Minimag Hotwires?

Buck91

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Feb 26, 2007
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Well, I've been looking to hotwire my 2xAA minimag with this kit from lighthound. Unfortunately they do not have the TL3 bulbs in stock and I have been unable to find them in local stores... So I'm holding out as I have a few questions I haven't been able to answer. Hopefully yous guys can help.

I would think this will out throw my G2 P60, correct? 3.7v*2 > 3v*2 therefore it would appear to have greater lighting potential (iff all lenses and reflectors were created equal). What should I expect with that reguard?

I have a pair of Trustfire 14500's, but want to get at least 1 pair of AW 14500's (protected) and maybe a pair of unprotected (if this light will require it). Are there any other hotwire-type options out there for a 2xAA/2x14500 setup which would put the G2 to shame?
 

cernobila

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Nov 27, 2004
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I think that the 2x 14500 / TL-3 combination is as good as it gets, about 20 minutes run time I think, anything stronger than this will give you very short run times and would be impractical. To check out the beam with some others, have a look at my sig line......
 

jugg2

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Nov 15, 2007
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Georgia
I was in the Batteries Plus in macon the other day, and they had the bulbs in there. I guess cause they carry a few Streamlight products.
 

mdocod

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Nov 9, 2005
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voltage alone has nothing to do with power or brightness, and battery label voltage has nothing to do with voltage under a load. so your comparison is accurate by coincidence in this case. ( :) ) The TL-3 bulb is in fact about 50+% brighter than a P60. The P60 is actually about a 5V 1.2A bulb, while the TL-3 is about a 7.5V 1.2A bulb. or 6 watts vs 9 watts respectively.

You're not going to put a G2 to "shame" with something similar in size as far as output is concerned. In fact a G2 with a P61 is right up there with the brightest lights in it's size category (albeit very limited runtime).... To truly "shame" a light you need to move up in brightness by not just a few percent, but by a few magnitudes. My rule of thumb is that a decent "notch" brighter requires double the lumens. Doubling lumens won't bring shame, it will simply appear a notch brighter. To bring shame, try 5-10X as bright. I suggest a 600+ torch lumen mag modification, or a Surefire M6, or something similar, then the shame will be brought down.
 

half-watt

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Jul 12, 2007
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