The most powerful Maglite mods list

[Action]

I'll put it this way....I DON'T want to turn it off, but its so damn bright you don't want burn your neighbor's house down. I'm waiting on my 30V 20A Mastech power supply to see how this bulb actually behaves, and other bulbs since I will want to know where to set AW's new Hotdrvier Vbulb to optimze it.

I thought that AW's Hotdriver will be limited to under 200W (supposedly due to the limitation of the Kiu mount). Is there something that I missed?

 

[LuxLuthor]

I thought that AW's Hotdriver will be limited to under 200W (supposedly due to the limitation of the Kiu mount). Is there something that I missed?

That is a conservative limit based on KIU tolerances for heat, however, this is what Fiberfrax is for. In addition, one knows in lights like this not to let excessive heat build up.

 

[JimmyM]

That is a conservative limit based on KIU tolerances for heat, however, this is what Fiberfrax is for. In addition, one knows in lights like this not to let excessive heat build up.

What kind of fiberfrax do you use? I've got Alumina refractory insulation from McMaster-Carr that's good to 2300F. I've thought that a denser felt type might be better for use as a ring around the KIU base.

 

[jimjones3630]

Interesting to find out about firbermax. I still using some ceramic insulation from Jimmy. Getting low now and will pick something up.

Taking a 4D host, one 87mm extension overall lenght less than 6D. 18 1/4vs 19 1/2inch. Stuff with 5 emolis 3.7v nominal, 4.2v freshly off charger. Add 90w 64458s yeilds 20.0vbat, 18.2vbulb. Will try hot off the charger next time.

Compaired to bench testing posted here earlier it really is hard to put into words except is the brightest light I personally have seen.

starting to notice some dimming. Pic taken after about 4-5min intermitten runtime. 17.59vbat down from 20.0v should have taken the pic first couldn't help lighting up the neighborhood first.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I got a roll of the 1/8" thick FiberFrax from AircraftSpruce.com here. It is soft, and feels like using a roll of felt cloth. You can cut it with any scissors, as it stays intact and doesn't put out any loose fibers when using. Very nice and very cheap. One of the "old timers" here mentioned it in some thread.

I'm looking forward to getting my 30V 20A Mastech linear PS so I can see exact voltages and amps for some of these bulbs...mainly in terms of knowing what Vbulb to request from AW's new D regulated HD's.

I'll likely test a bunch of bulbs in one of his unregulated D HD's to take into account the other resistance/heat features...but for sure the 64458 is an awsome bulb.

 

[petrev]

. . . Taking a 5D host, one 87mm extension overall lenght less than 6D. 18 1/4vs 19 1/2inch. Stuff with 5 emolis 3.7v nominal, 4.2v freshly off charger. Add 90w 64458s yeilds 20.0vbat, 18.2vbulb. Will try hot off the charger next time.
. . .

Hi Jim (and Lux)

I've got a couple of 64458s and some E-Molis coming soon and this is all really very interesting.

One thing - I think you may be meaning a Mag4D +87mm for your 5x E-Molis ? Also are you using a no/modified-short-spring tailcap ?

I have recently been trying out an IRC50 with 6xA123 cells in a 6D+37mm - (can't wait for more IRC65s to arrive to try them ! ! !)

The IRC50 6xA123 runs Vbulb 19.7V @5.2A (at least initially) and is really quite a bit brighter than an IRC50 run from 5x AW-CLions (18.8V @5.1A)
AWR-Hotrater gives :
IRC50 as about 5400 B-Lumens and 3500 T-Lumens @Just over 100W.
IRC65 as about 7200 B-Lumens and 4600 T-Lumens @Just over 130W

The 6x A123 should also be quite happy to drive the IRC65 while that would be a bit much for the CLions !

Don't know quite where this would put the IRC bulbs in The Lux List ?

:candle:

Cheers Pete

.

 

[jimjones3630]

Pete thanks for pointing that out. Yes is a 4D with 87mm extention.
Tailcap only few mm short of touching last battery. Use copper braid, 1/2 inch wide stuff folded once. Lots of room around battery so leave cardboard on the cells.

After 4-5 min intermitten run head was hot, not too hot to touch but getting there. Body warm down to switch. and took 15 min to cool off.

Reluctant to say but think it is funny. One way I "test" my mods lumens, more lumens produce more heat, and don't do this at home folks, place palm of my hand over window and turn on, start counting 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand... Did not even get the switch fully depressed lacking on with half of one said I jerked my hand away and keep ice on it for 20min.

Northern Lights tailcap mod is so low resistance lights are noticable brighter so am converting all my lights over.

A123s are physically lighter weight and wonderful in 3D, or 4C feels like carrying no battery.

Emolis as Lux pointed out use Li Po charging program and 3.3v nominal, 4.2v fresh charge. Emoli shrink the form fact so much.

Pete you think 5 emoli instead of 6 A123 run IRC50? Could lose the extention, think 5 would fit in 6D. Emolis do sag some 20.0vbat 18.2vbulb with load of 64458. Think will try a 50w tonight with fresh pak.

Both are "flahlight friendly" at the power levels we use and rates of charging faster for both than NI Mh , and older Li chemistry. A123 Charge at 4C and up to 60A discharge , Emoli Charge 3C and up to30A discharge. Like those 15min charges.

Hi Jim (and Lux)

I've got a couple of 64458s and some E-Molis coming soon and this is all really very interesting.

One thing - I think you may be meaning a Mag4D +87mm for your 5x E-Molis ? Also are you using a no/modified-short-spring tailcap ?

I have recently been trying out an IRC50 with 6xA123 cells in a 6D+37mm - (can't wait for more IRC65s to arrive to try them ! ! !)

The IRC50 6xA123 runs Vbulb 19.7V @5.2A (at least initially) and is really quite a bit brighter than an IRC50 run from 5x AW-CLions (18.8V @5.1A)
AWR-Hotrater gives :
IRC50 as about 5400 B-Lumens and 3500 T-Lumens @Just over 100W.
IRC65 as about 7200 B-Lumens and 4600 T-Lumens @Just over 130W

The 6x A123 should also be quite happy to drive the IRC65 while that would be a bit much for the CLions !

Don't know quite where this would put the IRC bulbs in The Lux List ?

:candle:

Cheers Pete

.

 

[petrev]

Hi Jim

Ouch - Lots of Hot-Lumens ! ! ! Need to get some of that FiberFrax felt in my Mag heads.

Had forgotten the NorthernLights "spring braid" method - great method.

My E-Molis are inbound pending postal stuff and me getting them out of the V28 pack !

I think 5 will probably drive the IRC50 or IRC65 and I will test as soon as I can . . .

You are so right - A123s or E-Moli in a DMag feel much better in the hand than standard ( No going back to 6x D-NiMh)
Prefer the feel of a CMag but need to find a 7C for some serious experimenting ! Shame have to remove cardboard to fit inside a CMag !

Looking forward to more of your results

Cheers
Pete

ps. Forgot to say - Charging A123s at 10A with my FMA-6S is a joy (and hopefully the E-Moli will be similarly rapid.)

Pete thanks for pointing that out. Yes is a 4D with 87mm extention.
Tailcap only few mm short of touching last battery. Use copper braid, 1/2 inch wide stuff folded once. Lots of room around battery so leave cardboard on the cells.

After 4-5 min intermitten run head was hot, not too hot to touch but getting there. Body warm down to switch. and took 15 min to cool off.

Reluctant to say but think it is funny. One way I "test" my mods lumens, more lumens produce more heat, and don't do this at home folks, place palm of my hand over window and turn on, start counting 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand... Did not even get the switch fully depressed lacking on with half of one said I jerked my hand away and keep ice on it for 20min.

Northern Lights tailcap mod is so low resistance lights are noticable brighter so am converting all my lights over.

A123s are physically lighter weight and wonderful in 3D, or 4C feels like carrying no battery.

Emolis as Lux pointed out use Li Po charging program and 3.3v nominal, 4.2v fresh charge. Emoli shrink the form fact so much.

Pete you think 5 emoli instead of 6 A123 run IRC50? Could lose the extention, think 5 would fit in 6D. Emolis do sag some 20.0vbat 18.2vbulb with load of 64458. Think will try a 50w tonight with fresh pak.

Both are "flahlight friendly" at the power levels we use and rates of charging faster for both than NI Mh , and older Li chemistry. A123 Charge at 4C and up to 60A discharge , Emoli Charge 3C and up to30A discharge. Like those 15min charges.

 

[jimjones3630]

petrev, 4 A123 fit 5C mag with honing out some, 62138 100w look good at 14.4, 4x3.6v. 4x3.3=13.2v nominal it still is white white.

4 emoil fit 5c with AW C cell extender and deep tailcap. 4x3.7=14.8v nominal, 4x4.2=16.8v fresh charge. Higher voltage greater than 16v 64623 really bright and starts looking white from it's usual yellowish color.

Getting most volts to pins with the least resistance pays off. Found the heaver copper braid the brighter bulb burns. Got one of the old car battery braided grounds. 3/4 inch wide works great.

 

[petrev]

Thanks Jim,

Even more to think about . . .

Do you have a link for the deep tailcap ?

Cheers
Pete

 

[LuxLuthor]

A123s are physically lighter weight and wonderful in 3D, or 4C feels like carrying no battery.

Emolis as Lux pointed out use Li Po charging program and 3.3v nominal, 4.2v fresh charge. Emoli shrink the form fact so much.

Couple of minor corrections.

Emoli cells mostly found in Milwaukee V28 battery packs are 3.7 nominal, and charge up to 4.2V hot, providing 3000mAh. It is this voltage standard that allows them to be charged with standard Li-Ion/LiPo chargers.

Emoli are 26.5 x 70mm in their cardboard outer generic form, and 26mm if cardboard liner removed. They are 0.5mm too large to fit in a C mag, unless the C Mag is enlarged with either a brake hone, or lathe.

The Emoli Mfg's Max Continuous Discharge Rate is 20A, but the first link has tested them to find Max Tested Continuous Discharge Rate of 45A (15C). Either discharge rate is adequate for flashlights.

A123 are the 3.3V nominal, and require a specific A123 capable charger because of this different voltage. A123's are 25.85 x 65mm, their outer shell is not as heavy duty as Emoli, but they will fit in a C Mag. While they have higher rated current output/charging rates, they only have 2300mAh capacity.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I think 5 will probably drive the IRC50 or IRC65 and I will test as soon as I can . . .

Oh yeah, these IRC's are on my list to test once I get the Mastech HY3020-D next week. Also gonna do a side by side outside shot of the Osram 64430 and GE bulb that Svetila is selling....as just a larger filament and higher voltage tolerance does not necessarily mean a brighter/nicer beam output.



As AWR has said these are the "Crown Jewels" of our incan bulb selections. The IRC allows the much higher Lumen/Watt, and everything about them...their outer envelope shape, filament, color, overdriving, life just reeks with potential to be abused. :naughty:

 

[jimjones3630]

Hey Petrev here a link for deep tailcap
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=162726

Hmm... from dealer
dimensions:
>
> a123
> 26mm diameter; 66.5mm length
>
> emoli
> 26mm diameter; 70mm length

that's about what they mic out for me.

I've found need to open up C Mag diameter some for either to fit, use kapton tape makes easier, less honing or boring whatever you happen to use.

Have extra A123s and Emolis going to put in B/S/T
shot below 20.67vbat, 18.6vbulb. one reason for 2v difference is the cells are single cells not soldered

Jim

 

[LuxLuthor]

Hey Petrev here a link for deep tailcap
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=162726

Hmm... from dealer
dimensions:
>
> a123
> 26mm diameter; 66.5mm length
>
> emoli
> 26mm diameter; 70mm length

JJ, the 25.85mm spec I got was from A123's own website pdf link above, but that may be before a label is put on them.

The C Li-Ions measure 25.6mm with my caliper, and the ID of the C Mag is about 25.85mm, so once you hit 26mm (which a label or Kapton would add to an A123), you would need to ream out the C Mag...so I believe your observation.

I have not used or purchased any A123's yet, because of their lower mAh, special charger requirement, and the C rate of Emoli is more than enough for any of our flashlights. However, I like my Hyperion 1210i so much, I ordered a second one recently. The newer models have the new firmware which charges the A123 cells....so I may get some of them since they are more available than the Emolis...their shorter length will fit more lights. :wave:

 

[jimjones3630]

Both A123 and Emoli have so little mention, the few threads about either are from posters on this thread.

A123 can be run dry and recover that is unheard of in Li batteries doing away with need for protection circuits. That's leading edge technology.

In the race to the smallest, brightest, and longest run times the old saying"pick any two of the above is possible" is being revisied. Wasn't a 4C 100w light out of the possible a year ago?

 

[petrev]

JJ, the 25.85mm spec I got was from A123's own website pdf link above, but that may be before a label is put on them.

The C Li-Ions measure 25.6mm with my caliper, and the ID of the C Mag is about 25.85mm, so once you hit 26mm (which a label or Kapton would add to an A123), you would need to ream out the C Mag...so I believe your observation.

I have not used or purchased any A123's yet, because of their lower mAh, special charger requirement, and the C rate of Emoli is more than enough for any of our flashlights. However, I like my Hyperion 1210i so much, I ordered a second one recently. The newer models have the new firmware which charges the A123 cells....so I may get some of them since they are more available than the Emolis...their shorter length will fit more lights. :wave:

Hi Lux

My measurements (mm)

Old C-Mag . . 26.30
New C-Mag . 26.24

AW Clion . . . 25.62

A123 26650 . 26.91 Cardboard-Sleeve (Too Big for Mag-C)

A123 26650 . 25.91 Bare
A123 26650 . 25.99 Parcel Tape (Brown) Fits
A123 26650 . 26.21 Parcel Tape (multi Layer) Fits very snugly


Awaiting arrival of E-Moli Cells

UPDATE :- E-Moli Arrived

E-Moli 26700 . 26.60 Cardboard-Sleeve (Too Big for Mag-C)

E-Moli 26700 . 26.10 Bare
E-Moli 26700 . 26.24 Parcel Tape (Brown) Fits Old-C Snugly
Fits New-C Exactly/Just too big depending on tolerences ?



Cheers
Pete

ps.

NOTE: A123 Cells are reversed polarity . . . Can is +ve and Pip is -ve
E-Moli data sheet

 

[jimjones3630]

I have recharged A123 using Li Mn program, can use Li Io or Li Po program adjusting the number of cells down ward accordingly. 5 A123 would have total charged voltage of 3.6x5=18v. 4.2x4=16.8v. about 1 volt short between 5 batteries. It is undercharged and that usually prolongs Li cell life as measured by increased number of recharging cycles.

Addressing the need for balancing of A123 and Emoli paks I use either 2 or 3 cell soldered paks or single cells. 3s cell sticks might get unbalanced but have doubts.

Using single cells down side is more resistance in the circuit. Last night measured 2v difference between vbat vbulb. That's life a series of compromises. Wonder could that come in parallel as well?

 

[badinstincts]

pretty interesting how you guys are still using OLD batteries. when lipos now provide 25C constant... 22.2V pack at 2000mah would allow you to run it up to 50A constant = over 1000Watts. Just find me a 1000W light bulb already! The flashlight would be sooo small too, just need to keep the heat from the bulb away from the rest of the unit.. ceramic, or something... The battery would only cost me $130...
But hey, 250 watts seems fun. Would last a good 30 minutes on lipos per charge.

 

[JimmyM]

How well can you fit them into a 33mm ROUND Mag tube?

 

[LuxLuthor]

pretty interesting how you guys are still using OLD batteries. when lipos now provide 25C constant... 22.2V pack at 2000mah would allow you to run it up to 50A constant = over 1000Watts. Just find me a 1000W light bulb already! The flashlight would be sooo small too, just need to keep the heat from the bulb away from the rest of the unit.. ceramic, or something... The battery would only cost me $130...
But hey, 250 watts seems fun. Would last a good 30 minutes on lipos per charge.

Yeah, believe me we have been members of RC Groups forums for quite a while, and the two risks with LiPo are damaging their soft makeup while trying to put them into flashlights, more difficulty with heat dissapation, holding the potentially explosive in a sealed metal flashlight tube in your hand (vs. flying it or driving it as RC Groups), and the most obvious issue...they don't fit in flashlight tubes.

As A123 and Emolis have come online, we have started using them...but their (A123) low voltage ruining the cell is something we address with Li-Ions (Cobalt) by having protection circuits added to them.