Mag Modding Questions

Hi all,
I'm new on this board and after reading a lot of the mod posts, all I've to say is WOW. I must have been living in a cave for the last 20 years...

One of my interests is scuba diving and I was wondering whether I can mod a M@G and make it waterproof?

All ideas are welcome.

Thanks,
ScubaFan

I don't think that it's a project worth pursuing....

but I would try this.

The switch membrane is a leaky B*** and would be the hardest part. maybe a thin rubber sleeve slid over the whole body and "ringed with something similar to a Zip tie.

Maybe cutting new and tighter O ring slits to double them up every where (head to body and tail cap to body.

The lens....a thicker O- ring to get a better seal.

you can mod many other bodys that are already Water proof...if you want a water proof mod.

I tried that some time ago...
I cut extra rings in the body near the threads and added extra o'rings on all extremities, epoxied the switch and lubed the whole thing in silicon grease but the thing still leaked when it gets barely two meters deep.
Took me a lot of time and I'd say it wasn't worth it at all!

did you narrow down where the water was intruding at?

Thanks guys...My intial goal was to create a better backup light! I think I'll just stick a EverLed bulb in my SL4.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif On well, I guess that I'll just have to DD my 5W Lux in a Mag2C and use it on dry land.

Thanks.

There are quite a lot of places that need to be sealed to make a Mag waterproof. Screw threads at the bezel, the head and the body end. I suggest trying thicker O-rings to get good seals and using plumber's tape (PTFE tape) on all threads. You have to be careful with the body end though. Some thread has to be exposed to allow the electricity to flow. Change out the lens to a mineral glass or borofloat lens. And while you're there, change out that sorry excuse for an o-ring, the one that sits on the bezel, just in front of the lens. Make sure it is screwed down tight. As for the switch, I suggest wrapping it tightly with self-amalgating tape. Wrap it several layers thick and covering not just the switch but several centimetres up and down of the button. Seal the ends of the wrap with silicone sealant to make sure that no water can creep under the tape.

That's my take on how to get a Mag watertight. Let me know if it works. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Personally, I would use an EverLED in a Princeton Tec 40 as back up. But I'm currently in the process of modding the lamp array in my UKE miniQ40 to accept an EverLED, just because I like the Q40 shape better. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Look around. There are heaps of other flashlights out there that are already water tight, though I can understand you might want a Mag because the metal body will help with getting rid of heat build up.

Thanks Steelwolf...I've a UKE SL4 and Princeton Tec Attitude as backups at the moment. The Attitude is LED and gives pitiful amount of light. The SL4 is not better as the bulb can blow at the crucial moment, thats why I wanted to mod a Mag. Anyway I'm going to stick an EverLed in the SL4 to make it more dependable.

I'm still doing my 5W Luxeon Mag2C mod though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Perhaps you might want to wait a little while? If you consider something as big as the SL4 as your backup, then perhaps you might like to check out the upcoming eLEDs from UKE. They have a 5W setup that goes into the C4 and C8.

I always figured my backup to be just bright enough to navigate to the surface and flag down the dive boat, hence a mere 1W in a small body, but with good burn time is my main criteria for backup. And my pockets are small, so only the Tec40 and Q40 will fit. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The SL4 is not that big. It uses 4 C-cells and fits in my BC pocket. I need it to be more dependable though!

Humm...5W eLED in a C4 or C8 body...as a primary light, I think the light output is too low, the halogens and HIDs will outshine it by miles. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Yeah, for diving, HID still rules as a primary. You must have some pretty big pockets to find the SL4 a good backup size. As for the 5W being out done, I think it will give a good run for the money against an SL4 and even the C4, since they only have 5.5W and 6W bulb respectively. The C8 will definitely be way brighter initially since it runs a 13W bulb.

It seems very unfortunate that to date, the Mag (and its knock offs) is still the most easily available, quality metal-body flashlight. And it's not even waterproof. I suppose all that tightening and sealing might work to make it water tight, but I have sort of given up on it. Instead, I'm looking designing a couple of metal flashlight bodies geared primarily for modding. I'm thinking totally water tight, fins around the head to dispose of heat, solid platform to mount the LEDs with direct heat path to exterior (none of these screw threads in between like in the Mag), electronics bay (small and large versions for those who work with SMDs and those who use discretes) and waterproof clickie. Hmmm... I wonder if any of our resident lathe experts could build one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

SKYWLKR, it leaked from the lens where I had 2 lubed orings (on between the lens and the metal and one between the lens and the reflector). I guess you'd need to epoxy every non moving parts but I don't have time to play with that anymore.
oh and sorry for taking my time on responding... college finals

Steelwolf, the pockets of a SeaQuest Spectrum4 are pretty big! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Yeah, it seems that the Mag body is the only quality body worth modding.

Now, that flashlight body design of yours is a great idea. Hope you can get it off the ground...I'll definitely be interested in a few. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif