This project is for a good hunting friend of mine.
He had a M*g 3D sitting in a cubboard for over 3 yrs with alkis in it. Whell they started to decompose and rendered the light scrapworthy. I got it in a sad state but got the batteries bored out and while neutralizing the asid i stripped the remaning black anodizing.
About 6 months ago i was just starting to anodize things for myself and thought to my self, why not experiment and make it red.
Here you can see the remaning amount of corrosion from the batteries:
It sat on my shelf for almost 4 months until i notised a forum member (Will?) that clad MiniMags in fancy wood. I'll go for that and a piece of walnut (i think!) was mounted.
Then the empty M*g shell sat on my shelf for another 2 months until last week when a brainfart said to me: Why not make a great light, and give it back to him?
So a shopping list saw the light of day:
1) 3 x XPG and Ledil optics (i have read much good about them hare at CPF).
2) 3 x 4-7135 for 1400mA to each LED.
3) Powered by 3 D 10000Ma NiMh cells for 2 full hours of light.
At the same time i would experiment with throw/fill/flood to get the optimal beam for search. When you shoot a deer at dusk you will have to get it in more or less darkness, so perfect light is a must.
I ordered 3 x XPG R5, 3 x Ledil LXP 10 deg, one Ledil LXP 26 deg and one Ledil LXP 46 deg.
They arrived today and i went to "work"
I measured the lens with a LED on and held that up against the depth of the M*g head. That gave me the dimentions for the heatsink. A spacer ring to take up any rattle sideways was in order and therefore made by my self.
When the LED's were glued in place and i tried to fit a lens a revelation came to me: These lenses are not made for bare XPG's but XPE's on a star so i had to mill a slot for the wires that now sat right beside the LED dome.
Regulation is by the standard 1400mA 4 x 7135 boards from Voldemort (those who must not be mentioned
) I put capton tape on the backside of two boards and made this sandwich.
Applied a liberal dollup of that nasty heat transfer compound and squeesed the heatsink in place.
Now it's a breeze to change lenses and try for the optimum beam.
Beamshots will follow as it's high noon here and sunshine demolishes any chance of comparing lenses.
******************************************************
Man oh man these wallshots are difficult to get from zero to sunshine in one exposure!
So with no further adoo, here's my feeble attempt.
A 3 x MCE from 4 x LiIon through 8 x 7135 (2800mA)
And 3 x XPG with 3 x 4/7135 (1400mA) with 3 x 10 deg optics
And now both:
My lux meter says that the 3 x MCE is 30%+ brighter than the 3 x XPG but i cant see it at all!
Shots from a lit wall to get exposure times down (i'm no good at photos!)
Control shot:
3 x 10 deg:
2 x 10 deg and 1 x 26 deg:
1 x 10 deg, 1 x 26 deg and 1 x 46 deg:
All shot at 5 feet/1.75m
He had a M*g 3D sitting in a cubboard for over 3 yrs with alkis in it. Whell they started to decompose and rendered the light scrapworthy. I got it in a sad state but got the batteries bored out and while neutralizing the asid i stripped the remaning black anodizing.
About 6 months ago i was just starting to anodize things for myself and thought to my self, why not experiment and make it red.
Here you can see the remaning amount of corrosion from the batteries:
It sat on my shelf for almost 4 months until i notised a forum member (Will?) that clad MiniMags in fancy wood. I'll go for that and a piece of walnut (i think!) was mounted.
Then the empty M*g shell sat on my shelf for another 2 months until last week when a brainfart said to me: Why not make a great light, and give it back to him?
So a shopping list saw the light of day:
1) 3 x XPG and Ledil optics (i have read much good about them hare at CPF).
2) 3 x 4-7135 for 1400mA to each LED.
3) Powered by 3 D 10000Ma NiMh cells for 2 full hours of light.
At the same time i would experiment with throw/fill/flood to get the optimal beam for search. When you shoot a deer at dusk you will have to get it in more or less darkness, so perfect light is a must.
I ordered 3 x XPG R5, 3 x Ledil LXP 10 deg, one Ledil LXP 26 deg and one Ledil LXP 46 deg.
They arrived today and i went to "work"
I measured the lens with a LED on and held that up against the depth of the M*g head. That gave me the dimentions for the heatsink. A spacer ring to take up any rattle sideways was in order and therefore made by my self.
When the LED's were glued in place and i tried to fit a lens a revelation came to me: These lenses are not made for bare XPG's but XPE's on a star so i had to mill a slot for the wires that now sat right beside the LED dome.
Regulation is by the standard 1400mA 4 x 7135 boards from Voldemort (those who must not be mentioned
) I put capton tape on the backside of two boards and made this sandwich.
Applied a liberal dollup of that nasty heat transfer compound and squeesed the heatsink in place.
Now it's a breeze to change lenses and try for the optimum beam.
Beamshots will follow as it's high noon here and sunshine demolishes any chance of comparing lenses.
******************************************************
Man oh man these wallshots are difficult to get from zero to sunshine in one exposure!
So with no further adoo, here's my feeble attempt.
A 3 x MCE from 4 x LiIon through 8 x 7135 (2800mA)
And 3 x XPG with 3 x 4/7135 (1400mA) with 3 x 10 deg optics
And now both:
My lux meter says that the 3 x MCE is 30%+ brighter than the 3 x XPG but i cant see it at all!
Shots from a lit wall to get exposure times down (i'm no good at photos!)
Control shot:
3 x 10 deg:
2 x 10 deg and 1 x 26 deg:
1 x 10 deg, 1 x 26 deg and 1 x 46 deg:
All shot at 5 feet/1.75m
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