Best & easiest Mag upgrades

[Ecko]

I just bought a couple of 2D & 3D Mag 3w LED's at Lowes. What would be the brightest and easiest upgrades for these in terms of drop ins? I don't want to do any soldering or technical stuff.

 

[KeyGrip]

How comfortable are you with different battery setups?

 

[mossyoak]

malkoff mag towers are the best bang for the buck I think I couldn't be happier with mine

 

[mr.squatch]

I 2nd malkoffs. I have a bunch of em, rock solid reliable, top notch quality, uber-bright, great price.

g

 

[Marduke]

Good info in the stickies
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=193434

 

[curlyfry562]

malkoff mag towers are the best bang for the buck I think I couldn't be happier with mine

:thumbsup:

You still have to deal w/ the artifacts in the beam, but it will be very bright.

Here is the link.

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop2/index.php?main_page=products_all

 

[f22shift]

or the aspherical lens and cree drop in

 

[mossyoak]

:thumbsup:

You still have to deal w/ the artifacts in the beam, but it will be very bright.

Here is the link.

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop2/index.php?main_page=products_all

true but outside you don't notice them I'm trying to figure out a way to clean up the beam

 

[Ecko]

So it sounds like malkoffs are the way to go. Just a few more questions...

Will the light still be focusable?

Does anybody know where to find some beamshots of this one... http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop2/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=27

Oh and what exactly are artifacts, any beamshots showing them?

 

[mr.squatch]

"Artifacts" are imperfections in the light circle when shone upon a wall. True outside you won't notice. I have never even thought twice about it with a malkoff. He used to offer stippled reflectors, that makes a perfect circle of light, no artifacts. If you can't find one I'm sure somebody here could make you one out of a stock mag reflector or you could get an aluminum stippled one. You lose the cam, so the quick focus is gone, but I believe you can still focus the beam by turning the head. I'll have to go try, mine are perfect to me so I haven't messed with em. Haha. You're best to go with the highest number of cells the dropin is designed for. Some are 2-4 cells for example, on 2 they'll run lower power, at 4 they shine full strength. Gene is great about answering questions if you have any, plus he's sold a majillion of em here so there's plenty of experience to help you out.

edit: if you go with the triple, you won't worry about artifacts, it's a 3x flood monster. I've been waiting for one to come available when I have the money lol.

g

 

[tx101]

Never really noticed any artifacts with my Mag/Malkoff :thinking:
With a SMO reflector I saw a intense but warm hotspot.
Made my own OP reflector and now it looks like a warm version
of a Novatac beam ..... lovely

Another Mag dropin I like is the KD aspherical dropin ... a great "WOW"
light at a reasonable price

 

[Zatoichi]

Does anyone have the [FONT=verdana,arial]TerraLUX TLE-300M for 4/5/6 D cell Maglites? It states 500 - 600 lumens (fixed focus). I found a little info about it on here, but can't find it now. That might be an option, I was considering it myself.
[/FONT]

 

[paintballdad]

I picked up a 3D mag myself to do an upgrade. Thinking about this Malkoff.

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop2/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_2&products_id=2

Will I be impressed with the brightness? Planned on the Malkoff drop-in, UCL glass and an XcapeCap Mag bezel for a start. This will be my first Mag project and thought i'd go with the easy stuff first.

 

[BenjiBot]

Another Mag dropin I like is the KD aspherical dropin ... a great "WOW" light at a reasonable price

Got to give a +1 for this, best thing I ever did for my knackered 20+ year old 3D M*g. www.kaidomain.com does a combo aspherical lens and Q5 LED drop-in for around $40 (might be unavailable at the moment), amazing output for a less than $40 mod

EDIT: found the link http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1777 got to be worth a pop at $39.99

Choice of protective/decorative bezels here http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=201610 and here http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=201842

 

[Zatoichi]

Those aspherical upgrades look great. My only reservations are the lens looks a bit vulnrable to bangs and scrapes, and I like to stand my big mag's upright. Still, tempting...

 

[tx101]

Those aspherical upgrades look great. My only reservations are the lens looks a bit vulnrable to bangs and scrapes, and I like to stand my big mag's upright. Still, tempting...

Get a 55mm stainless steel bezel from CPFer Download and screw a 55mm camera hood thingy onto that ..... looks ugly but protects your aspherical lens.

 

[curlyfry562]

With the malkoff drop-in you can only adjust the focus a little bit. It is a thrower, with a very very tight hot spot and a good amount of flood. The only time you get artifacts in the beam is when you try adjusting the focus to make it flood, you get a nice donut shape in the center.

 

[tx101]

With the malkoff drop-in you can only adjust the focus a little bit. It is a thrower, with a very very tight hot spot and a good amount of flood. The only time you get artifacts in the beam is when you try adjusting the focus to make it flood, you get a nice donut shape in the center.

That is very true BUT use a OP reflector = no donut :thumbsup:

 

[Zatoichi]

Get a 55mm stainless steel bezel from CPFer Download and screw a 55mm camera hood thingy onto that ..... looks ugly but protects your aspherical lens.

Great suggestion! I don't mind what it looks like as long as it can take a knock, and stand up.

 

[angelofwar]

Try the Xenon White-Star Mag drop-in's...usually $6 and some change...and you could even overdrive them (say a 3 cell xenon in a 4 cell light).