of contact that are very consistent. I have had zero problems with flickering since that modification.

Creating dimples in the Minimag housing. That's a great idea Mike.

can you explain in more detail? my madmax also "flickers", but the top of my AA maglite has a small 'lip' that holds the sandwich in place.

is it this lip that you put the dimples into?

Wow, it seems like I got lucky with my Badboy but whatever the case, it's a great light. When I compare my LGI to the Badboy, the LGI has this sickly pea green outline, but the center of the light is a very nice color. I had nothing to compare the LGI to before and I thought I got a good one since the whole beam wasn't pea green. Too bad all these luxeons can't be as white as my Badboy. I sure am glad I found CPF, or else I would be stuck with only cheap retail flashlights.

Alright, I took some quick shots of my LGI and BB. I do not claim these shots as accurate, actually, I claim them as very inaccurate. No measurements were taken to guarantee anything, and pictures always come out in strange colors. Take these pictures with a grain of salt, they're just extra pictures to look at.

LGI is equipped with it's stock NX05 optic so it has a much bigger and brighter hot spot and the Badboy is equipped with a Mcflood.

LGI Torch:


LGI Beam:


Badboy Torch:


Badboy Beam:


Beam shot of both the LGI and Badboy together:


I still like both flashlights, each has it's unique capabilities. Since the Badboy is smaller, I'll use it as a small flashlight so I only want to light up a close area with it. I will stick with the Mcflood on it for now. The LGI is longer and less carryable so it is used for my spotlight needs.

My BB500 is fantastic! If anything there is very slight purple tint to it - barely noticeable, much less than the blueish tint in my Inova X5T - and I haven't had any flickering problems.

I plan on ordering a few more as gifts for friends & family (and maybe myself). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jon

[ QUOTE ]
Hath said:When I compare my LGI to the Badboy, the LGI has this sickly pea green outline, but the center of the light is a very nice color. I had nothing to compare the LGI to before and I thought I got a good one since the whole beam wasn't pea green.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure you have a MR. BULK LGI? I have bought 4 LGI's and one MINI LGI, and they are just the brightest and whitest Luxeon Stars that I own. Charlie prides himself on only selling the whitest, brightes LS's available.

I also own a BB500 and a MadMax. Standard selection, not the upgraded bin selection. (Wasn't available when I bought my sandwiches).

While both of those lights are very nice, and I actually am planning on buying another set of BB500 and MaxMax with the upgraded bin's, BUT the color does not compare to my LGI's. Neither of my dat2zip sandwiches have any green in it at all, I want to be very clear about that, they are not the snow white, pure white light that I get out of my LGI's. They are more like a Natural color, or lean towards what a bright incandecent would put out, a slight very light yellow color (Like a fully charged Streamlight Stinger HP, or SureFire color nothing dingey at all).

Now I want to be VERY CLEAR here, as I think the Bad Boys and Mad Max sandwiches are just incredibly AWESOME! Beyond Incredibly Awesome. Any color variations has nothing to do with Wayne's sandwich, but with Lumileds, the manufacturer of the Luxeon Star.

I think you should take this up with Charlie, Mr. Bulk. I just cannot imagine Charlie selling a light that had even a HINT of green.

Nothing here is at all meant to say anything bad about any dat2zip sandwiches. You cannot call yourself a true flashoholic without owning one of these fantastic sandwiches. I waited very patiently for several months for his sandwiches to become available for sale. I just don't want anyone to think that Mr. Bulk's LGI's are green! I know for a fact that he hand selects each LS that he sells, and only sells his lights when he already has sourced and sorted the LED's to verify that they are as white and as bright as possible.

When I got my LGI Classic it was the first luxeon I had ever seen. It definitely has a hint of a green corona and in the first few days with it I was painfully aware of it. However, after gaining a little more experience with luxeons in other things I can say that the one in my LGI is exceptional. There definitely IS some green around the edges, but compared to others it's a terrific specimen.

So I can certainly see how someone would think that, but really, they are terrific.

Mine has some green around the edges, too, but it's white enough I'm not going to complain. Not the "snow white" of the LEDcorp Epieon I got, though. (I was lucky)

[ QUOTE ]
BuddTX said:

Are you sure you have a MR. BULK LGI? I have bought 4 LGI's and one MINI LGI, and they are just the brightest and whitest Luxeon Stars that I own. Charlie prides himself on only selling the whitest, brightes LS's available...

...I think you should take this up with Charlie, Mr. Bulk. I just cannot imagine Charlie selling a light that had even a HINT of green...

...I just don't want anyone to think that Mr. Bulk's LGI's are green! I know for a fact that he hand selects each LS that he sells, and only sells his lights when he already has sourced and sorted the LED's to verify that they are as white and as bright as possible.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, this is one of Charlie's, I emailed him to order it a few weeks back. I am content with the light I received from him because you just can't always win, especially with Luxeon lottery. His prices are extremely low too, and that's the main reason I won't whine and moan about it. The LGI has an extremely white hot spot, whiter than the Badboy, it's just everything else that is not in the hot spot. The green becomes much more noticeable each day after using the Badboy, but when not being shined on white walls, I don't really notice.

Sorry for a newbie post.
Can someone give me any information oh how I can buy or look into buying either a Bad Boy 500 or an LGI?
I can't seem to find the info?
Any information is appreciated.

Thank!

Here is the thread on the Bad Boys and Mad MAX:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=122268&fpart=1&PHPSESSID=

And here is the Sandwich shoppe:
http://home.attbi.com/~theledguy/cpf_store/cpf_store.htm

Here is Mr. bulk's site:
http://darkgear.com/mrbulk/

And here are some threads:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=129557&Forum=UBB14&Words=lgi&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=1year&Main=129557&Search=true#Post129557

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=129545&Forum=UBB14&Words=lgi&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=1year&Main=129545&Search=true#Post129545

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=131586&Forum=UBB14&Words=lgi&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=1year&Main=131586&Search=true#Post131586

WoW! ! !
Thanks for the links. .
Sorry to hi-jack the post.

Thanks!

heay BuddTX:
If you are going to post links that are super long could you
post them like this so you don't make the whole page
too wide to read:
link

next link
another link