Mini maglite nostalgia

[batmanacw]

I have a mini mag that I received for my birthday present when I was 12 years old. That would put that light at 24 years old.

We were really, really poor back then. She actually bought me a brinkman copy of the mini mag. Fortunately I failed entirely upon inserting the batteries! Mom took me to the store a few days later and let me pay the difference to buy the mini mag. It was my only present that year. I had been hoping for one for a long time.

When I got it home, I was so bright I could see the light on the trees literally 300 yds away. Damn was that thing bright!

Well, the crappy alkaline batteries I had in that light leaked. I did what I could to save it. I cleaned out all the corrosion I could. The contacts are clean as a whistle. I took the nite eyez 3 led module out of it and restored the incandescent bulb.

I noticed many, many years ago that the bulbs just are not nearly as bright as they were after the first couple of years the flashlight was out. Is there anything I need to do to this light to help restore its original brightness. The bulb is probably not even close to the same so I am not sure it can be helped much.

 

[buickid]

Is the reflector completely shiny?
The MiniMag bulbs tend to lose brightness over time, so replacing the bulb might help. Also, try treating all the metal contacts with DeOxit, which is a contact treatment that reduces resistance and should increase the voltage getting to the bulb. Maybe try cleaning out the switch assembly too.

 

[outersquare]

I have a mini mag that I received for my birthday present when I was 12 years old. That would put that light at 24 years old.

We were really, really poor back then. She actually bought me a brinkman copy of the mini mag. Fortunately I failed entirely upon inserting the batteries! Mom took me to the store a few days later and let me pay the difference to buy the mini mag. It was my only present that year. I had been hoping for one for a long time.

When I got it home, I was so bright I could see the light on the trees literally 300 yds away. Damn was that thing bright!

Well, the crappy alkaline batteries I had in that light leaked. I did what I could to save it. I cleaned out all the corrosion I could. The contacts are clean as a whistle. I took the nite eyez 3 led module out of it and restored the incandescent bulb.

I noticed many, many years ago that the bulbs just are not nearly as bright as they were after the first couple of years the flashlight was out. Is there anything I need to do to this light to help restore its original brightness. The bulb is probably not even close to the same so I am not sure it can be helped much.

i think some of it is actually just that people's night vision tends to get worse with age..

 

[batmanacw]

i think some of it is actually just that people's night vision tends to get worse with age..

I noticed it when I bought my first couple replacement bulbs when I was 12.

I have already used Deoxit on the contacts that I can see.

 

[Juggernaut]

300 yards with a Minimag might be stretching it, maybe 50 yards……It's only like 12 lumens.

 

[Omega99]

300 yards with a Minimag might be stretching it, maybe 50 yards……It's only like 12 lumens.

^ quoted for the truth

 

[computernut]

Back when I was growing up the Mags were the best that anyone knew of. I remember that my dad would only buy them when they were on-sale at Canadian Tire. Unfortunately my mini-mag from back then disappeared but I just recently picked up a mini-mag in camo and it's pretty nice, the camo finish gives it a cool matte finish.

 

[greenLED]

I still have my first 2AA minimag, although it's HA-BK and part of my shelf-queen squad now. I'm on the fence about putting it on rotation (modded, of course) again.

Batman, Maglite's new bulbs for the minimag are brighter than the original ones (with the pink base). The difference is not much, relative to what thew newer LED generations have to offer. I'd personally ask darkzero to make me a "sammie" to bring new life to that treasured light.

 

[Waffle]

I still have the 3d mag I bought when I was in high school.