New Mini Maglite Pro+ LED Flashlight

[lightcycle1]

I just bought a Mini Mag Light Pro at Home Depot for about 22$. It's pretty impressive for a mini-mag. I think mine was rated for 226 lumens. The NiteIize expandable holster is a good holster for the Mini-Mag Pro LED, light fits perfectly in it and holds securely. Also, I just discovered the other night that a common .5 liter disposable plastic water bottle cap securely pops right onto the business end of the Mini-Mag Pro and makes a GREAT diffuser. It's interesting with the bottle cap diffuser that when you zoom the head of the Mag Light out to more of a "spot" setting, you can vary the intensity of the light of the coming through the diffuser. The more you zoom it out, the dimmer it gets. Turn the head to flood, and it gets brighter with the diffuser.

 

[ps56k]

Just received our MiniMag AA Pro+ - marked as 245 lumens...

One thing I have noticed with the latest versions of the MiniMag,
is that they keep changing the tailend thread attachment.

The original had the entire threaded area bare - for contact between spring and the tube, and had lanyard hole.
Various tail switches would work with this arrangement.

I have the Minimag LED and the threaded area is only a portion deep past the threaded area...
side pressure wings used for contact - no switches work - also, no lanyard hole.

Lastly - the MiniMag Pro+ has yet another scheme.
Only a very tiny circumference of the tail switch is bare to make contact with the bare end of the tube.
There again is a lanyard hole, but if the tailcap is just barely unscrewed - not totally tight - contact is lost.
And of course, none of the tail switches work with this newer scheme.

 

[tpolley]

Lastly - the MiniMag Pro+ has yet another scheme.
Only a very tiny circumference of the tail switch is bare to make contact with the bare end of the tube.
There again is a lanyard hole, but if the tailcap is just barely unscrewed - not totally tight - contact is lost.
And of course, none of the tail switches work with this newer scheme.

yup. same problem. my tail cap comes loose. I have to tighten it every time I use the light. I tried a nite-ize clicky tail cap but every time I sat down I'd turn the light on.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

I carried a Mini Mag Pro at work for a few months - Then it went quite dim and has sat on a shelf. It's a good light and deserves better!

I found that shaking could make a burst of 'normal' output which quickly dropped to dim levels - 1 to 10 lumens. This indicates a bad electrical contact, and debugging indicates bad connection inside the LED module. What questions can I answer for y'all by taking the module apart further?

 

[Madcow07]

I carried a Mini Mag Pro at work for a few months - Then it went quite dim and has sat on a shelf. It's a good light and deserves better!

I found that shaking could make a burst of 'normal' output which quickly dropped to dim levels - 1 to 10 lumens. This indicates a bad electrical contact, and debugging indicates bad connection inside the LED module. What questions can I answer for y'all by taking the module apart further?

Have you checked that the tail cap is screwed on tight? If it's just slightly loose it can cause that problem, or the light to not work at all.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Have you checked that the tail cap is screwed on tight? If it's just slightly loose it can cause that problem, or the light to not work at all.

I checked with everything I've got, including extracting the LED module and jumping 2xAA in. I found that whatever is failing is inside that module. So I took it apart.

I don't have pictures to post, because there is nothing to see. After you take the can out, it's all sealed. Peeling the steel casing off the driver module reveals a solid slug of plastic, with heavy heat spreader and driver apparently sealed inside. The LED board is soldered to two wires coming out of this black box.

I may pick up another mag pro. That's a rare failure, and it came after several international trips and lots of use and abuse.

 

[Hondo]

Use their warranty, it's their biggest claim to fame.

 

[GeorgiaDave]

Use their warranty, it's their biggest claim to fame.

warranty, after completely stripping it to bare elements, and after admitted abuse? I'm the same way, though. I would have taken it completely apart just to see what's inside. Now in the case of a Surefire ..... warranty, please.

 

[Hondo]

I guess the "use and abuse" term that AnAppleSnail mentioned sounded to me more like the kind of hard work the light is designed to perform, not some kind of torture test evaluation, since it was part of "carrying the light at work for a few months". I'll leave that judgement to AnAppleSnail.

OK, Mag would probably rather most folks send the non-operational light in right away, rather than investigating themselves to see if they just need to clean a contact inside or whatever, but we are CPF folks, and most of us are capable of more in depth repairs/maintenance than the average customer. If the light is correctly re-assembled, and the root problem remains a dead, sealed module, I see no reason to feel bad about sending to their warranty department, and I am quite positive they would replace it, rather than look for evidence that it has been taken apart beyond what is necessary to change batteries.

And really, no offense, but I don't see why Surefire should be treated differently. I know, you feel you "paid" for a more comprehensive warranty, but they both ratio in the projected costs of warranty replacements. And Mag makes as big a deal out of a lifetime warranty as Surefire. I also feel there is a bit of benefit to all that the company get to see the field failures that are happening, and diagnose the dead units to help improve the next generation.

But yes, I am just the same, I take it apart, and if the problem was my fault, or I trash it in the disassembly process, it is on me. But if I find a defective, unrepairable by me issue, I put it back together and send it back (if it is valuable enough to justify the shipping).

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Use their warranty, it's their biggest claim to fame.

I certainly wouldn't abuse their warranty now, although with just the complete LED & Driver bit perhaps I could have. In further disassembly, I did find that the driver module is completely sealed. The only unusual treatment the light was subjected to was excessively high static charge above the 800kV range my meter can detect. I suspect that it's a rare failure mode, and may not have been caused by static. I used the body of the light to ground myself around some of our equipment. When improperly adjusted, said equipment generates 20cm sparks through air. Touching the light to a grounded surface hurts less while I discharge than doing so with my hand.

 

[Airbus]

Is there a noticeable difference between the PRO and PRO+ (High beam mode 226 vs 245 lumens)?
I won't use the low beam mode.

$20CAD for Pro, $40CAD for Pro+

Is it worth paying extra $20 for the Pro+?

Thank you very much

 

[LEDninja]

If you NEVER use low mode, it is not worth paying double for the Pro+.

I imported my Pro US$25 and Pro+ US$30 from zbattery at the very beginning.

Where did you find the Pro & Pro+ in Canada?

 

[El Camino]

Due to an incorrect pricing/shelving incident, I got a Pro for $17 at Wally-World. They had $16.99 on the tag, but charged the full price. I went back to the flashlight section and realized that the light was in the wrong space, so I decided to return the light. When I explained that they had a whole bunch in the wrong spot, the lady at customer service was very kind and said that it was their fault, so she gave it to me a the lower price. I was quite impressed her customer service.

As for the light, I like it a lot. I'm using the Nite-Ize tail switch (regular one) and it works fine. The light is quite blue, though, and I think the XL200 looks brighter to me, though I imagine the Pro has better run time.