Mag Xenon bi-pin in a Mag Charger?

Chicken Drumstick

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
1,651
Location
UK
Done some searching but not found an answer.


I've got a Mag Charger (circa 2001 model). Had the NiCd 6v battery pack. Although I'm running it on 6 x AA Eneloop for 7.2v these days.

Just wondering about bulbs. I'm running the stock Mag Charger bulb still. I throws well, but wonder if there were other options.


The current Mag Incan's use Bi-pin Xenon bulbs. Would any of these be a direct fit for the Mag Charger? And if so, would they be worth it?

I believe the current 6D Incan is rated at 178 lumens and 28547cd. Not sure what the Mag Charger specs where though. Or if these bulbs do fit, would a 5D bulb run at 7.2v?
 

fivemega

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
5,522
Location
California
Stock M*gCharger bulb is G4 6 volt and about 10~12 watt and life of 50 hours.
Stock M*g 5D bulb is G3 6 volt and about 5.5 watt and life of 50 hours.
With slight bending pins, it is possible to fit G3 bulb into G4 socket and as you see it will be less bright, more run time.
Powering 5 cell bulb with 6 cells may cause short life or even instaflash with fully recharged strong Eneloops.

There are many G4 6 volt (5-10-15-20 or even 30 watts) bulb you can choose from but make sure they have 100~150 hour bulb life if you plan to power them with 6 Eneloops.
Also charging 6 Eneloops in stock charger is possible but smart charger is highly recommended.
 

fivemega

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
5,522
Location
California
Is there room in the tube for a voltage reduction circuit board, if shaped cleverly?
6AA holder requires about 2D while original MC battery pack is almost size of 3D
If you can make such a voltage regulator to fit in front or back of 6AA holder, then you will have a nicest M*gCharger.


MC001.jpg
 

snakebite

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 17, 2001
Messages
2,721
Location
dayton oh
you can reduce to 5 aa by using 1 dummy.
and the stock charger will be fine for 6 aa.
its a simple lm317t-adj in cc mode.
however nimh dont take well to overcharge.
so dont let it charge 24/7
 

Chicken Drumstick

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
1,651
Location
UK
Well I thought I'd update with some progress.

While I wasn't unhappy with the stock Mag charger bulb. It seemed to match the performance of my 180 lumen XP-E drop-in for my 3D Mag. I still wanted to experiment.

I had already bought (years ago) a Phillips 5761 bulb. But never ran it due to needing to bore the reflector. So I hopped on ebay and just searched for G4 bulbs. And was an Osram 64250 HLX 20w 6v for £3 delivered. So, knowing nothing about it, I thought I'd take a punt and buy it.

When it turned up it was physically the same size as the 5761, so would also need the reflector modding. I found a new reflector online for £4.50, so ordered it up and modded it once arrived.

I did try the 5761 and it did give a nice round hot spot when focused. But according to a ceiling bounce Lux test is was only marginally beating the stock Mag bulb. But seemed to be producing way more heat.

So I tried the Osram bulb. The hot spot is a bit oblong. But ceiling bounce Lux test produced much higher results than either the stock Mag bulb or the 5761. There is more heat out the front than the stock bulb, but less than the 5761.

Outside it seems to work quite well. And is bettering my 200 XP-G 3D Mag drop-in (the stock Mag charger bulb was slightly behind this). So I'd say it is an output and throw improvement. Even on a clear night you can see the beam now when you shine it straight up at the sky.

This is all running on 6 x Eneloop in Series for 7.2v


When messing about trying the bulbs I did note that at one point neither the 5761 or the Osram would light up properly. They would glow orange and dim very quickly. While the Mag bulb still worked fine with no noticeable dimming. It turned out the batteries had dropped enough to prevent the bigger bulbs working. In this config I only have 2000mAh of capacity. Which hasn't been a real issue with the stock Mag bulb. I'll have to see how I get on with a fully charged set and the Osram bulb. If runtimes suck, I'll either have to rethink the powersource or revert back to the stock MagCharger bulb.


Anyone got any bright ideas on improving the capacity but retaining 7.2v?
 

fivemega

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
5,522
Location
California
When messing about trying the bulbs I did note that at one point neither the 5761 or the Osram would light up properly. They would glow orange and dim very quickly.
What I understand from your statement above, your cells are not capable of higher current bulb. Current draw of 4 Amps is max for Eneloops specially when they are old. You have few choices to try.
1- You can use six parallel 3AA battery adapter with 18 Envelope in 6D M*g (7.2V, 6000mAh)
2- Use pair of IMR 26650 batteries in 2.5 or 3D M*g. Protected cells may not be able to power up high current bulb with first click.
3- If you can find a 2P/6S 2.5D M*g. (7.2V, 4000mAh)
Please let us know your decision and result.
Good luck.
 

Chicken Drumstick

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
1,651
Location
UK
Thanks.

I did a runtime test yesterday.It gave stable light output for just over 30 mins then rapid dimming to almost off within about 60-90 seconds.

It does get f'ing hot though. I actually stopped the test after 25 mins for a cool down before resuming. I daresay outside and holding it, some of the heat would have shed better. But it wasn't really comfortable to hold.

I did a tailcap amp test. 4'ish amps on start up dropping back to around 3.3-3.4amps. Which I think for a 2000mAh works out just over half hour runtime.

I need to do the same today with the stock MagCharger bulb and compare. Although I think I'm coming to the conclusion that the gains just maybe aren't worth it and the heat is too much. So I may end up switching back to the Mag bulb perminently.


I'm still not sure how I can improve capacity/runtime on the MagCharger. I appreciate your suggestions above. But I'm not really looking to run this in a different Maglite, just the MagCharger I already have (I have a 6D running a 1000 lumen XM-L2 drop in and a couple of 2D's running MT-G2 LEDs).


I guess I could get a new/replacement NiMh MagCharger pack, not sure if they are 4000/4500/5000mAh. But they are only 6.0v and are hugely pricey. Ive also not been able to find any suitable 1/2 d cells to buy to build a pack. I also can't see an easy way to make more use of AA Eneloops in a MagCharger. I'm running them currently in a 3xAA Series holder. I have 2 AA's plus a blank per holder and have 3 holders (so 6 batteries and 3 blanks). I could easily add three more AA's to up the voltage. But I don't see an easy way to run more in parallel and certainly not evenly.

And without having some sort of buck driver, I don't see how I can run 2 x Li-ion either.
 

Chicken Drumstick

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
1,651
Location
UK
So I performed a runtime test using the stock MagCharger bulb. No surprises really. Same batteries (6AA Enelopp for 2000mAh and 7.2v).

Tailcap readings were around 1.8amps so about half that of the 20w Osram bulb.


Light held steady output for about 50-55mins. Then dimmed to just over the 1 hour mark. Dimming was less sudden, but once it started to dim that was it really.


So about double the runtime of the Osram bulb. However there was significantly less heat. With the Osram bulb the Mag was too hot to hold. With the stock bulb it never got more than warm.


Think I'll do some back to back beamshots to see the difference between the bulbs. But overall the stock bulb seems the better bet overall I'm suspecting.
 

fivemega

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
5,522
Location
California
MC5000005.jpg


These could be more possiblities:
A- If you using 12 standard Eneloops
2P/6S AA (7.2V 4000mAh)
B- Use
120mm extension tube and 6 LSD "C" size battery. (7.2V 4500mAh)
C- Use
180mm extension tube and 6 battery holder of 3AA parallel. (7.2V 6000mAh)
D- Use pair of 26650 battery in original battery tube or shortened to 2.5D (7.4V 5500mAh) Plastic tube is required for centering cells.
E- Use
2P/2S 18650 in dual bored out barrel or shortened to size of 2.75D (7.4V 7000mAh)
Remember, M*gCharger battery tube is same diameter of M*g "D" and tail thread/tail cap also same.
Size of standard M*gCharger is about same as M*g 3D
 
Last edited:

Chicken Drumstick

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 9, 2011
Messages
1,651
Location
UK
Been out with the MagCharger the last 2 nights.

Running the stock bulb. This is my preferred setup at the moment. @fivemega if could let me know where I can get a holder like the above, I'd be super tempted though.


Bit of a beam shot, not the best shot in the world. And there was some light near the camera. However the vehicle (Discovery 1) is about 250 feet from the camera and the large Ash tree about 540 feet.

s0ZH06Bh.jpg
 
Top