Maglite 4D Incandescent Upgrade?

[GunXpatriot]

Hey guys! A couple of days ago, I happened to find a Maglite 4D in my Grandpa's house on a shelf somewhere. He no longer lives there, but he's hung onto it and neglected it a bit, so I was helping to clear out and clean up.

Anyway, I asked him about it, and he said that he bought the thing at least 10 years ago, and figured it would be a good weapon if he heard something outside, or in the middle of the night, or something like that. I totally agree. Basically a heavy aluminum club.

Anyway, I had stuck some batteries in, and was actually surprised how bright the thing was. For incandescent anyway. I didn't use alkaline batteries either, although I think you're supposed to. As far as I can tell, the bulb is rated at 72 lumens, given what I've found on sites where the incandescent is still for sale. Although they release so many different versions of these lights with different bulbs, LED's, etc that how the hell can anyone keep track? :/

Anyway, I've also estimated that at 16 lumens per watt, this thing is running about 4.5 watts. I actually have no idea if that is true or not, as bulbs with the same wattage range wildly in lumen output. But it's kind of unimportant. What I'm looking to do is upgrade. I was thinking Krypton, but then saw the Xenon and heard it was about 50% brighter with the same battery life. With that battery life, does the Xenon (or even the krypton) use less power than the standard incandescent? I hope so, because I doubt the battery life would last more than a few hours on this thing. I would like it to be at something like 10 hours or more with an upgrade, but I don't know if that's likely with the Xenon.

I was also looking at drop-in LED upgrades, but wasn't crazy about the price, unless I'd need this light for day to day tasks. That could justify it, but not right now... I was watching a video on the 3D... Well, the 3D was in the video, and with whatever LED was in the 3D in the guy's video, he said they claimed it was rated at 79 hours. I think that's BS, but heck, it may not be... Any drop-in upgrades that can perform similar to that? Or am I better off with the Xenon upgrade for the price?

I know this is a loaded thread you guys, but it would be greatly appreciated. I like this thing and would love to upgrade it to be a little more modern and a little more useful. Thanks a lot!

 

[magellan]

Very cool that you found your grandfather's old light.

I have many old both krypton and xenon lights which I have kept original just because I sort of collect them. I never thought to upgrade any of them.

Upgrades can be fun and useful though. Good luck with yours.

 

[Stream]

Simplest upgrade I can think of would be to buy a CREE XP-G2 dropin for Maglites on eBay. It's advertised as 220 lumens, and will cost you around $18 with shipping. It's as simple as replacing the bulb. I have a couple of these, one in a 2C Mag and one in a 3D Mag. I like them a lot, and they're at least 2-3 times brighter than any xenon or krypton replacement you could get. And with 4xD cells you will easily get a lot more than 10 hours out of it. And if you don't use it often, it will probably be many years until you need to replace the batteries--although I would check them regularly since alkaline batteries have a tendency to leak.

Also, a little tip: your old Mag may flicker, especially when you adjust the focus or move it around much. This could be more noticeable with an LED, as it is more sensitive to current irregularities. I have a similar problem with my 3D Mag, but I may have found a solution in the following thread (although I haven't gotten around to trying it myself yet):

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-flickering-when-turning-head-any-suggestions

 

[broadgage]

Presuming that the bulb is original, as sounds likely, than it will be about 3.75 to 4 watts.
A bulb intended for 4 alkaline cells will be about 4.8 to 5.0 volts as that that is the typical in use voltage of 4 cells. Maglite bulbs are about 0.7 to 0.8 amps, which is about the upper limit for reasonable run time on alkalines.

I

 

[Jash]

Spend the dollars and get a Malkoff led drop in for it. Best quality upgrade for a Maglite bar none.

 

[bykfixer]

^^
I agree the Malkoff are worth every penny. But op could get a 2D LED for around the $ of the Malkoff, and find it in virtually any big box store. And for $35 it has a ridiculous throw...

Now as far as staying incan goes...if you plan on using it for 'lights out, where's the candles' or other fairly gentle uses, Mag (or same big box store) has bulbs. But if it's gonna say, stay in your car rolling around the floor or you figure it may get dropped...LED 's are tougher.

Now if you don't mind spending a few well spent dollars, you can get the Malkoff LED conversion (known as a drop in) and have an LED light that is brighter, lasts longer between batteries and be buying a product made at least as tough as that old Mag. Check out the Malkoff web site. Mr. Malkoff gives a good descrption of each product listed.


^^ photo is just an example of what to look for.
Look for "4 cell c&d" on the package.