What amount of heat a stock Mag D can take... and what not anymore

325addict

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Just take a stock 2D Mag and mod it like this:
- remove bulb, add a Tad Customs PR to bi-pin adapter and a WA1274 bulb (7.2V / 2.77A)
- add a 6AA to 2D adapter, load 6 freshly charged NEW Eneloop 2450mAh cell and switch it on.

The results:
- after around 30 seconds(!) a brownish spot exactly in the middle of the standard Lexan lens starts to develop.

Oops! No good, so I replaced that one with a glass one from a MagCharger. I resumed testing. The results:
- after around 5 minutes, a kind of fog came into the reflector, settling on the edges of the glass lens in a kind of ring shape. It turned out to come from the cam of the reflector: the part of the switch that is actuated by the cam had become SO hot, it burnt itself into the cam of the reflector. OK... this is clearly the next weak spot that should be exchanged.

Now it was time to do a longer test run, so I took the 2.5D Mag that I bought from Fivemega years ago. It has the following mods in it: glass lens from a Magcharger and a camless metal reflector, I think I bought this one from either Mdocod or LuxLuthor. Stock uncut switch is still in. This light takes 4 pieces 18650 in a 2S/2P configuration. I loaded 4 fully charged LG unprotected 3500mAh cells and switched it on. One HOUR later, I could barely touch the head but no smoke, no fog, no broken switch, everything just worked flawlessly after this test.

So, bottom line: just FOUR easy mods are needed to turn your standard 2D Mag into something REALLY nice:

1. Replace the standard bulb with a PR to bi-pin adapter (in this case I prefer the ones by Tad Customs as the bulb sits deeper, better focus) plus WA1274 bulb, or the bulb you can buy from Tad Customs (wait for his ebay-shop to come online, filled with what he still has in stock)
2. Replace the standard lens with a glass lens (Kaidomain or Fivemega)
3. replace the standard reflector with a metal one (Kaidomain or Fivemega)
4. take a 6AA to 2D adapter as a power source instead of 2 D cells. (May be difficult to source at the moment)

You still have a 6D Mag around? Congrats! You can skip the 6AA to 2D adapter and load six NiMH D cells of high quality (for example the 10Ah ones by Ansmann).

There you have it: the recipe for a very bright Mag, as requested by someone here.

What it CAN take completely unmodified is the PR7212 (7.2V / 1.2A) from Tad Customs. More light and a 50 hours life span! The PR7218, drawing 1.8 Amps is JUST too much. After half an hour or so, slight bubbles start to develop in the metallic layer of the standard reflector.
 
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ma tumba

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very useful info. have always wanted to know what max wattage a stock maglite can use as far as thermal is concerned. so it is 10W.
 

bykfixer

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The Maglite plastic reflector was designed to be stable using up to 7 cell krypton light bulbs. Anything hotter (like halogen) will melt the plastic. The older search and rescue lights by Rayovac, Dog Supply House, Bright Star etc using 8+ batteries all had metal reflectors, glass lenses and copper slide switches.

Now if one were able to devise a larger hole where heat were not so close to the plastic or able to transfer away better that would open up the possibilities. If I recall correctly fivemega said in a thread recently anything over 10 watts will melt the Maglite reflector.
 
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325addict

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Yes, the observation that anything above 10 Watts will melt the reflector is quite accurate. The 7.2V / 1.2A bulb is OK and doesn't melt anything, but the 7.2V / 1.8A bulb is JUST too hot. After maybe 20 minutes or so, small bubbles started to develop in a circle, near the bulb.
 

konifans

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Another question, how much of heat a Maglite switch can take?
I know that 20W halogen bulb is possible, but how about 50W? 100W?
For example, install a Fivemega's G6.35 socket in a Mag D, and use metal reflector and glass lens. Can I use a 50W Halogen bulb (such as Philips 7027)?
 

325addict

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That completely depends on the duration you want to keep it on. I just tried a WA1274 (7.2V / 2.77A) CONTINUOUS for over an hour, with a metal reflector and glass lens in the Mag, but I wouldn't dare that with a 50 Watts bulb in it. If you would limit the use to 30 seconds per burst and then let it cool down for a few minutes before you fire it up again, THEN you could try 50W.

Another question, how much of heat a Maglite switch can take?
I know that 20W halogen bulb is possible, but how about 50W? 100W?
For example, install a Fivemega's G6.35 socket in a Mag D, and use metal reflector and glass lens. Can I use a 50W Halogen bulb (such as Philips 7027)?
 

swampgator

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Another question, how much of heat a Maglite switch can take?
I know that 20W halogen bulb is possible, but how about 50W? 100W?
Way way back, (around 2004-07ish??) guys were running 100 watt Osram bulbs. I forget which one exactly. But they were definitely doing resistance reduction mods to the switches.
I haven't done a deep search in awhile but last time I did the threads came up as unavailable.
 

LeanBurn

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I don't get the point of pushing the envelope with incandescent setups that weren't designed for it, seems like a costly venture that ends in sadness. :shrug:
 

bykfixer

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CPF was invented by folks who pushed the evelope back in the late 90's and early 2000's. The LED was this dim little novelty thing at the time while some mad scientist types were striving for automobile headlight brightness from a C or D sized flashlight. 500+ lumens from a 65 lumen lighting tool was a good place to start.

Then came the SureFire phenomenon that exploded on the scene like an atomic bomb.

It was a great time to be a flashaholic.

Eventually the LED made the incan light go the way of the phonograph, but like the record player some still enjoy them. I still giggle like a 3rd grader who burped his abc's every time I use my 2C Maglite with a Pelican Big D bulb to shut off lights turned on via photocell.
 
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