A Leslie Wong Blog

After I put in a 3 mode 1.4 A driver in my Malkoff Devices M61 drop-in, I wasn’t too happy with the yellow/green tint of the Cree XP-G LED. I found a cooler tint XP-G and applied some Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound to the back of the LED board and used some Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive to hold the assembly in place.

Before I reassembled the drop-in, I wiped some hazing off the reflector with some chrome polish and inadvertently removed some of the reflective finish. I needed a new reflector.

I searched for reflectors for the Cree XP-G and found positive comments about Don McLeish’s McR-20 Seoul reflector. I ordered one from the Sandwich Shoppe and it was delivered in 2 days.

There is a recess around the top of the M61 heat sink that the top of the stock reflector sits in – that’s the flat part of the reflector. I put a GITD (Glow In The Dark) O-ring in the recess and it held the McR-20S reflector perfectly. The new LED is mounted on a thinner circuit board than the Malkoff board, which in this case helps with the reflector placement. The bottom of the reflector (with a thin insulator) rests on the LED board. The other end of the reflector is flush with the end of the heat sink.

The beam is very nice. Compared to a M60 or M30, there is less of a hot spot and more spill. The stock M61, IIRC, didn’t have as much of a hot spot compared to the McR-20S.

So far in this mod, I have destroyed the Malkoff M61 driver board and damaged the reflector. But now I’m happy with a drop-in that has a great heat sink, a great beam and three modes. It’s now in my current favorite flashlight, the Surefire C2.

I received my Malkoff Devices M61 drop-in last week. The drop-in uses a Cree XP-G LED and it’s designed to replace the lamp assembly in Surefire 6P style flashlights. Malkoff Devices says, “the output is approximately 260 measured out the front lumens.” It is a single mode drop-in.

I bought the M61 with the intention of modding it with the Shiningbeam three-mode regulated circuit board (SKU 1218). The Cree XP-G datasheet (PDF) had recently noted an “increase of maximum forward current to 1500 mA for XLamp XP-G Cool White is retroactive and applies to all XLamp XP-G Cool White LEDs produced by Cree. The increase is the result of more extensive qualification testing that was performed after the initial product launch.” The Shiningbeam board output current is 60 mA on low, 440 mA on medium and 1.4 A on high.

First, I removed the potting and contact spring. In the process, I destroyed the Malkoff driver board. I used a Dremel to reduce the diameter of the Shiningbeam board so it would fit inside the drop-in.

The Shiningbeam board works as advertised – I measured 1.4 A on high, 450 mA on medium and 65 mA on low. I’m not enamored with the yellow-green tint of the LED; maybe I’ll replace it down the line.

I have also used the Shiningbeam board in a DealExtreme XP-G R5 drop-in (SKU 32954). The result, compared to the Malkoff, is a little more throw and a lot less spill. The tint of the DealExtreme LED is also cooler – more blue.

After disassembling the M61, it’s clear that this is a most robust, superbly constructed drop-in. I can see why a professional would be able to rely on this drop-in in a life or death situation. But flashlights for me are a hobby, which is why I wanted to mod this drop-in to have (a more useful for me) three modes.

You’d think a 3D cell Maglite would be pretty bright. It’s over 12.5″ (310 mm) long and weighs over 30 oz (850 g) with batteries. With the standard Krypton bulb, the 3D Maglite puts out about 76 lumens. A flashaholic wants 76 lumens from a keychain light.

The Maglite may be behind in bleeding edge illumination technology, but flashlight modders like them because it’s a great platform to build upon. One of my first mods was the Roar of the Pelican – a 2D Maglite running on 6AA batteries and a high wattage bulb. It puts out about 600 lumens.

There are many LED Maglite mods that will put out a lot of light. Multi-chip LEDs – the Cree XLamp MC-E, Seoul Semiconductor Z-Power P7 and the Luminus SST-50 and SST-90 PhlatLight LEDs are popular because of their high outputs. You just need a heatsink for the LED, a driver and suitable batteries in a combination that won’t burn up any of the components. A lot of people have figured this out for you. Google.

I decided to do the easiest high performance 3D cell Maglite upgrade: Malkoff Devices’ Maglite drop-in with the Cree XP-G LED. It’s not as bright as a multi-chip LED mod, but the Malkoff drop-in uses regular alkaline D cell batteries and it has a six hour runtime at full output. The only problem with the Malkoff drop-in is that it’s difficult to buy because it’s so popular. Once they are in stock, they sell out quickly. Malkoff Devices back-in-stock email notification system will alert you when they’re available, but even then you have to be fast.

Installation is simple: remove the existing bulb, push the drop-in down as far as it will go inside the flashlight and tighten the screw (which wedges the drop-in’s heat sink against the flashlight body). The bottom part of the reflector needs to be cut off to accommodate the drop-in. This is a simple cut with a razor saw. If that is too much for you, Malkoff Devices sells a pre-cut Maglite reflector for 7$.

Malkoff Devices description: “This dropin produces a real 260 (measured out the front) lumens in a 2D or 3D light with alkaline batteries. The Drop-In module is constructed of CNC machined structural aircraft aluminum and has a regulated driver. Full heatsinking of the driver and LED insure that the module can, and will, run at maximum output for extended periods. It will easily illuminate objects at a distance of 1000+ feet and will light a 2 inch red reflector at a distance of more than 1/4 mile. If you shine someone with this at night, within a 100 ft radius, they should see spots for a good 8-10 seconds.”

I got a nice Black Friday deal on a JETBeam RRT-0 flashlight
from the people at LightJunction.com. I read bondr006′s great review on Candlepowerforums and it looked like a really nice little light. The main feature of the JETBeam RRT series is the ability to adjust the brightness to different levels by turning the Rapid Response Control Ring at the base of the head.

The RRT-0 is also versatile because it can use 3.0V CR123 primary batteries, 16340 3.7V rechargeable Lithium batteries, 1.5V AA primary batteries, 1.2V AA rechargeable batteries and 14500 rechargeable Lithium batteries. The latter three require the AA extender, which adds a little more than a .6 inch (16 mm) to the 3.8 inches (97 mm) length.

I have a JETBeam Jet-I Pro I.B.S. flashlight, which is slightly smaller in size. The RRT-0 is a little larger in diameter because it can take CR123 batteries and a little longer, because of the rotary switch built into the body. I can also set a “lower” low level output on my Jet-I Pro. The RRT-0 also lacks a strobe mode – which I would probably only use if I was lost in the mountains at night needing air rescue. But I could always use the forward clicky switch for signaling.

JETBeam claims an output of 240 lumens. I have not seen independent confirmation of these numbers, but my RRT-0 (with the SMO reflector) certainly looks close to my Malkoff M60 drop-in. In laymen terms, Surefire describes 200 lumens as ten times the light of a big two-D-cell flashlight. For a flashlight this size, the JETBeam RRT-0 puts out a lot of light.

From JETBeam:

Model: RRT-0
Specially designed for Military, Law Enforcement, Self-defense, Hunting, Search & Rescue and Outdoorsman
The Rapid Response Control Ring allows the user to easily select different brightness level
Five levels of brightness to choose
Optional low / lower low mode
Stainless steel rapid response control ring, very reliable and durable
Stainless steel bezels protect the head and tail cap from drops and impacts
Stainless steel crenulated bezel can be used as a glass breaker or defensive tool
CREE R2 LED,
Max output reaches 240 lumens with an effective range of 200 meters
New dual curve reflector specially designed for CREE LED, which allows for better beam quality, efficiency and throw capability
Newly designed high efficiency broad voltage drive circuit
Compatible with both CR123 and RCR123 rechargeable Li-ion batteries
Floating positive end, designed for better contact
Built-in intelligent Li-ion rechargeable batteries protection circuit
Tailstand
Impact-resistant accords with US MIL-STD-810F
IPX 8 standard waterproof

Using AA Battery
High Mode 180 Lumens, 45 min
Daily Mode 50 Lumens, 5 hours
Mid Mode 25 Lumens, 10 hours
Low Mode 10 Lumens, 15 hours
Lower Low Mode 1 Lumen, 80 hours

When I built my Roar of the Pelican, a Maglight 2D flashlight modified to be really bright, I used two cheap 3AA to 1D adapters. I needed 6 AA NiMH batteries to make 7.2 V to power the bi-pin incandescent bulb.

I’d read warnings about some cheap battery adapters not being able to handle the high current, so I bought the beautifully engineered Fivemega 6AA to 2D adapter.

The negative end of the adapter fits inside the spring in the Maglite tail cap. The adapter also has a charging jack that takes a 5 mm coaxial DC power plug, so the pack doesn’t have to be disassembled to charge the batteries. Besides 6AA to 2D adapter, Fivemega makes a 9AA to 3D adapter and 3AA to 1D adapter, among other flashaholic things.

In late 2007, I bought a couple of Ultrafire C2 flashlights. They were nicely made for an inexpensive flashlight and they used Cree XR-E LEDs (P4 bin).

Last fall, I modded one of my C2s with a Seoul Semiconductors Z-Power LED P7. The P7 is a quad die LED. I made it direct drive running off a single Li-Ion 18650 battery. There were mods that could be made for a circuit board to drive the P7 but I was too lazy to make one.

I recently found a 3-Mode Regulated Circuit Board for Cree MC-E and SSC P7 LEDs (SKU 1217) sold by Shiningbeam.com that advertises an output current of 2500 mA on high. It has only three modes: high, medium and low. The 17mm diameter of the board is a direct fit in many pills, including a lot of P60s and the Ultrafire C2. I used one of the boards to improve a DealExtreme P60 MC-E drop-in.

I had another of the Shiningbeam boards and a quad die Cree MC-E LED, so I decided to put them in my other Ultrafire C2.

I soldered the LED to a trimmed down DealExtreme Star Connection and Heatsink for Cree MC-E LED Emitters – Parallel (SKU 16545). I’m not sure why they call it a parallel board, because each die is separately addressable with the connections on the board. I soldered all the anodes together and all the cathodes together, so it would run in parallel.

With a fully charged Li-Ion 2400 mAh battery, I measured the current at a little over 2700 mA through the tailcap. After five minutes, the flashlight was hot, but not so hot that I couldn’t touch it. It also dimmed slightly from initial turn-on but it is still brighter than my P60 MC-E mod.

With a McClicky switch in the tailcap, this is a really nice, bright flashlight now.

I was a little disappointed with my DealExtreme Cree MC-E P60 drop-in (SKU 21037). The specs say that on high, it should be pulling 2800ma and putting out 410 lumens. I measured 1.67A on high with a Li-Ion 18650 battery. But for $23.49 USD, I couldn’t complain too much.

I saw that Shiningbeam.com has a 3-Mode Regulated Circuit Board for Cree MC-E and SSC P7 LEDs (SKU 1217). Their specs say the output current is 2500mA on high. I thought I’d try it as a replacement for the circuit board in my DX drop-in.

It was an easy replacement since the Shiningbeam circuit board diameter is the same 17mm as the DX drop-in board. I am using it in a bored Surefire 6P body with the Surefire 6P bezel and a Solarforce L2-S4 tailcap.

The drop-in was a little loose. I had been using a Malkoff Beryllium-Copper spring washer, but it didn’t work too well this board. I cut one turn of a P60 drop-in spring and it creates a 1mm gap between the bezel and the body, but it works. I also had to put a longer spring on the circuit board because without it, the battery was loose.

After I wired it up, I measured 2.39A on full power with the same battery, so it’s a worthwhile replacement. I don’t have the means to measure the light output except for the current draw but it is much brighter than the stock DX MC-E drop-in – though it still doesn’t look as bright as my direct drive P7 in my Ultrafire C2.

The other nice thing is the Shiningbeam board has Low-Medium-High modes as opposed to the High-Low-Strobe on the stock DX.

The current high lumen output LEDs use multiple chips on a single die. The Seoul Semiconductor Z-Power LED P7 and the Cree XLamp® MC-E LED are two examples that are in popular use by flashlight modders.

I recently bought a DealExtreme Cree MC-E LED 3-Mode Drop-in Module ($23.49 USD) for my Surefire 6P flashlight (the 6P body is bored to work with a single 18650 battery).

The DealExtreme P60 size drop-in works with 2.7V~4.2V – a single Li-Ion 18650 battery, single RCR123A battery or CR123A battery. There is also a not too low level mode and annoying strobe mode. In the Surefire 6P host (about 5.2″ long – 13.2 cm), the DealExtreme Cree MC-E drop-in is an extremely bright flashlight in a small package. There is an extensive list of similar sized flashlights that use P60 size drop-ins in this Candlepowerforums.com thread.

DealExtreme seems optimistic in their description of the MC-E drop-in brightness as 410 lumens. It has more flood and less of a hot spot than the Malkoff M30. For comparison, my Malkoff Devices M30 output is rated at a realistic 235 lumens. My SSC P7 mod, inspired by jirik_cz, gives me the feeling that I am seeing everything. If not for the $125 USD cost, I would be all over the Malkoff M60 MC-E.

In my flickr set below, there are beamshots comparing the Cree MC-E, Cree XR-E and SSC P7. I centered the beam of each light on the scrawny tree against the fence. This flickr slide show has larger versions of the images below and more clearly show the differences in the beams.

I recently bought a Solarforce L2m flashlight host (head assembly, battery tube and tail switch assembly). The L2m is only 4.5″ long (~115 mm).

The head assembly is designed for a Surefire P60-sized drop-in. Fizz753 over at Candlepowerforums.com has compiled a very complete and up-to-date list of LED drop-ins.

I used one of my modded Cree XR-E (Q5 bin) LED drop-ins with a DealExtreme 16-Mode 3W 3.7V 7135 Circuit Board (SKU 7612) stuck in it.

Power is provided by a single protected Li-Ion RCR123A 3.7V battery. This 16340 size battery gives about 30 minutes on full with the 7612 board. I haven’t measured the current out of the board, but the specs say 1000 ma, so the output, according to Cree (Cree® XLamp® XR-E LED Data Sheet – PDF), is probably about 180-200 lm.

The next mod I made was replacing the reverse clicky switch with a McClicky switch. The last thing I’ll probably do is replace the crenelated ring on the head with a plain one.