Cheap but effective 3D mod for non-flashaholic.

One of my buddies wants me to re-vamp his 3D maglight, but he's not looking to spend a lot of money. So, I'm thinking about putting in some PVC pipe and using 4C cells in his light, with some kind of after market bulb. Any tips on what bulb to use, and where to get it from? I figure this will be brighter and cheaper than one of those LED drop-ins, but I could be wrong. Also, will I have to modify the spring when I cram in 4C cells?

You'll need to flip the spring over so the narrow part recesses itself in the tailcap. You can use the stock krypton bulb, which should be happily overdriven. It's an easy, cheap, incan mod. The only way to go brighter for cheap is to spend $30 for the KD Cree Q5 module.

You're not going to get a stellar leap in performance with 4 cells.
The quickest and cheapest upgrade with 4 cells would be to just use the stock 3 cell bulb. Overdriving it in this way makes it brighter and whiter - but shorter lived.


Tim.

What I was hoping for was something along the lines of this:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/815536&postcount=12

But that post was over three years ago, so I didn't know if those bulbs were still available... or if there was something else I could sub, for similar performance.

I think that alks won't last long under 2 amps...you need 5 nimh.
the best bulb with 4 alks is mag 3D bulb.

BTW, with a more powerful bulb you'll need to replace reflector and standard lens because with high heat they'll melt down!

I don't think you can really do any mods that are especailly significant on normal alkaline batteries without going to some sort of LED. There's only so much power that an alkaline battery can effectively supply, so to get enough extra output to be worth doing any mods IMO, it's necessary to have higher power-efficiency.

I can understand not wanting to pay the $70ish price for a malkoff turnkey drop in, but if you're willing to do some soldering/gluing, you could build something simliar for around $30 by buying a heatsink, driver, and SSC emitter.

Get a heatsink from H22A, a Seoul P4 USWOH or USVOH emiiter from Photonfanatic, and wire it straight up to 3 alks. Cheap, longlasting, and troublefree.

If he wants more he's going to have to spend more.

I know this may not fit your specs, but it is cheap, works with a 3-D mag and it is bright.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.9358

This does take a bit of modification however.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm going to find out what his absolute MAX budget is for this mod, and then go from there. I'll report back when I get that info.

Here's my advice: Buy a 3D Maglite LED upgrade for $10 shipped from one of the sellers in the CPFMarketPlace.

Alright, so his budget is $60. If I needed to, I'd probably pitch in a couple more bucks for him... I really think alkalines will be the best bet for his use, because I don't think he'll want to deal with charging... and worrying about over-discharging, etc. Are the Malkoff drop-ins the best bang-for-buck in that price range using alkys?

KingSmono said:

Are the Malkoff drop-ins the best bang-for-buck in that price range using alkys?

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If you can buy one... Keep in mind You will need to cut down the reflector.

If he's using a bulb now, i'd definately say $10 for a magled module, everyone here says they're not bright enough, blah, blah, but it really is a very nice upgrade, about double brightness, very white, and VERY long running.

scottaw said:

If he's using a bulb now, i'd definately say $10 for a magled module, everyone here says they're not bright enough, blah, blah, but it really is a very nice upgrade, about double brightness, very white, and VERY long running.

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And, you can swap in a SSC P4 U bin LED to soup it up further with a little work. :naughty:

For $60 I'll build him a P4 drop-in for a D size Mag. Better yet, catch a Malkoff for another $20.

Greg G said:

Get a heatsink from H22A, a Seoul P4 USWOH or USVOH emiiter from Photonfanatic, and wire it straight up to 3 alks. Cheap, longlasting, and troublefree.

If he wants more he's going to have to spend more.

Click to expand...

Something along these lines is simple and cheap and bright. An alternative heatsink you might consider is a Hotlips available from "The Shoppe". The bulb holder will need to be cut down as well as the cam on the reflector will have to be removed. Glue the emitter,and solder some wires from the switch to the LED and that's about it.

cheers,

zwf