Drop ins for minimag and solitaire

[bp044]

Which drop ins are the best for above lights ? Two requirements ;Must be uasble with Eneloop's and not so costly that it would be more logical to discard them and buy more current lights

 

[Irishsentry]

I am not the most experienced but I put in a terralux 2w in my mini mag and that little sucker is bright.

Don't waste your money on the maglite LED's they just give you more runtime and will NOT run on NiMH batteries.

Just about all I can tell you....more experienced guys may know a lot more

 

[mwaldron]

Does the Terralux retain focusability?

I'm looking for a MiniMag mod that does not require a new tailcap. I'm open to change just about everything else (batteries, reflector, lens, bulb holder, etc) but keeping the external parts (bezel/tube/tailcap) entirely stock is a requirement.

Any ideas?

 

[Irishsentry]

Yes it retains focus ability and you do not need to change the tailcap

 

[Cydonia]

You didn't say how bright you want the drop ins to be. A good 15 lumen solution are the SMJLED's from the Sandwich Shoppe.

For solitaire ($13.00)
For MiniMag ($10.99) or check out the whole MJLED page.

I just got 2 of the MiniMag ones and they are great! They run on NiMh fine... draw only about 80ma of current... 18 hours on 2AA NiMh and 30 on Alkaline approx. 15 lumens... retains focus too. They keep putting out some light when the cells are down to .90v even. Excellent long run time. Sandwich Shoppe is top notch reliable store for the CPF community so no worries about item delivery etc.,

It is my personal opinion that SMJLED's are "the sweet spot" for the MiniMag AA, AAA and Solitaire upgrades. If you search forum for SMJLED in thread titles only you'll find detailed threads with pictures and beam shots etc.,

 

[swxb12]

If you really need max brightness in the end you can keep the Solitaire around as a spare battery holder for the keychain.

 

[bp044]

You didn't say how bright you want the drop ins to be. A good 15 lumen solution are the SMJLED's from the Sandwich Shoppe.

For solitaire ($13.00)
For MiniMag ($10.99) or check out the whole MJLED page.

I just got 2 of the MiniMag ones and they are great! They run on NiMh fine... draw only about 80ma of current... 18 hours on 2AA NiMh and 30 on Alkaline approx. 15 lumens... retains focus too. They keep putting out some light when the cells are down to .90v even. Excellent long run time. Sandwich Shoppe is top notch reliable store for the CPF community so no worries about item delivery etc.,

It is my personal opinion that SMJLED's are "the sweet spot" for the MiniMag AA, AAA and Solitaire upgrades. If you search forum for SMJLED in thread titles only you'll find detailed threads with pictures and beam shots etc.,

these sound ok , but Ineed more more lumens. Additional suggestions welcome

 

[FrogsInWinter]

The drop-in Cydonia linked to for the Solitaire is probably the brightest one there is without getting one custom made.

The brighest drop-in for the 2AA Mini-Mag, again not including custom made drop-ins, is probably this one:

http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2560

 

[Stainz]

You can still buy the incandescent 2xAA Mini-MagLite, in your choice of colors, for ~$9 at Wally World, HD, Lowes, Academy, Target, etc. Add the Nite Ize 3-LED drop-in for ~$5 and you get a nice floody sort of light, with no focus capability, and minimal current draw )Long battery life). Try their 1W drop-in, ~$10, and retain the focus & tail cap. Or, as I did last night, add the ~$18 kit with the 1W LED and that IQ switch, gaining 3-power levels, strobe on high, and a blinky red LED in the new tail cap pushy switch, so you can find it in the dark. I did this to my oldest, a beater black one that had the 3-LED in it, solely because someone suggested the torque from turning that bezel to turn it on/off would eventually break those leads... hadn't happened in several years of use, but I needed little excuse to try a kit at it's $14 closeout price at Target. I still have another MiniMagLite with the 3-LED AND a tailcap replacement switch - great battery life, if dimmer than the 1W. Of course, the 1W is dim in comparison to the 3W 3xAA LED MagLite - but, the batteries should last - and last - in comparison. It's hard to justify $25+ drop-in for a $9 light. Sort of like a $65 S-F 6P getting a $179 drop-in.

Stainz

 

[Sharpy_swe]

This drop-in seems to be very bright.

http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-5k2.html

[FONT=arial, helvetica]INTENSE WHITE BRIGHT LIGHT output comes from the ultra efficient Luxeon K2 with TFFC 'flip chip' 3 Watt LED which is estimated to output around 100 lumens at the emitter. The Luxeon K2 with TFFC 'flip chip' does not fade when it gets hot, so its light output is stable even after extended run times.[/FONT]

It's hard to justify $25+ drop-in for a $9 light. Sort of like a $65 S-F 6P getting a $179 drop-in.

IMHO it's better to spend $25 on an old MiniMaglite then to let it die alone in a drawer, but I wouldn't buy a new one just to modify it.

 

[bp044]

Re; TerraLUX Ministar's for minimag . the newer one seems twice as bright as the previous model. Will the newer one retain the ability to focus the light ? Is it worth the extra ten bucks ?

 

[Gunner12]

It will still be able to focus.

Is it worth the extra $10? That would be up to you to decide if more performance is worth it. You could take a Ministar2 and swap in a Seoul. Price would only be a bit cheaper then the K2 TFFC version though.

 

[Burgess]

I can concur with everything Cydonia wrote, in post # 5. :thumbsup:



Now, you say that wouldn't be bright enough.



OK, then i would join the fine folks in recommending
the TerraLux TLE-5EX (the K2-FlipTwist version).


Kudos to Battery Junction, for listing this module at 100 Lumens.

That is a much more realistic rating than the 140 Lumens often quoted.




I, for one, very much like the Mini-Maglite 2AA, and would not hesitate to buy one (or several)
specifically for the purpose of upgrading.

Even if you end up installing a $25 TerraLux TLE-5EX module.


But do take another look at the MJ-2AA SMJLED module.
These are dandy little gems, and make for a very useful upgrade.


I've done this many times. Been very pleased with the results.

:twothumbs
_

 

[bp044]

I can concur with everything Cydonia wrote, in post # 5. :thumbsup:



Now, you say that wouldn't be bright enough.



OK, then i would join the fine folks in recommending
the TerraLux TLE-5EX (the K2-FlipTwist version).


Kudos to Battery Junction, for listing this module at 100 Lumens.

That is a much more realistic rating than the 140 Lumens often quoted.




I, for one, very much like the Mini-Maglite 2AA, and would not hesitate to buy one (or several)
specifically for the purpose of upgrading.

Even if you end up installing a $25 TerraLux TLE-5EX module.


But do take another look at the MJ-2AA SMJLED module.
These are dandy little gems, and make for a very useful upgrade.


I've done this many times. Been very pleased with the results.

:twothumbs
_

Thank you all for the push in the right direction. Can you quantify how much brighter the TerraLux would be compared to the SMJLED ?

 

[Cydonia]

Thank you all for the push in the right direction. Can you quantify how much brighter the TerraLux would be compared to the SMJLED ?

Probably 5 or 6 times brighter than the SMJLED I'm guessing, if it's really 100 lumens out the front. The tint of the Terralux should be better too - warmer - because of the K2 TFFC flip chip LED. What was the run time? 3 or 4 hours on NiMh cells? I'm thinking of trying one of these Terralux drop in's too now...

 

[22hornet]

Hello,

I have a Minimag 2AAA with a TLE-20 kit. It works as it should but the weak point are the supplied reflectors that come with the kit: they seem to break easily. Are there any replacement reflectors available?

Allow me to ask two other questions:
- are the recent solitaire upgrades more powerful than these that were available - say - a year ago?
- are there any upgrades for the 2AAA minimag besides the TLE-20?

Thanks!

Kind regards,
Joris

 

[Burgess]

to 22hornet --


There has been no change to the Solitare upgrade module.


There is (to the best of my knowlege) no other upgrade module for the 2AAA Mini-Mag.



I realize that's not what you wanted to hear, but . . . .


_