Mag 2C Mod the best??

Pound for pound do ya think the Mag 2 C converted with the 112 bulb and 3 123A's is about the best flashlight around?

Metro

Talk to fivemaga! He seems to be the master of this mod.

spacetroll,

The Mag 2C mod isn't the "best" but it's cheap and bright. For "best" think Surefire.

The 2C mag mods are great for a cheap bright light to leave in your car. The lights I leave in our cars don't get much use, but they are subject to temperature extremes and lithium batteries are great for this.

If your goal is a bright light that's cheap the 2C 3x123 is good, but bulb life for the KPR112 isn't very good. You might want to buy plenty of extra bulbs.

The beam of these lights have artifacts, but you can improve this with a Acrylite lens or a sputtered reflector. I think Flashlight Lens has a lens that will improve the beam too.

Best Bulb For 3x123 2C Mag Mod

spacetroll, you'll never get anyone to agree on what the best mod or best flashlight around is. As far as Maglite mods go, I very much like the 2C modded with a hotlips heatsink, Luxeon III and Downboy convertor powered by 2xPila 150A batteries. Constant brightness the whole way through. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

If you mean is it the brightest mod for the money, then yes it is. No, the beam is perfect, but if you back off slightly from the tightest focus you get a usable round hotspot. I've been building and selling these mods for almost two years using Radio Shack bulbs and as far as I can tell, was the first to try the KPR112.
web page

Between this and my customer feedback (most of them non-flashaholics), the KPR112 bulb life can be fairly good if; you use it mostly in short bursts, and some bulbs just seem to last longer than others. I'm willing to pay $1.29 a bulb for this kind of brightness. (less if you buy in quantity) It's brighter than a 2C with 4x123 and KPR118 or 20W MR16 lamp, and equal in brightness, though not in total output to a Surefire P91 lamp. Not bad for $20.

Some of my other favorite cheapos are:

2AA Eveready Industrial with 3x123 and KPR112

" " with Surefire P90 or P91 Lamp

Dorcy Boss/Craftsman Tool light 4AA with XPR103 bulb.

I've only got 3 or 4 bulbs worth of experience with the 3x123/KPR112 mod and I'm not impressed with the life of the bulbs so far. Based on T.I.N's suggestion, I'm thinking of trying some Reflectalite GH24's in hopes of keeping the brightness and increasing bulb life and thereby helping the reliability factor of this light. Besides that, you can't get more bang for the buck!

I love these GH24's. Both of my modded 2C lights now use these bulbs and I'm able to keep a spare in the foam in the tailcap.

the gH24 is amazing, and the customer service is top notch, i received mine within 4-5 days of ordering it.....from the U.K.!!!!! imagine that.....

Spacey,
The 2C is a nice stubby shape. But the brightest config for the 2C is not the KPR112, it is the WA01183 driven by 4 1/2 sub-C nimh. This makes about 3 times the light for 18 minutes of runtime.
Wilkey

Wilkey, can you give a few more details on this configuration? Is there any modifications to the 2C mag needed? Where can these parts (bulb and batteries) be obtained?

Hi Ray,

Here's a link to a thread on the Mag83 mod. The cells can be obtained from www.(battlepacks/dynamoelectrics/cheapbatterypacks).com and the bulb is a Welch Allyn unit so either group buy or individual $100 minimum purchase. Also, it must be potted so that means Carley. Possibly js can do a custom pot for you but I can't speak for him as he is rather busy these days. You'd need a separate charger for the stick. At the very least, a wall wart that pushes 5-6V at 150-200mA. And since it is a very hot bulb (will permanently deform a stock lens in about 4 minutes IIRC) an aluminum reflector and glass lens are a must. Not exactly the easiest mod I'm afraid.

linky

Wilkey

*edit*
Please use the UBB code box for links. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Bart

Ginseng or mods/admns, if you truncate the address of the link down to the first thread id # you see in the link, it should default display correctly for whatever the client preferences are set for. I see Ginseng was lazy (umm, I've never had such a lapse ;-) ) and did not give the thread link a title. The long link is too wide for my puny LCD, which is the same width as Ginseng's iBook screen, but only 1028 x724 resolution /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif In otherwords truncate the rest of the address after "&Number=492919"

If one is not concerned about what kind of battery chemistry to use, the WA1274 puts out a noticeably greater amount of lumens at 7.2v for only 2.77amps, or more than an amp less than the 1183. Now what kind of battery chemistry could we risk using to drive one of these in a Mag 2C mod? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif With longer runtime to boot? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif The Mini-MagChr contender?

you could always direct drive a 5 watt Lux V with 3*123, Space Needle II style /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif