2AA MiniMag with Flashlight Tuner and BB400?

IlluminatingBikr

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 26, 2003
Messages
2,320
I am starting to feel the urge to modify my 2AA Mag that sits next to my bed. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I really like Dat2zip's Bad Boy drop-ins. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif Today I came across the "Flashlight Tuner." I was wondering if the tuner would work with a BB400 in a mag 2AA.

LED Museum Review of Flashlight Tuner

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What triggered my question is this review.. It says that... [ QUOTE ]
The down side of this is that the Flashlight Tuner isn't any use as a standby light in case your Mini Mag's bulb blows. The Tuner needs an intact bulb in the circuit, or it won't work at all. If your last bulb blows, you could jury-rig a bit of wire across the little bulb terminals; that'd allow you to still use the Tuner. But you'd then want to be careful not to switch the Tuner into bulb mode - doing so would short circuit the batteries.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because of the fact that the Tuner does conect through the bulb (in this case a BB400) in the flashlight, would the BB400..

<ul type="square"> [*]Restrict the power going to the tuner [*]Damage the tuner [*]Damage its self [*]Blow the batteries [*]Or just not work at all [/list]

Maybe I should stick with one mod per flashlight for now. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 

shankus

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 16, 2003
Messages
1,472
Location
Mojave, CA
It wouldn't work with a BadBoy or MadMax, because the MiniMag switch is removed for those drop-in mods. You would have to turn on the Tuner to get the BadBoy or MadMax to work. If you screw down the head all the way, it breaks the contact with the Mag body, and there is an open circuit.

With the Opalec, The MiniMag switch stays, and there is no voltage available at the tailcap with the head screwed down (light off). You would have to unscrew the head (turn Opalec on) to complete the circuit to the Tuner. So it would be both sides on, or nothing.

I don't know how the Tuner works with a stock MiniMag. The new ones at least. In the new one, when the head is screwed down all the way, it breaks contact with the negative side of the battery (the body of the light). It certainly wouldn't work without a bulb to complete the circuit, but I don't see in mine, how it could work with the incandescent light off.
I must be missing something, so someone fill in the gaps.
 

FreeBSDboy

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
172
Location
NH
It completes the circuit, but it limits the current in LED mode. So much so that the normal incandecent buld will not light, but more then enough current for the LED. Not sure how a BB would react ot that.
 

LED_ASAP

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 13, 2002
Messages
567
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Even in the stock minimag, you still need to loosen the bezel (the usual "ON" operation) to light the tuner. The "tuner" simply put the LED in series with the bulb so that the LED will light but not the bulb.

Unless you use lithium AA's, the white LED will be very dim (unless they use extra low Vf LED's), and you prabably can not use Ni-H or Ni-Cd in them.

It will not work if you try to put MM/BB in the "tunered" minimag. Because there is not enough overhead on top of the 3V Vf from the white LED even if you use lithiums. You can get around this by adding a 30-100ohm resistor in parallel with the BB/MM---How easy it is to add the resistor? I don't know---I don't have either of them, but if you really want, I can find a way to do the mod for you---PM me if interested.
 
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