Guide MagLite Mod 2

[Mondak]

I have been wanting to do this mod for some time and got tired of waiting for someone to fix the pictures. The host I am using should be good, but if it rexes I have an industrial strength host I can use instead. I have no idea what kind of traffic BitTech uses.

I actually did this with a 2AA MiniMag Lite and just stuck the LED into the holes, but I was unsatisfied with the results. As such I decided to use my 3D cell MagLite instead. Here is the victim:


Since 3D cells produce 4.5 Volts and LEDs I choose operate at 3.6 Volts, I decided to wire 3 LEDs in parallel with a 12 Ohm resister. I used a ¼ watt, 5% tolerance resister and calculated it’s need using this tool: http://metku.net/index.html?sect=vie...calc/index_eng


First step was to remove the lens cap to get access to the bulb on the MagLite.


Then I unscrewed the cowl that holds the bulb in place and removed the Bulb.




This is when I remembered that I USED to be good at soldering. Other than small things here and there, I am about 12 years out of practice. I will get better one of these days.


I got my LEDs from http://www.lsdiodes.com/. Seems like other folks from this site like them so I used them too. They came in one day even though I used regular shipping. Not too shabby. I choose the 5mm 12,000 mcd White bulbs as the brightest ones I could find.


This is where it gets interesting. I want to reuse the bulb so I can swap out an actual bulb with my LED cluster if I have to. As such the resister has to fit within the cowl and bulb area. After soldering a lead to the end, I hot-glued the resister under LED #1. Please note, I would wait to hot glue anything until after the soldering is done. The soldering iron can heat up the glue when soldering nearby and make a mess.


Looking good – ha ha my soldering should be a crime.


Ok – so I smashed the bulb and was surprised to see the leads still intact after I removed the little blue thing that I think was a resister and the filament. I was going to dig this whole thing out and solder to the casing, but instead, I soldered to the leads. As you know, it is crucial that you get your + and – correct or your LEDs won’t work (remember these are not just pretty lights folks – they are Diodes which only let current flow in one direction. Hook them up backwards and you are in the dark). You figure it is a 50/50 shot here, but I choose the lead closest to the side of the bulb where the notch was as negative. You can’t see it here, but there is a small dab of solder there where the lead is connected to the housing. I figured the one closest to this spot would be the negative and I was right. Not sure if this is standard, but it might be.


I stuffed the lights through the cowl and it is all hooked up and ready to plug back in a screw into place. Since I am a crappy solderer, I had to use longers leads than I really needed. You will have more room if you can use shorter leads.


One thing to note, hot glue is an isulator so I globbed some extra on when all these wires were in place and compacted to avoid shorts.

All hooked up and in place - /me crosses fingers……


Success!




Couple of thoughts:

I thought this would be brighter than it is. I am not really disappointed with the light output I am getting, I just thought it would be more. Maybe someone can give me some advice on what I could have done. There are a couple areas that may affect this.

I used my Dremel to “frost” the LEDs to see if I can get some more diffusion. They are pretty pointed in how the light comes out and they don’t take advantage of the mirror lens. It works a little better when you do this. Not a huge difference though.

Another thing, I used ¼ watt resisters and I am unsure if I should have used a lower value or what effect that would have. I don’t really know how to adjust that.

It should be getting exactly 3.6 Volts based on my resister. I am not sure what would happen if I gave it more or how much it could take. I should have bread-boarded this thing first to test, but I don’t have a convenient power supply (read: Lazy). I wish I could see how much brighter they would be with a little more juice.

Let me know what you think or any ideas.

[Twitch]

Maybe I missed something, just wondering, why is it that you did this again?

[Mondak]

Originally Posted by Twitch

Maybe I missed something, just wondering, why is it that you did this again?

Couple goals:

The LEDs use less wattage than the regular bulb and will last a LOT longer on the same batteries.

I was hoping the cluster of LEDs would be brighter which the gain was marginal at best at this point.

Learn how to properly do this.

[Twitch]

Sounds like a good idea, specially if your constantly using your maglight, which with a forum full of computer modders, my best guess is that they use them enough...like when working in computer...Nice guide!

[stoned penguin]

ehem, in the data sheet for the 5mm 12000mcd LEDs from LSdiodes,
at 3.6V the LEDs produce 8000mcd, to produce 12000mcd, you have to run the LEDs at their maximum voltage, 4V
then it'll get real shiny shiny

[Mondak]

Originally Posted by stoned penguin

ehem, in the data sheet for the 5mm 12000mcd LEDs from LSdiodes,
at 3.6V the LEDs produce 8000mcd, to produce 12000mcd, you have to run the LEDs at their maximum voltage, 4V
then it'll get real shiny shiny

Yeah - I saw that. I may give it a shot to see what happens at 4v. I think I have a 6.8 Ohm resister too so we shall see.

[Dazbo666]

I was considering doing something similar with my Maglite Solitaire, cos the bulb on a solitaire is already like an overgrown LED (but with built in resistor I think?)

I guess it's time to dig out my multimeter and check out the ratings on the Solitaire

[Lupine]

Nice mod, but for true maglite lunacy, have a look at this :

http://rememberedrats.home.att.net/elektro2.htm

Or just go here :

http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/ledleft.htm

And scroll down the left hand frame until you come to the section entitled "USER-MODIFIED AND HOMEMADE LIGHTS" and look at the ones with (LS) after their names.

[FourDee]

omg
and they call us modders geeks
who would want to make a site about modifying flashlights?

[SMOVE]

Hey, this is a really good idea, I'm looking forward to do this with my Mini Mag lite

It's very useful for me beacause my Mini Mag lite loves to burn light bulbs

[nightwalk8r]

where is the resistor??

[Skutbag]

Wow! An LED lovers dream come true! (jeez )

Whose going to be the first to make a bloo one

[nightwalk8r]

Since i have a 4D Maglite, can i use brighter LEDs or have and extra one? How about the resistor??

[Mondak]

Originally Posted by nightwalk8r

where is the resistor??

You can see the resistor in pics 8-9 best, but if you look close in most of them you can pick it out.

Originally Posted by nightwalk8r

Since i have a 4D Maglite, can i use brighter LEDs or have and extra one? How about the resistor??

The LEDs I used were designed to run at 3.6v and that is what I set this up for. I think they can run as high as 4v according to the spec and maybe that is what I should have run it at. The thing is that depending on the LEDs you are using, you will need to run at a different voltage. I have orange ones that only want 1.7v and burn out above 2v. A 4D Cell Maglite will give you about 6v (1.5 x 4). You will need to drop that to get to whatever voltage the LEDs you use will want. You can use the calculator I supplied in the original post to figure that out. If you run the LEDs all in parallel, you will have the same voltage across them all.

Hope that helps.

[thunderfox5]

Lol, when I read this post, I thought to myself, they're going to put a Maglite inside a computer, or maybe a computer inside a Maglite !

Read it all, and my second thought was:
This is a computer forum, why is a Maglite here? Maybe they were looking for something like forums.mag-lite.net and ended up here (that website doesn't exist, just kidding!)

Then I put my head to work and it all became clear...
I use my Maglite when I'm modding... A lot! So, why not do this?

Well, it's done, finally!!! Led-powered Maglite!!! Saves battery power a lot!

Congrats!!!

[TranZam]

If you've got small hands... or a good set of tweezers... you can rig up an array of surface mount LEDs... they have a much wider viewing angle, and run on less voltage... so you would have to re-configure your resister... (string 2 together in series, and do it twice, so you have 4 total LEDs) I would do it myself, but for some reason, I only have blue LEDs... I like blue.

-TZ

[setishock]

I buy mine already put together at this place...
http://www.superbrightleds.com/flashlights.htm
I know, I know, I'm a party pooper...

[kergareth]

Originally Posted by setishock

I buy mine already put together at this place...
http://www.superbrightleds.com/flashlights.htm
I know, I know, I'm a party pooper...

But it's just not the same...

[Emon]

Oh how I would love to see a luxeon Maglite...If I recall correctly, linear tested a red luxeon vs a Maglite. He had the Maglite fully focused on the wall and the red luxeon almost completely drowned out the white light from the Maglite. Wowow.