Mag 2-6 D cell mods

Are ther any sites just for the Mag 2-6 D cell . I want to tinker around moding mags at first because they are cheap and I have about 20 of them just laying around. Also what are the eaziest mods for the mag just for starters. Thanks in advance

http://kevin.htgk.org/oa-variants.php#5WBB917

Light Refineries Cookbook is a good place to start.

Are you wanting simple battery/bulb mods or more extensive mods requiring soldering and cutting and whatnot?

I am looking for simple light and battery mods as well as one that are little more intensive. All the information I can get from simple to ones to the hard ones

Any more info anyone

clyons -
there are so many possibilities with the M@gs that I don't know where to begin. What you might find helpful is to review the WA/CA GB threads (Feb and June '04) and make a list of bulbs/battery combos.

Do you want to run on rechargable AA's?
Do you want to run on Lithium 123's?
Then there are the 1/2 D cells...
and the list of power sources goes on...

Here is the thread I cut my teeth on which has quite a number of links to other lights.

Ok her goes. What is WA/CA GB treads? I want to start out with simple mods first like batteries and bulbs. The to simple led mods the after a while I want to power of the sun with in arms reach. I hate asking all these questions I feel like a dummy. I wish their was a newbie thread that started of simple and got harder until we could come out talk with the big dawgs. I love different flashlights (my wife vouch). I got my first sure fire 6p a few weeks ago and I was in hog haven. Until I wanted brighter and longer battery time, but now I just want brighter for now. Mags just seem to be the light that I have a lot just laying around and it seems to be the standard for mods. Well that about it anyone feel free to e-mail me links of advice if you don't want to clog the group with a bunch of newbie answers. Thanks

Sorry clyons -
My bad.
WA/CA stands for Welch Allyn / Carley. the two most popular bulb companies that we buy from. WA has a 100.00 minimum order and Carley has a $50.00 minimum order requirement, so most people either join in a GB (group buy), or Light-edge.com is now starting to stock the most common superbulbs.

Let's start simple...The M@g 2C/2D

The simplest mod is for the 2C/2D using a KPR112 (from Radio Shack) and 3 litho 123 batts. For a more reliable bulb, you can use a 5-cell krypton M@glite bulb (found at Meijers or some Hardware stores).

All that you need is
a bit of plastic plumbing pipe (long enough and big enough I.D. to insert the 123 batts into)
duct tape (to wrap around the pipe until it fits in the M@g body)
Some folks have used the foam heater hose to house the batts, but I haven't found it to be all that sturdy.

Reassemble your light and you're good to go.

Then using the same 3 - 123 batts, you can power the Carley 1057, Carley 1499, Carley 928, etc. These will have varying runtimes but we'll save that for another time.

Tip of the day. If you take the Scotch Magic tape (green package)or the Satin tape (purple package) and afix it to the lens, it will get rid of those ugly rings and artifacts and make the beam look surefire-like.

If you do a search 'KPR112' you should find quite a bit on info.

Give this a try and let us know what you think!

greg

Maglite mods. Though they may not qualify for the Custom Forum, the easiest mods are the following:

Any 4 Cell lights - keep the same 4 cells but switch to a 3 cell Krypton bulb. Considerable step up in brightness but less bulb life. I wouldn't use this as my only flashlight in a mission critical situation. I also keep a stock cell number Xenon bulb in the tailcap rather than a duplicate of whatever bulb is in the light. (Don't try overdriving a 2 or 3 cell Xenon as it won't last more than a couple seconds on fresh batteries.)

3D light - unscrew the entire head about 3 or 4 turns (make sure there are at least two turns of contact), replace 3 D cells with 4 C cells. No spacers are needed. You can then either run either a 4 cell Xenon bulb for whiteness, a smaller hotspot and a bit better throw, or run a 3 cell Krypton bulb for a larger hotspot but less throw and a bit better flood.

2D cell light - Remove spring from tailcap. Using a drill and metal brush (or sand paper and elbow grease) remove the anodizing from the enterior of the very bottom of the tailcap. Drop 3 C cells in the body and rig up something to take up the space between. I use some of the large flat washers from a hardware store. I usually just run a 3 cell Xenon bulb with this build as you can't really run a 2 cell bulb on 3 cells for very long.

2 C cell light - The aforementioned 3x123 with a KPR112 or 113 bulb. Same 3x123 battery configuration but with a 6 cell Xenon bulb for a tighter hotspot and probably more throw. I use 3/4" PVC pipe which will have to have the exterior surface sanded down to fit into the C body (takes about 20 minutes using a scraper of some sort and sand paper by hand.)

Also as mentioned, the same battery setup but running a KPR118 bulb will be less bright, but should have better bulb life. This is still a considerable step up from a 2 cell light but also a considerable step down from the very overdriven 112 or 113 bulbs. I've heard you can also run 4x123 cells in 2C (or 3C or 2D) body with the KPR118 bulb but I haven't tried that yet. I don't think it's supposed to be as bright as the 112 + 3x123 build but I could be wrong about that as well.

On all Mags unless they need absolute maximum throw, I like to sputter the reflector. This give a much more uniform beam pattern. I personally prefer this to blurring or diffusing the lens. Speaking of lenses, a UCL from flashlightlens.com is supposed to allow about 10% more light through. Every little bit counts.

Beyond that, you're getting into the WA or Carley bulbs. These will require either a bi pin slug from a Mag Charger to use the bi pin bulbs, or will require "potted' bulbs to fit in the Mag bulb holder. These will likely require using multiple AA cells in adapters. Most of these mods will require an aluminum reflctor and some sort of replacement lens as they will melt in a matter of minutes. Search for Mag74 (my next project), Mag85 etc. Basically just look at the threads in this forum. You'll learn something from almost everyone of the threads here. I'm starting to get parts together for these mods but the reflectors are hard to come by at this point which limits using the light to a few seconds at a time.

To put it in perspective, a 2 cell mag is rated for about 18 lumens, a 3 cell is rated for about 39 lumens and a 4 cell is rated for 59 lumens. The KPR112/113 with 3x123 is definately over 100 (my guesstimation is 120ish or slightly higher) and the 4 cells driving a 3 cell bulb isn't far behind that. Most of the WA bulb builds are 500 - 1000 lumens. One is up around 1200 as I recall. These are serious upgrades that will cost you over $100 to get all the parts together. And runtimes will be radically shorter than the ~10 hours usually expected of a Mag. Some of them are 20 minutes or so but such is the price of that much power in such a small package.

I've never messed with the 5 or 6 cell lights other than in stock form. Anything over a 4D is pretty unwieldy to me. Actually, the 3D is the biggest I like to go.