mag lights

[+DonB]

Has anyone tried the led upgrade for the mag lights? I see Walmart has the upgrade for the mini mag for just under $5.00 and the upgrade for the C and D lights for a little over $8.00, but the guy at Walmart couldn't tell me if the led was that much brighter if any. All he could tell me was they sell a lot of them.

[+elmuyloco5]

We have an LED mini sized mag. It seems brighter, but the light is more directed to one spot and therefore lights a smaller area, better. I guess there could be trade-offs with it. But, they're supposed to last longer and have a "blueish white" quality of light. They look the difference in color btwn a fluorescent and an incandescent light bulb.

 

I would suggest (unless you are looking for a good heavy object to hit someone with) to get a quality LED headlamp instead of a mag. They are much easier to night cache with as your hands are free. Plus many of the quality ones allow for adjustments on how many to light up as well as the color (red's nice if you do any amateur astronomy as well).

[+Kit Fox]

I've converted two Mini-Mag flashlights to LED. They don't focus like the incandescent bulb, but the battery life was worth it to me. I use this as my primary night light, but also carry a Surefire flashlight when I need more light.

 

I have no complaints with the conversion.

[+StarBrand]

WalMart sells an everyready LED flashlight For just $7 that uses D Cells. It is very bright and they say will last 100 hours on fresh cells.

 

I bought it for the life. Surprisingly, the brightness is also nice.

 

The few people I knew that got the mag upgrade were unhappy that you could not focus the beam the same way. I have not upgraded the one mag I own.

[+briansnat]

The guy at Walmart couldn't tell me if the led was that much brighter if any

 

LED bulbs are generally less bright than incandescent bulbs. The advantage is far longer bulb and battery life.

[bleev]

I retired all 5 of my Mag flashlights when I discovered the Coast LED Lenser series flashlight. Honestly they put out WAY more light than even my 6 D cell mag lite....and they are only like 4 inches long. Also the light is a true white rather than the yellow light of the mag.

 

I use this one mostly...Really bright focused light:

 

LL7730 V6 Stainless Steel Luxeon

 

I also use this one for general illumination:

 

LL7736D V² 6 LED Cockpit Aviation flashlight

 

Trust me I'm a flashlight fanatic and these are unlike anything you've ever seen.

 

Edit: to add that these are not for kids...they are extremely bright and can cause damage if you look directly at the beam....

Edited December 2, 2007 by bleev

[+Team Cotati]

The guy at Walmart, eh?

[+TeamThom]

I upgraded my 2 D-cell Maglite to LED. It is now as bright as my 3 D-cell Maglite that has not been upgrated. Also, it doesn't shine yellow anymore, the light is white.

[+Airmapper]

I bought that upgrade pack with 3 LED's for a standard Mini-Mag and I'm pleased with it.

 

Like the others said, it won't focus, but it is a pretty bright, wide area beam, and lasts a really long time. (I can't remember the last time I put batteries in it.)

 

I keep the original lens and bulb in a tiny zip bag, that stays in the GPS case that I also have the light in. If I want a beam I can swap it out.

 

I also pack a large 6-D Mag light (or Cop light because of it's size) It has the LED conversion, and it will focus a beam. It of course does not have the range of a standard bulb, but the battery life is amazing. It won't leave you in the dark, and plus it makes a handy weapon.

[+scuba dude]

Not sure what LED's you guys are buying. Mag sells thier own brand of LED of grade for thier lights. The one for the C-D cells is a 3-watt single element LED. It's as bright as a 21 watt halogen, and is focusalbe just like to regular bulb. It also costs $18 for the LED alone. I bought one, but I am a bit of a lumen junky coming from the scuba side of things.

 

The 3watt LED is quite a bit brighter than the standard bulb. Plus the cost savings in D-cell batts should pay for it's self in less than a year. LEDs typically have a life of over 10,000 hours, compared to 1-2000 hous for a standard bulb.

 

Expensive in the right now? sure. Cost effective for the life of the light and the bulb? absolutely.

 

SD

[+Rattlebars]

 

Nothing beats the Fenix P1D CE. The size of your thumb and it will outshine any Mag lite. 135 lumens on max power using only a single CR123 battery and not much larger than the battery itself. That CRE LED is bright as sunshine. The P2D is on my Christmas list!

 

Click here for The fenix store

Edited December 3, 2007 by Rattlebars

[+Confucius' Cat]

I have a mini converted with the Nite-ize® conversion kit that has 3 leds. I like it a lot because it is always white, unlike the rapidly yellowing light (as the batteries quickly die) of the standard bulb. The AA mini is my standard "carry everywhere always" torch. It is always on my belt, night and day. It is as essential as my knife as personal hardware.

 

One of the biggest problems with the conversion is to determine when to replace the batteries. The light dims so slowly that it actually gets pretty dim (batteries need replacing) before you realise it. This phenomenon is similar to fluorescent lights which practically never burn out, but lose over 50% of their output over the years. The LEDS themselves don't diminish in output, but the batteries degrade and the LEDS still light long after the batteries should be declared "dead."

 

The Nite-ize® conversion does not focus, but it is dirt cheap (about $4 W/M)

 

There is also an official Mag-Lite® conversion kit that is about $10 W/M. I have not tried it, but it DOES focus just like the normal bulb. I have a hunch it would be better than the Nite-ize®.

 

I have a 3D Mag-Lite® which I have converted with the official 3w LED kit as described in the above post. It DOES focus the same as the original, and it's light quality is EXCELLENT. Personally, I like it a LOT better than the standard.

 

I am a LED junkie and I have gone through a LOT of different LED torches. I am most pleased with my converted Mag-Lites®.

 

LED Head lamps (the several I have tried) are ideal for close work and hands-free-ness, but provide poor trail illumination all-in-all. They adequately illuminate an area directly in front well enough to walk on a trail but are about 10 kinds of useless for looking at something 25 or 30 feet away. The 3D mag with the LED conversion is excellent for this.

[+weinema]

A MagLithe without a LED kit is not really useable.

Since a few weeks I use a MagLite 3-Mono with a original 3Watt LED

kit and I'm very very happy!!!!

 

There are also 6,75Watt kits available but I think the batteries

will be empty very fast.

 

Reg,

Martin

[+DonB]

Not sure what LED's you guys are buying. Mag sells thier own brand of LED of grade for thier lights. The one for the C-D cells is a 3-watt single element LED. It's as bright as a 21 watt halogen, and is focusalbe just like to regular bulb. It also costs $18 for the LED alone. I bought one, but I am a bit of a lumen junky coming from the scuba side of things.

 

The 3watt LED is quite a bit brighter than the standard bulb. Plus the cost savings in D-cell batts should pay for it's self in less than a year. LEDs typically have a life of over 10,000 hours, compared to 1-2000 hous for a standard bulb.

 

Expensive in the right now? sure. Cost effective for the life of the light and the bulb? absolutely.

 

SD

Walmart had two different conversions for the C&D lights and I'm sure one of them said 3 watt but I didn't pay any attention as to if either one of them was an official Mag conversion, but neither one of them sold for $18.00. I may get back over there today, I'll have to check again.

[+DonB]

We have an LED mini sized mag. It seems brighter, but the light is more directed to one spot and therefore lights a smaller area, better. I guess there could be trade-offs with it. But, they're supposed to last longer and have a "blueish white" quality of light. They look the difference in color btwn a fluorescent and an incandescent light bulb.

 

I would suggest (unless you are looking for a good heavy object to hit someone with) to get a quality LED headlamp instead of a mag. They are much easier to night cache with as your hands are free. Plus many of the quality ones allow for adjustments on how many to light up as well as the color (red's nice if you do any amateur astronomy as well).

I have a LED headlamp with the spot, flood, spot & flood, and the red light, which works great. The only reason I was curious about the conversion is I have three or four mini mags and one 2 C cell light that have just been laying around not being used. From the other posts I have read, maybe I'll just convert the 2 C cell light.

[+GRANPA ALEX]

I use this as my primary night light, but also carry a Surefire flashlight when I need more light.

 

Simularly. as with Kit Fox, I use an inexpensive LED as primary and a SureFire for searching. I would only add that it is wise to use re-chargable batteries in the SureFire . . . one in the lamp & one in the pocket for backup which WILL be needed and a third one in the car charger cradle. The dead one hits the charger cradle as soon as I return to the car. This way, I never have to buy batteries . . . virtually at all.

 

One further thought . . . a direct fused power line from the battery to a cig lighter plug, larger gauge wire is best (I use 8 guage purchased from a car audio store). This diminishes the load on the inverter (if used) keeping it from squealing.

[+Renegade Knight]

Has anyone tried the led upgrade for the mag lights? I see Walmart has the upgrade for the mini mag for just under $5.00 and the upgrade for the C and D lights for a little over $8.00, but the guy at Walmart couldn't tell me if the led was that much brighter if any. All he could tell me was they sell a lot of them.

 

It's an ok upgrade. There are better ones but they cost a lot more. You can find them on flaslightreviews.com.

 

For the money, they are good upgrade, and they are a brighter light. You can't focus the beam, but if you use a broad pattern most times they are fairly good upgrade. If you like turning your mag light into a laser beam so you can only see 3" at 100' this upgrade isn't for you.

[+cerberus1]

We've found the LED conversions for mini mags to be good for caves and looking in rock crevices, but lack a "natural" feel in the woods. They just don't seem to cast a light you need for walking.

The standard bulb is plenty bright enough for caching at night, but without a headband, you're one hand short in the dark.

A headlight would do you much better.

We both have Surefires, and headlights, but always have a coupla mini mags... just in case.

They're great little lights - as is.

[+Nishnabotna]

 

I have a 3D Mag-Lite® which I have converted with the official 3w LED kit as described in the above post. It DOES focus the same as the original, and it's light quality is EXCELLENT. Personally, I like it a LOT better than the standard.

 

 

Does it through the light as FAR as the regular bulb? That question is what has kept me from getting the $18 Mag-Lite brand LED upgrade.

[+cotontop3]

my flashlight of choice is a streamlight. they make several models, all are very rugged. i have had mine for over 11 years and have had to put one new battery stick in it. mine is rechargeable in the vehicle also which is nice.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

If you're getting the "Upgrade" that's not made by Mag, you will lose the ability to focus your beam, which is one primary draw of a Mag light. Without that feature, it's no more useful than any other (cheaper) LED light. However, if you get the "Mag" upgrade, you will retain the focus ability and will have an outstanding light, that bulb is 20 dollars though. I was so happy with mine that I replaced the bulb in my other Mag lights as well.

 

One warning though, and I'm not sure if this is a fluke or a design or manufacturing flaw, I dropped my light and the bulb broke!! I only dropped it from about two feet, and the "LED" portion broke loose from the "Insert" portion. I'm hoping I can get them to replace it, as 20 dollars is a lot of money for a light bulb.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

 

I have a 3D Mag-Lite® which I have converted with the official 3w LED kit as described in the above post. It DOES focus the same as the original, and it's light quality is EXCELLENT. Personally, I like it a LOT better than the standard.

 

 

Does it through the light as FAR as the regular bulb? That question is what has kept me from getting the $18 Mag-Lite brand LED upgrade.

I havent measures the distance of the two in comparison, but I'm impressed with the distance of the focused beam, as were other campers that saw my light. "wow, that light is incredible" I think they said. This was in response to seeing only the beam, not the flashlight itself.

[+gh patriot]

I use a 2D cell 3 watt LED mag-lite once in a while. Its beam is highly adjustable and throws the light a long ways.as

 

My favorite flashight is the Princeton-Tec EOS regulated 1 watt headlamp. It maintains 100% brightness for as long as possible then slowly tapers off. It was WAY worth the 40 bucks!!!

 

http://www.princetontec.com/products/index...ype=1&use=0

 

[+DonB]

Not sure what LED's you guys are buying. Mag sells thier own brand of LED of grade for thier lights. The one for the C-D cells is a 3-watt single element LED. It's as bright as a 21 watt halogen, and is focusalbe just like to regular bulb. It also costs $18 for the LED alone. I bought one, but I am a bit of a lumen junky coming from the scuba side of things.

 

The 3watt LED is quite a bit brighter than the standard bulb. Plus the cost savings in D-cell batts should pay for it's self in less than a year. LEDs typically have a life of over 10,000 hours, compared to 1-2000 hous for a standard bulb.

 

Expensive in the right now? sure. Cost effective for the life of the light and the bulb? absolutely.

 

SD

Walmart had two different conversions for the C&D lights and I'm sure one of them said 3 watt but I didn't pay any attention as to if either one of them was an official Mag conversion, but neither one of them sold for $18.00. I may get back over there today, I'll have to check again.

I was wrong on the upgrade prices. I went back to Walmart today to recheck the Led upgrades, and the official Mag upgrade is $18.00, but for $23.00 you can buy the whole light with the 3 watt Led.

[+Team Dougherty]

Not sure what LED's you guys are buying. Mag sells thier own brand of LED of grade for thier lights. The one for the C-D cells is a 3-watt single element LED. It's as bright as a 21 watt halogen, and is focusalbe just like to regular bulb. It also costs $18 for the LED alone. I bought one, but I am a bit of a lumen junky coming from the scuba side of things.

 

The 3watt LED is quite a bit brighter than the standard bulb. Plus the cost savings in D-cell batts should pay for it's self in less than a year. LEDs typically have a life of over 10,000 hours, compared to 1-2000 hous for a standard bulb.

 

Expensive in the right now? sure. Cost effective for the life of the light and the bulb? absolutely.

 

SD

 

I agree I have the $18 maglite brand LED upgrade in my 2D cell light and the beam can be focused with out a problem. I have used it on several night caches with others and their "fancy" LED lights and it out performs all of them. The one cacher I was with has one of those that took 2 of the cr123, expensive, batteries and it was dead in 30 minutes. It was bright but more of a flood light though not very good for finding the fire tacks.

 

If you are upgrading you MagLite use the maglite upgrade.

[+Renegade Knight]

 

I have a 3D Mag-Lite® which I have converted with the official 3w LED kit as described in the above post. It DOES focus the same as the original, and it's light quality is EXCELLENT. Personally, I like it a LOT better than the standard.

 

 

Does it through the light as FAR as the regular bulb? That question is what has kept me from getting the $18 Mag-Lite brand LED upgrade.

 

Yes, the LED is more or less the same size as the orginal bulb. The focus still works. I'm not sure it will get laser tight, but it's pretty good and a good upgrade.

[+Renegade Knight]

...One warning though, and I'm not sure if this is a fluke or a design or manufacturing flaw, I dropped my light and the bulb broke!! I only dropped it from about two feet, and the "LED" portion broke loose from the "Insert" portion. I'm hoping I can get them to replace it, as 20 dollars is a lot of money for a light bulb.

They should. LED's are supposed to be tougher than that.

 

There are some non Mag upgrades that work with the mag and let you focus. The one I know of (found on flashlightreviews.com) is more expensive than the mag, but better. It's a question of if it's better enough for the higher price. For me the same 18.00 upgrade you got was fine.

[+klossner]

One of the biggest problems with the conversion is to determine when to replace the batteries. The light dims so slowly that it actually gets pretty dim (batteries need replacing) before you realise it.

This doesn't happen with regulated flashlights. You get the same amount of light until it starts blinking, telling you the batteries are drained and need to be replaced.

 

I concur that anything from the Fenix store trumps just about everything else. Friends don't let friends buy Maglites.

[+simpjkee]

I have a mini mag and bought the LED upgrade with it. I tried it once and didn't like it so I haven't used it since. The original bulb is the best IMO.

[+Confucius' Cat]

incandescents suck

i like my light white (or bluish) and i like it to stay that way

I guess I'm just prejudiced like that.

[GeoPirates2007]

I have converted one over and it performs well but not nearly as well as the mini I baught with the LED alraedy in it. Not sure what the differance is but whatever.

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

incandescents suck

i like my light white (or bluish) and i like it to stay that way

I guess I'm just prejudiced like that.

 

I guess, personally I can't stand those "bluish" looking lights, I'll stick to real light.

[+zafwon]

I upgraded mine and I'm not sure if it was brighter, but the lights last longer and seemed more durable than the original type. I was pretty hard on it too (jogging on trails at night).

 

Live dangerously! Spend the $5 bucks! :-)

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

In theory LEDs last longer but they don't always do it. I got a new truck at work in may of 2000 which had the incadescent lights (tail/brake/clearance lights) and drove it until october of 2005 without a single light burning out. I then got a new truck with LED lights and had three go out the first year. THey were replaced under warrenty and no problems since, but it happens.

I'll eventually get a maglight LED just to see if

i like it, but right now I walk away every time I see the pricetag.

[+Confucius' Cat]

In theory LEDs last longer but they don't always do it. I got a new truck at work in may of 2000 which had the incadescent lights (tail/brake/clearance lights) and drove it until october of 2005 without a single light burning out. I then got a new truck with LED lights and had three go out the first year. THey were replaced under warrenty and no problems since, but it happens.

I'll eventually get a maglight LED just to see if

i like it, but right now I walk away every time I see the pricetag.

Yeah, I love the "long life" guarantees of the LEDs and the CF lights (compact fluorescent)!

 

I have NEVER gotten anywhere near rated life out of a CF. I'm doing OK with LEDs so far though.

 

The problem with the CF's appears to be that they have a fuse inside the base. They like to pop on power surges. I have had some CF's that did not last over a few months- a darned expensive light bulb at about $2/month!

 

I suspect that is what happened on your truck- a power surge. It could also be a manufacturing defect like bad soldering that succumbed to the constant vibration.

 

Anyway, power surges are very unlikely in a PLS (portable light source) so that is probably not relevant in a maglite. Basically a disposable battery reaches its maximum voltage at the time it leaves the factory. It's all downhill from there.