Nifty flashlight project

I now know how to open up my two maglights that need repair. 5/64" allen wrench. Cool!

Yeah, I'd been wondering how to do that too, which is how I wound up finding the page. I fixed my big blue maglite, but now I fully intend to rip it apart all over again. (: BTW, 2mm seems a slightly better fit. At least in the D-cell model.

What will you use for current control? I don't think you can run a Luxeon V directly from three CR123's -- at least not for very long!

As far as repair is concerned..Mag Industries has a lifetime warranty. Box it up and send it to them. They will replace/repair it for free, charging only for batteries or bulbs.

I simply hand carry mine into the service center in Ontario, California and the girls fix it while I wait.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Have you seen what they make these on? I heard they had a few Index's.

Wes

I was wondering the very same thing. I don't know much about the lithium batteries and just assumed they had some property that naturally limited the current. Poking around the guy's site he seems to have a habit of shuffling around batteries to get the exact voltages he's shooting for. Perhaps his current controller is of the manual sort?

Actually no..Ive not asked for the tour.Id heard that they updated to Mori's a few years ago, but Ill check.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Yow. 123's can deliver 1500 mA continuous, 3500 mA peak. The Luxeon V is rated for 1000 mA max, Vf can be anywhere from 5.43 to 8.31 at rated current, typically 6.84 volts.

This is an unusually poor design. It might make a good "show" for a few minutes, but it'd be about useless as a flashlight.

Hmm. IIRC, batteries stacked up in series bump the voltage, but the current averages out among them. Do the lithium batteries have any sort of internal resistance that could shove the current down a little when stacked up? Just thinking out lot on a subject I know very little about. But i guess I won't be putting this project on my to-do list after all. Maybe once I figure out how to build a current control circuit.

Sure, but not nearly enough. Three 123's will deliver 1200 mA at

2.75 volts each (8.25 volts total) or more for quite a while. I think the likelihood of overdriving and overheating a LuxV is almost a certainty.

Many LED flashlights just use a resistor. It isn't a good solution because the light dims a lot as batteries age, but it does work.

Ah, I see.

I went hunting and found:

That is probably why he's got that purpose-made heat sink thermally bonded to the body of the flashlight.

Good start. Have fun!

A Luxeon V needs a good heatsink even if driven within ratings.