How many watts will stock M@g switch safely handle?

novice

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I have a M@g that I want to run MR16 lamp assemblies in with 5x26500 IMR cells, but I don't want to use too many watts. Does anyone know how many watts the standard switch will safely handle? Thanks!
 
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Minimoog

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In my experience it is the heating of the internal springs in the switch that causes the problems of melting - followed closely by heat from the lamp direct. Will you be doing resistance fixes? If so, you can push the switch quite hard - I have no problems with 50 Watts. What the switches also don't like is low voltage and high current - they can flicker.
 
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Billy Ram

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The M@g switch will handle the 5-6 a. current the FM1909 draws but not much more. It helps to treat the contacts with some deoxit. My 210 W 458 was eating switches till I installed soft start switch.
Billy
 

Timothybil

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As was kind of alluded to, it is not the watts so much as it is the amps. Any decent mechanical switch can handle up to 50 volts or so without any problem whatsoever. On the other hand, high current is another matter. When working with higher currents, resistance can show up in the most unlikely spots, like the springs mentioned above, and high current can pit/soften/melt switch contacts without much problem. From what I have seen from looking at specs and reviews, it appears that the average switch tops out at about 4 amps, so with 5 26650 cells in series producing around 18v, somewhere around 80 watts looks like an upper limit without some mods as far as springs and switches go.
 

fivemega

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You can't make a borderline between black and white. There are many different tones of grey in between.
Obviously, the more current you draw the shorter will be switch life.
Stock form of M*g "D" which draw about 0.9 Amps happened to fail also many people used to draw ROP ~4.4 Amp, FM1909 ~5.5 Amps, 62138 ~9 Amps with success for long time.
However, my suggestion is
this with over 3000 lumens, good bulb life, focusable and low price replacement.
Good luck.
:twothumbs
 

LuxLuthor

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You can't make a borderline between black and white. There are many different tones of grey in between.
Obviously, the more current you draw the shorter will be switch life.
Stock form of M*g "D" which draw about 0.9 Amps happened to fail also many people used to draw ROP ~4.4 Amp, FM1909 ~5.5 Amps, 62138 ~9 Amps with success for long time.
However, my suggestion is
this with over 3000 lumens, good bulb life, focusable and low price replacement.
Good luck.
:twothumbs

Ahhh....the good old Hikari JC-5043 ! FM, you found (or had made) some really awesome bulbs. I still have a large supply of all the favorites--especially those custom Carley bulbs, WA, Osram, Hikari. I should take a photo of my incan bulb supply some day. You guys would be shocked to see them all--after all these years. Can't believe all those tests were 7 years ago--seems like last year.
 

sgt253

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In my experience it is the heating of the internal springs in the switch that causes the problems of melting - followed closely by heat from the lamp direct. Will you be doing resistance fixes? If so, you can push the switch quite hard - I have no problems with 50 Watts. What the switches also don't like is low voltage and high current - they can flicker.




Can you elaborate on low voltage high current? I have a 2C switch that flickers. I have taken switch out and cleaned. I don't know where else/what to look for. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best.
 

Minimoog

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Has anyone done any destructive testing on a Maglite switch? I have a 72 Amp capable DC PSU and 80 Amp CC/CV variable load - I can buy a switch and run some tests if not.
 
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