Maglight flashlight conversion to LED?

[Happyshooter]

Years ago I was an MP in the army, and we could carry maglights but had to buy them ourselves.

I have four d-cells, three 3s and one 4, that are around the house. I am tired of the short battery life the few times a year I need them for home repair or when the lights go out, and worrying about the bulbs.

What is the best cheap conversion from blubs to LEDs for the maglights? What is the easiest?

 

[mishkaya]

I replaced all my bulbs with Terralux LED's. About $20 each for the nicer ones, not exactly cheap, but very bright and long battery life. Haven't had a problem with any of them since they were installed. Haven't priced out replacement LED's lately, but Costco was selling a combination pack of a 2 cell AA and a 3 cell D both with LED's for $25 (including batteries). Price was hard to beat so I picked up an extra set.

 

[d33pt]

yeah the costco price is so good, it's not worth converting the old ones anymore.

 

[Az Scooter]

I just bought a 4 cell Mag and put an led bulb in it. It works great

 

[nate379]

$20 is cheap. I put an LED in my Surefire and it was $50. Have about $200 into that little flashlight, and that is cheap!

 

[mjozefow]

I just bought the LED MIni-Mag. I am very impressed with is so far. I love my old Mini-Mag but the battery consumption and light bulb replacement was driving me nuts.

 

[DavidB]

Maglite sells drop in LEDs to replace the bulb in the regular C and D cell size lights. They're about $18 and are sold at Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc. They're pretty good for the price and ease of swapping them. You'll definitely notice a difference in output and battery life.

 

[mjozefow]

Maglite sells drop in LEDs to replace the bulb in the regular C and D cell size lights. They're about $18 and are sold at Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc. They're pretty good for the price and ease of swapping them. You'll definitely notice a difference in output and battery life.

The only thing about the conversions is that you lose the ability to FOCUS the light beam. That is the reason I went with the new LED instead of retrofitting. I'm not sure if this is true on C and D cells though.

 

[mishkaya]

The only thing about the conversions is that you lose the ability to FOCUS the light beam. That is the reason I went with the new LED instead of retrofitting. I'm not sure if this is true on C and D cells though.

It depends on what type of replacement LED you get. My old AA maglites have been retrofitted with LED's and you can still focus the beam; and they are incredibly bright as well. It's all in which type replacement you get. They are not all created equal!

 

[DavidB]

The only thing about the conversions is that you lose the ability to FOCUS the light beam. That is the reason I went with the new LED instead of retrofitting. I'm not sure if this is true on C and D cells though.

That is true sometimes. With the Maglite LED drop ins you can still focus the Maglite between a spot and a donut.

 

[mkdive]

yeah but donuts are baddddd when your talking about flashlight beam pattern IMO

 

[Drew_flux]

I bought a maglite led replacement that lasted a year or so, including droped on many occasions.battery life increased from 3 weeks to almost 4 months before a recharge was required. It breathed new life back into a 10 year old torch that was just laying around.

 

[nate379]

I have a Maglite I keep in the Jeep and it's had the same batteries in it since around 2003. It's a little dim at this point, but it still works good enough.

 

[z28snksknr]

4-D cell LED Maglite = $22.96.

http://www.action-lights.com/department-684/Maglite-Mag-Lite-D-Cell-Led.html

 

[rust in the eye]

Reviving an old thread to see what the current concensus is regarding upgrading Maglites.
I have the ubiquitous 3 D cell and a handful of 2AA versions.
The big one has "other" uses so I like to keep it on hand but as a flashlight....... Modern LED disposables make it look like a booger.
The pocket AA ones just appeal to me.
Thanks for your thoughts

 

[wayne55]

I had used a couple Maglites for years and thought they were pretty good. In the last few years, I've had lots of trouble with the bulbs blowing. When my supply of bulbs ran out, I just went to led and find them to be a great improvement.

 

[GeoBruin]

For your larger mag, Malkoff pretty much established the benchmark for Maglite conversions. They used to make dedicated dropins for C and D cell mags, but as LED and battery technology has begun to change so rapidly, I imagine it was not economical to keep updating the dropins so they pivoted to using an adapter that fits into a Mag that accepts their M series (P60 surefire replacement) drop in modules. That allows you to pick from a large selection of outputs, beam profiles, color temperatures, and input voltages offered by the M series which are widely regarded in the industry as the most well respected and time tested drop-in available.

To be clear, in addition to the adapter, you will also need to pick an M-series drop in that is compatible with your desired battery voltage. Otherwise, you can choose a c/d battery adapter to run a li-ion rechargeable battery if you so choose.

Maglite LED Drop-ins, Upgrades, Conversions, and Accessories

High Power Maglite LED Upgrades, Conversions, and Accessories to Fit Incandescent (NON LED) Maglite Brand Flashlights.

malkoffdevices.com

If these kinds of things matter to you, Malkoff Devices is a small, family-owned company that makes their products in the USA. You will receive a hand-written note with your purchase and will have the ability to call them anytime with questions.

 

[rust in the eye]

Thanks for the replies.
The Malkoff items look nice but I have a very hard time justifying that sort of spend.
I've simply purchased an inexpensive LED replacement bulb that works satisfactorily for my purposes. Hopefully battery life will be longer too.
Update for anyone interested: The orientation of the LED bulb (nite eyes) coesn't allow for proper focusing of the beam so I've gone back to a Krypton bulb.

 

[JSutter]

It's hard to justify spending money on an old Maglite. The only real benefit is you can pick the lumens level to suit your specific needs.

I have some Nite Ize upgrades. The 2AA led and switch are not good. The 74 lumen for the bigger lights is okay.

 

[F-22]

Old Maglite is cool, but modding it makes little sense. It's a club, not a flashlight. A modern little wurkkos costs 30$ and is just infinitely more light while being easy to recharge and lasting a relatively long time on normal light levels...

 

[Rinspeed]

Malkoff modules are top tier.

 

[brtsvg]

The D-cell and C-cell alkaline-battery powered Maglites have been obsoleted by the newer lithium-ion 18650 battery powered types. These older Maglites are not worth upgrading considering the performance that the rechargeable 18650 types provide.

 

[carmantl]

Some of my favorite Maglite's are cut down versions with one d cell or an 18650 lion in a sleeve. On the BLF forum there was an old man called "Old Lumens" who passed a few years ago. His handmade "human lathe" Maglite's are some of my most valued possessions. The hand fitting and cosmetic filings were the best I have ever seen. Look him up.

 

[carmantl]

Check out Adventure Sport Flashlights. He makes some of the best drop-ins for Maglite. They are a little pricey but they deliver the goods.

 

[GeoBruin]

Malkoff modules are top tier.

Yes, but you (like me) missed the "cheap" part of the requirements in the original post. Or at least we have different definitions of the term cheap.

 

[LopezBart]

I use Anker LED flashlights w/ a rechargable 18650 cell (or two). Easy, pretty cheap (less than $30) and reliable. I really like rechargable & recyclable batteries; since we have several power failures every year, having flashlights and lanterns that work is important. This time of year, we charge 'em up and they're good for the rest of the year, and in need we have chargers that will run on 12V.

 

[Rinspeed]

Yes, but you (like me) missed the "cheap" part of the requirements in the original post. At least we have different definitions of the term cheap.

Never once in my life did I consider bargain shopping for a device that might help save my life someday. Own the light, own the night.

 

[GeoBruin]

Some of my favorite Maglite's are cut down versions with one d cell or an 18650 lion in a sleeve. On the BLF forum there was an old man called "Old Lumens" who passed a few years ago. His handmade "human lathe" Maglite's are some of my most valued possessions. The hand fitting and cosmetic filings were the best I have ever seen. Look him up.

I was at one time very active on Candlepower forums and was a moderator of r/flashlights on reddit. It was common for people new to the flashlight world to **** on Maglites for being outdated technology, but those of us who saw the absolute works of art machined from mag bodies and used some of the earliest high output customs (Varapower 2000 etc) made from Mag hosts knew better.

 

[rust in the eye]

Old Maglite is cool, but modding it makes little sense. It's a club, not a flashlight. A modern little wurkkos costs 30$ and is just infinitely more light while being easy to recharge and lasting a relatively long time on normal light levels...

My thoughts too. Works fine with the cheap LED, although focusing is now odd. It remains a fully functional club.
EDIT: I went back to the original Krypton bulb. The LED's relationship to the reflector essentially ruined the ability to focus the beam.