chillinn
Flashlight Enthusiast
I had posted in the "I've come full circle" thread that...
and the
Lamptronix lamps arrived, all 24 in a little ziplock baggie. These lamps are warmer and dimmer than the stock Mini Mag lamps and their Mag labeled replacements. From what I gather, these lamps are for hobby miniature uses, perhaps for replica trains, planes, copters and mini model towns those with patience build. (After closer inspection of the auction, I can now see these lamps are claimed to be government military surplus intended for use in military fighter aircraft, like the F-Series ;-) fighter jets, warthogs and other such awesomeness).
Initial impression is branded Mini Mag lamps are a lot nicer, whiter, brighter and focusable. Lamptronix does not focus as well as a Mini Mag branded lamp down to a tight little circle, but is instead sort of a feathery wing when focused properly (actually, I don't think these lamps are focusable... no pencil thin beam like with Mini Mag lamps). If the Mini Mag lamp pushes about 12-15lm, then my guess is Lamptronix lamp is about 7-9lm. Sorry I can't upload pics.
Because the lamp is dimmer (on LiFePO4 3.2V 10440), I wondered if it could handle an Efest 4.2V 10440... and low and behold, It handles the 4.2V cell for it's entire capacity, no
Even with the Efest 4.2V cell, the lamp is dimmer than with the stock Mini Mag lamp with LiFePO4 3.2V, leading me to believe these lamps will last longer than stock Mini Mag lamps and have slightly better runtime (because of the better capacity of 4.2V compared to 3.2V, but also because it is probably pulling less current).
So here is the tradeoff, Lamptronix lamps cost half as much as Mini Mag lamps, will handle 4.2V cells like a champ, but are dimmer, likely with more lamp life and slightly more runtime, but won't focus, so they are "floodier," using the word very loosely.
I can't recommend them to Mini Mag users unless runtime and lamp life are more important than brightness, focusing ability and throw. But I will be picking up a third Solitaire to use them in: one as stock Solitaire 1.5V, one for Mini Mag and LiFePO4, and one for Lamptronix and 4.2V Li-ion or LiMn. The feel is different enough and the light nice and warm enough that it is a valid option for output inbetween Solitaire and Mini Mag.
Update 1: Used in my Brinkmann AAA, the beam is far better behaved. The larger reflector helps the beam shape immensely, and the spill is quite lovely. It's worth noting if considering use with a Mini Mag, beam won't be as unfocasable as in Solitaire. Also, I think these are the lamps to use for my suggested A2 Aviator mod LEDs to lamps, as these lamps are small enough, handle more juice, seem to be more resilliant than Mini Mag lamps, though I expect one will need to bend the pins a bit to fit in Koala's Onion Ring.
Update 2: This Lamptronix bipin lamp is quite remarkable. Comparitively, the Mini Mag lamp is fragile. These things are rock solid. I've run through 4 Efest 10440's and the lamp is still unblown, but the runtime is blowing me away. The lamp output is a much warmer temperature than the Mag lamps. Recommended.
Update 3: With a not so new Efest 10440 LiMn starting at 4.16V I get a good 55 minutes of runtime, and the resulting charge is still 3.12V. I get about half that runtime with a Soshine 10440 LiCo (omg Soshine 10440 LiCo sucks!). I don't know about you guys, but I can usually get about 4 hours of lamp life out of a Mag branded Mini Mag lamp, sometimes as much as 8 hours when really lucky. That is nothing. Since early last night, I've run through 5 Efest 4.2V 10440 LiMn, and 4 Soshine 4.2V 10440 LiCo, and another 4 Coolworld 3.2V LiFePO4, so far roughly 8-9 hours of time just on this first Lamptronix lamp, alone. The lamp won't die. Though as I stated above, Mini Mag lamps are maybe 5-7 lumens brighter and better focused, I believe Lamptronix is THE lamp to run for those that want a 10440 Solitaire or Brinkmann AAA, to achieve of 50 mins runtime compared with 20 mins using Mini Mag lamp and LiFePO4 10440, use Efest LiMn 10440. When these lamps sell out, we'll have to scrounge for them inside old Eagles, Vipers, and Tomcats.
Update 4: Lamp is still kicking after many more cell swaps, pushing to 15 hours of use. Examining the lamp, I can see deposits are building up on the glass; it's getting dirtier. But this hasn't hindered it's ability to do what it does, produce warm incan light.
Update 5: We're beyond 20 hours of lamp use on the first lamp, in the Solitaire with 4.2V. Lamp won't quit. Running the second lamp with 4.2V in the Brinkmann for long periods, however, has damaged the plastic reflector close to the lamp, shows a bit of melting. This is strange to me because the Brinkmann reflector has held up fine running a few MagLite MiniMag branded replacement lamps with LiFePO4 3.2V, which gives a noticably brighter output. Perhaps someone can interpret what is going on here... the Lamptronix lamp is dimmer, but runs hotter than the MiniMag lamp. The reflector in the Solitaire is still handling the heat, no melting I can detect, and I am running it for 30-50 minutes at a time.
Update 6: Unless overdriving them, as bykfixer did below, these lamps simply don't die. But they do fade away. After many many hours (I stopped counting), the inside of the lamp gets dark, and then it starts to appear silvery, and this blocks the light from the filament, making the lamp output about half as much as when new. With Li-ion cell, even the darkened lamp will be at least twice as bright as the stock Solitaire lamp and AAA, but it is not as fun or useful as when new. Time to replace the lamp.
and the
Lamptronix lamps arrived, all 24 in a little ziplock baggie. These lamps are warmer and dimmer than the stock Mini Mag lamps and their Mag labeled replacements. From what I gather, these lamps are for hobby miniature uses, perhaps for replica trains, planes, copters and mini model towns those with patience build. (After closer inspection of the auction, I can now see these lamps are claimed to be government military surplus intended for use in military fighter aircraft, like the F-Series ;-) fighter jets, warthogs and other such awesomeness).
Initial impression is branded Mini Mag lamps are a lot nicer, whiter, brighter and focusable. Lamptronix does not focus as well as a Mini Mag branded lamp down to a tight little circle, but is instead sort of a feathery wing when focused properly (actually, I don't think these lamps are focusable... no pencil thin beam like with Mini Mag lamps). If the Mini Mag lamp pushes about 12-15lm, then my guess is Lamptronix lamp is about 7-9lm. Sorry I can't upload pics.
Because the lamp is dimmer (on LiFePO4 3.2V 10440), I wondered if it could handle an Efest 4.2V 10440... and low and behold, It handles the 4.2V cell for it's entire capacity, no
Even with the Efest 4.2V cell, the lamp is dimmer than with the stock Mini Mag lamp with LiFePO4 3.2V, leading me to believe these lamps will last longer than stock Mini Mag lamps and have slightly better runtime (because of the better capacity of 4.2V compared to 3.2V, but also because it is probably pulling less current).
So here is the tradeoff, Lamptronix lamps cost half as much as Mini Mag lamps, will handle 4.2V cells like a champ, but are dimmer, likely with more lamp life and slightly more runtime, but won't focus, so they are "floodier," using the word very loosely.
I can't recommend them to Mini Mag users unless runtime and lamp life are more important than brightness, focusing ability and throw. But I will be picking up a third Solitaire to use them in: one as stock Solitaire 1.5V, one for Mini Mag and LiFePO4, and one for Lamptronix and 4.2V Li-ion or LiMn. The feel is different enough and the light nice and warm enough that it is a valid option for output inbetween Solitaire and Mini Mag.
Update 1: Used in my Brinkmann AAA, the beam is far better behaved. The larger reflector helps the beam shape immensely, and the spill is quite lovely. It's worth noting if considering use with a Mini Mag, beam won't be as unfocasable as in Solitaire. Also, I think these are the lamps to use for my suggested A2 Aviator mod LEDs to lamps, as these lamps are small enough, handle more juice, seem to be more resilliant than Mini Mag lamps, though I expect one will need to bend the pins a bit to fit in Koala's Onion Ring.
Update 2: This Lamptronix bipin lamp is quite remarkable. Comparitively, the Mini Mag lamp is fragile. These things are rock solid. I've run through 4 Efest 10440's and the lamp is still unblown, but the runtime is blowing me away. The lamp output is a much warmer temperature than the Mag lamps. Recommended.
Update 3: With a not so new Efest 10440 LiMn starting at 4.16V I get a good 55 minutes of runtime, and the resulting charge is still 3.12V. I get about half that runtime with a Soshine 10440 LiCo (omg Soshine 10440 LiCo sucks!). I don't know about you guys, but I can usually get about 4 hours of lamp life out of a Mag branded Mini Mag lamp, sometimes as much as 8 hours when really lucky. That is nothing. Since early last night, I've run through 5 Efest 4.2V 10440 LiMn, and 4 Soshine 4.2V 10440 LiCo, and another 4 Coolworld 3.2V LiFePO4, so far roughly 8-9 hours of time just on this first Lamptronix lamp, alone. The lamp won't die. Though as I stated above, Mini Mag lamps are maybe 5-7 lumens brighter and better focused, I believe Lamptronix is THE lamp to run for those that want a 10440 Solitaire or Brinkmann AAA, to achieve of 50 mins runtime compared with 20 mins using Mini Mag lamp and LiFePO4 10440, use Efest LiMn 10440. When these lamps sell out, we'll have to scrounge for them inside old Eagles, Vipers, and Tomcats.
Update 4: Lamp is still kicking after many more cell swaps, pushing to 15 hours of use. Examining the lamp, I can see deposits are building up on the glass; it's getting dirtier. But this hasn't hindered it's ability to do what it does, produce warm incan light.
Update 5: We're beyond 20 hours of lamp use on the first lamp, in the Solitaire with 4.2V. Lamp won't quit. Running the second lamp with 4.2V in the Brinkmann for long periods, however, has damaged the plastic reflector close to the lamp, shows a bit of melting. This is strange to me because the Brinkmann reflector has held up fine running a few MagLite MiniMag branded replacement lamps with LiFePO4 3.2V, which gives a noticably brighter output. Perhaps someone can interpret what is going on here... the Lamptronix lamp is dimmer, but runs hotter than the MiniMag lamp. The reflector in the Solitaire is still handling the heat, no melting I can detect, and I am running it for 30-50 minutes at a time.
Update 6: Unless overdriving them, as bykfixer did below, these lamps simply don't die. But they do fade away. After many many hours (I stopped counting), the inside of the lamp gets dark, and then it starts to appear silvery, and this blocks the light from the filament, making the lamp output about half as much as when new. With Li-ion cell, even the darkened lamp will be at least twice as bright as the stock Solitaire lamp and AAA, but it is not as fun or useful as when new. Time to replace the lamp.
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