4D Maglite

I'm looking for sugestions on how to increase the light coming out of my 4d maglite. I'd like it to remain a spot.. but something brighter.. somewhere about 90 lumens would be perfect.

Thanx

One of the simplest ways to get increased brightness it to run a 3 cell bulb in your Mag. the downside is that as the bulb is overdriven it's life will be greatly reduced.

Another option is to use C size batteries, You will be able to fit at least 5 in a 4D Mag (possibly 6). you will need to find some type of tube or pipe to stop the C size batteries rattling around but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Another nice Mag mod
A very common and effective mod is to take a 2C Mag and run it with three DL123 lithium batteries (9v). This combined with a 5 cell Magnum Star bulb gives the little 2C Mag more power than a 6D.

You can put a 3 cell xenon in a 4 cell and they will work at increased brightness but lower life on batteries and bulb. It won't reach the 90 lumens target however.

You can up the battery count to 5C cells and use a Xenon 5 cell light which Mag specs at 91 lumens. Use 1" pvc water pipe. I have done 2D to 3C and 3D to 4D and had to modify the battery spring. 4D to 5C should be a direct swap.

You can also drive the standard 4 cell bulb with 5 cells for increased brightness.

With the upped battery count you could direct drive a 5 watt luxeon.

I thought Lambda drove a 5 watt with an earlier 2D, not using the 6aa's. I would think that if he could do it with 2, it could be certainly doine with 4

You could also use two of those 6AA battery holders which where quite a hot topic some time ago.




IIRC, Wayne (Elektrolumens) sells them? You can also buy them here:
http://www.batteryholders.com/DU1-M-502.shtml (100 pcs. minimum)

If Lambda drove a 5W Luxeon with two D's then he must have used a step-up converter. Without a converter, 4 cells (6 volts) really isn't enough. Even 5 cells (Elektrolumens Blaster V) seems marginal. Forward voltage of a typical 5W Luxeon is around 7.2 volts from what I understand.

4 cells and a BB750 step-up converter would be a pretty good combination.

yep....but what lamda is doing is legitamate....no rule against it.

Actually 3 converters... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif


Overdrive 5W Luxeon on 2 Alkaline Cells

Lambda does terrific work, and I'm sure that if he made a 2D 5W light then it's a great light. I wonder what converter he's using. I don't think 2 cells is enough to run a BB750. Maybe the 2D light is another one of the excellent Lambda-ArcMania collaborations.

Anyway, the absolute simplest and cheapest way to make a 4D Mag brighter is just drop in a Xenon bulb, XPR113 or something like that. There are a bunch of threads about it, try a search.

Modding a Mag to a 5W Luxeon light is a fairly significant mod whether there's a step-up converter or not. It's certainly doable though, and it's been done lots of times.

Bart>Your short answers always say sooooo much....LMAO.

You have a talent for brevity that says much.

Wow, cross-post. Nice pic and nice light.

ok, so if I were to put a 5w luxeon in there, how would I get it to be a spot as apposed to a flood.. like all the other mag-lux mods I've seen so far?

(yes I am a newbie)

you could use a 5W HD and put in alignment with the reflector like MrBulk does to his space needles to get a tight spot beam.