With gratitude to all those who took the time to explain things, answer my newbie questions, and who have taken the time and effort to inform all of us about how they solved the various problems with this fascinating hobby.
I hope this assembly of random study and musings will be helpful to newer members. If there are mistakes or omissions, they are mine alone.
A light is a light is a light…, or so I presumed in the days before CPF.
Shows you just how wrong a person can be.
Thanks to all who have contributed to my increasing knowledge. Expertise will come as soon as I buy the soldering iron and AA epoxy.
Lights…what shall we say about lights? Lights are better than ever! They come in all shapes, sizes, and brightnesses. So much for LIGHTS 101. They also seem to fall into several categories:
Little, Teeny Tiny Lights that fit on a keychain. Handy for all sorts of things you never thought about before. I could have used one of those innumerable times in the past.
Everyday, Plain Jane Lights that can be bought at the corner grocery. Inexpensive, not very well constructed, use common, easily available batteries and bulbs, and do just fine for everyday tasks. Can be upgraded with a replacement bulb. Krypton, Xenon, or the Luxeon offerings. Most of the time, they are all you need. They live in a drawer till needed, and work most of the time, if the batteries have been changed.
Industrial Grade Lights of the above category. More rugged, good beams, safe in hazardous environments, and also inexpensive. A good buy, but not very moddable, due to the bulb mounting arrangement, at least in my work kit Bright Star 3 cell which is spring loaded, probably to provide a bit of shock resistance to the incandescent bulb. There are LED versions of these, which are also good, but less bright than the incandescent lights. But you don't have to replace the bulbs. (If you don't, why do some companies offer LED replacements?) Generally, a little more expensive than the above, but worth it.
Mini Mag lights. In the beginning, there was ONLY the Mini Mag Light. I LIKE the Mini Mag! It is small, bright (for a while) and was the ONLY game in town. Despite some opinions to the contrary It was, and still is, good. It and the clones it inspired fill a real niche. It will run acceptably bright on two fairly inexpensive and available batteries for about 2 hours. It needs two hands to turn it on, and adjust the beam. The bulb darkens with use. Bulb upgrades are: Mag-light Xenon, (the ones with the green base) Brinkmann two pin bulbs, which are said to be brighter than other bulbs. $4.95+ shipping for 2, and others.
NOW, I don't have the time, money or inclination to test all of the "improvements" for the Mini Mag. BUT people have done lots of work documenting this, and if I read the figures right, Teralux, InReTech, and the custom items from Lambda; the Ill Pill,(can you even get that anymore?)in addition to the BadBoy and MadMax will provide respectable brightness, and passably attractive beams. From what I understand, the rest have a pretty beam, and produce dimmer, but useful light for a really long time.
I realize that you can pay $9 for a new Mmag, then spend $25-50 for a module, $5 for a "clickie" tailcap, and replace the lens with a clear glass or frosted lens for a prettier beam, but all you would have is $42-65~ Mini Mag, with the run time not much improved, in the most cases.
There are 2 and 4 AA or AAA commercial offerings that will do as good or better, and for le$$ money. I am tickled with my UK 4AA eLED. Thanks,whever suggested it. They just don't have the GEE WHIZ! factor. What appeared IMO to be the best of the lot, the Elektrolumens XM3, is no more. Now we wait to see what , if anything, will fill the void.
Big Mag Lights and Clones: LIGHT MACHINES in their stock form! Rugged, relatively inexpensive, universal. The four cells are THROWBEASTS! 3 D and 4 D lights were used in the bad old days before "tactical" lights, as standard equipment on a police officer's belt (the nightstick was in the car, with a spare Mag.) One helluva persuader! C cell lights are of similar utility, but slightly lighter. Upgrading the output requires a xenon bulb, which gives ~10% more brightness. Fragile bulbs? I dropped my old Mag from about 6 feet one morning, and it lit up fine. The only thing is, it landed on the bezel cross threading it, so there is no way I am ever going to be able to replace the reflector. Buuuut…20+ years, and it hasn't needed it yet.
"Improvement" with a LED bulb replacement module is greatest for a 2Dcell light, about equal to the original in the 3D cell model, and less for the 4/d cell. Perhaps the reflector efficiency helps the replacement units to almost equal the original equipment bulb. Longevity, run time and ruggedness are said to be better. Incandescent lights are generally brighter than LED lights, sometimes by a factor of 2.
NOW: People on this forum (You know who you are, and so do we!) have done unbelievably marvelous things to the lights, with modifications that are run from fairly conservative, but brighter to KATY BAR THE DOOR! Featuring multiple LEDs, reflectors, and more batteries than is humanly possible to squeeze into that little tube, and GREEN GLOW POWDER! There is nothing wrong with the GEE WHIZ FACTOR!
If you do your own surgery, simple seems to be the way recommended by the gurus of the forum.
Read the numerous threads regarding modification for specifics. A real education.
You are going to need: MagLight or clone, 3 cells =4.5 volts, 4 cells= 6v.
A properly-binned White Luxeon III or IV LED with J, K, or L voltage J=3.66V, K=3.75V, and L=3.99v.(I think I got that right) If possible, avoid the TCP (Tom Cat Pee) green shadings of the "white" leds.
AA epoxy
Soldering iron, solder, and some sort of thin wire.
Mr. Bulk, Chop and others say a good heatsink will help preserve the LED and make it possible to run the light with out resistoring, in Direct Drive
D. I think you would resistor a 4 cell, and they even have a calculator somewhere to help figure out what's what.
I think Chop said if you put a resistor in the 3 D's circuit, not to use one of more than 1 ohm, and another fellow suggested .5 ohm with the J and K voltages.
If you don't want to go to all that trouble, Elektrolumens has a product, the Blaster III, that looks like it will do the job. Fairly reasonable price, when compared with the cost of a LED replacement bulb plus the MagLight. Lotta people say they like the Blaster.
The "Little" Tactical Lights. Electronic and mechanical marvels! The stuff of DREAMS! Also, expensive. Created to reduce the weight of equipment that Law Enforcement Officers and Military personnel must carry, and greeted with open arms, not to mention pocketbooks, by people who "need" a small, bright, lightweight illuminator. I would wager that most of the use is with the civilian population. GEE WHIZ FACTOR aplenty! The commercial offerings like the Surefire, Streamlight, Nuwai, Pelican, Inova, Longbow, and UK,and Princeton Tec are the stuff of dreams, as are the custom lights, Alephs, TNC, Lionhearts, and the others.
Most have a run time of 2 hours,+-, but at full brightness , are dazzling. They all seem to run on the Lithium 123A 3v. batteries, which are expensive, if not bought on line through one of the advertisers on CPF, or if you have an agency to purchase them for use. But they are small, and can be carried wth little inconvenience for use at a moment's notice.
I know this is really long, and I have forgotten to mention some people and products that I admire. Likely, there are mistakes, seeing as how I am new and all, but any mistakes are mine alone, and corrections are welcome. I had just hoped to contribute in some small way to the forum.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/au.gif
I hope this assembly of random study and musings will be helpful to newer members. If there are mistakes or omissions, they are mine alone.
A light is a light is a light…, or so I presumed in the days before CPF.
Shows you just how wrong a person can be.
Thanks to all who have contributed to my increasing knowledge. Expertise will come as soon as I buy the soldering iron and AA epoxy.
Lights…what shall we say about lights? Lights are better than ever! They come in all shapes, sizes, and brightnesses. So much for LIGHTS 101. They also seem to fall into several categories:
Little, Teeny Tiny Lights that fit on a keychain. Handy for all sorts of things you never thought about before. I could have used one of those innumerable times in the past.
Everyday, Plain Jane Lights that can be bought at the corner grocery. Inexpensive, not very well constructed, use common, easily available batteries and bulbs, and do just fine for everyday tasks. Can be upgraded with a replacement bulb. Krypton, Xenon, or the Luxeon offerings. Most of the time, they are all you need. They live in a drawer till needed, and work most of the time, if the batteries have been changed.
Industrial Grade Lights of the above category. More rugged, good beams, safe in hazardous environments, and also inexpensive. A good buy, but not very moddable, due to the bulb mounting arrangement, at least in my work kit Bright Star 3 cell which is spring loaded, probably to provide a bit of shock resistance to the incandescent bulb. There are LED versions of these, which are also good, but less bright than the incandescent lights. But you don't have to replace the bulbs. (If you don't, why do some companies offer LED replacements?) Generally, a little more expensive than the above, but worth it.
Mini Mag lights. In the beginning, there was ONLY the Mini Mag Light. I LIKE the Mini Mag! It is small, bright (for a while) and was the ONLY game in town. Despite some opinions to the contrary It was, and still is, good. It and the clones it inspired fill a real niche. It will run acceptably bright on two fairly inexpensive and available batteries for about 2 hours. It needs two hands to turn it on, and adjust the beam. The bulb darkens with use. Bulb upgrades are: Mag-light Xenon, (the ones with the green base) Brinkmann two pin bulbs, which are said to be brighter than other bulbs. $4.95+ shipping for 2, and others.
NOW, I don't have the time, money or inclination to test all of the "improvements" for the Mini Mag. BUT people have done lots of work documenting this, and if I read the figures right, Teralux, InReTech, and the custom items from Lambda; the Ill Pill,(can you even get that anymore?)in addition to the BadBoy and MadMax will provide respectable brightness, and passably attractive beams. From what I understand, the rest have a pretty beam, and produce dimmer, but useful light for a really long time.
I realize that you can pay $9 for a new Mmag, then spend $25-50 for a module, $5 for a "clickie" tailcap, and replace the lens with a clear glass or frosted lens for a prettier beam, but all you would have is $42-65~ Mini Mag, with the run time not much improved, in the most cases.
There are 2 and 4 AA or AAA commercial offerings that will do as good or better, and for le$$ money. I am tickled with my UK 4AA eLED. Thanks,whever suggested it. They just don't have the GEE WHIZ! factor. What appeared IMO to be the best of the lot, the Elektrolumens XM3, is no more. Now we wait to see what , if anything, will fill the void.
Big Mag Lights and Clones: LIGHT MACHINES in their stock form! Rugged, relatively inexpensive, universal. The four cells are THROWBEASTS! 3 D and 4 D lights were used in the bad old days before "tactical" lights, as standard equipment on a police officer's belt (the nightstick was in the car, with a spare Mag.) One helluva persuader! C cell lights are of similar utility, but slightly lighter. Upgrading the output requires a xenon bulb, which gives ~10% more brightness. Fragile bulbs? I dropped my old Mag from about 6 feet one morning, and it lit up fine. The only thing is, it landed on the bezel cross threading it, so there is no way I am ever going to be able to replace the reflector. Buuuut…20+ years, and it hasn't needed it yet.
"Improvement" with a LED bulb replacement module is greatest for a 2Dcell light, about equal to the original in the 3D cell model, and less for the 4/d cell. Perhaps the reflector efficiency helps the replacement units to almost equal the original equipment bulb. Longevity, run time and ruggedness are said to be better. Incandescent lights are generally brighter than LED lights, sometimes by a factor of 2.
NOW: People on this forum (You know who you are, and so do we!) have done unbelievably marvelous things to the lights, with modifications that are run from fairly conservative, but brighter to KATY BAR THE DOOR! Featuring multiple LEDs, reflectors, and more batteries than is humanly possible to squeeze into that little tube, and GREEN GLOW POWDER! There is nothing wrong with the GEE WHIZ FACTOR!
If you do your own surgery, simple seems to be the way recommended by the gurus of the forum.
Read the numerous threads regarding modification for specifics. A real education.
You are going to need: MagLight or clone, 3 cells =4.5 volts, 4 cells= 6v.
A properly-binned White Luxeon III or IV LED with J, K, or L voltage J=3.66V, K=3.75V, and L=3.99v.(I think I got that right) If possible, avoid the TCP (Tom Cat Pee) green shadings of the "white" leds.
AA epoxy
Soldering iron, solder, and some sort of thin wire.
Mr. Bulk, Chop and others say a good heatsink will help preserve the LED and make it possible to run the light with out resistoring, in Direct Drive
D. I think you would resistor a 4 cell, and they even have a calculator somewhere to help figure out what's what. I think Chop said if you put a resistor in the 3 D's circuit, not to use one of more than 1 ohm, and another fellow suggested .5 ohm with the J and K voltages.
If you don't want to go to all that trouble, Elektrolumens has a product, the Blaster III, that looks like it will do the job. Fairly reasonable price, when compared with the cost of a LED replacement bulb plus the MagLight. Lotta people say they like the Blaster.
The "Little" Tactical Lights. Electronic and mechanical marvels! The stuff of DREAMS! Also, expensive. Created to reduce the weight of equipment that Law Enforcement Officers and Military personnel must carry, and greeted with open arms, not to mention pocketbooks, by people who "need" a small, bright, lightweight illuminator. I would wager that most of the use is with the civilian population. GEE WHIZ FACTOR aplenty! The commercial offerings like the Surefire, Streamlight, Nuwai, Pelican, Inova, Longbow, and UK,and Princeton Tec are the stuff of dreams, as are the custom lights, Alephs, TNC, Lionhearts, and the others.
Most have a run time of 2 hours,+-, but at full brightness , are dazzling. They all seem to run on the Lithium 123A 3v. batteries, which are expensive, if not bought on line through one of the advertisers on CPF, or if you have an agency to purchase them for use. But they are small, and can be carried wth little inconvenience for use at a moment's notice.
I know this is really long, and I have forgotten to mention some people and products that I admire. Likely, there are mistakes, seeing as how I am new and all, but any mistakes are mine alone, and corrections are welcome. I had just hoped to contribute in some small way to the forum.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/au.gif
