Overdriving MiniMag bulbs?

I'm slowly accumulating a pile of those little grain of wheat bi-pin bulbs that come in stock MiniMags. I know they're not all that bright and will probably never use them! But my frugality gene hates wasting them. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

To cut to the chase: has anyone tried overdriving these bulbs? If so, how much voltage can they take, and does it result in a significant improvement?

well, a little while ago i did a mock-mod by putting the minimag module inside an ecan, then using it in a surefire e2e.

the 6volts lit the lamp brightly (for a minimag) for about 4seconds before it exploded.

i was tempted to post about it in the mod forum just for kicks, but never got around to it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I used to use LR91 AA lithiums in a Minim*g, which resulted in quite a bit more brightness and runtime - but the same old crappy beam. Those lithiums tend to have about 1.7 volts each. The lamps would last about 1/4 as long as with alkalines, I estimate.

I put a Solitaire bulb in a 2AAA light. It was very bright and extremely white, but only for 20-30 seconds at most before it blew.

I used 3 2/3 AA batt to run my minimag bulbs. It ran for about ~15 min. during the first 10 or so minutes, the bulb became darker and darker, and the beam is dimmer and dimmer. However, i believe the stuff still burning and producing the same amt of photon, just the lens that prevent them to get out. Anyway, after those 15 minutes, it is gone for good

Roth, you need some kind of a bunker over there? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

shiftd, guess you were essentially carbonizing the inside of the bulb. (Like the black stuff on burnt toast.) I did that to an ordinary 2-cell PR bulb that I tried running in a 6V lantern. Got maybe a minute of runtime out of it, and the insides of the bulb were getting blacker and blacker the whole time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

All, can't wait to see what Ginseng or PaulW might have done with those little MiniMag bulbs! Those guys seem to be at the bleeding edge of bulb abuse...
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

Maybe 3xAA might work with the MiniMag bulbs?

I put a Rayovac bi-pin lamp in a minimag once...it lit a blue-white (yes, LED white!) for about 2 seconds before going out. Turns out it was designed for single cell lights, but the "2AA" in the part number threw me off. In finer print it said for "single cell AAA lights". Whoops! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Interestingly I did not notice any darkening of the envelope during the (brief) time it was in operation.

the brinkmann nexstar bulbs are a good upgrade.

I have tried the MiniMag bulbs in Streamlight Trident headlamp with 3 aaa nimh without problem.

Alan

Hmm, those bulbs never seem to last long at all anyway (beyond the first time the light gets dropped when on anyway). Tend to think that overdrive would mean a rather rapid death for them.

I once dropped one and the beam got worse! Doesn't seem possible, but it happened!

I have used them with 3 AA NiCads & found 1/4-1/3 normal life. That's acceptable, they were lasting me 2-3 charges with 750-900mah batteries. It's OK with 3x1.2-1.3v, and if you are primarily interested in just using them up or brightest light. -RussH