# Tricarus



## Icarus (Jun 1, 2006)

.








.
















*Bored Mag2D, Stainless Steel crenelated bezel ring, UCL lens, 3xLuxIII UX1J stars, 3x McR20 reflectors, modified PTS2-D heatsink, Fatman potted in his own heatsink, two-stage tailcap switch, running on 7AA NiMH or Alkaline batteries + 1 dummy cell in 8AA-to-2D holder.*

Fatman is set to 900mA.
Resistors in the tailcap are 2x39 ohms 3W parallel resistors.

Lumens output: 262.2 – 340.6 Lumens. 
Lux reading at 1m using Meterman LM631: 7990 Lux on high; 1140 Lux on low.

Runtime was 1 hour 18 mins at 7AA Energizer 2300mAh NiMH cells on high.

You can read more about the Fatman driver here. 

Thanks for looking. 
.


----------



## Long John (Jun 1, 2006)

:goodjob::twothumbs:twothumbs:bow::bow::bow::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Best regards

________
Thomas:wave:


----------



## Bullzeyebill (Jun 1, 2006)

Freddy, is the Mag 2D bored out to fit most any nimh's? Nice setup. A lot smaller than my EL Tri-Star with D size body.

Bill


----------



## Cliffnopus (Jun 1, 2006)

Great job. And those photo's are outstanding.

Cliff


----------



## TENMMIKE (Jun 1, 2006)

BEEEEUTIFUL!!!


----------



## Mags (Jun 1, 2006)

Aaaaaaand he does it again!


----------



## EricMack (Jun 1, 2006)

Typical Freddy perfection, start to finish!


----------



## wquiles (Jun 1, 2006)

Very nice Freddy 

Will


----------



## aosty (Jun 1, 2006)

:goodjob:

Please tell us more about the tailcap switch!


----------



## AuroraLite (Jun 1, 2006)

I know I keep on saying it in your threads, but another job well done! :goodjob:


----------



## skillet (Jun 1, 2006)

YOu are killin' me... I convince myself I don't need another light... Then this "Icarus" fellow post another picture of some "unobtainium" photon projector... 


I can not find the checkbook and somebody has changed the Paypal password..


Gordon aka:enviousskillet


----------



## Icarus (Jun 1, 2006)

Thanks to everyone for the kind words… 



Bullzeyebill said:


> Freddy, is the Mag 2D bored out to fit most any nimh's? Nice setup. A lot smaller than my EL Tri-Star with D size body.
> 
> Bill



Yes Bill, bored to accept the fatest AA's. For example the new Sanyo's 2700mAh are a loose fit.



skillet said:


> YOu are killin' me... I convince myself I don't need another light... Then this "Icarus" fellow post another picture of some "unobtainium" photon projector...
> 
> I can not find the checkbook and somebody has changed the Paypal password..



... you lucky :devil:


----------



## Mirage_Man (Jun 2, 2006)

Awesome Freddy! Now how did you come up with that two stage tailcap? 

MM


----------



## XFlash (Jun 2, 2006)

I like the switch,
Great Job.
:rock:


----------



## Mirage_Man (Jun 2, 2006)

Freddy how does the two stage work when you have a Fatman in the loop? I don't understand.

MM


----------



## Icarus (Jun 2, 2006)

Mirage_Man said:


> Freddy how does the two stage work when you have a Fatman in the loop? I don't understand.
> 
> MM


Brian,

The resistors in the tailcap reduce input voltage. This drops the Fatman out of regulation and limit output current. The resistors are wired in parallel with the tailcap switch. Switch open means the resistors are in series with the batteries (low). Switch closed will short the resistors (high). 

:wave:
Freddy


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jun 2, 2006)

I see you have been busy......

Very nice:twothumbs  

TB


----------



## jtice (Jun 2, 2006)

Damn you do fine work. :thumbsup:

I can remember back, seeing one of your first mods,
the care taken in the wires, heatshrinking, potting, etc. really stands out.
Top Notch Work.

~John


----------



## IsaacHayes (Jun 2, 2006)

I love the attention to detail. I see you used thermal epoxy to help disapate the heat the burned up in the resistors! You made a nice groove for the e-clip to hold it all in the tail cap too. You must have some nice tools!


----------



## Bullzeyebill (Jun 2, 2006)

Freddy, are you going to sell these?

Bill


----------



## Ty_Bower (Jun 2, 2006)

Icarus said:


> Bored Mag2D, Stainless Steel crenelated bezel ring, UCL lens...


Your pics bring a whole new meaning to Ultra Clear Lens. Are you sure you remembered to install the lens? I can't see the darn thing at all in your photos....

Very nice work indeed.


----------



## DUQ (Jun 2, 2006)

Awsome!!! What did you use to pot the Fatty?


----------



## Icarus (Jun 2, 2006)

TranquillityBase said:


> I see you have been busy......
> TB


Right! :wave:



jtice said:


> I can remember back, seeing one of your first mods, ...
> ~John


Ahhh... my first 2D nFlex mod... that's quite some time and several mods ago... 
BTW you inspired me with that green MaguFlex mod... do you still have it?



IsaacHayes said:


> ... I see you used thermal epoxy to help disapate the heat the burned up in the resistors! ...


Yep, I used AA thermal epoxy here. 



Bullzeyebill said:


> Freddy, are you going to sell these?


Bill, the one in the pictures left the house already...  ... but I do have a couple more bored 2D's if you want one. 



Ty_Bower said:


> Your pics bring a whole new meaning to Ultra Clear Lens. Are you sure you remembered to install the lens? I can't see the darn thing at all in your photos....


Yep, sometimes I have to tap the glass with my finger to be sure it's there... 



DUQ said:


> Awsome!!! What did you use to pot the Fatty?


Potting stuff is Devcon 2T Crystal clear epoxy mixed with as much as possible alumina oxide powder.


----------



## jtice (Jun 2, 2006)

I sure do still have the MagUFlex, cant ever get rid of it.
it was one of the first things I made on my lathe.






Another of your mods thats my favorite, is your Trilux Aleph3 heads. Those rock! :rock:
What cells were you running? and what kinda runtime were you getting?

Im still waiting on the FatFlex ::devil:

OK, back on topic ppl  :goodjob:

~John


----------



## cmacclel (Jun 2, 2006)

Great Job Freddy.......Nice tailcap switch 


Mac


----------



## Long John (Jun 4, 2006)

Hello fellows

I'll write the story about my Tricarus. I'll hope, this is the right place.

At first, Freddy thank you very much for my dreamlight.
And also thanks to Photon Fanatic, Modamag, George, McGizmo, Cmacclel, Kiu and Maglite for the great parts of my Tricarus. I hope I don't forgot someone

My dream was a realiable and bright light.
It should have this suppositions:

-LED, because it's more reliable against to HID or bulbs,

-batteries AA-nimh with the possibility of alkalines

-Three Leds because it's brighter than one

-2 stages

-Runtime on high more than 1hour, one low a few hours

-a reliable und proved regulation

-Mag 2-D housing because I like it and it's enough space to build in all the parts with a good heatsink

Thanks to Freddy he build my Tricarus as result of my wishes

As I opend my package I was filled with enthusiasm to see and feel this light (and still do). It's art. Excellent work. You can't see the UCL, you must feel to check if it's there or not. The bezel ring......nice. The tailcap switch.....nice.
And a little bit later I put the first time my batteries in. Wowwww. The output is incredible. On high and on low. A wonder is the throw of this light.
It's unbelievable. It has more throw on low than my 5W Lux Nuwai and my 3W Lux Headlamp on high.But surely the overall output is less.
When I switch the Tricarus on high, you can't see the light of the Nuwai or of the 3W Silva L1 on high. Great.

And this with the great runtime of the light. I use 2700mah Sanyos nimh cells. The runtime on high should be 1 hour and 30 minutes with 7 of them.
On low it should last for 6hours and 50 minutes.

About the tint I can say it's also perfect. It's white with a tendency to yellowish. Great. My other Ledlights looks blueish or my Fenix greenish in comparison to my Tricarus. 

Now the remarkablest. My Magcharger was my light with the best throw, so far. In comparison to my Tricarus on high it seems that the output of the Magcharger is less than the half. Unbelievable. When I shine on a house, about 70-80 m distance, with the Magcharger I'll see a bright hotspot in the size of a window or a little bit more.
With my Tricarus I'll see the complete house bright.
When I can't see it, I won't believe it. Great. Take a look at this picture. The bush at the wall has a distance about 70m. The Magcharger was comming fresh from the charger and my Tricarus runs before about 40 Minutes (I'm always playing).














With the next picture I want to show the throw on low compared to the Nuwai. But in the field the pictures wasn't good. So I have maked this shot on the housewall. Left is the nuwai on high and right is the Tricarus on low. On the picture the tint is very yellowish but in natural it's not so extremly. The distance is 8m and you can divine the better throw.






I'll hope you have fun regarding my post

Best regards

______
Tom:wave:


----------



## chesterqw (Jun 5, 2006)

woah... you are using the new 99% light transmission UCl lens?

they are tooooo dang good. can't see any lens in your picture.... OMG...


----------



## Long John (Jun 5, 2006)

Hello chesterq

I think so. I have no older one so I can't compare it.
But imo it can't be more transparency.

Tonight I'll make more Outdoorbeamshots.

Best regards

____
Tom


----------



## Long John (Jun 5, 2006)

Hello all

I have a few more pictures

At first the way in daylight. Then the Magcharger and at last my Tricarus at high. In the background the person with the white shirt was my target
The distance to her was 80m. The magcharger came out of the charger. My Tricarus has a runtime with the set of batteries about 2 1/2 hours after charging. For my eyes it's still as bright as after charging.













The next picture shows the Nuwai (left) and my Tricarus on high. Distance to the wall is 8m.





Isn't the beam absolutely perfect?

I hope you'll have the same fun like me, hihi


Best regards

____
Tom


----------



## andrewwynn (Jun 26, 2006)

beautiful mod.. I'm weirded out by the tail-cap resistor to access low.. never liked that approach.. but it is a tricky thing to figure out how to dim w/o putting another obvious hole in the light somewhere. My favorite solution for a simple hi/low and fatman is a reed switch and magnet that is affected by turning the bezel. 

Nontheless.. neat to see that it works, and wowza that's some amazing lux values you definitely hit the lux lottery not just with the J bins but they are outputting more than normal for U's as well.. i get about 2500lux per with my UX1L at 1100mA. 

-awr


----------



## photorob (Dec 28, 2006)

Icarus said:


> .



Does anyone know what the ring is that is holding the tailcap together. do they come in different sizes.

NEVERMIND i'M retarded it's a retaining ring


----------

