New guy wants to do a mod

Hello all.
I've been lurking the forums for some time now and
have caught the bug to do a mod. I have a 3D Maglite that I never use anymore since putting a Malkoff drop in into my Surefire 9P.
I'd like to do a SSC P7 with 3d batteries. I'm thinking direct drive just due to the simplicity of it all. Is there anyway to add dimming to a setup like this?:thinking:
I guess what I'm looking for is a simple recipe to make a P7 3D Mag with some kind of dimming.

Thanks for any help in advance

You need a D2Flex dimming board (from Taskled DOT com)
The Mag switch also has to be modded into a momentary switch
Have a look at Wquiles tutorial here, it will have everything you need
to know on "how to"

Thanks. I don't know how I ever missed that thread while lurking around.

There are also a few links in the Maglite drop-ins/mods thread that could help.

:welcome:

Done!
Thanks to Photon Fanatic and Task Led I built my first P7 Mag. I made my own heatsink on my lathe this weekend and got it all hooked up this afternoon. So far it's pretty impressive with just crappy D cells in it. Can't wait till dark outside to try it out.

The reflector does need a little help though. I have a small dark spot in the center. I may try to sputter it a little depending on how it looks outside tonight.

P.S. This D2Flex board is cool as hell once you learn how to use it!

Good job with you mod!

As for the samll dark spot, it is from the LED. I remember Stefanfs saying that he prefers to have the light slightly defocused so the hotspot is smooth.

Yeah thats what I did. I opened up the hotspot a little bit and it went away. I took it out side in the dark and I'm satisfied so I'll leave the reflector alone. I need to get some decent rechargebles in it now.
I actually bought 2 p7s and two D2flex boards. So I may try my hand at building a shorty one of these days also.

Very interesting thread title

Ouch!

Hey guys,
After reading Wquiles tutorial,I tried to mod my Mag D switch. I think I made a mistake. I wanna ask you this..When you have momentary switch and you put the batteries in the mag, you got to have volts continiously on the "plus" and "minus" wires coming out of the switch right? And when you press the button what happens? As long as you press it you get voltage from the third wire (let's call it "signal") ?
Because I get current all the time no matter of the position of the switch, and when I press it nothing happens to the third cable. Any suggestions would be helpfull!!

Is this how you wired up the switch and D2Flex?

Justin Case said:

Is this how you wired up the switch and D2Flex?

Click to expand...

No, it is not connected like that, because D2flex is powered via Der Wichtel's board.Also I don't have the D2flex in my hands yet -hopefully in the begining of the week-, but take a look here https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2933455#post2933455 post 204. It 's gonna be like that.
I'm afraid I 'm gonna have to disassemble the switch and resoldering it again.

I don't know which wires are your "plus", "minus", and "signal" wires.

In the series of three wquiles tutorial photos that immediately preceed the one where he epoxies "the new battery top in place", this is my understanding of the function of the three wires that come out the top of the switch and where they should connnect:

Red wire coming from the bottom of the switch and running through the holes drilled off-center (Wire #1): This is Battery+, which goes to the Battery+ wire on the der Wichtel driver.

Black wire coming from the ground tab (Wire #2): Goes to IN- on the D2Flex and Battery- on the der Wichtel driver (you can run this black wire to the der Wichtel driver, and then run a pigtail from the blue - wire on the driver to IN- on the D2Flex)

Black wire coming from the center, top of the switch (Wire #3): This goes to SW+ on the D2Flex.

Wire #1 is always electrically connected to Battery+. Wire #2 is always connected to Ground (and thus effectively Battery-). If you put your DMM in series with Wires #1 and #2, you should measure battery voltage (let's say nominally 3.6V for a 3D Mag) whether the modified momentary switch is pressed or not pressed. Wire #3 gets switched on only when you press the modified Mag switch button, which electrically connects Wire #2 (IN-) with Wire #3 (SW+) through that metal ring with the four square notches cut in the inside edge (that metal ring makes contact with the two metal tabs that hang over the ring). This is exactly the momentary switching behavior that the D2Flex requires -- momentarily connecting IN- and SW+.

Are Wire #1 your "plus", Wire #2 your "minus", and Wire #3 your "signal"?

If Wire #3 doesn't read any voltage when you press the modified momentary switch, then it would seem to me that the metal ring with the four notches isn't lifting up high enough to make contact with the tabs that hang above the ring.

tx101 said:

You need a D2Flex dimming board (from Taskled DOT com)
The Mag switch also has to be modded into a momentary switch
Have a look at Wquiles tutorial here, it will have everything you need
to know on "how to"

Click to expand...

Why can't one use the existing momentary-on function of the stock Mag switch?

Finaly, the switch is working normally now. What was wrong? Honestly I don't know... I just dissasemble the switch, check it once more, and put the things back again!Thank you all for the answers.
Cheers!!

Sometimes the set screw isn't quite positioned to sit squarely in the indent. When that happens, you may not have a good ground since the set screw may not make good contact with bare metal. Just removing and re-installing the switch may have addressed this. I had a glitchy DMag that wouldn't stay on if I pressed the button too fast or in other certain ways. When I loosened the set screw, re-positioned the switch a fraction, and re-tightened the set screw, the problem went away.