Which simple mods made biggest differences?

I was just thinking about all the simple mods that have made such a big difference to CPF. A few that come to mind are the resistored two stage switch (don't remember whose idea this was) that gave real life versatility to every day use, cy's tail mods for the ARC4, tritium tubes (? who did this first), dat2zip's sandwiches which spawned a new generation of mods, drop-in reflectors, rechargable li-ons, etc.

Many of the current mods are not that simple such as POP circuits but nonetheless will change CPF forever.

Which mods do you think made the biggest differences (and who first thought of them)? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

Regards.

Maggmods

Moderators: sorry for screwing up but I posted in the wrong thread. Please delete this thread.

Regards.

The engineers who figured out how to get 26 Kmcd out of a 5 mm white LED at 20 mA deserve a nod. Improved a lot of lights, I think.

MY,
I moved this thread from the Mod B/S/T forum as I suspect that is not where you had intended it to be.

Regarding the tritium tubes, I think I may have been one of the first with:



The file date goes back to March 03 but I recall moving files and having them loose their original date. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The resistor two stage switch was compliments of SF with the L1 and then A2.

Thanks Don for straightening out the location of this thread.

While I realize SF came up with the two-stage OEM switch in the L1, I was wondering who came up with the mod to retrofit tail switches?

Regards.

[ QUOTE ]
McGizmo said:
MY,
I moved this thread from the Mod B/S/T forum as I suspect that is not where you had intended it to be.

Regarding the tritium tubes, I think I may have been one of the first with:



The file date goes back to March 03 but I recall moving files and having them loose their original date. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The resistor two stage switch was compliments of SF with the L1 and then A2.

[/ QUOTE ]


Don,

Is that thing plant or animal and did it put up much of a fight /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Later
Kelly

hahahahaa /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[ QUOTE ]
MY said:
While I realize SF came up with the two-stage OEM switch in the L1, I was wondering who came up with the mod to retrofit tail switches?

[/ QUOTE ]

For retrofitting existing tail switches I think it was gadgetlover (izzat his correct CPF handle?) by soldering a resistor onto a Kroll switch spring. In fact I have one made by him in my DirectDrive Streamlight 3AA Tasklight so that it now has two stages of brightness. There is an entire CPF thread devoted to it under gadget's name somewhere, probably in the Homemade Forum.

It was gadget_lover! I took his concept and adapted it to a small PCB for my lights, and gave it to dat2zip for DSpeck's Fire-fly. Don took the 2-stage forward to the next level with the McE2s. I was unaware until later that SF pioneered (and patented) it.

Larry

gadget_lover's two stage switch made a huge differance. Or did credit belong to PK?

heard loads of complaints about unreliable two stage switch in firefly. it was such a ground breaking step, just having a second stage was enough.

PK patented concept of a two stage tail switch as used in A2, L1 and L2. I've often wonder if there's prior art?

I have two simple mods that made the biggest differences for me. They are:

-Switching the Streamlight SL-20 to a SL-35 lamp assembly. Very simple. And,

-Modifying a plain Streamlight Stinger to an HP and then getting custom 6 volt sticks and installing an UltraStinger bulb. Not as simple but certainly very wothwhile. Mini-UltraStinger Modification

How about using scotch tape to difuse the light and smooth out the beam? Anybody remember doing this?

Regards.

My version of the two stage switch was inspired by the fact that Surefire did it with the L1. Once you know something can be done, it's just a matter of finding a technique that works.

I didn't realize till later, when Mc Gizmo reverse engineered the L1 tailcap, that I had stumbled across the same general solution as Surefire. I even chose the same resistance as Surefire did.

Later I looked at Surefire's patent. Surefire's patent stated that they were 'signaling' the electronics to switch into low mode. In the case of the ARC and various other converters, you are simply dropping the volatge enough that it can't maintain regulation. No signalling invloved. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I don't know if there is prior art. I've had several flashlights and lamps that had more than one brightness level. If the surefire patent is valid because of their exact implementation of their tailcap, the kroll 2 stage and Mc Gizmo's two stage don't infringe because we use totally different ways of implemnting the switch.

I really like the two stage /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My other favorite simple mod would have to include just adding a kroll to a minimag.

Daniel

When I think of 'biggest differences', I think of output differences.

The Mag85 wins hands down for simple mods (output difference).

For stuff you can go buy at the local store and mod, the 2C mag/3x123/5-cell Mag-Num Star Xenon bulb is pretty simple and excellent output. Of course, while your are playing with the 5-cell bulb, order a GH24 from reflectalite.com for brighter output and tighter hotspot.

Jeff

[ QUOTE ]
xpitxbullx said:
When I think of 'biggest differences', I think of output differences.

The Mag85 wins hands down for simple mods (output difference).

For stuff you can go buy at the local store and mod, the 2C mag/3x123/5-cell Mag-Num Star Xenon bulb is pretty simple and excellent output. Of course, while your are playing with the 5-cell bulb, order a GH24 from reflectalite.com for brighter output and tighter hotspot.

Jeff

[/ QUOTE ]


Say at 30 ft distance, where a Mag-Lite is utilized, what is the difference from stock vs. the Mag 85 in Lux?

What is the complete and final cost of the Mag 85 mod?

What is the runtime on the Mag 85 mod (the 2C and 2D stock run for a long time)?

Newbie,

My light meter is such a piece of garbage, I can't give you a lux reading at 30ft (or any distance really) but can only say it's a lot brighter. Lux readings depend also on the texture of the reflector. Difference in bulb output (at the bulb) is over 1000 lumens brighter. Trade off of runtime is expected in such a bright/small package. I get about 25 minutes from 9AA NiMH. This is not a mod for people who require more runtime than that.

The runtime on the other light I mentioned (3x123/GH24) is about 45 minutes and lumens (at the bulb) are almost 300.

Cost of the Mag85 mod:
$15 - 3D Mag
$20 - aluminum reflector
$7 - UCL lense
$7 - potted Welch Allyn U-01185 bulb
$36 - fivemega 9AA to 3D battery holder (less if you get those 3AA-to-D adapters. Batteries must be rechargeables that can handle 4A.

Mag85 total (not including batteries) = $85

The 2C mag, 3x123, GH24 mod of course is much, much less.

Jeff

The S017XA refelctor. Suddenly we had a reflector that would work in soooo many different lights that for the most part had been limited to optics before.
Easy to fit, easy to center, cheap, and made a huge difference in beam quality.

I thought of the same ones Jeff mentioned. I put the 3x123 2C Mag mod at the top of the simple, yet effective list due to its affordability and ease of conversion. The Mag85 would be my second choice. Yes, it's not really simple because of all of the pieces you have to assemble to do it right, but it is very simple from a technical standpoint. It's also cool because it's the only light I have that people can actually FEEL when it's shining at them. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif