I have a brand new 4 cell D maglite that I am looking to upgrade to an LED. I have looked at both of the available malkoff dropins and they are both viable options. I have also read several threads concerning mag P7 mods. and I was wondering what my best option would be for overall brightness, reasonable runtime, and focusability. I should also mention I plan to run the light on standard D cell batteries. Thanks.
Best LED Mod. For 4D Maglite
- Thread starter zlf15
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Sgt. LED
Flashaholic
Fast mod, Malkoff
Runtime, Malkoff
Standard cells, Malkoff
Focusability, Malkoff
Brightness, P7
Runtime, Malkoff
Standard cells, Malkoff
Focusability, Malkoff
Brightness, P7
popcornpicker
Newly Enlightened
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- Aug 30, 2008
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- 176
Home Depot had a 4D Mag for less than $20.00 but none of the mods were all that impressive or cost effective. The Minimag SMJLED conversion is both. Maybe there will be a Q5 conversion in the horizon. A four D cell Q5 on lithium cells should kick a**.
popcornpicker
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2008
- Messages
- 176
Now that I think about it, I will probably pick up the Home Depot $20.00 deal. When the batteries die, there may be a more viable option.
StarHalo
Flashaholic
I use the TerraLUX TLE-300 drop-in in my Mag, 600 lumens for $70.
It's essentially just three LEDs, each with its own optic, all in a self-contained drop-in puck with all the necessary circuitry. It's a minimal difficulty install, you remove the stock Mag reflector and bulb, put the TLE-300 in the socket, done.
The TLE-300 projects a big fat hotspot with no corona or spill to speak of. You lose the Mag's focusing ability, but when you've got a glaring hotspot that's over two feet across from only ten feet away, you don't need it. The only con is that the hotspot looks a bit like a round, multi-pointed star (the optics to some degree project the square shape of the LEDs) but in normal use, especially outdoors, you don't notice it.
I mainly use my TLE-300 Mag on night walks down our suburb street to the area mailbox. Any time a car drives by going the same direction, it's a perfect side-by-side comparison of light output, and you can't miss it - the Mag is putting out just as much light as the car (the cars don't miss it either, as they usually slow down).
The TLE-300 is my fave Mag drop-in based on its ease of install, use of standard batteries, and good old "damn that's bright"-ness. I've always liked the idea of an LED hotwire/ROP that doesn't require any modding, and this certainly fills the bill.
And it looks cool even when it's off (especially with a UCL lens, as below):
See it here: http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-300.html
It's essentially just three LEDs, each with its own optic, all in a self-contained drop-in puck with all the necessary circuitry. It's a minimal difficulty install, you remove the stock Mag reflector and bulb, put the TLE-300 in the socket, done.
The TLE-300 projects a big fat hotspot with no corona or spill to speak of. You lose the Mag's focusing ability, but when you've got a glaring hotspot that's over two feet across from only ten feet away, you don't need it. The only con is that the hotspot looks a bit like a round, multi-pointed star (the optics to some degree project the square shape of the LEDs) but in normal use, especially outdoors, you don't notice it.
I mainly use my TLE-300 Mag on night walks down our suburb street to the area mailbox. Any time a car drives by going the same direction, it's a perfect side-by-side comparison of light output, and you can't miss it - the Mag is putting out just as much light as the car (the cars don't miss it either, as they usually slow down).
The TLE-300 is my fave Mag drop-in based on its ease of install, use of standard batteries, and good old "damn that's bright"-ness. I've always liked the idea of an LED hotwire/ROP that doesn't require any modding, and this certainly fills the bill.
And it looks cool even when it's off (especially with a UCL lens, as below):
See it here: http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-300.html
