mini mag AA mod (update 2011/05)

yazovyet

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Apr 9, 2011
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221
I have decided I want to modify my minimag 2xAA light. I had been looking at a new light but i think i could get more out of a modification than a new light for the price. I've got an idea of what i want to do but have a few questions and figured it would be a good idea to see what people think to see if I am way off the mark. I am good with electronics and can solder but I lack in tools (I have a drill and calipers but not a dremmel or lathe).


My current plan involves:
Keep the same nimh batteries, reflector/head.

LED: cree MX-L T5 (on a 14mm wafer) from cutter.com.au or shinningbeam (since it looks like i would get drivers from there)

Driver:
14mm 1 AA. would run the batteries in parallel (some how?) or 1 battery and 1 blank
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-176/**NEW**-3-dsh-Mode-Regulated-Circuit/Detail
OR
15mm would have to shave it down to the 14.5 ID of the light, would test it with 2XAA and see if it was a constant blink or only on turn on.
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-252/**NEW**--3-dsh-Mode-Regulated/Detail

Heatsink: something custom, fitting in the front of the body of the light.

Switch: might try to keep the original mechanism (if i can get the HS the size it needs to be and the right spacers) or change to a push button on the back end (haven't looked in to this yet).


so my questions:
1) answered in another thread http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?313104-driver-wiring-and-the-battery-connections
With the above drivers, the wires are for the LED, but I'm not 100% where the battery connects. the drivers pictured above have components on one side and the other has a large circle with a larger outer ring, are these the battery contacts? if so am I right in assuming the positive is the inside and the negative the outside?
pic:
http://www.shiningbeam.com/media/00/a20792a12cb2968f3712e4_m.jpg

2) considering i want to run around 1000ma to the LED and fit the driver in a 14.5mm body, is there any other drivers you would recommend for 1xAA or 2xAA?


As I said, I am open to suggestions and advise. If anyone has a driver they would recommend or supplier or something I'm all ears.
 
Last edited:

RepProdigious

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Jan 11, 2010
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the Netherlands
Re: mini mag AA mod

Soooooooo, something like this?

I just cheated the heck out of it, took the guts from an old Quark low voltage head (reflector, led, driver) and threw it all in there with some parts i had laying around the house... and some proper heat sinking stuff of course!

To get it all to work i had to de-anodise the threads on the tube and inside of the head:
img7045custom.jpg

img7047custom.jpg

You can already see the quark guts on that second pic.

And the little LED:
img7044custom.jpg


miniquag.jpg


Its our new in-and-around-the-house light, works great on eneloops and in case of sudden and total universal NiMH failure also on alkalines.
 

yazovyet

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Apr 9, 2011
Messages
221
Re: mini mag AA mod

On looking around a little more I was considering buying a cheap 1xAA light and trying to do effectively the same thing to it as i was planning with the mini mag. If anyone knows a suitable AA light in the sub 10 range (lower the better) i'd be interested in looking at that too.

RepPro: how did you strip the threads? wire wheel sort of thing?
 

RepProdigious

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Jan 11, 2010
Messages
660
Location
the Netherlands
Re: mini mag AA mod

On looking around a little more I was considering buying a cheap 1xAA light and trying to do effectively the same thing to it as i was planning with the mini mag. If anyone knows a suitable AA light in the sub 10 range (lower the better) i'd be interested in looking at that too.

Check out dealextreme, plenty to be had over there....


RepPro: how did you strip the threads? wire wheel sort of thing?

Sodium Hydroxyde.... be careful with that stuff tho, not only will it dissolve aluminium (and gasses produced by that process are highly flammable) but i will do something similar with human skin :D
 

yazovyet

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Apr 9, 2011
Messages
221
Re: mini mag AA mod

TLDR: can i encase a driver board in silicone (like caulk) or something else (suggestions?) without issue? does anyone know if the battery negative is common with the LED negative on this driver?
http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-252/**NEW**--3-dsh-Mode-Regulated/Detail




Figured I would post the whole story of how I got onto this project.

So I got looking at new flashlights somehow… I'd looked at this and that and somewhat settled on a terralux 300 lumen but the cost of the light and shipping was what I considered excessive. So after reading around on these forums for a while (a few days) I got it into my head that I would mod one of my existing two lights (mini mag 2xAA and mag 2d). After a few days more planning, strategizing, cost benefit analysisizing, online price comparisons, and a coffee high I ordered the parts.

- 2x cree XM-L T6 on 14mm round wafers. (was going to go T5 thinking it gave a warmer light but the site I ordered from didn't have them, and I think that was a faulty assumption)
- 3 different regulators. One for 1xAA , one for 2xAA (each producing 1 amp), and one for ~4volts (producing 2.8 amps) in case I want to mod my mag 2d.
- Thermal grease, thermal adhesive, and a cheap 1AA light.

The LEDs and regulators from shinning beam (arrived on the 3rd business day) and the other stuff from DX. The only thing I didn't have was the heat sinks. But they would be easy to make with 20 min on a lathe… but I don't have a lathe so most of my effort so far has been replicating a lathe.

I had a piece of aluminum lying around with one end that was 15.80mm diameter so I decided to go at it with a file to bring it down to the needed 14.50mm. I hacked it off and had a plug that was the right diameter but ended up with it being about 12.8mm, so I had to file that down to the required 9.5mm long.

So now I am waiting on my DX stuff to get here so I can get thermal gluing. In the mean time I have to figure out how I am going to work the on/off for this light. The minimag's twisty head isn't the easiest to work with when you take out the old led, I'm still not 100% how I am going to work it but once I borrow a multimeter and test to see if a few connections are common to the neg terminal I will have a better idea; hopefully I can keep the twisty head as the on/off and not have to buy a tail click switch. I hope to be able to encase the driver in silicone or something and put a ring much like the current battery negative on the other side so it can contact the lip inside the mini mag to maintain the twisting head on/off switch.



I have a few pics of things but i'm too lazy to find hosting right now. i plan to update this thread as i get more done on this mod.
 

Match

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Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
22
Re: mini mag AA mod

Do a google search for "15min mini mag mod". You'll find a good post on modifying the mini mag lite. Or, search back here for a post I made on putting a triple xpg into a mini-mag (pre-crash). Those should give you an idea of how to procede.
 

yazovyet

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Joined
Apr 9, 2011
Messages
221
Re: mini mag AA mod

Finally finished the mod to my mini mag. It took 33 calendar days for my DX stuff to arrive, and only 3 business days for my SB stuff to get here. It warms up fairly fast on high and even medium. I get around 60-70 min run time on high and similar on medium with about 3 hours on low.
I used this driver http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-252/**NEW**--3-dsh-Mode-Regulated/Detail with an XM-L (I was new and didn't think about/know about XP-Gs)

2 drivers from SB. I used the one on the left for the mini mag. It was 15mm and I had to file it down to 14.4 mm.


Made the heat sink out of a piece of Al. filed it from 15.8 down to size then cut it off with a hacksaw.

HS is about 12mm tall at this point.


Sticking out of the light, the HS is as far in as it can go, butted up against a heat sink.


This is the driver after I have filed it down to the right diameter and added a 'contact ring' so it can use the existing twisty mini mag's on/off. A wire is soldered to a part of the board that was common to the batter ground, then jogs left and is soldered to the contact ring and filed to the right OD.


The contact ring was made of a 1981 US penny. I filed the edges off to it was rounded and then drilled a hole in the middle. I had to file (with small files) and push a drill sideways through it to get that odd shaped hole for the capacitor(?).
img3301y.jpg


I wrapped it with electrical tape and filled it in with epoxy so that the contact ring would stay in place. More epoxy was added later to give a bit of a bump at the top (middle where you can see in the picture).


HS and led pushed out as much as they go, this is their position when the light is on.


Led and HS pushed back, when the light is off.


BEAM SHOTS! All taken with the same settings. The wall is only about 10 feet away but that's the best I could come up in my apartment.



A cheap $3.35 light I picked up off DX for later modding.


Mag 3d incandescent


Same, different focus


The mini mag before any mods


After the mod


A later pic I had a more stable position, 2 AAs


With 3 batteries instead of 2.



My next mod will be to do something with that cheap light I got from DX. I'm just seeing what I can do about a heat sink right now.I have another XM-L around but I kinda want to put that and a 2.8a amc7135 based driver in a 2D mag. I am considering ordering a high CRI XP-G for it, would be nice to have a light that give a real nice colour but it is $12 in shipping plus the 6 or 7 for the LED. And then more to get a heat sink to go in the mag later.
 

LilKevin715

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Joined
May 25, 2010
Messages
712
Location
San Diego, CA USA
Re: mini mag AA mod

Very nice DIY build on that minimag, a sleeper light for sure. I would love to see the look on someones face when they think its a regular minimag:D. Job well done:thumbsup:
 

Hill

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Apr 11, 2008
Messages
318
Location
MA
Re: mini mag AA mod

I like the use of the penny for the contact ring. Pennies are great for use as heatsinks as well since they are cheap, made of nearly 100% copper (pre 1981) and easy to solder together and grind down.

Nice job!
 
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