Quad Cree 2d Mag...w/pics

Hello
Long time reader but this is my first time posting.
This is one of my first major mods that I have attempted. I know this mod has been done many times already but it's posts like these that got me started in modding.

Mod is in a 2d maglite, most parts were purchaced from the sandwich shoppe including...

• perfect tri/quad cree heatsink $19
• McR-19xr reflectors $15x4
• cree P4 emitters $10x4
• 2d to 8aa battery holder $18
• Shark Step up converter $20
• remora UI board $ 9
• Total $166

There are many way to make this mod cheaper to build. One way is by purchasing the reflectors, leds, & converter boards from a website like DealExtreme. You can also read up on posts from other members on how to make your own battery holder.

The shark provides a low, medium, high & SOS modes. Low mode appears to be about the same brightness of my fexin l2d ce (135ish lumens) and the light doesn't even get warm. The light gets warm on medium but could be left on through the entire battery life. High can only be left on a couple minutes until the light seems to get a little too hot. Considering that the leds are using about 16 watts that this is pretty normal.

I used a brake cylinder hone from Advance Auto Parts (12-$14) to bore out the flashlight tube. Thanks to the other members for the suggestion, it really saved some time. It still does take awhile to do but the drill does most of the work:naughty:. Sure would be nice to own a lathe. I'm not sure if its easier but one other way I've seen done is by using a long round file. Create 4 semi-circle notches inside the tube for the batteries to seat into.

Later down the road I will upgrade the cree P4's to the new R2's and also a better lens to replace the stock one.

Here are the Shark & Remora Boards. Notice the one pic i shaved off some of the coating on the ground trace and soldered on metal spacers in a triangle pattern. I could then push the pcb into the heatsink paste until it touched the heatsink to get maximum cooling but without shorting the pins on the pcb.








Fenix L2d ce in turbo mode (135lm) on left, mag on right, wall is about 20 feet away.

Firstly :welcome:

Great first post!
Could you expalin a bit about the boring using a brake cylinder hone? That's a new one on me?
Cheers

Hey thanks!
Here is a pic of the tool. I find that it works best when used while running cold water through one end of the flashlight tube. This keeps the stones clean and also keeps the tube cool. Otherwise it will get hot and quick!

HI wow that looks great , nice beam pics ...

what breed is the battery holder...


DC

Thats Sweet man
You wont be dissapointed with the upgrade to 4 when the time comes

Sorry to go off topic abit but but does the brake hone work ??
Also what is it worth

Thanks

Very nice mod, magmodmike and a very interesting boring tool too :thumbsup:

I update the first post, added some prices and sources for parts to answer some PM's

The brake hone works but still takes some time and patients. I think I had to charge my drill about 3-4 times. There are also several sizes and they very from about 12-$14.

Hi,

Nice build on your light, can i ask how much material did you remove with the honing tool approx ??? i am looking at this same idea for a hipflex driver, i have a drill press and wondered if it is suitable for taking out about 1 or 2 mm ?

-Dan

Here's a little tip about speeding things up with that brake hone. The stones have a very fine grit (usually 240) and don't take off too much too fast. Wrap the hone in sand paper to speed up the honing.

I use "Norton Stick & Sand" 6 inch round, adhesive backed sanding pads for an orbital sander. I got a pack of 40 grit and a pack of 120 grit. Each pack is about $4 and has five or six pads in each. I cut a strip from each pad about as wide as the height of the stones, peel the backing off to expose the adhesive and wrap the hone around the stones with the sandpaper. (Wrap in the opposite direction of the rotation of the drill, while squeezing the hone legs together to fit the ID of the tube.)

I do the 40 grit first and then the 120 grit to smoothen the finish. I even go so far as to do a last pass with the stones wrapped in #000 steel wool to give tube an almost mirror polish, but that's totally unnecessary.

Total time to bore out a 3C mag to fit the AW 26500 cells is about 10-12 minutes. It makes the honing go a lot faster.

How much did aluminium did you take out of the tube to fit these cells ?

I did a search and came up with alot of different results !!!! eek

Would you say this method would be suitable to take out 1.5mm of material from a Mag D

i have a drill press but no lathe - sigh....

May have to try and use my friends lathe.....

Thanks for the sandpaper idea !

I took the ID of the Mag tubes out to the same diameter as the threads, whatever that is. Obviously, there's no point in taking the threads off and no point in making the ID of the rest of the tube wider than the ID of the threaded section. If your battery or pack can fit passed the threads but hits the tube after that, you can widen the tube as much as you need using the hone + sandpaper. Wear a mask and eye protection while honing. I wear a welder's glove on the hand I hold the Mag in to keep from burning my hand.

once again - thanks for the advice.

I think i will pick up a honing tool as they are quite inexpensive.... compared to a lathe !!!!
I can put it in my small drill press and clamp the shortened mag body in the vise. and let it run with some cooling. i will give it a shot with the 40-120 grit sandpaper trick...

The reason for all my question is...
I want to take out the mad D tube i have from 34.1mm(ID) to greater than 35.6mm(ID) which is the width of the hipflex driver(s) I have
This is so i can mount the hipflex on the back of a Der Wichtel 3 x P7 heatsink with a groove / channel / hole in the heatsink to route the led wires... for a 0.5D 3 x P7 mag build
Just waitng on the Der Wichtel heatsink I have on its way in the post. I think Aus post over here may have held it up over the weekend.

-Dan

Great mod and thank you for tips on the boring tool.
Thank you Techjunkie for the sandpaper idea.

:welcome:

Nice job! I've been wanting to build a multiple Cree light myself.