Looking for a better light for exploring

[Mythy]

Well my needs are a bit of a mess. I do allot of urban exploring at night. From abandoned insane asylums, to old factories to coal mines and mountain tops


I been using a 4C mag light with there LED conversion bulb. It runs for ever and is decently brite for what I need. Its heavy and strong (can break into items) and if need be can be used to defend my self. All in all I love the damn thing! With that said I was wondering if there is some thing better for my use out there? I wish the light beam wasnt so uneaven and blotchy. And less centerd with a wider STRONGER feild of view for instance when your in a large room I wish it would light up more of the walls.


Ideas? My budget is $60 max and it has to use comon and CHEAP battieries and cant leave me stranded with a 2 hour run time I need at least 6!


Sorry if this was asked before but I was also wondering how brite my 4C LED mag really is in Lumes?

Thanks for your help!

 

[TorchBoy]

:welcome:

I just read Creepers by David Morrell a few days ago - I hope your trips aren't that hairy.

Have you considered a headlamp at all?

 

[Mythy]

nope never even considered them but I think one would be a bit bulky and not very concealable. I been reading the forums and apparently there's this secretive underground flashlight thing going on with mods and heat sinks ect. Maybe I can keep my beloved mag and just mood it with a better bulb/reflector?

I'm not sure on the heat sink deal tho I never noticed mine dim with the LED in it and when I took the night trip to Pennhurst it ran for a good 7 hours non stop as a grop of us explored the 14 main buildings of the asylum complex and the underground linking tunnels. Granted it was getting very hott but I dont think it dimmed?

 

[TorchBoy]

Secretive? Modding? Never.

If you want to "mood" your Maglite put in a coloured LED!

Seriously, it's sometimes hard to tell if an LED is dimming because they don't change colour like an incandescent bulb as they dim, and the change in brightness is too slow to notice until the brightness has changed a lot. And if the regulator is good it'll be outputting the same current the whole time, so the brightness of the LED won't change.

The best LEDs are perhaps three or four times as efficient as incandescent bulbs, so to keep a good runtime you would want to continue using an LED rather than incandescent bulb.

You said you'd quite like a stronger light, so maybe you should get a brighter LED. There are quite a few people who have modded their Maglites with a Seoul P7 LED and a suitable drop-in reflector replacement. Then you'd need to chose a driver, with multiple modes if you wanted. Where to stop, though?

 

[Mythy]

I wonder how this fares to my stock mag led

http://www.shorelinemarket.com/ma5waluk2led.html

 

[Marduke]

Here is the list of Mag mods and upgrades
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=193434

A stock MagLED is in the neighborhood of 50ish lumens after the thermal throttling.

Might want to be careful talking about your UE, your particular adventures seems to fall on the shady side of legality, which has not flown here for UE in the past.

 

[TONY M]

:welcome:
Well this must be a first nobody has mentioned Fenix!

The original Fenix L2D uses 2xAA batteries, is bright, tough, has multimodes and is within you're budget.

 

[CampingLED]

Seems like you like your Mag and should considder a simple mod with your current MagLED. Replace the emitter with a SSC P4 U-bin. Links to the threads how to do it can be found here. If you need high output for exetended periods of time (3.5 hrs runtime on 4C) you should go for a Malkoff drop-in. This is unfortunately slightly above your mentioned budget, but worth considering.

 

[freedom2000]

Hi,

+1 for the proposal to use the SSC P7 led.

Pro : very bright, rather wide beam and good throw
Cons : very consuming for the batteries (high amperage --> 3A to get full power), very hot at full power (can't bear 3A for more than 20 min continuously)

If you want one with long lifetime at full power, don't buy a single 18650 model but rather prefer :
- a 2* 18650 cells model
- a model with modes so that you can adapt the brightness to your needs and of course increase the cells duration when in low mode...

I have modded a cheap but strong trustfire SSC P7 to get all these advantages and I am very happy with it now. See the results here.

JP

 

[gajslk]

Well, the L2D isn't much of a weapon.

:welcome:
Well this must be a first nobody has mentioned Fenix!

The original Fenix L2D uses 2xAA batteries, is bright, tough, has multimodes and is within you're budget.

 

[superflytnt]

I wonder how this fares to my stock mag led

http://www.shorelinemarket.com/ma5waluk2led.html

I'd go that route if I were you. That bulb will squarely beat your "stock" magled in both output and runtime. It's well under your budget and it's simple..................methinks you've found your answer!

Oh yeah, :welcome: and be careful out there....................

 

[Mythy]

Hi,

+1 for the proposal to use the SSC P7 led.

Pro : very bright, rather wide beam and good throw
Cons : very consuming for the batteries (high amperage --> 3A to get full power), very hot at full power (can't bear 3A for more than 20 min continuously)

If you want one with long lifetime at full power, don't buy a single 18650 model but rather prefer :
- a 2* 18650 cells model
- a model with modes so that you can adapt the brightness to your needs and of course increase the cells duration when in low mode...

I have modded a cheap but strong trustfire SSC P7 to get all these advantages and I am very happy with it now. See the results here.

JP

None of these leds are rated for the full 6V ?

 

[Marduke]

None of these leds are rated for the full 6V ?

Most LED's run at about 3.5v, not 6v

 

[Mythy]

so what do I do about that?

 

[superflytnt]

so what do I do about that?

You avoid the P7 is what! It is brighter if driven at full current (2.8amps?) but is not as efficient at low levels (under 200 lumens is considered low with this emitter) and is just more than you need for exploring. The runtime isn't near as good as the bulb that you mentioned earlier.

 

[Sgt. LED]

Yeah, forget the P7.

True exploring needs real runtime. SF bezel and tail with a Malkoff M60L and a Leef 2X18650 body.

No it's not cheap but it will fill the role and last a lifetime.

 

[Marduke]

Just because the P7 can be driven full out at 2.8A, you don't have to drive it at that. There are starting to be P7 lights with multiple modes, it won't be too long before a name brand will come out with affordable models with nice low modes for good runtime.

 

[bondr006]

Here is the Terralux drop-in you need for a 6v 4c/d cell Mag. Outputs about 150 lumens, and runs on a steady high for 20 hours then starts to drop off. I have it in my 4D mag, and I love it.

so what do I do about that?

 

[TorchBoy]

so what do I do about that?

That's where the driver/regulation board comes in.

the P7 ... is not as efficient at low levels (under 200 lumens is considered low with this emitter)

Adding to what Marduke said, LED dice get more efficient when they are run at low power. Thus, running four dice in parallel would be a little bit more efficient than running a single die at the same total current. Using a P7 at 2.8 amps would give you lots of power if you wanted it but would not compromise on runtime when run on low power.

But getting the Terralux drop-in would be a whole lot easier, and it would leave you with a small budget to get a headlamp as well.

 

[Mythy]

Here is the Terralux drop-in you need for a 6v 4c cell Mag. Outputs about 150 lumens, and runs on a steady high for 20 hours then starts to drop off. I have it in my 4D mag, and I love it.

You wouldn't happen to be able to take a few beam shots for me would you?