First Attempt in Mag Mods, need advice?

Good evening all. Had a great Idea for next years xMas gifts. I will do some mods on some Mags. I basically will do six sets of three Mag lights. I can't decide on the first though. I want to mod a 2 C or D cell Mag with a Lux III or V LED. First the bin codes make absolutely no sense to me. I have tried to read all the threads and literature associated with them but I cannot grasp it. So to cut to the chase in your opinion what would be the best bin to use for both the Lux III and V for the mod?

With all the options of cells which configuration would be the best? Longest to shortest runtimes? Alkaline? Rechargeables? D, C, AA, 123s?

I'll do the research as well but if you can help me out on threads to look at I would appreciate it very much.

I will also be doing the LED mods to the Mag AA and the solitaire.

Bear in mind I have "0" knowledge on mods, electronics, soldering, etc. I am will to learn from the pros here and willing to teach myself and put in the time in doing so. I think it will be a GREAT challenge and a GREAT learning experience plus a nice crash course in all of the above. I have a year and some weeks till next xMas, so I have lots of time to do some trial and error.

Any advice and or direction from you guys would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be fun. I'll keep you guys updated when I finally attempt to do some work.

Hey, EchoSierraTwo.

I too am a newbie to the whole mod light scene. And recently I just made a few very easy mod for solitaire based on Quickbeam's site about mods.

What I did is almost identical to what shown, except I just got really lazy in the end just direct drive(no resistor, just battery) the whole thing(however, you might siginificantly reduce lifetime for the LED or even blow it). Also, I give my friends the options to either keeping the original bulb at tailcap or I make another 3mm LED to replace the tailcap bulb. I think the runtime is about 3-4 hours if I remembered correctly, and the whole setup is completely reversible.

I could take some pictures of the finished mod if that will be helpful.

Another source that I have turned to for modding parts is the Sandwich Shoppe--which they had a vast selection of parts for Minimag. I just ordered my first sandwich, and do plan to make a few in the future if I have time and skill to do so. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Maybe the OA4D Cookbook may shed some light on the subject..

If you want a smaller light, I'll recommend the following changes to the recipe -

Use a 3D/3C cell Maglite. Skip the resistor that the cookbook talks about. If you work with a 2C/2D, you will have to deal with step-up electronics since it won't supply enough power.

As for your Luxeon, you will need a Luxeon III. Bin codes can be deciphered as follows. I will use TY0L (one of my favorites) as an example.

First letter "T" - how bright it is. "T" is the brightest we can get on the open market today. "U" has been rumored to exist, but just like mythical beasts of yore, nobody actually HAS one to prove it does /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif (don't hold your breath for U, just go for a T.)

Second and third letters "Y0" - the tint. Y0 has a HID-ish tint. Generally, if you can get them, go for what I call the "0" bins, where the third letter is a 0 (zero). Those are as close to white as you can get. If you can get a 0 bin, I wouldn't worry about the second letter too much - it'll be very close to white so you'll hardly notice anyway.

Fourth letter "L" - forward voltage of the LED. Without getting into a discussion about electronics, for this mod of yours, you will want a "K" or a "L" letter, either one will do.

So you'd want a T?0K or a T?0L where ? can be anything.

One of my favorites is taking a 2D mag cutting the spring in half and stuff 3c batteries in it with a Lux III.

[ QUOTE ]
KevinL said:
Maybe the OA4D Cookbook may shed some light on the subject..

If you want a smaller light, I'll recommend the following changes to the recipe -

Use a 3D/3C cell Maglite. Skip the resistor that the cookbook talks about. If you work with a 2C/2D, you will have to deal with step-up electronics since it won't supply enough power.

As for your Luxeon, you will need a Luxeon III. Bin codes can be deciphered as follows. I will use TY0L (one of my favorites) as an example.

First letter "T" - how bright it is. "T" is the brightest we can get on the open market today. "U" has been rumored to exist, but just like mythical beasts of yore, nobody actually HAS one to prove it does /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif (don't hold your breath for U, just go for a T.)

Second and third letters "Y0" - the tint. Y0 has a HID-ish tint. Generally, if you can get them, go for what I call the "0" bins, where the third letter is a 0 (zero). Those are as close to white as you can get. If you can get a 0 bin, I wouldn't worry about the second letter too much - it'll be very close to white so you'll hardly notice anyway.

Fourth letter "L" - forward voltage of the LED. Without getting into a discussion about electronics, for this mod of yours, you will want a "K" or a "L" letter, either one will do.

So you'd want a T?0K or a T?0L where ? can be anything.

[/ QUOTE ]Kevin that is the first time that I have been able to understand the bin codes. Thank you for breaking in down as eloquently as you did. I think I know what to look for now. Im still curious about the Vs tho. How are they rated?

Nitroz: Oops, forgot about that one. Yes, it can be done.

EchoSierraTwo: Glad I could be of some help /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Are you talking about the Luxeon V, or the V0/V1 tint color code?

The LuxV is also binned the same way. Color codes are the same across the entire Luxeon product range (Lux1, Lux3, LuxV). Generally, LuxVs have higher brightness codes, instead of a T in the first letter you see things like V, W, and X.

Voltage is also higher, so the last letter ranges from S, T, U.

To determine what the actual letters in each position mean, try this.

EST, you will also need to practice soldering on something 1st that has no dangerous TV capacitors in it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/str.gif
A pencil type soldering iron 15-25 watt sized and electronics grade solder from ratshack would be a good way to start.

I'd get a 3D or 3C mag, like KevinL said, and use a LuxIII. It'll be a lot less expensive because you won't have to use a boost circuit. Three batteries directly driving a K or L bin LuxIII on a good heatsink makes a great light - get an Osink or Hotlips heatsink. I have a Mag 3D with a TW0L on a Hotlips heatsink - my first mod - and it's awesome.

If you want to use a LuxV, get a 2C Mag and put 3 CR123A batteries in it. You'll need to make/find a sleeve so they fit properly. That'll give you 9 volts which is enough to light a LuxV.

Kevin: Yes I was. The LuxVs. Is is safe to assume that I would have to use some Step up (boost circuit) if I use and type C and or D cells? I'll have to do some more homework on that. Any lead would be much appreciated as well.

Nitroz: Thanks. It's an option no doubt. I like the weight and form factor of the C cell Mags. Great for women and kids with small hands. The cells are lighter. If I decide to do a 123 Mod it would be even lighter, huh? But my thinking is to have a light that could use both high end Batts, rechargable and off the shelf Alks. Not everyone would appreciate the hard time trying to a buy or the price of them too.

I agree with Lymph. A 3-cell DD (direct drive) light
is a great way to start your modding career.

If you want, later, you can add a tail switch like my 3-cubed mode and have 2
or 3 brightness levels.

Greg

So, if I wanted to mod a 2D Mag, what kind of circuit would I use for a LuxIII? How would this be different from a plain Lux? Thanks!

Would elektros boost circuit work?

[ QUOTE ]
greenLED said:
So, if I wanted to mod a 2D Mag, what kind of circuit would I use for a LuxIII? How would this be different from a plain Lux? Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

For my 2D mod I chose to use George's nFlex and
three CR123's for power. Being able to dim a light is
important to me. That's why both of my mods have that
feature.

Greg

EchoSierraTwo,
I said to use a 2D with a Lux III and 3c batteries, not a 2c or 3c. A 2D is a hair shorter and you can use 3c rechargables. I think it was lymph who was talking about a Space Needle(2c w/123's and Lux V). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

I heard ya Nitroz. I did not communicate it clear. My bad. What I should have said was that The D cell was an option because of my partialness to the C form factor and everything else after that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

greg_in_canada I like the sounds of your mod (variable light). Have you posted info on the mod? Also It sounds somewhat like the PocketMate??? No?

[ QUOTE ]
EchoSierraTwo said:
greg_in_canada I like the sounds of your mod (variable light). Have you posted info on the mod? Also It sounds somewhat like the PocketMate??? No?

[/ QUOTE ]

The links to both of my mods are in my signature.

Greg