Best LED upgrade for a Maglite?

[X1 Mike]

I have a 3D cell Maglite with the standard incandescent bulb. I love the lights ruggedness because it has lasted me over 15 years and is still going strong. Problem is I have so many LED lights now that blow the performance of this light away. Who makes the BEST LED conversion?

I also see on the Maglite site they have Xenon bulbs, better or worse than LED?

 

[mikegt4]

You will find the answer (and more, much more) here:
http://budgetlightforum.com/forum

 

[Agentwho]

A few years ago I did the led upgrades to my 2 4D Maglites. For one of them I bought the Maglite brand replacement led bulb and the other was another brand. Of the two the Maglite bulb is much better. Its make the life of the battery's last forever. I don't remember the last time I had to change them.

 

[Ruger_556]

You could just buy a real LED flashlight and be much happier This is what I have http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A30PROQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[X1 Mike]

You could just buy a real LED flashlight and be much happier This is what I have http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A30PROQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I'm sorry I forgot that I asked for your opinion. You get an "E" for failing to follow directions.

I have plenty of other lights, I just love my Maglite but want it to perform better.


Your opinion......

 

[GCncsuHD]

What do you want out of it? Flood? Spot? Does the adjustable focus matter to you?

The mag lite I carry in my truck has a Fusion 36 LED head in it (search ebay). It is incredibly bright and has a good mixture of spot and flood, but it is not adjustable. Terralux makes a very nice drop in as well. Forget any of the simple bulb replacement leds, especially maglite's own, they are an improvement usually, but there is much better out there.

But I do agree with the sentiment above, for the price of a really nice drop in LED upgrade, you could buy a complete new flashlight that will out perform the Maglite even after the upgrade, though it is hard to beat the clubbing feature of a maglite if the situation ever calls for it

 

[Ruger_556]

Seems like Maglite has two lines of LED's. You might check and make sure which one you're getting.

 

[mshell56118]

I have the three cell mag led and it is awesome instead of retrofitting an old light you may look at new one. The beam is extremely bright plus it adjusts from flood to spot.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[BFHtime]

Terralux makes bulbs for LED conversion.

I was looking into doing it. The cost of the conversion was a little pricey, but it improves it much better.

I found a site dedicated to conversions with more info than I cared to read. I found the site by checking sellers of the conversion on amazon. I hope that helps.

Maglite LED was my search.

 

[Kent Skinner]

I'm sorry I forgot that I asked for your opinion. You get an "E" for failing to follow directions.

I have plenty of other lights, I just love my Maglite but want it to perform better.


Your opinion......

Wow.
I have tried a bunch of LED upgrades to Maglights, but you probably won't like my opinions.

 

[X1 Mike]

What do you want out of it? Flood? Spot? Does the adjustable focus matter to you?

The mag lite I carry in my truck has a Fusion 36 LED head in it (search ebay). It is incredibly bright and has a good mixture of spot and flood, but it is not adjustable. Terralux makes a very nice drop in as well.

It looks like these are what you are talking about, which do you consider better? The one claims 900 lumens but is shipping from China so who knows???


http://www.ebay.com/itm/900-Lumens-...4077383?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item1c37badcc7

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TERRALUX-LE...5485676?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item51b7c4e6ec

though it is hard to beat the clubbing feature of a maglite if the situation ever calls for it

A feature that is not under-rated by me.

I just like the light and if you have had something for 15 years and it is still operable why not improve it?

 

[Wakefield]

Has the newest Maglite solved the cooling path problem for the LED? (Incandescents like to run hot, LED needs a thermal path or heat sink so as to run cool as possible) so early Maglites with the LED bulb were made to regulate down so as not to overheat as I understand,limiting the brightness.
I think there are conversions mentioned on "Candlepower Forum" that involve replacing a lot of the stuff inside the Maglite then put in a complete solid metal reflector with a LED so that the reflector carries the heat to the case of the flashlight effectively. Might eliminate the "twist to flood or spot" feature.

the Xenon bulb is just another kind of incandescent bulb that is bipin and uses a receptacle. Doesn't change much in my 4 cell. Hopefully will last longer than the old style bulb.

 

[X1 Mike]

Wow.
I have tried a bunch of LED upgrades to Maglights, but you probably won't like my opinions.

If your opinions address my question I welcome them, if they don't then keep them to yourself. Simple topic, I did not ask if I should throw my Maglite away and buy a "real" light, I asked how to upgrade what I have. Not too awful hard to follow along.

 

[nelstomlinson]

I have used Terralux and Mag LED drop ins. Either is a dramatic improvement over the incandescent bulb. Neither is really worth the money, unless you really like the old club. I still keep my two old 4D mag lights with LED drop ins, just for that reason. Great clubs, lousy flashlights, although with the LED they are better than they were new. I have a 2C Maglight with 3 lithium batteries (CR123) and a 6 cell LED drop in my truck glove box. It's a cool hack, but I'd be better off using one of those cheap Costco lights, and they would cost less than I have in that fool hack.

Today, you can go into Costco and get a pair of 2C, 500 lumen LED lights for under $20. A high end LED drop in for the Mag lights can cost $50 or more. You can probably get those two Costco lights and a collapsing baton for less than one drop in that would truly equal one of those Costco lights.

My advice would be to get either the Mag or TErralux drop ins and keep the Mag lights since you like them, and get a couple of newer LED lights, too. You can do so much better today, for so little money, that you might as well. That's what I did.

Edited to add: I followed that link to the ``900 lumen'' drop in. That will replace your reflector. It may or may not work with an older Mag light, like my two. It won't give much light at a distance.

If you want to go with a high end drop in, google ``malkoff device''. Their prices have come down, and you can get something pretty good for a bit under $50 now. If you do that, get an anti-reflection coated front lens. Here is a link: http://www.malkoffdevices.com/drop-...mag-lite/xm-l-drop-in-module-for-3-4d-maglite

 

[GCncsuHD]

It looks like these are what you are talking about, which do you consider better? The one claims 900 lumens but is shipping from China so who knows???


http://www.ebay.com/itm/900-Lumens-...4077383?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item1c37badcc7

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TERRALUX-LE...5485676?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item51b7c4e6ec



A feature that is not under-rated by me.

I just like the light and if you have had something for 15 years and it is still operable why not improve it?

The China one is what I referred to, and yea that is your only buying option. The 900 lumens is certainly fluffed, but I think I remember reading they test out more to a solid 500 lumens, which is an immense upgrade still. It's not the best out there, but I feel it is one of the best bangs for the buck.

And no, not that Terralux, this one:
http://www.terraluxportable.com/product/tle-310-m-ex/

It says it only works for 4-6D maglites, but you can easily mod the 3-D light to work with 4-C's making a sleeve from PVC and modifying the tailcap/spring. You could also get the battery for a Magcharger, and an external charger for it and run it.

I have used Terralux and Mag LED drop ins. Either is a dramatic improvement over the incandescent bulb. Neither is really worth the money, unless you really like the old club. I still keep my two old 4D mag lights with LED drop ins, just for that reason. Great clubs, lousy flashlights, although with the LED they are better than they were new. I have a 2C Maglight with 3 lithium batteries (CR123) and a 6 cell LED drop in my truck glove box. It's a cool hack, but I'd be better off using one of those cheap Costco lights, and they would cost less than I have in that fool hack.

Today, you can go into Costco and get a pair of 2C, 500 lumen LED lights for under $20. A high end LED drop in for the Mag lights can cost $50 or more. You can probably get those two Costco lights and a collapsing baton for less than one drop in that would truly equal one of those Costco lights.

My advice would be to get either the Mag or TErralux drop ins and keep the Mag lights since you like them, and get a couple of newer LED lights, too. You can do so much better today, for so little money, that you might as well. That's what I did.

Edited to add: I followed that link to the ``900 lumen'' drop in. That will replace your reflector. It may or may not work with an older Mag light, like my two. It won't give much light at a distance.

If you want to go with a high end drop in, google ``malkoff device''. Their prices have come down, and you can get something pretty good for a bit under $50 now. If you do that, get an anti-reflection coated front lens. Here is a link: http://www.malkoffdevices.com/drop-...mag-lite/xm-l-drop-in-module-for-3-4d-maglite

As he mentioned, the simple drop ins that only replace the bulb aren't all that great (like the Terralux you linked, and Mag's own LEDs). Malkoff makes great lights as well, haven't had a chance to try one out, but I've heard good things. It comes in somewhere in between the Chinese light and the 1000 lumen Terralux. It has more throw than the Chinese light, but not as good flood, you also lose the focus option with all three options.

And yes, the Chinese showerhead led doesn't have a ton of throw, but it is a great flood, that is why I asked what you use yours for, to me I use flood much more often than I use spot, so it works great, though it is powerful enough to get decent throw. Flood comes in much handier for my use as a truck light-roadside emergencies, throwing on a traffic wand for directing traffic, I can drop it on the ground or set it in a vehicle and light up a patient to see what I'm doing, same goes for if I was changing a spare tire or such. In those situations a spot would do nothing but create a blinding unusable hot spot, though there are times when that is handy as well, when that is needed I have a pocket sized adjustable focus absolutely that blows the Maglite out of the water, but you won't see me setting it on the ground to use as an area light


I absolutely agree with you about the lens, it makes a huge difference over the old scratched plastic lenses.

 

[3 at 8]

Has the newest Maglite solved the cooling path problem for the LED? (Incandescents like to run hot, LED needs a thermal path or heat sink so as to run cool as possible) so early Maglites with the LED bulb were made to regulate down so as not to overheat as I understand,limiting the brightness.
I think there are conversions mentioned on "Candlepower Forum" that involve replacing a lot of the stuff inside the Maglite then put in a complete solid metal reflector with a LED so that the reflector carries the heat to the case of the flashlight effectively. Might eliminate the "twist to flood or spot" feature.

the Xenon bulb is just another kind of incandescent bulb that is bipin and uses a receptacle. Doesn't change much in my 4 cell. Hopefully will last longer than the old style bulb.

I looked into this a while back as well. Unfortunately, you need to address the heat sink issues as well as swapping out the bulb as Wakefeild suggests. This is what makes the upgrade less financially feasible. If you like it though; who cares, just do it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Mike, I did a thread on the Xenon bulb a few months ago. I can't honestly tell about the battery life as I don't use my Maglites all the time. I do know that they are brighter than the old original bulb. I picked them up at HD and they were a cheap modification, $3.00

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=220970


FYI, my original links to HD in that thread are no longer working.


EDIT
maybe this one will

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Maglite-...-3-Cell-C-and-D-Flashlights-LMA301/100384229#

 

[GCncsuHD]

It should also be noted that Maglite has recently revamped their LED line, the Maglite Pro 2D LED is over double the brightness of the old drop in led conversions and led Mags, heck I picked up a new edition Maglite Solitaire LED recently as a keychain light, and it nearly matches an old 3D Maglite oem LED drop in conversion, but even their new line doesn't quite match what is available in the aftermarket.

 

[steveo3002]

i was pretty satisfied with the terralux drop in for my 6 cell

 

[Hako86]

Just buy a small Cree led. Cheap, really good quallity and super bright!!

 

[mrjaw14]

I have used several LED drop in kits for my maglights. The 3-led is garbage. NiteIze makes a single LED kit that's the best I've used. I've not tried the maglight brand LED kit. The issue with the drop in kits is that the focus length is different. Pretty much all I get out of mine is on and off. little useful beam focus because of the difference in bulb shapes. I have a maglight with a stock LED in it and the head of the light is longer. I actually get focus out of that.

Provided you're OK with the above limitation, I think the Nite-Ize single LED kit is the best one I've used. Really anything that has one good LED is a good improvement. Just stay away from the multi-LED el'cheapo kits. a good kit will set you back $15 or more, so weigh that against the cost of an actual LED maglight designed for a LED.

EDIT: My experience is with the AA mag-mini, I'm not talking about the D cell light. I do have a D cell maglight that's stock LED and I love it though

 

[Wakefield]

There was a Maglite LED 2D cell light that appeared to be exactly the same as a regular flashlight except for the bulb being different and they were selling that bulb by itself as a conversion,it wasn't much brighter than a regular bulb but now I don't see that thing (LED bulb)as available to buy anymore. I suspect that bulb would work well in a cheap metal hardware store flashlight with a metal reflector that holds the bulb directly so as to conduct heat outward to the outside.
I also notice my older 3 D cell Mag looks to be slightly thicker walled than the newer 2 D cell one and the tailcaps aren't exactly the same. (Both regular bulb type)
There is a newer 2 D cell "Pro" LED that they sell now that appears as if the bulb is not made to be taken out easily.

 

[donthelegend]

Here's what I have in my 4D Maglite:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/flashlight-bulbs/3-watt-flashlight-bulb-pr2-3whp-x/638/

I used the terralux that everone here is talking about as well, but it died on me, so I was looking for other options. At 15 bucks, it's affordable, brings an old flashlight to within reach of currently available lights, and works great.

What's not to like?

 

[Wakefield]

I suppose that a drop in LED bulb,if it runs too much power and does not have some kind of thermal step down might overheat and burn out without a heat sink or better thermal path to the outside. Where I think ordinary bulbs like to run hotter the better and that is part of why the older Maglites isolated them in their pedestal.