noob here, a couple q's about modding a Mag 3D

hi guys, awesome forum! ive been trolling around now for a couple months, just never signed up, lol. a buddy of mine who i believe is a member here showed me https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/154668 and it got me hooked. ive never done much modding to lights, as ive mostly been too lazy to do so. anyways, ive a few questions. i want to mod my maglight. i have a 3 D cell model, with the 3w led. bright for the price, as im sure most of you have seen them, but i want more. i found this http://www.luxeonstar.com/item.php?id=5652&link_str=178::1425&partno=TLE-300M and want to try it out. ive bought their small 1w bulb for my minimag, and its decently bright. anywho, i want to build a battery pack for it. i found these http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3294 i want to use 3 of those. do you think it will work ok? my other question is the reflectors on the leds look quite small. do you think there are external ones that attach to it? thanks for the help!

Re: noob here, have a couple q's

You might want to look at this thread for a good list of most of the Maglite drop-ins.

As for the TL300, you can fit 4 C batteries in a 3D, so that might be easier then using the Li-Po batteries.

The TL-300 uses optics and not reflectors. There are no replacement ones that I know of. The beam pattern that I've see for the drop-in seems a bit odd.

Which drop-in did you buy for the minimag? Was is this one?

If yes, you can double the output for the same runtime by swapping in a current gen LED.

:welcome:

Re: noob here, have a couple q's

Gunner12 said:

You might want to look at this thread for a good list of most of the Maglite drop-ins.

As for the TL300, you can fit 4 C batteries in a 3D, so that might be easier then using the Li-Po batteries.

The TL-300 uses optics and not reflectors. There are no replacement ones that I know of. The beam pattern that I've see for the drop-in seems a bit odd.

Which drop-in did you buy for the minimag? Was is this one?

If yes, you can double the output for the same runtime by swapping in a current gen LED.

:welcome:

Click to expand...

after i had posted this, i rooted around and found that dropin thread, lol. i wanted to use the Li-Po cells because i was trying to get the light to run as long as possible. volts x Ah = runtime

yes, that was the drop in i bought for my mini, altho 2 days ago, one of the the leads that goes into the light socket broke off, so i ordered a second one. which led could i swap it with? i can solder pretty well.

Re: noob here, have a couple q's

What price do you want to pay?

Here's the cheapest site but it will take 2 weeks or more to get the LED to you. You'll also need thermal compound.

Sandwich Shoppe also has some. They also have a shim so the LED is at the right height(some swaps don't need this).

Also be careful of the Seoul's positive base. Make sure no shorts will form.

For a bit more then the drop-in, you could get this light.

The swap should be pretty simple.

You might be able to save the board from the drop-in for a later mod that you might do(it should work with most sources around 3v).


I hope this helps:

Current gen LEDs:
Cree XR-E P4-R2 bin
Seoul P4 U-bin
Seoul P7 C-bin
Luxeon Rebel 100
Luxeon K2 TFFC.

Last gen LEDs:
Luxeon I
Luxeon III
Luxeon V
Luxeon K2

Re: noob here, have a couple q's

i dont mind waiting for good things . i ordered my new unit from www.luxeonstar.com they have a 2 week shipping, so it doesnt really bother me. ok, you mentioned thermal compound. i have arctic silver here, but do i need the thermal adhesive? o, one other thing. if i do swap out emitters, do you think it would be safe to use 3v lithium cells, or would it cook the driver?

Re: noob here, have a couple q's

If you just use 1, you should be safe. The drop-in has a boost driver to raise the voltage to the right level, usually around 3.5-3.7v.

Thermal Epoxy/glue would work better. If you only have paste. Try finding a way to secure the LED.

Re: noob here, have a couple q's

Gunner12 said:

If you just use 1, you should be safe. The drop-in has a boost driver to raise the voltage to the right level, usually around 3.5-3.7v.

Thermal Epoxy/glue would work better. If you only have paste. Try finding a way to secure the LED.

Click to expand...

since there doesnt seem to be a thermal issue, would superglue-type stuff work?

Re: noob here, have a couple q's

To secure the LED?

If you will have some thermal paste underneath the LED(enough to prevent a short but not too much to impede thermal conductivity), then yes.