Mini Mag Stinger

I had some Stinger bulbs left over from my Stinger mods so I got the bright idea of using one of them in a Mini Mag. I had to bore a 5 mm hole in the plastic bulb holder so the Stinger bulb could reach the bulb socket, then I had to expand the hole in the reflector, I made this 5 mm big. Next I connected it to an external Pila 168 A battery (the plan is to buy three 2/3AA NiMH batteries to drive it), and voila, a very bright Mini Mag! But it didn't take long, around 30 seconds I guess, before the reflector started to melt /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I did not expect this, but a 6 Watt bulb was to much for it to handle.

It was a fun mod to try.

Sigbjoern

Sounds like a great mod, just need a metal minimag reflector.
I might have to try that.
Thanks for the inspiration.

I'm wondering how well a strion bulb with a 3.7v li-ion AA would run. If you have any sort of machining capabilities, you might be able to try a McR20 reflector, though I don't konw what kind of heat they can withstand.

Thanks for the reflector tip Chop, sadly the Sandwich Shoppe had none in stock. Does anyone know if the IMS 20 mm reflector is plastic or aluminium?
I see that Carley has an aluminium reflector, called 1583, that appear to fit. But couldn't find the price and a way to buy it.

Instead of using three 2/3 AA NiMHs, this mod can be done with a 14500 LiIon cell and a dummy AA cell or with a cut down body (i.e. the MicroMag). Will the 14500 handle a 1.5 A load? That was the current I measured.

I did not get to do a brightness comparision against different lights since the reflector melted so fast, but it was a heck of a lot brighter (and whiter) than the stock Mini Mag, which was the only one I got time to compare it against.
One note: with the stock reflector, the beam was full of artifacts, I expect a McR20 reflector will produce a much nicer beam.

Sigbjoern

The IMS reflector is plastic. That's why I mentioned the Aleph reflector. You could order from Carley with a phone call, but they have a $50 minimum order, which actually comes to 9 or 10 reflectors.

I mentioned the AA li-ion cell for a couple of reasons. The first is because it is my understanding that the Strion bulb is meant to run on a li-ion cell. The second was that I had assumed a cut down mini m@g, without thinking about it. Sorry, I've just gotten used to chopping them whenever I needed one.

The artifacts in the beam was probably due to the lack of any sort of texturing in the reflector. I would imagine that the McR would do a much better job of blending the beam. I'm just not sure about it focusing with the incand bulb. In the end, the Carley reflectors may be the best route, but you'll need machining capabilities to fit the reflectors.

If you don't mind, I might like to pursue this a bit. It could make for a very fun and practical mod.

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Chop said:
The IMS reflector is plastic. That's why I mentioned the Aleph reflector. You could order from Carley with a phone call, but they have a $50 minimum order, which actually comes to 9 or 10 reflectors.

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As long as I not have to buy $50 of the same product I'm fine, I can spend the rest on bulbs.
Or is there anyone else that wants reflectors?

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Chop said:
I mentioned the AA li-ion cell for a couple of reasons. The first is because it is my understanding that the Strion bulb is meant to run on a li-ion cell.

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I think the Strion bulb should work fine, both with a 14500 or with three NiMHs. Too bad I didn't order one in my last Brightguy order. One other bulb I will try out is WA1053.

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Chop said:
The second was that I had assumed a cut down mini m@g, without thinking about it. Sorry, I've just gotten used to chopping them whenever I needed one.

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Not everyone is lucky enough to have their own machining capabilities. Living in a small apartment I'm limited in what I can do myself.

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Chop said:
In the end, the Carley reflectors may be the best route, but you'll need machining capabilities to fit the reflectors.

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I think and really hope that the Carley reflector I found is small enough to fit in there without modifications. According to the specs, it should be.

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Chop said:
If you don't mind, I might like to pursue this a bit.

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I don't mind, hopefully you will be able to help me out if I get stuck.

Sigbjoern