2C Mag Mod

Well the time has come. I've poked around these forums enough and have decided that I need to build a bright LED flashlight.

I am wondering how this will go together and if I I'm doing this right.

This is my tentative parts list:
- 4x Star Mounted Cree Q5 WG tint from Deal Extreme at $6.45 each (I'm buying some extra)
- 1x Modamag perfect XR19 Cree C Heatsink from the Sandwich Shoppe at $19
- 1x Shark driver board from the Sandwich Shoppe at $23 with the trimpot removed
- 1x Remora UI board for the Shark from the Sandwich Shoppe at $9
- 4x McR-19XR reflectors from the Sandwich Shoppe at $15 each
- 1x 2C (would have preferred D but there were no D size heatsinks left) haven't decided where I will buy from yet (suggestions welcome for supplier)

A few questions I have:
1. How will the driver fit? I have seen some tutorials with the cut down switch. I figure I'll need to do this and the driver will go under the switch.
2. Can I just use the emitter from star? I have seen a video where someone puts the star on a hot plate and the emitter just comes right off. I am awaiting an email from another supplier for the LEDs and I might be able to get just the emitters from them at a competitive price to DX.
3. Do I need to use Arctic Alumina epoxy or something else to electrically isolate the emitters?
4. Will other reflectors work with this?
5. EDIT: (forgot this one) Need to heatsink the driver somehow. How should I go about this?
5. EDIT2: (forgot this one as well) Should I even be doing something with Crees or should it be a P7 mod?

I haven't ordered anything yet so this is all open to change if I'm doing it all wrong. Please give me suggestions if the parts I'm buying are not a great deal, things I'm doing wrong, things I'm forgetting. Also, please give me advice if I should be starting with something easier. (I am making a headlamp from some Luxeon I's right now)


Thank You
Spencer

You can get a 2C Maglite from Home Depot. They'll have them in black, if you get lucky you can find them in pewter, and if you get really lucky you can find an occasional rare blue one.

A P7 mod would be much easier in terms of assembly and cheaper as well. You'd only need a heatsink, the LED, and a driver, and could use the stock reflector. The only P7 drivers are the AMC7135 boards from KD, which require ~3.6 in, combined with a low vF emitter (I or H bin) for the best regulation. You can do this with one C Li-Ion, one 18650 cell, or 3x Sub-C NiMh's with a bored out tailcap.

Hi,

I am not sure about the circuits you plan to use, but I just completed something similar for a bike light.

#2 - I removed the emitters using a butane jet lighter at the back of the star while tapping the star (held with pliers) until the emitter fell off.

#3 - Snip the edges of the emitters to remove the vias from the top to the bottom pads, this will keep the bottom pads from shorting to the heatsink.

#4 - I used an optic from DealExtreme in mine, but the height is much lower so the heatsink (I think I used the same one you are planning to use) was not screwed into the head of the light but sits on a washer. This is not the best, but works OK.

I used a buckpuck in my mod which seemed to be the simple way out.

I also modded an existing light's drop in module to make a simple LED tester by extending the output wires outside the light. This was useful in quickly checking the LED's after they were removed from the stars.

One more thing, regarding the P7, it takes alot of current to drive (2800ma at 4.2V per DX). I did not know about it when I built my light but using the Cree Q5's seems simpler (and the upgrade to a Cree r4 or whatever should be simpler). It would also take a different reflector.