joe_pinehill1
Well-known member
I have two M12 flashlights, and love them. Anyone convert theirs to LED? I'm sure you get more run time, but how does the lighting compare?
M12 flashlight LED bulb conversion
- Thread starter joe_pinehill1
- Start date
bcradio
Well-known member
Mine are all already led so i can offer no help
I bought a cheap import led bulb from eBay. The light is certainly brighter, but it's focused in a tighter diameter than the original bulb. Overall I prefer the led to the incandescent bulb. I think I gave $6-$7 for the led bulb about 14 months ago
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OP
joe_pinehill1
Well-known member
It's hard to say on my end. I have 3 different sizes of batteries. I don't use it all day everyday. I'm a plumber by trade and work on my own equipment, when used it might only be used for 2-3 hrs straight. So far so good
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I would not bother to upgrade it. I got the LED version of the flashlight off eBay a year or so ago for 24$. Just for fun, I bought an LED upgrade bulb for my incandescent M12 flashlight and I think it was about 12$. Like stated above, the light pattern is focused and nothing like the LED version of the flashlight which has a different reflector design in the head. I'm not sure about the run time but I can give you current draw measurements tonight when I get home from work.
AngryBeaver
Well-known member
I gave my old m12 light to my dad and bought the led. light is 3x brighter. I've lost count how many hours i can get out of a 6.0
Ign
Well-known member
I converted the old V28 light (with an actual Milwaukee bulb) but as mentioned it's more of a pencil beam than a flood.
BLACK DEATH
Well-known member
Do you all links to that led bulb? I have an m18 I'd like to convert to led
Ok, I got around to doing some measurements. Current clamp, averaged over a couple of seconds.
View media item 74233
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The only active electronics in them are the battery protection circuitry which should be minuscule draw. On a standard M12 2.0 battery, the run times should be approximately:
View media item 74236
On a 6.0XC battery, the LED lights would basically last forever.
One other big benefit of the LEDs is they are WAY cooler. I ran the incandescent just long enough for it to warm up and the current to stabilize, and when I went to swap back to the LED bulb I had to wait like 10 minutes for it to be cool enough to grab! Also, the LED version of the light's build quality is impossibly better than the incandescent one. The incandescent frankly feels like creaky plasticky trash, whereas the LED version is much more solid, and the head of it is even cast aluminum!
View media item 74231
You can also see there what I was talking about earlier how the reflector design is very different for an LED.
Here's a closeup of the LED replacement bulb I have vs. the original incandescent:
View media item 74232
The overall conclusion here is, if you already own the incandescent version, the LED bulb is better in some ways, but unless you can get it for cheap you're probably better off just throwing away the old one and buying an LED version since they are on eBay right now for 29$ and are a better overall tool.
View media item 74233
View media item 74234
The only active electronics in them are the battery protection circuitry which should be minuscule draw. On a standard M12 2.0 battery, the run times should be approximately:
View media item 74236
On a 6.0XC battery, the LED lights would basically last forever.
One other big benefit of the LEDs is they are WAY cooler. I ran the incandescent just long enough for it to warm up and the current to stabilize, and when I went to swap back to the LED bulb I had to wait like 10 minutes for it to be cool enough to grab! Also, the LED version of the light's build quality is impossibly better than the incandescent one. The incandescent frankly feels like creaky plasticky trash, whereas the LED version is much more solid, and the head of it is even cast aluminum!
View media item 74231
You can also see there what I was talking about earlier how the reflector design is very different for an LED.
Here's a closeup of the LED replacement bulb I have vs. the original incandescent:
View media item 74232
The overall conclusion here is, if you already own the incandescent version, the LED bulb is better in some ways, but unless you can get it for cheap you're probably better off just throwing away the old one and buying an LED version since they are on eBay right now for 29$ and are a better overall tool.
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superbrightleds.com is what I used when I upgraded my 18v Bosch, PC, and Ryobi and my M12. I think it's a 12-24v bulb so I just bought 10 of them thinking some will break as things fall or get abused. Gave the Ryobi set to FIL and PC set to my dad haven't heard any complaints from either one and haven't had any issues with mine.
About a year ago I upgraded my m12 light to led. I went down a different path than most would probably think. I took out the factory head and put in a 10w work light. I got the idea from my boss at the time who did the same thing with a m18 flashlight and a larger light. The light output is excellent, much better than the incandescent bulb or the m12 led light. The battery life is excellent, I work a lot of night service calls and it seems to go all night without having to swap batteries.
