MJLED MiniMag dissapointment.. average?

[Xsavior]

I just recieved one of these LEDs yesterday, and unfortunately, i'm less than impressed. I drilled out my reflector with no problem, popped it in, turned it on, and... well, it's rather green, it's also dimmer than the standard incandescent lamp that it replaced, and it's not as bright as a dorcy AAA that i picked up while i'm waiting for my brand new Peak Matterhorn 3Led Snow /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Now i know that it's not using any circuit, so i can understand if the Dorcy is normaly going to beat it, but i was really hoping that it would be brighter than the incandescent

Now did i have my expectations too high? Or is this about what other people have expierienced? Did i maybe get a dud? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[NetMage]

On alkys, mine seemed slightly brighter and much smoother than original. On Lithium AA, it is much brighter than the standard bulb. You can get them from Battery Station for $1 each right now.

Make sure your leads are making good contact and you have good focus - it doesn't really spread well (ringy), but it focuses to a nice smooth spot. Put in fresh batteries.

 

[UnknownVT]

[ QUOTE ]
Xsavior said: it's not as bright as a dorcy AAA
Now did i have my expectations too high? Or is this about what other people have expierienced? Did i maybe get a dud? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I think your expectations were realistic....

Judging from the very positive response from the majority of people who have bought the MJLED
(and there were a LOT of them) -

I would suggest there is probably either something wrong with the MJLED you got, or in its installation.

Please take a look at this thread, with lots of side-by-side comparative beamshots, along with lots of feedback:

MJLED drop-in for MiniMag 2AA

Compared to an ArcAAA which is in the same ballpark as a Dorcy 1AAA - the MJLED simply blows it away -

Compared to a 1Watt Luxeon (1x CR123)

Compared to standard Mini-Mag 2AA (both on fresh alkalines)

As you see, I have two MJLEDs from 2 different sources - they both work well with plain alkalines.

Try fresh alkaline batteries - if it's not your installation - then contact your supplier for a replacement.

 

[junior]

great wprk unknown.

I did a short comparison shot and write up of my MJLED vs my Dorcy 2AA which has 4 5mm leds with step up. The pic showed that my MJLED was brighter.

Its a good chance that you did get a dud. Believe it or not, leds sometimes go bad too just like anything else.

 

[EdB]

There is definately something wrong, all three of my MJLEDs blow away the the incan version and both of my Dorcy AAAs with fresh alkalines.

 

[Bimmerboy]

I just got 4 more that haven't been out of the box yet. However, of my first two, I unfortunately burned the living you know what out of one with an unresistored 14500, and I'm not totally happy with the tint on the second one, even when running completely fresh Energizer lithium AA's (2 of 'em). A little green. Looks even worse on alkalines, so I'm a bit disappointed. I did expect a little more brightness as well.
I could be off base or unlucky so far, but were these just a bit overhyped? There's been a slight, but noticeable buzz of complaints going around.
I hope my next 4 are better.

 

[hsjrev]

I've been very impressed with the three that I've installed. I still have one that I haven't taken out of the package yet. Very white, very bright. Completely blows away the incandescent bulb. I sent one to my non-flashaholic friend and he was very impressed as well, says it hurts to look at it. Sorry to hear about the problems people are having with them.

 

[Xsavior]

I've read alot of these posts, and they all seem to say that the MJLEDs were purchased from Lambda, which was what i wanted to do, to get the whole kit and upgrade the lens also, but i had to get mine from the other source, the sandwichshoppe, as he wa sold out, is there a correlation, did they possibly get a bad batch and not realize?

Edit--- I did check the instalation, it was sitting a bit high, so i took a little bit more off of the legs, now it looks exactly like the installation instructions, and no improvement. It seems like a nice solid connection, no flickering or anything...

 

[teststrips]

some people reported cleaning the tailcap threads resulted in better electrical conductivity, resulting in a brighter MJLED. You might even go so far as to add some conductive lube if you have it.

 

[Xsavior]

I tried cleaning it a bit, and that helped... a little, where is the best place to get conductive lube? Would Radio Shack have soemthing worth while?

 

[Marc]

Got 2 MJLED, one is pretty white and the other is rather green. At first I thought it was the host, but once swapped it was still green.

 

[Bimmerboy]

IIRC, they got them from the same shipment. Half for Lambda, and half for the Shoppe.
Lambda himself mentioned he was not too happy with the tint either.
All said, it is a useful light. Perhaps just not the ultimate batch that word on "the street" had it.
It'll be interesting to see if another batch does better next time. If so, I guess I'll have to buy more and give my existing ones out as gifts. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[NewBie]

Welcome to the Luxeon lottery.

Maybe they should come with a guaranteed tint option, if you are willing to pay extra cash for it.

 

[Xsavior]

I guess I'll go get some lithiums today.... they were 9.50 at walmart for 4, is that average for retail locations?

 

[Skibane]

[ QUOTE ]
Xsavior said:
I guess I'll go get some lithiums today.... they were 9.50 at walmart for 4, is that average for retail locations?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ouch!

Battery Station has 'em for a buck apiece...in both CR123A and AA cell sizes.

 

[UnknownVT]

[ QUOTE ]
Xsavior said: I guess I'll go get some lithiums today.... they were 9.50 at walmart for 4, is that average for retail locations?

[/ QUOTE ]

Personally I would NOT - but that's just IMHO and as always YMMV.

If your MJLED is not working at least reasonably well on FRESH alkalines then I doubt very much if Lithiums will be the miraculous cure - (that's kind of like throwing good money after bad, to me - spending nearly $10 more just to make a $5 LED work?)
besides, do you really want a flashlight that ONLY works well on lithiums?

Like I said this is all just IMHO - and YMMV /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

BTW - the comparative review DID include a comprehensive comparison on an MJ LED (#2 in the beamshots) purchased from Sandwich Shoppe - and as someone has already posted the Sandwich Shoppe got 1/2 the same shipment that Lambda got - so these are the generation 2 MJLEDs.

The direct link to that comparison post of the MJ LED #2 purchased from the Sandwich Shoppe in the thread referenced previously, for your convenience is linked here -

#2 - Re: MJLED drop-in for MiniMag 2AA

 

[Xsavior]

ok, so maybe i got a dud, i'm also considering getting a new minimag, this one is a bit old... so if i order another MJLED from the shoppe, i'd like to get a UCL, but what size fits the MiniMag, i was also thinking of just getting the Luxeon Jr. from streamlight. any thoughts? Beside buy them both? I've already thought about that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[UnknownVT]

[ QUOTE ]
Xsavior said: ok, so maybe i got a dud

[/ QUOTE ]

oh, good .... I thought we were going to have to beat it into you.......... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Xsavior said:i was also thinking of just getting the Luxeon Jr. from streamlight. any thoughts? Beside buy them both? I've already thought about that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, lots of people really like the Streamlight Jr.

But again JIMHO (YMMV) the MJLED in a MiniMag is cheaper and almost (but not quite) the brightness of a 1 watt Luxeon - but it has a HUGE advantage to me of 30+ hours runtime on plain alkalines (reported, see referenced thread) vs. the 1.5hours of the Streamlight Jr.

But it's your choice -
don't make us come down there... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[bjn70]

I was ready to install my MJLED and discovered that my old mag was damaged from leaking batteries, so I bought 2 new ones from Target. I put the MJLED in 1 and compared it against the other one with its stock incandescent bulbs, both running the new Duracell batteries that they came with. With both focused to a tight beam I rated the brightness as exactly equal. The MJLED apeared to be white to me, but the MM was very yellow. The MJLED also had a much better beam shape and smoothness than the stock MM, even though it was apparent that the LED wasn't centered perfectly.

I have Lithium AA's on order from batterystation so I'll try those when they come in, just for grins.

 

[Xsavior]

so what is the lens diameter? Is it 22.5mm? i don'thave any precision measuing devices, but it looked about right on my measuring tape...