Drop ins for maglights

ScaryFatKidGT

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May 19, 2011
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Well way back in the day me and my dad got the 3 LED drop in for the mini mag's we had like one of the first ones that ever came out. Now I see most of them use a single LED, some have clickers to go on the back, some single LED models you can still use the focusing of the Mag-Lights on and even the stock mini mags now come with LED's in them my quesion is what are the best LED upgrades for the Mini Mag and for a 3/4D cell Mag-light.
 

cratz2

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I still have an Opalec (which was the first 3 LED jobbie for the Minimag that I know of) and a couple of the Nite Ize 3 LED drop-ins... I have a Nite Ize single 1W drop-in from about 2004 or 2005 or so... The current Terralux ~140 lumen drop-in is brighter and has more throw, but there is minimal room for adjustment as far as beam angle. I prefer my old Nite Ize 1W.

Not much real experience for the 3D/4D other than to say that a few of my friends have bought the ~$15-18 Terralux ~140 lumen drop in for the bigger Mags and they seem plenty bright for a single LED. They have six between them. I'd imagine you'd get pretty decent runtime as well. Lots of variation in tint... from warm-ish, to pretty cool. None of them are what I call neutral but none of them are so bad as to be distracting. Hard to go wrong for $15 as three battery changes would cost you about the same and you'd have less brightness the entire time.
 

Forward_clicky

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I have the Terralux upgrade for my 2d. It must be the 140 lumen as its pretty bright.
Overall decent upgrade.
I know there is a "shower head" upgrade for the c and d models I believe although I dont have experience with that one.
There is also a rechargeable battery tube/ head upgrade too that is pretty bright. Check the other forum sections for those as well as the marketplace.
I lastly have the nite ize led and tailcap upgrade for my 2a maglite.
For me that one was meh. Not much brighter.
Hopefully someone with more experience with some of the other upgrades can chime in.
 

ScaryFatKidGT

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I noticed the LED with the clicker was the least bright so I past it up. The stock LED Mini Mag-Lite's are 69 lumes but there about an inch longer than the incandesents.

So Terralux makes 140 lumen LED kits for every D Mag-lite and 140 lumens for the Mini mag?
 

Siliconti

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I have the TerraLUX drop in - it is brighter than the old Mag drop in they had and great for the cost. TeraLUX also has a 3xLED unit for about $70 that I'll try someday, but right now I'm happy with the single.

I also have the "shower head" called Fusion 36 (ebay search will show it). It is about 400 lumen, however, it is *all* flood, no hotspot. Lights up a huge area though.
 

cratz2

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I dont think so. The 140 is for the c or d only I believe.

It's not really as bright as the module for the C/D lights, but they do offer a drop-in for the 2xAA that is rated at 140 lumens. If the C/D module is 140 lumens, I'm guessing the 2xAA module is 100. I don't have one, but a buddy has two of them at my suggestion. Definitely an improvement over the incan bulb, but not much focusability. Both of his turn on with a beam pattern that is pretty diffuse and with a decent hole and it only gets worse from there. From having modded Mags and Minimags in the past, I'm sure I could sand down the back of the reflector and fix that easily enough.

http://brightguy.com/products/TerraLUX_MiniStar_2_Extreme_TLE-5EX.php
 

ScaryFatKidGT

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Thanks guys I'm going to get the 3 LED for my 4D as its 700 Lumens! and the 140 single LED for my moms 3D as that all thats offered for the 2 and 3 cell lights.

So TerraLUX is top right now? Any more before I order?
 

duboost

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Can't go wrong with a malkoff drop in. Although i really like cmac's mag drop in that I have. I have the sst-50 version, but he now offers them with either an sst-50 or xm-l
 

ScaryFatKidGT

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Thanks! I'm getting the Malkoff 260 lumen drop in over the TerraLUX 140 but I still like the TerraLUX triple.

Malkoff seems to be sold out?
 

LEDninja

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RE: minimag drop in.
The minimag has a problem when you try to put in a too powerful drop-in. At the top of the body the part that says do not remove is plastic. Plastic do not transfer heat well from the LED to the body. The heat generated by the LED is trapped and heat kills LEDs. Not a problem with the lower powered LEDs but you will run into problems with the brighter one.
See this thread for what happens.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?179123-TLE-5EX-Issues
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It may be better to simply buy a new light like the minimag XL50 (3AAA). $29.99. 104 lumens 145M throw.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...aglite-XL50-Just-Got-One-Somewhat-of-a-Review!
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?296992-Maglite-XL50-LED-Flashlight-Review
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Or Xeno E03 (1AA) $29.99-35.99(depends on LED)+shipping 140+ lumens.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-G-R5-Neutral-White-Review-RUNTIMES-BEAMSHOTS
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If you have a bit more money you can look at the Quark MiNi AA2, assorted full size Quark AA2s, Fenixs and Eagletacs.
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RE: Malkoff.
Malkoff is always sold out. You sign up for email notification when he's got a new batch ready and when you get his email buy right away
 
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