# Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics, beamshots)



## joedm (Jun 24, 2007)

ok, a lot of people have already done this so I'll keep the words short and let the pics do the talking (sorry they're a bit grainy)...
Here's an SSC P4 MAG 3D mod (using the AMC7135 1050mA circuit from DX):
SSC P4 epoxied to Litemania heatsink (with Artic Alumina Adhesive):







Now add clear epoxy to the outer rim with Glow in the Dark powder:





Here's a glow shot:





Wire traces soldered to the AMC7135 circuit board (note both jumpers bridged to give 1050mA):





Wire traces soldered to led through holes in heatsink:





Bottom view:





Top view:





Stock MAG 3D:









Stock MAG 3D incandescent bulb:





Removing the rubber switch cover:





Using allen key to remove switch assembly:





Dropping switch assembly out through rear:





All MAG 3D parts disassembled:





Removing bulb holder mechanism from switch assembly:









Removing -ve contact from switch assembly:





Removing switch barrel (+ve) from assembly:





Soldered wire traces onto both +ve & -ve parts:





Insert barrel part into main switch assembly (+ve):





Then insert the -ve part:





Slide switch assembly back into MAG body and tighten switch, notice no cutting of the switch assembly:





Solder -ve & +ve wires to the circuit board:





Insulate the circuit board (I used electrical tape, you could also hotglue the circuit to the underside of the heatsink however it may require cutting of the switch assembly:





Looking into the barrel:





All wires and circuit inside the MAG body:





A snug fit:





Now with a heap of thermal transfer paste... and yes, the heatsink does go all the way in... I just took the pic before having all the paste squeeze out everywhere.





Now to mod the reflector ... this is the only non-reversable part of my mod, but MAG reflectors are cheap and easily replaceable. Trim the cam portion off with any useful tool.





Install the modded reflector:





With the head back on and batteries loaded:





Beam shot at approx 1m:





Another shot:





From the front:





A Closer look:





And now a nice GLOW....





One last pic to finish it off...





Thanks to Nereus and all the other helpful threads/tutorials on how to mod a MAG. I'll post some comparisons between this and my MAG 4D SSC P4 with 800mA circuit (also from DX) as well as a stock 3D.

EDIT: Beamshots

In order from left to right: MAG 3D SSC P4 (1050ma), MAG 4D SSC P4 (800ma), MAG 3D stock.





MAG 3D SSC P4 (1050ma), MAG 4D SSC P4 (800ma) (-2 exp)





Again: (0 exp) 





In the dark:





Side by side:





Business end of the MAG 4D SSC P4:





And now the MAG 3D SSC P4:


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## msxtr (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

Excellent job!!!!!!!! and exellent photos :twothumbs

Greetings - Saludos

msxtr


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## Darksky (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

Nicely done. With all these mag mods recently appearing I will definitely have to move up to the big boys league and get one done.
I suppose you can't be a true flashaholic if don't own at least one modded mag!


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## Cydonia (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

Excellent 3D maglite upgrade! So with the SSC P4 driven that hard you're getting at least 160 (or thereabouts) lumens out the front right? 
A lot of folks mock maglites... but a quick little upgrade like this turns em' into powerhouses :huh: Run time from 3D is going to be very good too - 4 hours + I guess.


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## yaesumofo (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

Looks great!!
A couple of suggestions.
Find some highquality aluminum camless reflectors.
INstall a UCL glass in front.
Between them you will see an even better beam and higher output.
Nice worrk.
Yaesumofo


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## beach honda (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

Very Nice!

Where did you source these parts (LED,Heatsink,Thermal Paste,Cicuit Board)? Also, what kind of soldering gun and solder would be good for this type of project. 

I think I will do one of my own after seeing this!

Thanks!

-Chris


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## tulanebme (Jun 25, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

Nice job. After this thread, I think I'm convinced I need to do my own mag mod.


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## joedm (Jun 25, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

Thanks for all the comments. I really enjoyed myself with this mod and I'm glad others enjoy the pics as well.



Cydonia said:


> So with the SSC P4 driven that hard you're getting at least 160 (or thereabouts) lumens out the front right?
> A lot of folks mock maglites... but a quick little upgrade like this turns em' into powerhouses :huh: Run time from 3D is going to be very good too - 4 hours + I guess.


Actually I don't have a light meter so I have no idea whats coming out the business end. And in terms of runtime.. not really sure the mAh's in a standard Duracell D battery so don't really know. My guesstimate based on actual use of my 800mA driven MAG 4D SSC P4 is definitely > 4 hrs maybe a bit more.

The only form of measurement I can do (if you can call it that) is compare the output to other lights I have. I have my MAG 4D w/ SSC P4 and also a stock MAG 3D & 2D. I'll line them up tonight for a beam shot shoot out. :laughing:



yaesumofo said:


> Looks great!!
> A couple of suggestions.
> Find some highquality aluminum camless reflectors.
> INstall a UCL glass in front.
> ...



I actually did this mod for someone else (who paid me to do it) after they saw my MAG 4D SSC P4 mod. They opted only for the $30 worth of extra parts (i.e. heatsink, led, circuit). This light cost them $60 AUD ($27 for the MAG & $30 for the parts for the mod). I didn't charge him for labor as he was a mate. And he didn't want to up the costs to $90 (approx $30 extra for the aluminium camless reflector and UCL).



beach honda said:


> Where did you source these parts (LED,Heatsink,Thermal Paste,Cicuit Board)? Also, what kind of soldering gun and solder would be good for this type of project.



D Heatsink - from Litemania's dealer thread 
SSC P4, AMC7135 1050mA circuit board - from www.dealextreme.com 
Thermal Paste - from www.jaycar.com.au
Soldering iron - $15 from www.dse.com.au or Bunnings Warehouse

I'm actually looking to upgrade my Soldering iron as my current one is real cheap and doesn't give me good heat and control. It was a little difficult to join the bridges on the AMC7135 circuit board from DX or maybe that was to do with the soldering tip being rather deformed after so much use.

I'll probably be doing more mods like this in the next month as I have purchased MAGLites for my dad & father-in-law for father's day, plus the odd mate who wants to jump on the bandwagon. Hence I purchased the 10 pack of circuits from DX. :laughing: 

I'll keep posting if I figure out ways to improve what I've already done or find cheaper/better sources for the parts. Maybe there's an aluminium reflector in the works for my 4D? :naughty:


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## Nereus (Jun 25, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*



joedm said:


> ... Thanks to Nereus and all the other helpful threads/tutorials on how to mod a MAG. ...


Thanks to yourself for a very detailed and profound tutorial! 

-N


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## Essexman (Jun 25, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

Nice write up Joedm. 
Could you tell us where you got the glow powder and how much you mix into the epoxy?
I was also interested in these drivers. Can you give some details on why you have to modify the circuit by bridging the jumpers, what effect does this have?
Would it be possible to fit the driver into the back of Litemania heatsink, and fix with epoxy?
Cheers


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## joedm (Jun 25, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*



Essexman said:


> Nice write up Joedm.
> Could you tell us where you got the glow powder and how much you mix into the epoxy?
> I was also interested in these drivers. Can you give some details on why you have to modify the circuit by bridging the jumpers, what effect does this have?
> Would it be possible to fit the driver into the back of Litemania heatsink, and fix with epoxy?
> Cheers


I got the glow powder from glowinc.com (direct link).
I used about 5-10mm diameter blob of clear epoxy and just kept adding glow powder until it couldn't take anymore. Basically the blob grew to almost twice it's volume and was very thick in consistency. I read somewhere on CPF that the idea is to try to add as much powder as possible.
Having said that there was way too much for 1 led and I ended up using it on a total of 5 other lights that I had. The epoxy I used was the 12 hours setting version which is what you need in this case as 5 min epoxy would not let you work with it. Also, because it takes so long to set you are able to take your time and do it properly. The epoxy will set with the help of gravity so make sure to put your heatsink on a nice flat level surface.

In terms of the driver/circuit, the 1050mA version has 3 x AMC7135 IC's on the one board. Each delivers 350ma but in order to use any more than 350ma you will need to solder/join the two contacts that make up the bridge. 

Here's an image that shows what you need to do (thanks to Kaidomain):




So by bridging both jumpers you get 350 + 350 + 350 = 1050 (by default q1 is enabled hence a default of 350).

Finally, yes the circuit board fits easily in the bottom of the Litemania heatsink however I'm not sure whether you will need to cut a bit off the plastic switch assembly to have the heatsink sit all the way down.

Hope this answers your questions.:twothumbs


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## JamisonM (Jun 25, 2007)

*Re: Yet another SSC P4 - MAG 3D (pics)*

For anyone wanting to know the mAh of D cell; here's a link to one of Energizers PDF's about theirs. http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/E95.pdf


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## joedm (Jun 25, 2007)

Added beamshots to first post.
Thanks for that link. I found the data sheet for the Duracell's I use and according to the Led Pro program I have a runtime of approx 10 hours at 1A.

Here's the link for duracell: http://www.duracell.com/oem/primary/alkaline/alkaline_manganese_data.asp


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## nanotech17 (Jun 27, 2007)

nice one joe.
i have to order the heatsink as well as my Terralux drop in will turn slighly blue after constant ON for 5 minutes with 2x18650 cell.
Good job joe.Way to go


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## joedm (Jun 27, 2007)

thanks. 

When I was doing the beamshots I left both modded MAGs shining against the wall while I went hunting for the stock MAG 3D. I couldn't remember where I had put it. Anyway, it would've been at least 15 minutes before I found it in a shopping bag upstairs. Then another 5 minutes of photos. I felt around the head and the base of the MAGs where the body joins the head and they were only very slightly warm... no blueish at all... so that makes me happy knowing I can run these for extended periods without a problem.


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## nanotech17 (Jun 27, 2007)

With that AA with it - definately suck away those heat.


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## Norm (Jun 27, 2007)

I built the same thing some time ago but just added the AMC7135 running on alkaline batteries it's right on 1Amp, nice and bright, definitely the best throw LED I have. I'm using a cut down standard mag reflector and borofloat lens but I don't get the nice perfectly round hot spot shown in your pics.
Norm


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## joedm (Jun 27, 2007)

nice to see a fellow Aussie modding. :wave:


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## nanotech17 (Jul 10, 2007)

my 1amp amc driver just arrived and i pop it in right away.
run it with 1x protected grey UF 18650 2400mah for 30 minutes, no colour shift or whatsoever.The HS is from H22A.It's still daytime though - using a cut down standard mag reflector and borofloat lens,but here it is :-



http://shw.fotopages.com/15322405.html


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## yellow (Jul 10, 2007)

nice one :Thumbs up:

just one point to the glow powder:
it raises the "output" extremely, if there is white color behind the powder.
Also with the epoxy, the powder will somehow sink down and not stay mixed with the epoxy.
I therefore do it this way now:
paint the base white and let dry, use clear spray paint on the white and put powder directly on the wet paint and let dry a bit, do some layers of clear + powder and finally a last clear "shot".
Its very important to cover emitter and everything else around from paint and powder!


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## nanotech17 (Jul 10, 2007)

another shot - 10 feet from the wall.




http://shw.fotopages.com/15324382/10-feetjpg.html


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## Grayham (Jul 13, 2007)

I just completed my 3D today. 

*However, I have an issue with the AMC7135 board. Both before and after I soldered the two sets of pads I measured about 850 mA. I can't get the full 1 A out of this thing. What's going on here?*

3D M*g
AMC7135 1050 mA from DX
SSC P4


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## nanotech17 (Jul 14, 2007)

what is 2 sets of pads?You mean bridging the jumpers to enable the 2nd and 3rd AMC7135 components ?


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## Grayham (Jul 14, 2007)

nanotech17 said:


> what is 2 sets of pads?You mean bridging the jumpers to enable the 2nd and 3rd AMC7135 components ?



Yes.


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## nanotech17 (Jul 14, 2007)

perhaps if you could use 1 x 18650 cell than it would reach at least 950mA.
and also i did clean my mag 2d with detoxit & progold and now it is much more brighter to my eye ( no light meter though ).
other than that it maybe the board short circuit somewhere.Did you apply too much heat at the positive contact gold plated board while soldering?
I fried 1 board because of that.


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## Grayham (Jul 14, 2007)

nanotech17 said:


> perhaps if you could use 1 x 18650 cell than it would reach at least 950mA.
> and also i did clean my mag 2d with detoxit & progold and now it is much more brighter to my eye ( no light meter though ).
> other than that it maybe the board short circuit somewhere.Did you apply too much heat at the positive contact gold plated board while soldering?
> I fried 1 board because of that.



I don't think I did but I'll rig up another board to see what I can get out of that one.


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## nanotech17 (Jul 14, 2007)

ok
Let us know.


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## Grayham (Jul 14, 2007)

Success!

I started with a new board and got just under 1A.

Now it's noticeably brighter than my Fenix P2D-CE on max outout (rated at 135 lumens).


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## nanotech17 (Jul 14, 2007)

priceless feeling isn't it?
:thumbsup:


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## vetkaw63 (Jul 15, 2007)

Has anybody checked to see how regulated these boards are? How efficient?
Thanks, 
Mike


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## StefanFS (Jul 15, 2007)

vetkaw63 said:


> Has anybody checked to see how regulated these boards are? How efficient?
> Thanks,
> Mike


 
Yes, I did with RCR123 in a D-mini. Here:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2044040&postcount=143

Keep in mind regulation should be better with 18650 or 3 NiMH cells. I've had one for ~one month in a 3D SSC U bin mag with NiMH, and it runs forever. 980 mA to the led. Bit disappointing output, 12500 Lux @ one metre in throw. I have no idea about efficiency, seems to be more than ok. There was endless speculation about efficiency in that thread, in the end I lost interest due to all that speculation from people who didn't have the driver. I have only positive things to say about them. I've had the mag for a month with the 1050 mA, I had the 1400 mA variety in my MRV for a few weeks, and I have had the 1050 mA variety in a D-mini with for 7-8 weeks. No problems.
Stefan


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## nanotech17 (Jul 20, 2007)

my modded mag 2d ssc p4 with 1A AMC7135 driver
has a disappointing output,so i decided to swap the
emitter with Edison Opto KLC8.
Test it for 1 hour straight with protected
UF 188650 2400mah and i'm happy despite the yellow ring.
Better than SSC P4,no colour shift tint and the mag body
was slightly warm.How i wish i have a light meter

http://shw.fotopages.com/15422767.html - ( distance 15 feet)
http://shw.fotopages.com/15422769/mag-edixeonJPG.html
http://shw.fotopages.com/15422772/mag-edixeon1JPG.html
http://shw.fotopages.com/15422774/mag-edixeon2JPG.html


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## joedm (Jul 23, 2007)

sweet! you really enjoy your Edisons don't you.:thumbsup:


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## nanotech17 (Jul 23, 2007)

thanks joe.
Last Saturday i went to my hometown and there are plenty of palm garden around,so it was dark and heavy rain.I show it to my uncle ( whom is not exposed to the world of LED ) and his jaw just drop 
This morning i show it to my office collegue and he just said this thing is awesome & he was speechless until i told him the cost of the whole thing 
Imagine if the Q5 or the latest Edison Opto LED was in there :devil:
Now i'm compiling some fund to build Mag C Tri Cree Q5 direct drive with 1 x AW C-li-ion or just buy Litemania Cube C and swap the stars and swap the lens to UCL and use Fraen reflector - http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=166210:whistle:


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## joedm (Jul 23, 2007)

yeah I have slightly similar thoughts on my next project...

I'm going to try to incorporate a multimode switch together with a q5 in a Mag3D. Post some pics when you get your setup going.


So far the owner of this MAG3D has not picked up his light... I may just keep it for myself or put it up for sale... hmm.. we'll see.


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## nanotech17 (Jul 23, 2007)

until my piggy bank is full than i will wait


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## horizonseeker (Aug 15, 2007)

is it possible to do the same set up in a 4D but with a star instead of a bare emitter?

thanks

david


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## JamisonM (Aug 15, 2007)

horizonseeker said:


> is it possible to do the same set up in a 4D but with a star instead of a bare emitter?
> 
> thanks
> 
> david


I don't see why not. You'll have to find a heatsink for a single star or modify one made for a bare emitter and a buck driver. I don't know of any for a single star, but using one for a bare emitter; the only modification I can think of that you'll have to do is cut off the plateau the emitter sits on. Sand down what left after the cut flush with the main portion of the heatsink. Be careful not to take too much material. As for the driver, any buck driver that suits you will work. A few place to get those are the sandwich shoppe and taskled. When everything is said and done; be careful not to over tighten the head of the light. Really, IMO theirs only one usable focus of a maglite and it's not flood. Go slowly so the reflector doesn't damage your star.


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## joedm (Aug 15, 2007)

the advantage of using the bare emitter with the Litemania heatsink is that the raised pedestal where the emitter sits fits perfectly into the stock Mag reflector opening, allowing you to screw down the head so that the emitter is raised into the reflector.

Why would you do this.. I don't know as it will probably lose the hotspot and give you a dark hole in the middle of your beam.

I find that for a perfect spot the emitter and pedestal is raised just inside the reflector itself.

The other adv of the Litemania heatsink is that it has a raised edge which the emitter sits in which helps to ensure that the emitter is centred. If you remove this you will have to find another way to get a perfect centre.


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## horizonseeker (Aug 20, 2007)

i wanted to use the star since that's what i have and didn't want to wait for an emitter to get here. but looks like i might as well order one or a few and put in the time.


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## joedm (Aug 20, 2007)

it's actually not that hard to de-solder the emitter from the star. Then you can use your existing emitter with the heatsink.


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## KingGlamis (Aug 20, 2007)

nanotech17 said:


> thanks joe.
> Last Saturday i went to my hometown and there are plenty of palm garden around,so it was dark and heavy rain.



Congrats on the mod. But how about some outside beam shots please?


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## joedm (Aug 20, 2007)

Not sure if that was directed at me, but in any case I am just waiting on a Q5 and a 5 mode circuit from DX.

I will be using these in another Mag and of course I will post beam shots with the other Mag mods I've done.. outdoors too.


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## nanotech17 (Aug 21, 2007)

KingGlamis said:


> Congrats on the mod. But how about some outside beam shots please?



It's hard to do it around my house premises as there are many neighbours and street lights around unless i go back my hometown which is the country side.
By the way i already kill the driver the ssc p4 LED & the KLC8 LED while testing it with 2 x 18650 cell :sick2: and now i only DD my mag 2D with a cree.
Very bright and no issue at all with that proper heatsink.


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## vic2367 (Aug 22, 2007)

very nice mod


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## StefanFS (Aug 22, 2007)

joedm said:


> Not sure if that was directed at me, but in any case I am just waiting on a Q5 and a 5 mode circuit from DX.
> 
> I will be using these in another Mag and of course I will post beam shots with the other Mag mods I've done.. outdoors too.


 
I did that to a 3D (with an SSC though). The five mode 1A driver really makes the 3D fly. Wonderful. 
Stefan


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## andyr354 (Aug 22, 2007)

joedm said:


> Not sure if that was directed at me, but in any case I am just waiting on a Q5 and a 5 mode circuit from DX.
> 
> I will be using these in another Mag and of course I will post beam shots with the other Mag mods I've done.. outdoors too.



Write-up on this yet?
I already have a Malkoff in on 3D and really like it.... but if I can have something brighter yet.... :thumbsup:


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## smokelaw1 (Aug 22, 2007)

andyr354 said:


> Write-up on this yet?
> I already have a Malkoff in on 3D and really like it.... but if I can have something brighter yet.... :thumbsup:


 
Why not just swap out the malkoff LED with a Q5? Could this be done? Would the different characteristics of the SSC and the Cree Q5 mess with the beam?


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## joedm (Aug 24, 2007)

Still waiting on delivery of the Q5 and 5mode.


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## nanotech17 (Sep 12, 2007)

I just want more lumens ( sorry no measurement or graph just thru naked eyes) so i decided to do the direct with this Edison Opto in the [email protected] 2D running it with the old Ultrafire protected 18650 cell (blue)
Vf at the emitter is 2.85v / mA at the tailcap is about 600mA.
I hope you don't have that eeew feeling with that yellow corona of the Edison Opto 

*30 feet on white ceiling






25 feet against the wall





The initial mod with amc7135 1A driver (15 feet)







Rebel 80 in DX sku#4540 - 25 feet 




*


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## horizonseeker (Nov 24, 2007)

I just followed the tutorial and did my first mag led mod, a few more of these and I'll have xmas gifts ready.


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## nanotech17 (Nov 24, 2007)

some videos - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=J2QFxLMKHFg
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=E0rY7t4AFU0
beacon mode - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GRZpR0h_XuU


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## smoking (Dec 28, 2007)

what is the run time for using 3D alkalines for this particular mod?


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## SafetyBob (Dec 29, 2007)

Joedm, I just saw this again. Thanks to this specific demostration I got a VIP from George at taskled and built my own P4 and Cree Q5 the same way. It was so helpful with all your pictures do get it right the first time and I think my wife was even impressed although she can't say too much (she thinks I am into flashlights a little to much). 

Thanks again!!

Bob E.


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## g7mjv (Dec 7, 2008)

Very impressive, l'm currently buying the necessary parts


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