Whats a good LED mod for a 2D Mag?

I got the TerraLux Ministar2 for my 2AA Minimag, now its time to decide if I should do anything with my 2D Mag, or chuck it. I'm not really into doing any serious modding, just changing parts like the lens, and the lamp assembly. Any good suggestions will be appreciated... I'm considering the Maxstar 2, since it has a 50 lumen output and it last like 20hrs on 2Ds.

You can do some serious stuff with the 2D form factor... Pity you are not into modding /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif. Check the links in my sig line.

Well, can you offer some suggestions? I'm open to something crazy, just depends on what it is....

The Maxstar 2 has a terrible flood focus. If you are sticking with running it on 2 'D' batteries, the easiest setup would be the EverLED.

If you get some battery adapters and run 6AA to 8AA, then you can go for many other (but more pricey) options.

I have a 2D mag modded with a Luxeon 5W (WX1T) and an nFLEX driver for multiple brightness levels. I also have a 2D mag modded with 3 Luxeon III (TWOJ)and 20mm reflectors using a Fatman driver and a dimming knob.

Jeff

A fairly easy one to do is the direct drive luxeon III mod.

You take some PVC pipe (3/4" I think?) and cut it to fit the length of the mag's bat tube. then you wrap some tape around it so that it fits snugly in the mag.

Next, you will need to trim the mag's tail spring, so that you can stuff 3-c cells into the adapter.

Now you have 4.5v to play with!

Take a luxeon III, and aluminum heatsink of choice (I got one from the sandwich shoppe, I think), mate them together, and pass wires through the sink, and solder them to the area where the stock PR bulb would rest. There are several ways to do this. (I think Elektrolumens has a photo essay on how to do this mod.)

Now you have 4.5v going directly to the luxeon.

Now you can trim the mag reflector to allow some focusing. You will be able to get a crazy-tight spot, as well as a reasonable flood.
It will be VERY bright.

The cost is minimal: I think you can get a decent luxeon for `$12, the heat sink for maybe $6, and some PVC pipe for a few dollars. For $20 you can have a light that positively screams!

Bob

KDOG3.... go to hotlips.hotbeam.com

pedalinbob:

That sounds like a good mod. Any tutorials online you could direct me to?

Hotbeam:
Going there now...

KDOG3

You could also just buy an Everled and a MOP relector from Lightedge com. You will have a smooth beam with some adjustment and the best utility light you could wish for.

IMHO Mags are ideal for utility tasks and are cheap and easy to repair. Most of us want a light we can go to which is guarantted to work and will last forever. In this respect a lightly modded Mag is probably the best light available.

Doug

I have a Diamond 1W Regulated LED drop-in and I really like it. Really nice color and brighter than the original krypton bulb.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00068UXQW/ref=pd_sxp_elt_l1/102-1098378-8104910

Some beamshots:
[BROKEN LINKS REMOVED]

The EverLED is a relatively inexpensive drop-in that gives a MUCH better beam than stock, and will run 24 hours on two fresh D cells.

I wanted something I could leave with the family during emergencies, hurricanes, etc.; since I'll be out in the middle of it (at least until I retire; soon, now...) and will have all my lights with me.

The EverLED turns the wan 2D MagLite beam into a bright white, useful beam. Adjusted down to spot, it has a surprising amout of "throw". Adjusted wide open, it makes an excellent candle, lantern, etc., when you stand the light on its tail cap.

We have other lights that see everyday use; the MagLite 2D/EverLED combo stays in the closet next to a box of a dozen fresh batteries. While I would not hesitate to utilize this combo as an around-the-house general purpose light, I have others that are smaller and easier to handle. But that MagLite is there if I need it.

Similar to your situation, I found myself with a brand-new 2D Mag and absolutely no use for it. I have seen many of these in the hands of fellow cops and have been uniformly unimpressed. With the exception of the ARC AAA, every other light I have out-performs a stock 2D Mag.

The EverLED module makes a completely new animal out of a MagLite. While all of these mods featuring PVC pipe, dimmers, Fat Man drivers(?), etc., are interesting, they are a bit out of reach for those of us who are not quite so immersed in the game... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The EverLED makes it easy; I have been very pleased with mine.

Steve,

For once we agree totally on something! LOL!

Doug /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I modded my 2D mag to use 6AA NimH batteries and a Downboy converter set at 1amp. I used one of Waynes (Elektrolumens) 6AA to D battery holders for the battery pack, what you end up with is about 3 hours of guilt free lumens using rechargeable 2500 mAh NimH batteries at full brightness. After that you will have many many more hours of dimming light as the converter kicks into direct drive mode. A pic of this configuration is below.


Another possible configuration for this form factor is using 3C batteries in direct drive, this will require the use of a cut down spring. Lastly there is my own personal favourite emergency configuration in which i use 2D cells in direct drive. This will work best with a low vf of J but it also works quite well with my TWAK luxeon emitters. What you get from this configuration is hours upon hours of very usable light output. It is definately plenty light for navigation and excellent for use in candle mode. I tried running a test once to see how long this configuration lasted. I got to about the 30 hour mark before someone in my house turned off the light and stopped my test. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif Anyhow the point is you get plenty of light for a very very long time when you need it most, such as a blackout where you need to conserver battery life and just enough light to see what your doing. After all the emitter will be most efficient at such a low drive current and in a real life blackout situation your eyes will become adjusted to the dark and the light will apear plenty bright. Overall the 2D form factor proves to be a very versatile form factor. All the above mentioned configurations were tested with my 2D mag which uses the Downboy converter, the great thing about the board is it allows for direct drive if the input voltage drops below the vf of the LED making these other direct drive configurations possible without making any changes what so ever to the light itself. Basically you can throw whatever kind of batteries you can get your hands on into this config and your good to go. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

KDOG3
The Mod that DaMeatMan described is indeed a good one. I have one of these that uses a modamag 8AA>2D adapter. You could also use two 3AA>1D adapters from Elektrolumens or Waion. 8AA will give more runtime. I originally used a Lux 3. It got several hours of REGULATED runtime. The downconverter I used is a georges80 CC5W1B instead of the downboy. Later, I switched to a Lux 5. It makes more light, but the beam isn't as concentrated and doesn't seem to throw as far. Runs in regualtion well over an hour and a half, though I've never really tested it.

The Diamond and the Eeverled are easy, but they make nowhere near the output of the setup meat man talks about.

Meat Man. could you resize the last pic so we don't have to scroll sideways to read the text? Good jpb on the mod.

I resised that image, sorry about that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif