b2eze's Mag Light Engine

b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Finally, a nearly-TK drop in for Maglites!

Actually it is not quite a drop in, rather a screw-in /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif

b2eze was kind enough to send me one of his new LEs for the Mag, incorporating both his awesome PR base and a new front end threaded to fit a D-cell head. Now my Mag85 can be BOTH incandescent and LED providing I remember to change the batteries before I put in the LED drop in. (10+ volts from fresh NiMH to a Lux3 = kaboom /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif)

As always, excellent precision machining work here. Dirty fingerprints are MINE from fingers covered in thermal grease /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif




Building the LE is a snap - easy enough I'd recommend it to any newbie, even those who are just beginning to become comfortable with a soldering iron. I did the OA4D Cookbook (in sig) as my second mod and MAN do I wish I had this LE back then!!

I'll provide a brief tutorial, although I am sure it is self-evident.

Ingredients:
1. Light engine from b2eze
2. Luxeon 1 or Luxeon 3 star
3. Resistor (only required for 4 D cell Mag)
4. Reflector/optic - my personal recommendation is the SO20XA or SO27XA reflector
5. 3D or 4D Maglite
6. Optional: UCL or glass lens

Lay on a thin coat of your chosen thermal compound. You need not use an adhesive version, because the three screws provide a very solid mechanical interface. Place star, align properly, and screw it down.



Strip wire, tin and solder to one of the positive pads of the star. If you are using a resistor, solder one end to the wire and one end to the star. You may trim the wire to suit, I did not trim it (in case I want to re-use the LE)



Check if the ground screws are making contact with the negative pads. If they are not, what I do is build up a solder blob on one of the negative pads until they make contact with the screw. Align the star so that the big screw covers one of the negative pads. The big screw is your ground screw.

Open up the Mag head and screw the LE in. Place the reflector or optic on top of the LE, and reinstall the bezel. Adjust how far your LE is screwed in to hold the reflector/optic against the lens without exerting too much pressure.




Screw the head back onto your Mag, light up and go! Yes there is actually a slab of glass in front of the reflector and everything has been completely installed in the last pic, just that it's glass so clear that it doesn't look like there's anything in the camera. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Another free plug for www.flashlightlens.com where you can get your choice of glass for various kinds of light.

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

good explainin there, and one fine "drop-in" module that anybody surely should be able to do.

now if somebody made a circular booster thing, that fit in or under the tube, then sold these to the public, we wouldnt ever have to see black holes and donut rings

a tip: if your choosing, prefer a LUXIII, it will put out as much as a luxI when driven exactally the same, and if you want to drive it harder you still CAN. or say you accidentally drive it harder /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

KevinL,

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif I have one of b2eze's LE and frankly I was not sure
on how to set it up. Now I know Thanks you! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Thanks Kevin! You always do a masterful job of explaining! And I still have these for sale... web page
PM if you're interested.

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Thanks guys /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I am not sure why there isn't as much interest as expected in this mod. For one, it's field-reversable, to change between a stock and not so stock Mag. It's available in turnkey ready-to-run no-soldering format, and it beats the crap out of other third party drop-ins because of its superior heatsinking. You can run this one full blast without worrying that it'll overheat and cook your emitter. Thermal management is equivalent at least to the esteemed Hotlips.

I also had another idea - you can use this module with a 5W Luxeon, and a pair of 3AAtoD adapters. You get 7.2V (nominal), add a resistor for a little bit more sanity and you have a 2D cell 5W Luxeon blaster.

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Good job Kevin. Definitely a simpler way to put together M*g based mods by almost anyone, and nothing is "permanent" allowing for experimentation or a way to recover from "oops" when a new LED might be needed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Will

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

I built this mod.a couple of months ago using one of Wilson's sinks and a .68ohm resistor.A very effective mod,I used the 30mm optic that he provided as part of the deal.It has a pretty decent throw too.Ask Wilson about making a solid copper trilux sink for you.I mounted 3 VWOT 5 watters in a 6D and got good heat control-max temp is 135 degrees farenheit.

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Does the lens rattle since the original reflector isn't there to keep it in place?

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

The sink was a different type,it doesn't screw in.The lens doesn't rattle at all and Wilson sent a polycarbonate ring to center the lens in the head.

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Does this work with the stock reflector?

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Sorry, near as I can tell it's worthless with the stock reflector which gives you a good excuse to throw the stock reflector away and replace it with something (anything!) better! Or you could cut it in half and paint the top half with glowpowder paint to use under the new reflector or optic you choose to bring your mag into the new millineum! Just my humble opinion....
But one thing you'll want to do with this sink is to sand the anodize off the end of the battery tube where it butts the bottom side of the sink. This gives a mega path to ground instead of having to rely on the sliding assembly mag uses contacting its bulb holder to accomodate its focusing reflector. This sliding contact cruds up real quick (when it doesn't have to slide) and may be the reason some modders feel they must dismantle the switch to push the amps through, when the resistance is in the ground path rather than the feed to the LED. Again just my humble opinion. Anyway, I have found that sink to aluminum body contact works much more dependably than sink to anodized body contact!

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Well I guess i 'stand corrected'... i thought i might have come up with the screw-in mag heatsink mod.. genius... you can adjust the exact height to match the reflectors used (17-20-27.. or fran, etc).. why do it any other way.. the one i'm developing has an empty can to put in a fatman driver, but i will make a custom fatman-based driver so i can add in a couple 'value added' features like >12V input and low voltage cutout.

All that said.. I actually need one more heat-sink for my prototyping.. i'd love to get one of these screw-in versions since it is a no-brainer match to my upcoming model other than i have a hollow can and a contact patch for the power.

A 'drawback' to my design compared to this one.. as b2eze mentions regarding the return path to ground.. the sucky sliding ground.. well i have to utilize this since my 'drop in' heatsink mod is designed to dim based on the rotation of the head.

trying to make it obvious not to hijack this thread.. this model here is a much better value :-D.. the MEUB design will be not 'inexpensive' to be sure.

For my contact to positive.. i found a little rubber 'expanding plug'.. akin to a boat drain plug, but uses a brass nut inserted into a rubber shell that has the shape of the metal part of a PR bulb.. put in a 10-32 round or flat top screw and bingo.. positive contact to an anode pad.

sliding ground.. that's trickier.. i really like the PR base on this heat sink here, even though it uses that sliding ground strap.. at least it's a 'no mod' solution, don't even have to sand.

-awr

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

[ QUOTE ]
wquiles said:
Good job Kevin. Definitely a simpler way to put together M*g based mods by almost anyone, and nothing is "permanent" allowing for experimentation or a way to recover from "oops" when a new LED might be needed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Will

[/ QUOTE ]

See we are working on ways to hook the uninitiated, allowing them to reuse parts and to scale up as their needs increase instead of writing off lights /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Lux3 today, LuxV tomorrow.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

(I had to write off a few of my early experiments though)

There are pretty sound reasons for not re-using the Mag reflector. I know this keeps costs down but it's realistically only $5 for a new reflector. If you want awesome Mag-class throw, get the IMS SO27XA. Good out to 330 yards, and equal performance to the Mag, PLUS it is always in focus, never needs to be refocused for any distance.

Or, the SO20XA for my favorite beam.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

'the first rule in government spending: why buy one when you can have two at twice the price'... 2 or more SO20XAs.. mind boggling.. this really is a gem of a mod tool.. really the perfect beginner's DIY kit for making a mag useful.

-awr

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

1 watt for battery saving, 3 watt for bright, 3X3 for show, and 3X5 to warm your dinner..... Just swap your already built sink and change battery packs.... Now Ijust need to injection mold something to carry the built sinks in , like the surefire spares carrier!

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

b2eze.. if only you could get just empty mag heads and keep the one body... i had the exact same idea and had exactly the same plan for the minimighty.. the 'case' to hold the spares i had envisioned would be just like the case that CF cards come in... in the case of the MM, just the emitter board (pcb) needs to be swapped to change out the LEDs.. but if you have a different quantity, you'd want the head that matches of course.

do you have these heat sinks available? i would like to buy one.. don't need the PR adapter i found a different solution, and need a diff solution because i have a driver with an anode pad incorporated, but like the heat sink a lot and need 1 more for my current project.

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

So is there one to fit the 'C' bodies? These look real nice for use with the SO27XA...

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

I'd like one--PM sent.

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Mateen, I haven't turned one of these for the "C" yet because there is so much room in the "C" head for a sink like this.... web page that the threaded sink seemed to have less area for heat disapation, given the "C"s 1" battery tube. The unthreaded PR sink in the link above is much more efficent, and I can make it to fit whatever optic or reflector you have in mind. But if you really want one threaded for the "C" head, I'll turn one up for you. PM comming.
Andrew, PM also comming....
Sniper, PM replied to....
And, Yes, I do have more, and I'll be glad to make more if I run out! $16.00 including shipping in the US.
Shine ON!
Wilson

Re: b2eze\'s Mag Light Engine

Can one of these be made to fit a single 27mm reflector? Is there enough depth for it? If yes, would that fit on a "C" head or only a "D" head?

Will