ArcMania Super MJ LED 3mm upgrade for Maglight Solitaire Flashlight: any review?

[Jay R]

Re: Mag Solitaire: stock bulb vs Arcmania LED dropin

I have two Solitaires with different reflectors inside. One is cone shaped and one is cone shaped with strengthening 'fins' on it. The one with fins focuses much better than the other.

 

[Bertrik]

Re: Mag Solitaire: stock bulb vs Arcmania LED dropin

VDG, sorry I meant upgraded (stock soli + drop-in).

 

[Bertrik]

Re: Mag Solitaire: stock bulb vs Arcmania LED dropin

My soli drop-in just stopped working

I was just playing around with it a little bit for about a minute when it started flashing and finally went out. This was with a freshly charged NiMH battery.
Different battery didn't help either. Now the drop-in just gets a little hot when I turn the solitaire on.

 

[KevinL]

Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Read the review here: http://lights.lightrefineries.org/?page_id=140

No kidding...

Really no kidding....

I stack it up against an Arc AAA PREMIUM and it can still hold its own!!

 

[hank]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

I have several I bought from the Sandwich Shoppe two weeks ago-- not sure if these are all the same model or not, can anyone comment on where they're actually made? China I assume.

No question the ones I bought make the Solitaires usable again. The hardware store is very puzzled why I'm buying Solitaire parts off their dusty back shelf.

I'm already wishing I could get them with a choice of LED colors,
and for a runtime graph,
and for a long life run from someone to see how brightness holds up over time

 

[phatalbert]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Pretty Impressive!

I too would love to see a runtime graph.

 

[lrp]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Wow, that results are very impressive! Makes me wish I still had my Solataire.

 

[Lee1959]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

An MJLED works in the Solitare? Hmmmmm, maybe I will have ot try it, I still have 3 or 4 old Solitares around somewhere.

 

[Alin10123]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Wow! That's kind of nice.

 

[belyo]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

This chart is engineer samples from ARC mania.

 

[hank]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Can't see the chart -- can you provide a text URL as a link to it?

My oldest Solitaire's reflector seems a bit high, I cant quite get the spot to eliminate the dark center hole before the light goes out -- though it does give a decent focused image of the LED emitter at the middle of the bright spot. Guess I'll file a bit off the back of the reflector where it sits on the metal disk.

Still puzzling whether the various people selling these all have the same product, as it appears, or if there's any actual difference between them. Maybe everyone contracted for something a little different from the manufacturer, which I am guessing must be China -- or else it's just labels different? Wanta Know ...

 

[belyo]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Edited, it's OK?

 

[KevinL]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

2:40 from a single alkaline. I am very, very impressed. belyo, thank you for the graph!

I obtained mine from Lighthound.com, and if he says these came from Arcmania, that's good enough for me. Arcmania is a very well known and trusted name here on CPF

This is a particularly small MJLED, not the normal 2AA Maglite stuff. There was a lot of talk about adapting it for the Solitaire but nothing has the finish and polish of this solution. It was a pleasure to review, simply change bulbs and life goes on, bright n beautiful.

Recently I've taken an interest in such mods for non-flashaholics. We have an uphill task getting people to purchase $200 lights, and even as a seasoned flashaholic, I am balking at the price some of these lights command. On the other hand, for $13, you can shovel these things down people's throat for less than the cost of a high performance incan bulb. Heck, for certain good folks, I would simply buy it and GIVE it to them.

I just received a MagLED and even as a veteran, I am very impressed. Especially considering it's under $30. Two years ago one would be buying a Surefire KL1 and E1e to get this kind of performance (they didn't even sell them TOGETHER!!)

I've climbed every mountain I have to climb in the lighting world, including construction of my own 35W HID from scratch based on automotive HID bulbs and ignitors. I have a >1K lumen incan mod that took on the name I gave it. Now I look towards real VALUE, rather than exotica or outrageous lumen output. Interestingly, my famous incan mod is also good value for money. I would be hard pressed to get >500 lumens out of anything else at that price/performance ratio (calculated for the lithium-ion version). Even the charger can be had for less than $15, so the total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) is very low. And not that long ago I was dealing in cheap keychain lights. Judging by their popularity I imagine they represented some fairly good value..

As for value for money, expect to see more of such reviews on my site in the near future....

 

[clipse]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

I like my little Solitair upgrade. In fact I didn't even have a solitair until I got the upgrade.

clipse

 

[Gothmog]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Damn! This place makes me:hairpull:......and againto Lighthound

 

[voodoogreg]

Re: Mag Solitaire: stock bulb vs Arcmania LED dropin

VDG, sorry I meant upgraded (stock soli + drop-in).

Cool, understand now. VDG

 

[LEDninja]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

I bought my 1st one fromLigthound. It got squashed in an GPM envelope despite 2 layers of bubblepack.
Got the second from The Shoppe and their rugged corrugated cardboard box protected it better.

I also replaced the tailcap with a Garrity 2AAA SS penlight clicky. Some polishing of the back of the solitaire with sandpaper is needed to make good electrical contact. Now I do not have to refocus every time I turn on the light.

EDIT
voodoogreg asked me which penlight I got the tailcap clicky from. It is a stainless steel 2AAA incan. It has disappeared from Garrity's website so is probably discontinued. I found it still listed here,
http://www.builderdepot.com/seo/GARRITY_10/228360_PENLIGHT_W_T-1_BULB_POCKT.ihtml

 

[gorn]

Re: Mag Solitaire: stock bulb vs Arcmania LED dropin

I just got a couple of the dropins from Lighthound. One for me and the other for a buddy. We were amazed at how bright they are. They took the soli from being kind of a joke to a light that is usable. Both of them can be adjusted so that there is no donut in the beam at all.

 

[KevinL]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Ouch, sorry to hear yours got crushed. Did you tell him about it? I would mention it.

Gothmog: Congratulations..

 

[Gothmog]

Re: Wow, this Solitaire really kicks a.... (with the help of a MJLED)

Got mine today. And you're right! THIS THING :rock:!!!
Spill is really useful now (There almost was none).
Colours are now easy recognisable.
Got my Soli '89 or '90,played around a littlebit and then after 1 or 2 Batteries
she took a nice"cinderella Sleep"forgotten in the basement until i found this Thread.Now ol'Lady is back in Buissness,and looking like new!!!
My 3rd EDC now.Can just recommend it!
If you guys could hear my beloved L1P crying in the Background...

Oh,yeah...Thanks for this nice Review!!! Love your Site,keep it up!