AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work light.

[pahl]

Hi,
Is there some way to make a AA mag flashlight brighter?
What would be a good flashlight I could carry on my belt and use for work?
I have used a streamlight scorpion. I like the size of the scorpion, but the run time is not very long on a set of batteries.

Thanks,

 

[geepondy]

Oh my gosh, I'm not even going to comment. Your first post and such an innocent question....You're gonna get flooded with replies. OK, I will. Yes, there are MANY better choices in the same package! I will only tell you about my favorite update, a Badboy 500 sandwich for $40. Read about it here.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=122268&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

I'm sure Inretech and Opalec users will pipe in as well. In short different possibilities for upgrading the mag itself as well as alternative LED lights that are mag sized.

 

[robk]

Oh, this is too easy. Drop a BadBoy400 or 500 in it and be amazed. You will next have to buy more mini-mags and more BB's as you will be hooked. Do a search for BB400.
Rob

 

[jkthomson]

If you plan to use rechargeables, and want to have the absolute brightest LED sandwich, go for the MadMax+ module. It will run for about 2 hours on 1800mAh batteries.

 

[pahl]

Sounds good, but $40 seems like a lot to put into a $8 flashlight and 2 hour run time seem short.
How do the LED sandwichs hold up against drops on the floor?
I had a LED 4 aa flashlight I bought from wal-mart. I was testing how long it would run on a set of batteries. It had run for a couple hours and someone knocked it off the table. It never worked again after that.
How much bright is a LED sandwich compared to the mag bulb?
2x brighter, 3x, 4x?

Thanks,

 

[FalconFX]

Sounds good, but $40 seems like a lot to put into a $8 flashlight and 2 hour run time seem short.
How do the LED sandwichs hold up against drops on the floor?
I had a LED 4 aa flashlight I bought from wal-mart. I was testing how long it would run on a set of batteries. It had run for a couple hours and someone knocked it off the table. It never worked again after that.
How much bright is a LED sandwich compared to the mag bulb?
2x brighter, 3x, 4x?

--------------------------------------

$40 for a flashlight, on this forum, is considered a breathtaking bargain, especially if you already have a minimag to begin with...
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

The LS is nearly impervious to impact. Drop it from a 3 story building, and chances are, the lens or the light might give out before the LS does. And it last for 11+ continuous years while on, unlike the stock bulb...
IMHO, $40 for a light that lasts you a lifetime, almost literally, is quite worth it...

BTW, you would laugh until it hurts when you see a stock minimag bulb compared with the LS dropin... Overall light output, I'd quantify it as 4x as much lumens and a much more useful beam...

 

[Pi_is_blue]

You might consider the Inretach 2AA drop in if you want run time. It is supposed to run about 15 hours, but it is not regulated so it will dim over the battery life.

 

[robk]

You won't regret spending the $35 for the basic BB400, I promise you. It transforms the light into a truly usable, dependable tool. Use NiMH rechargables if you're concerned about runtime. I get about 2 hours on a pair of 1800mAH cells. 4 of my MiniMags are home-made ZLT drop-in's, similar to the BB drop-in, but I have a couple of BB's too. My home-mades drive the LED a litte harder and use High Dome LS's for a better beam, but that's a personal preference.
Rob

 

[shrap]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

If you've been using the stock AA Minimag, the runtime for the sandwiches will seem long enough.

The Minimag's output steadily drops and turns yellow. But in the first place, the quality of its light is quite behind the Badboy's. The Badboy starts out brighter, whiter, and stays that way.

If you're comparing with a Scorpion - the Badboy uses super cheap AA batteries. Want more runtime, just bring another set of AAs.

 

[shankus]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

BadBoy or MadMax. Very good choices. You will be amazed. The MadMax module kit is $30, the MadMax+ module kit is $33. The shipping for my MadMax+ Q3, 2 Krolls, and a mineral glass lens, is $2.43, very reasonable. If you want a super white luxeon LED on it, add $10. My MadMax is greenish, what I call menthol, compared to other LEDs, but it comparison to a MiniMag bulb, it's very white. And the quality of the beam is sweet.

BadBoy & MadMax

 

[geepondy]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

Wow, you learn something new everyday...Didn't know Wayne was offering sorted Luxeons. Yes, to me that is worth the extra ten dollars.

I'm surprised no one has come up with mini mag 1W high dome mods yet or is because the physics of the part make it impossible?

 

[cannon50]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

It depends on what kind of light you need in performing your work. If you need a long throwing spot light it is hard to beat an incandescent light. If you need to flood your immediate area with a comfortable high quality light then you really need to try the led. As a purchaser of 3 Madmax and 1 BB500 I consider them all unbelievable bargains. And by the way, they do hold up very well from several drops to a concrete floor and being rinsed with a water hose. When the flashlight body gets too banged up I will just transfer the drop-in sandwich to another new flashlight body but that will be years from now.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

I agree 105% about Madmax! Mine is around 5 months old and is of the 400 variety. Mine is a bit pinkish of beam, but is PLENTY bright especially for close work. And don't do too awful out to maybe 30 feet.

Also, I have measured +/- 4 hours of good light on Eveready 1850mAh NimH batteries (which I always keep a pair ready to go on my C Crane Quick Charger.

I also own and carry alternately a Minim*g loaded with an Opalec New Beam. It is a wonderful light for close at hand work, and in total darkness is plenty bright enough for walking around. I run whatever Alkaline batteries I have on hand (right now the Energizers that came with the Mini)

My 12-14 year old old Mini with the Madmax looks frightful. But that is part of my plan. No one would look twice at it with an eye towards stealing it!!!

As I understand it, the Badboys are regulated and the Madmax isn't. But when I saw 4 hours, it didn't change much for 4 hours, then fell off drastically. So I don't really know.

 

[BF Hammer]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

Since nobody else is chiming in, I'll present the case for some less expensive LED adapters.

The Inretech 2AA mag adapter ( http://www.inretech.com/ ) uses an unregulated Luxeon Star LED. This can be ordered as a drop-in kit or you can get one ready-made already installed in the minimag. Since it is unregulated, it starts very bright (much brighter than the stock mag bulb) and dims steadily as the battery discharges - not much different from an incandescent lamp except the battery will last a whole lot longer and the light will be white rather than yellow-orange.

The Opalec Newbeam ( http://www.opalec.com ) is a regulated design that uses 3 5mm Nichia LEDs. This model gives up to 10 hours of steady-brightness light then it will illuminate a red low-battery indicator LED. It will then dim steadily and quickly for some more hours. The light is more of a short-throw task light (it doesn't focus to a tight beam like a stock minimag light) and it has a limitation in that Mag changed the switch design of the minimag slightly a few years back, so the Opalec only fits correctly on the newer-vintage minimags. The light is brighter than the stock lamp, but not overwhelmingly brighter.

The MadMax/BadBoy conversions are a favorite of many in this forum, because they like to be dazzled by brightness, but the trade-off for that brightness was already noted earlier - a 2 hour (average) run time on batteries. The Opalec and Inretech conversions are less to buy initially, and will some time down the road pay for themselves because of less batteries being used, and no more burning out lamps when you drop the flashlight while turned on. Each design takes a different approach to converting a minimag to LED illumination, and which is best is strictly up to how you intend to use the light, they all have their niche.

 

[Catapult]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

I wish the InReTech 2AA and the Opalec Newbeam were brighter than the Mini-Mag stock bulb, but it they are not. The incandescent with fresh batteries is actually brighter when focused to a tight spot.

Typically, the InReTech with lithiums starts off dimmer than the stock bulb, but will catch up and become brighter later on.

The Opalec is much dimmer, but when the Mag is focused to flood, they both are about the same.

 

[fishface]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

I like princeton tec tec40 alot of light for the price
cheap bulbs cheap aa batteries also the underwater kinetics
uk4aa is a nice choice but bulb assemblies cost more if a
bulb should break. both lights can take a beating and are under 20$

 

[reddwarf]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

Don't leave out the uke 2aa,or 2aa propolymers,both are good lights.As fishface mentioned,the tec 40 is a bright,affordable,tough light,they all become affordable to feed after the initial investment of high-cap nimh's.I have had good life with the uke bulbs by not letting the voltage drop below 1.8-2.0 volts

 

[PieThatCorner]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

It should be noted that Wayne (dat2zip) understates the total runtime for the BB400/BB500 sandwiches... I think Choua would be a better evaluator in this area, but I have experienced runtimes on two fresh AA batteries in my BB400/mini-mag combo close to 4 1/2 hours on a constant runtime when I needed a writing light out in the field. On a pair of NiMH rechargeables (Energizers), I had close to 4 hours of constant runtime. After turning the light off for half an hour (the same rechargeables), I had another fifteen to twenty minutes of full brightness when I clicked it back on. Even then when it fell out of regulation, the moon-mode was still bright enough to get work done. I can't possibly be the only one who has experienced this type of runtime... someone else please chime in.

I haven't dropped it yet, but if you take a close look at the dat2zip sandwich, it's quite a sturdy piece of work. Overall, the $45 I spent for the BB400+Q3L was well worth it... and a fantastic upgrade for my old MiniMag 2AA, which was otherwise, just sitting in a drawer.

-Jim

 

[obeck]

Re: AA mag flashlight? Looking for better work lig

I have a BB400+Q3L (if you are going to get the sandwich, spend the $10 and get the Q3L!), and get 3+ hours on
NiMH batteries. When it drops to moon mode, it is still as bright as an Infinity Ultra. It will go noticably dimmer
before switching to moon mode. I usually stop before moon, as I dont want to ruin an Nimh by reversing
polarity on it. Nonetheless, moon mode is as bright as a CMG Infinity Ultra... a usable amount of light!