4D MAG TerraLUX drop-in = WOW!!!

Well, I got my TerraLUX TLE-6EX MiniStar5 SSC P4 U bin LED upgrade for 3-6 C/D cell Maglites from Matt at www.batteryjunction.com. I thought the 3 watt LED was a thrower. With the 3 watt LED I could illuminate the neighbors yard across the circle, but with the TerraLUX I can actually see very clearly what's in the yard. All I can say is WOW

....what a difference. I would highly recommend this upgrade to anyone over the MAG 3 watt drop-in. For just $5.00 more you can have a real LED in your MAGlite.

I bought one of these for a co-worker. He loves it and soon I will be ordering one.

bondr006 said:

...All I can say is WOW....what a difference. I would highly recommend this upgrade to anyone over the MAG 3 watt drop-in. For just $5.00 more you can have a real LED in your MAG...

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I've had one for a month or two now. Your assessment is spot on. This is what the MagLED should have been all on its own. The difference is difficult to explain, it's so much better with the TerraLux upgrade.

If someone is on the fence about getting one, no worries mate. It's well worth the money spent.

ill be getting one soon,,,

bondr006 said:

my house

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off topic (I'm playing with google earth right now) -


It looks like that's an old (winter-trees with no leaves) pic because google maps updated their sat images to very recent. Is this true?

knot said:

off topic (I'm playing with google earth right now) -


It looks like that's an old (winter-trees with no leaves) pic because google maps updated their sat images to very recent. Is this true?

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We moved there in Dec 06. This picture is definitely before we moved there. It looks like it could be an older picture, because there is now a large wooden swing and play set in the back yard that was there when we moved in, but I do not see it in this picture. It's hard to tell how old it is.

Edit...I see there are also some trees that are pretty well grown now that are missing in my neighbors front yard to the right of us.

The problem with the Maglites is that they are thermally isolated, with LEDs, lack of heatsinking is a major constraint. Now in the case of the "C" maglite, this problem can largely be resolved using download's MagCTower, which has helped greatly in dissipating the heat from my 3C terralux flashlights -- this replaces the plastic bulb holder with a metal part designed to draw heat away. Mag should have done this themselves. The MagLED instead has thermal feedback -- it will dim itself as it gets hotter. Now the terralux on the other hand lacks thermal feedback, so while it won't dim, I would worry about using it for extended periods of time without a mod like MagCTower -- some have noticed the LED shifting toward blue after extended use.

If Mag had, on the other hand, designed their lights to use a metal bulb-holder with a fair amount of mass (to draw heat away), and a bulb with a SSC emitter driven at 1A initially (still with thermal regulation) they would have been able to absolutely blow everyone else away -- nearly double the output of their magLED, with minimal dimming, yet still preserve the cam focusing action (unlike the SSC mods whcih require using fixed heatsinks). On the other hand, it appears Maglite would rather milk as much as they can out of their stock incan line (with regular bulb replacements as a continual source of income) than come out with some earth-shattering LED that would totally blow away all of their other products.

half-watt said:

I've had one for a month or two now. Your assessment is spot on. This is what the MagLED should have been all on its own. The difference is difficult to explain, it's so much better with the TerraLux upgrade.

If someone is on the fence about getting one, no worries mate. It's well worth the money spent.

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+1 I've had mine ever since they came out probably two months? And it is indeed great. In fact, of the 2 "high power" lights I have (well, sold the MRV) it has the greatest spill area.

I have had an MRV, and currently have a D Mini. The spill on the TLE-6EX is greater/wider than both of them! Of course, the MRV was brighter (the hotspot was, but it was also smaller) and the D Mini is a touch brighter, but again smaller hotspot and spill area. All probably due the Mag's deep and large reflector?

Of course, these are all subjective, non-scientific, eyeballin'..

All in all, it's a great upgrade. I run mine in a 2D Mag using 6 AA (Energizer) Lithium batteries (6AA -> 2D holder, from Litemania) and UCL glass lens. I suppose in effect, mine is similar to running the drop-in a 6D Mag with the lesser weight and shorter length of the 2D Mag, plus the lighter Lithium batteries!! :twothumbs

bondr006 said:

We moved there in Dec 06. This picture is definitely before we moved there. It looks like it could be an older picture, because there is now a large wooden swing and play set in the back yard that was there when we moved in, but I do not see it in this picture. It's hard to tell how old it is.

Edit...I see there are also some trees that are pretty well grown now that are missing in my neighbors front yard to the right of us.

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Ok, this is the first time I've played with the pro version. I'm used to seeing an empty lot next door when, in fact, there's been a house there for a year or so. This application said, "successfully updated" I thought it was the application itself but it may mean cache of images - I don't really know

2xTrinity said:

The problem with the Maglites is that they are thermally isolated, with LEDs, lack of heatsinking is a major constraint.

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All so true. There are, perhaps, two mitigating factors to the use of TerraLux upgrades in a Mag.

1) some TerraLux upgrades come with a drop-in Alumininum sleeve that makes a poor-to-fair mechanical contact between the PR-based drop-in LED upgrade module/bulb and the bulb holder. This helps just a wee bit with thermal conductivity.

2) second, i've read that after ~15min, the output is folded back when the temperature rises. the standard MagLED's do this also, about a 50% drop in initial light output after 10-15min - if i'm not mistaken (pretty sure i read this as well).

neither of these measures is ideal (they both translate into a loss of performance), but within the constraints of the "host" flashlight, it's certainly better than nothing.

I had repeatedly read that the only difference between the D-cell MagLite and MagLED was the lamp module. Then I discover this claim:

"The MAG-LED line also features a head design which is tapered slightly more than its incandescent counterparts, in order to accommodate a focusing system adapted for the light distribution pattern of an LED."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglite

Does anyone have the two models for a side-by-side comparison to refute this? If purchasing with the intent of immediately upgrading to the TerraLux, which would be the better buy?

Edit: Nevermind, figured out it was referring to the AA models.

SaVaGe said:

BESIDES BATTERY JUNCTION, where can i buy the terralux drop in?? i want to buy the terralux and a MAG 6D and nyogel all in one place. battery junction has all except the MAGLITE itself. pls help!:naughty:

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Where are you located? MAGlites can be found easily at Lowe's, Home Depot, WalMart, Target, Ace Hardware, True Value Hardware, and probably a billion other places. I don't know of any online retailer that has all three of the items you are looking for. Both Battery Junction and Lighthound have the TerraLUX drop-in though.

bondr006 said:

I would highly recommend this upgrade to anyone over the MAG 3 watt drop-in. For just $5.00 more you can have a real LED in your MAGlite.

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i would recommend ppl to just get malkoff(ebay?) for $55 more.


the magled and terralux has heat issues.

f22shift said:

i would recommend ppl to just get malkoff(ebay?) for $55 more.


the magled and terralux has heat issues.

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personally unfamiliar with malkoff - please elaborate.

just today for instance, i've used a TerraLux MiniStar2 Extreme TLE-5EX and drained a set of 2xAA 2600 mAh NiMh batts. Light was used constantly for 60min and given a 5-10min rest and then turned back on and repeated this cycle until the batts were pretty much drained.

the rest period was just to be "kind". no indications were present that a rest/recovery period was required (just common sense about how batteries operate).

the MiniMagLite was getting quite warm (or very warm if you prefer), but not hot (or, i should say NOT too hot to grab hold of tightly).


Now, i know we were speaking of the larger Maglites. I've used those a bit too. NOT for 60min straight, but for 15-20 minutes.

Two factors in the design of the TerraLux upgrades mitigate somewhat (NOT entirely) the heat issue.

1) some TerraLux upgrade bulbs come with a drop-in Aluminum sleeve that goes into the Mag's bulb holder just before screwing the upgrade bulb in. this provides a wee bit more thermal mass and makes a poor-to-fair thermal connection between the TerraLux upgrade LED "bulb" and the Mag's bulb holder.

2) just like MagLEDs design the TerraLux upgrades begin to initiate current foldback with the resultant reduction in light output at around 15minutes (or less depending upon ambient temperature for one, and how well that aluminum sleeve is making contact - thermal grease anyone? might help just a bit). the foldback can reduce light output up to 50%.


i've run TerraLux 5W TLE-6EX LED upgrades for close to 30minutes without a problem other than some dimming of the light output due to what i interpret to be current foldback.

remember, even with the light output dimming, the light output from a MagLite will dim too. now if this is what is meant by heat problems i whole heartedly agree.

i have not had a heat related failure yet of a TerraLux upgrade.


point out beyond the LED's dimmer output, the LED will be putting out more light for far, far longer than the incandescent. please, don't take this as a slam on incand. it's not intended to be. i like incand also. it's simply a fact that either 1) the LED upgrade's light output curve will remain above the incand curve for the entire time, or 2) at some point they will cross and for a far longer period of time the LED will be putting out more light. These facts vary a bit depending upon the number of batts used. FlashLightReviews may have some good output curves that illustrate these facts. I know i've seen them somewhere.



unlike when hiking and using a headlamp or a Fenix or LumaPower flashlight, i don't generally use larger MagLites for more than 5-10 minutes typically. these shorter uses of a MagLite truly benefit from the great light output of the TLE-6NEX, IMO. Also, any heat related problems have NOT been experienced in that time.


still would like to know more about "malkoff" suggestion. thank you.

I've had a couple for several months and been very happy with them. I've used them on several camping trip this summer and they performed well. They came in handy with the power went out a couple of weeks ago too.

I'm happy with the performance for the price.

Is there a name for a Mag that combines a Terralux LED and an aspheric lens? Like the Roar of the Pelican, Mag85 and Mag623?

f22shift said:

i would recommend ppl to just get malkoff(ebay?) for $55 more.


the magled and terralux has heat issues.

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For the $55.00 price difference, I will gladly put up with any heat issues...Which BTW, I have not experienced thus far. :ironic:

bondr006 said:

For the $55.00 price difference, I will gladly put up with any heat issues...Which BTW, I have not experienced thus far. :ironic:

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$55.00 gets you no heat issues, and it's much brighter.

My TerraLux drop in gets far too hot to touch in just 10 minutes. Thats the drop in not the host. The host, a 4D gets warm. How could there be soooooo much variance between these things? Some get hot and some not.