Built my first light! XML 2D mag

After browsing these forums for years, and purchasing some modded lights I took the plunge and decided to put together my first light. It is a simple build that I put together to see how I could build a useful mag for the non flashaholic. The build consists of:
2D mag
XML T6 1D tint on a 14mm star
shiningbeam 1.4 amp 3 mode driver
homemade flat top heatsink made from 6061 aluminum
1 inch pvc sleeve
machined tailcap to sit stock spring all the way at the bottom to make room for the 3 c cells.

I have several old mags that are next to useless, and wanted to try to mod a light that would run on alkalines and still put out a good amount of light. I have a couple friends that have asked me what I can do to make their mag useful, but not have to run special batteries. I would have to say after playing with this light for about an hour that it is a pretty decent light. Running on 3 duracells I have not seen a drop in output yet, and switching modes is pretty reliable. I compared it to my eagletac T20C2 on a ceiling bounce and would say that it is a tad brighter after an hour of running on alkalines than the eagletac is on a fresh 18650. On medium I would say it is comparable, but still a little brighter(than the eagletac on medium). The beam profile is pretty floody with decent throw. It would certainly impress a non flashaholic. Next build will be a 2D with xml and 2.8 amp driver on 3 nimh C cells and rebel reflector, or a triple xpg drop in direct drive off of 3 lifepo4 cells machined out of solid copper.

Ranger,

Glad your first mod is working so well. Using NiMH cells will improve the output. M@Gs make great mod hosts, very versatile.

That's a good compromise to get it working with alkaline cells. Still lots of light.

About 3 C NiMH. I decided to limit my XM-L builds with 2D or 3C Mags running om 3 LSD NiMH to 2.1A with that type of driver. It's hard to see a difference in output with your bare eyes and it will give you lots of more runtime compared to 2.8A or more. To run an XM-L hard I venture that single "large" LiIon cells are needed for decent runtime. The difference is just a few thousand lux in throw, you will still get around 30K lux for throw. Which is a lot. Just my opinion on the matter.

Im gonna try it with nimh cells to see what the difference in output is, though im sure it will be more. One of the reasons I only used a 1.4 amp driver was so it would still run on alkalines.

From what I've read (see Alkaline battery comparison here) most C and D alkaline cells can't sustain more than 0.5 to 1A load for a reasonable amount of time. I do agree that its nice to be able to use alkalines as a option; especially for emergency situations. However to get full output you will have to use nimh cells. The low and medium modes on the driver should work fine with alkaline cells, but I doubt high would work for more than a few minutes with fresh cells.

Since your driver uses AMC7135 linear regulators, you can use a multimeter to measure amp draw at the tail to see if your running in regulation.

With 20 minute old duracells I measure 1.066 amps on high. I didnt build it for max output, just wanted to see what it could do with alkalines. I was surprised that it held over 1 amp on high. I think if you built a 3D mag with a 1 amp driver, it would work pretty well on alkalines. I will run it on 3 nimh and let you know the amp draw soon.