1st Post! MiniMag and Jetbeam BA20 woes

[bangbang1]

Hi all, came here via...search engine or another forum i frequent...? Been lurking and learning, and just wanted to share my experiences from today. I own some random cheap rayovac/home depot under $10 pieces, for the car or working in low light, $3 fordex cree, and am only now buying an "expensive" (over $30) flashlight. first, the minimag:

traded a friend for a AA minimag, with the intent of popping in a $7 Nite Ize LED kit. the nite ize broke almost immediately, and i could only get it to work intermittently before that. Nite Ize has fantastic customer service, and sent me out a new unit. I tried to install it today, same problem. tried a mag xenon bulb, still nothing. gonna junk the whole project, but i am curious, is there anything i can do with a gutted mini mag housing? i could saw off the externally threaded side, plug it, and use it for AA storage, but are there any better ideas?

Oh, and i was very excited for my BA20 to arrive today. It came DOA, bummer. On it's way back to amazon for replacement. at one point i even googled to see if it's polarity protected, thinking i cooked it putting in the AAs wrong. any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Roger Sully]

:welcome:
If it weren't for bad luck you'd have no luck at all! It sounds like you just happened to get a dud.

 

[El Camino]

Welcome to CPF!

The minimag seems to have a contact issue. Sometime batteries corrode into the tailcap spring, which can cause the circuit to be incomplete. You can pop the spring out and clean it, and the tailcap too. Oher than that it might be a switch issue, but that might be more trouble than it's worth. You can get a new one for $8. If you want to go LED, then you can get the Minimag LED or Minimag Pro/Pro+. More money, but far brighter and still a good deal for the lumens.

 

[bangbang1]

UPDATE: replacement ba20 is amazing, and finish is already scratched from me trying to reverse the clip. i thought these had good hard anodizing?? back to amazon it goes, and i'm back on the hunt for a sub-$40 AA light. bummer :shakehead

FYI, the finish on my older, cheaper, lent to a friend for 2 weeks fordex still looks new...

 

[glowbug123]

Yeah, unfortunatley like everything else you tend to get what you pay for . You have just cracked the surface of a very large and varied field of interest that could end up costing you big bucks if you get hooked. Definitley get away from the minimag and Niteize stuff. Jetbeam generally mkes a good product and it sounds like you returned the 2nd BA because you scratched the finish ? Some lights only have a TYPE II annodizing not a type III and any finish will scratch sooner or later. If you plan on using the light as a tool dont worry about it . Once that 1st scratch happens you can stop worrying and just enjoy the light and it gives it character .

sounds like you dont have alot of funds for this type of stuff, neither do I , so recommending an American made light like Malkoff or Surefire is probably not feazable for ya ?
Try looking at FENIX. they have been around since the beginning of time and still make great lights at reasonable prices. Have fun in the search!!!

 

[bangbang1]

i actually reopened the return package and decided to keep it. that was until the switch started not turning on and off while i was playing with it. It's going back, and i'll spend a few more dollars on a Olight T25. Spending more isn't out of the question, i like the streamlight protac HL and a few of the surefire tactical variants, but for now, I want a 2xAA light, and the ones over $40 don't look to be any tougher or brighter.

 

[bangbang1]

UPDATE: Olight T25 came today. simple mode changes, strobe, heavier feel than BA20, and what feels like better threading. I am very surprised I haven't heard more about these.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

UPDATE: replacement ba20 is amazing, and finish is already scratched from me trying to reverse the clip. i thought these had good hard anodizing?? back to amazon it goes, and i'm back on the hunt for a sub-$40 AA light. bummer :shakehead

FYI, the finish on my older, cheaper, lent to a friend for 2 weeks fordex still looks new...

Yeah, unfortunatley like everything else you tend to get what you pay for . You have just cracked the surface of a very large and varied field of interest that could end up costing you big bucks if you get hooked. Definitley get away from the minimag and Niteize stuff. Jetbeam generally mkes a good product and it sounds like you returned the 2nd BA because you scratched the finish ? Some lights only have a TYPE II annodizing not a type III and any finish will scratch sooner or later. If you plan on using the light as a tool dont worry about it . Once that 1st scratch happens you can stop worrying and just enjoy the light and it gives it character .

sounds like you dont have alot of funds for this type of stuff, neither do I , so recommending an American made light like Malkoff or Surefire is probably not feazable for ya ?
Try looking at FENIX. they have been around since the beginning of time and still make great lights at reasonable prices. Have fun in the search!!!

i actually reopened the return package and decided to keep it. that was until the switch started not turning on and off while i was playing with it. It's going back, and i'll spend a few more dollars on a Olight T25. Spending more isn't out of the question, i like the streamlight protac HL and a few of the surefire tactical variants, but for now, I want a 2xAA light, and the ones over $40 don't look to be any tougher or brighter.

UPDATE: Olight T25 came today. simple mode changes, strobe, heavier feel than BA20, and what feels like better threading. I am very surprised I haven't heard more about these.

BA20 is a good AA light, soon enough you will buy CR123's and then li-ions lol

All lights clips will scratch them, I get some good strong reenforced tape and wrap 1 or 2 layers around where the clip goes and then stretch the clip a little (most come very tight).

But I also EDC a Ti light so I don't have to worry about scratches, well and my beat to hell Quark 123^2 X

 

[sal415]

This is my mini mag

 

[Disciple]

Are you using 2x14500? What driver?

 

[sal415]

I'm using imr 14500s it's driven at 3amps I bought it this way it was tested at 1820 lumens it's all flood lights up a huge area

 

[Disciple]

Sounds nice. Who made it? How long until it's too hot to hold?

 

[sal415]

15 minutes then it's hot it was made by match on budgetlightforum