Maglite LEDs

[EMC2]

I was looking for the highest power/brightest LED dropin for a maglite.

I was also looking to obtain color spectrum/CRI information too.

Not sure if it helps but Maglite told me that Cree and lumaled make many of their emitters.

 

[fishndad]

are you refering to the led bulb i.e. Nite Ize/Terralux that replaces the incan bulb?
If so ive bought those and only been disapointed.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Which mag lite?

 

[EMC2]

Oops, I purchased a 1w bayonet led @ frys that worked quite well on a 8.4V 2D and did not realize that mag Leds are typically not the bayonet style.

Does anyboy know where i can find the color spectrum information for LED.

Thanks

 

[LEDninja]

I purchased a 1w bayonet led @ frys that worked quite well on a 8.4V 2D

Can you explain what batteries you are planning to use with your Maglite? A 2D Maglite is 2.4V with NiMH or 3V dropping to 2V with alkaline, NOT 8.4V.

malkoffdevices have the best drop-ins for Maglites.
Comes in 6 versions: 2D, 3-6D, 2C, 3-6D; XML for 3-4D, XML for 3-4C (the last 2 are the brightest).
Buy the offered camless reflector with it unless you are sure you can cut the cam off your original reflector properly.
He's got a July sale (40% off)
There are brighter but you are way into custom territory.

For smaller Maglites just buy the Minimaglite Pro (1 mode) or Pro+ (2 modes).

EDIT

For just an LED bulb:

led-replacement and batteryjunction have:
TerraLUX TLE-6EXB LED upgrade for 2-3 C/D cell Maglites
TerraLUX TLE-6EX LED upgrade for 4-6 C/D cell Maglites
140 bulb lumens (~100 out the front)

superbrightleds have:
PR2-1WHP-9V 100 bulb lumens
PR2-3WHP-3V for 2C or 2D 180 bulb lumens
PR2-3WHP-9V for 3-6C or 3-6D 180 bulb lumens
The 3WHP is warmer and brighter than the 1WHP but can not be focussed as tightly.

 

[PCC]

If you are looking for the brightest PR flange bulb replacement then the Terralux drop-ins are about as good as it gets. My personal brightest PR flange drop-in is the old MagLED with the emitter swapped out to an XM-L. It's putting out a measured 160 OTF lumens. The limitation with PR flange drop-ins is that there's next to no thermal mass and no thermal path to remove heat generated by the LED so you are limited as to how much power you can drive the LED at.

The next best thing would be the Malkoff or one of Mac's SST-50 drop-ins. The Malkoff takes care of the heat issue by giving it a thermal path to the body of the light. The sacrifice is that you have to cut the cam and you cannot quickly zoom from flood to spot. Most of us use the spot focus primarily so it's not really an issue. The Mac SST-50 drop-in loses the zoom capability altogether, but, can put out more light.

 

[ThirstyTurtle]

If you are looking for the brightest PR flange bulb replacement then the Terralux drop-ins are about as good as it gets. My personal brightest PR flange drop-in is the old MagLED with the emitter swapped out to an XM-L. It's putting out a measured 160 OTF lumens. The limitation with PR flange drop-ins is that there's next to no thermal mass and no thermal path to remove heat generated by the LED so you are limited as to how much power you can drive the LED at.

The next best thing would be the Malkoff or one of Mac's SST-50 drop-ins. The Malkoff takes care of the heat issue by giving it a thermal path to the body of the light. The sacrifice is that you have to cut the cam and you cannot quickly zoom from flood to spot. Most of us use the spot focus primarily so it's not really an issue. The Mac SST-50 drop-in loses the zoom capability altogether, but, can put out more light.

Yes you'll lose the focus capability with the drop-in I mentioned as well but it will blow the pants off of any PR flange drop-in, you just have to decide whether or not you want to (and have the ability to) modify your light a little. I think a dremel and a soldering iron is about all it will take if you have some patience.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

[EMC2]

Thanks for the links to get me up to LED speed.

I have some 26680 LI 4.2 V cells from a 20V 5D ican that I built.

The SST-50 looks nice.

I wanted to build something to see how a potent LED compare with the almost 8,000 lumen ican.

I also wanted to get a color spectrum information for either the SST-50 and/or the maglite LED lights. Is there a good link to spectrum information? Maglite told me their LED's look blue but that is as far as I got.

 

[LEDninja]

If you are building your own you have a few problems.

LUMENS. SST50 or XM-L can give you ~800 lumens. A lot less than an 8000 lumen hotwire. 3*XML is probably a difficult mod.

VOLTAGE. LEDs run at 3.3-3.6V. You can direct drive with 3*NiMH D. If you use a higher voltage you need a powerful buck circuit. shiningbeam have a 3-Mode Regulated Circuit Board for XML, MC-E, SST-50 and SSC P7 (2.8A Max.) Voltage input: 2.8V - 6V.

HEAT SINKING. Incandescent bulbs like to run hot. LEDs need to run cool. So you need to get the heat generated by the LED outside the flashlight as fast as possible.

Here is a thread on how to Mod a 3D Maglite with an SSC-P7 LED. With pictures and parts sources.
The P7 has been discontinued though you may still find some on sale. Most modders have switched over to the XML already.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?238641-How-To-Mod-a-Maglite-P7-38-PICS

SPECTRUM. Most readily available LEDs are cool white. cutter.com.au do sell small quantities of XMLs from 2600°K to 8500°K.
The SST50 is also available in different colour temperatures though I have no idea where to get them.

 

[jmpaul320]

der witchel makes a 3xml dropin for maglites, xmlt6 cool white and xmlt5 neutral... i believe he estimated output at 2400-2700 lumens. they are forsale in the custom b/s/t marketplace