Newest mods for Maglite 4 DD

[Taffnevy]

What are the latest and greatest drop-ins for a 4DD Maglite? Who makes the best replacement LED's for them?

Thanks, and hello to all! This is my first post here.

 

[FrogsInWinter]

Well best is a relative term. Are you looking for the best drop-in in terms of brightness, runtime, throw, or spill? Depending on what you want out of the drop-in, there could be four different answers. Or do you want some kind of balance between the brightness, runtime, throw, and spill?
The other thing to take into account is how much you're willing to spend on a drop-in.

As far as total brightness the brightest Mag drop-in right now is the: Elektrolumens Mosnter Throw V, with a close second going to the Monster Throw IV:
http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/ca...ser-id=&password=&exchange=&exact_match=exact
The Monster Throw V costs $150 and the Monster Throw IV costs $120. Although not required, its recommended that you run either of these drop-ins using high capacity, rechargeable NiMH D batteries, instead of regular alkaline D batteries. These two drop-ins are for 3D Mag-lites, but you can use them with a 4D Maglite if you get one D sized dummy cell.

The Malkoff quad drop-in uses 4 LEDs, like the MT IV:
http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_15&products_id=24

There's also the TerraLux TLE-300 drop-in:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-300.html
This drop-in uses 3 LEDs. (As opposed to the Monster Throw IV & V which use 4 & 5 LEDs repectively.)

As far as Mag drop-ins that use a single high power LED:
The Malkoff drop-in:
http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_3&products_id=22

and the TerraLux drop-in:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-6k2.html

If you're having trouble viewing the Malkoff links, you might have to register on his website before you can view his products.
There are some other drop-ins, I'll try to post them later if I have the time.
:welcome:

 

[Gladius01]

:welcome:

 

[Taffnevy]

Thanks for the links!

If I got the Terralux, would I need to replace the mirror as well?

Sorry for all the noob questions.

 

[Taffnevy]

Also, is there any particular reason that the Malkoff single LED costs over twice as much as the TerraLux? Is it in the quality of the build or in the warranty?

 

[USM0083]

Also, is there any particular reason that the Malkoff single LED costs over twice as much as the TerraLux? Is it in the quality of the build or in the warranty?

The Malkoff is handmade. Great quality and construction, but slow production. I understand that they are made in small quantity batches , when are pretty much all sold as soon as he list them as avaiable.

 

[Freddy]

Pardon the dumb question but shouldn't a light w/1000 lumens have more than 4300 lumens @ 1 meter? I'd like to get Gene's quad but they are very hard to get. Electrolumens seems like the best blend of price and power.

 

[Gunner12]

Well, 1000 lumen out the front is an amount, like a bucket of water. So 1000 lumen won't increase to 4300 at 1 meter(in fact, it would be less due to losses in the reflector and the window). What you might be thinking of is Lux. Going off the water analogy, it would be like the gallons per minute.

The Malkoffdevices one is also brighter.

Yes, you would have to remove the reflector on all current gen multi LED drop-ins.

:welcome:

 

[FrogsInWinter]

Thanks for the links!

If I got the Terralux, would I need to replace the mirror as well?

Sorry for all the noob questions.

If you get the TerraLux 3 LED drop-in, I believe you would have to remove the reflector completely.

As far as brightness I think I have to revise the way the drop-ins are ordered.

Brightest: I don't own any of the multi-LED drop-ins, but I'm inclined to say the Malkoff Quad would most likely be the brightest, since it uses Cree Q5 bin LEDs (As opposed to the MS V which uses SSC P4 bin LEDs).

2nd: ElektroLumens Monster Throw V - Even though it uses 1 more LED than the Malkoff Quad, I think the use of Cree Q5 LEDs makes the difference. Of course I could be wrong. If someone owns both the MS V & Malkoff Quad, I'd love to see the pics.

3rd: ElektroLumens Monster Throw IV

4th: ElektroLumens Monster Throw III

5th: TerraLux TLE-300

6th: Malkoff single LED drop-in for 4-6 D Mags

7th: ElektroLumens Monster Throw I (Initially I didn't notice that the ElektroLumens MS I & III were still on the website.)

8th: TerraLux TLE-6EX

Don't let the rankings fool you. The single LED drop-ins are still very bright. Bright enough for most tasks, possibly too bright in some cases, and all three are noticeably brighter than the stock Mag bulb. The only problem with the Malkoff drop-ins is actually being able to buy one before they're sold out.
Just as a reminder:
1.) Its not required, but all these drop-ins will run better if you use rechargeable NiMH D batteries, instead of alkaline D batteries.
2.) If you get any of the ElektroLumens drop-ins, you'll need to buy one dummy D battery since the ElektroLumens drop-ins are made to work in 3D Mags.

 

[Gunner12]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the Elektrolumens drop-ins unregulated (IMO the drop-in doesn't throw far enough to be called "Monster Throw", I'm going by numbers here).

The single LED drop-ins(ones that you don't have to replace the reflectors) can probably throw more(at least match) the multi LED drop-ins. The larger reflector used by the single LED drop-ins make up for the lower output.

 

[FrogsInWinter]

I believe you're right about the EL drop-ins being unregulated, Gunner. The OP didn't specifically say what he wanted in a drop-in as far as brightness/throw/runtime/spill. So I figured listing the drop-ins by brightness was the only quality I could do a resonable job on.

I'd love to see how all these drop-ins compare based solely on throw. I'm sure the list would look totally different compared to the birghtness list I cobbled together, with a few surprises as well.

I didn't even consider older mag drop-ins that use Lux III, Lux I, or even 5mm LEDs. Maybe I'll try looking for those next.

 

[chewy78]

Thanks for the links!

If I got the Terralux, would I need to replace the mirror as well?

Sorry for all the noob questions.

Not if you go with the terralux tle-6ex. The stock plastic mirror would work fine. You could get a 52.1mm-1.90mm ucl glass lens from flashlight lens.com. It might efficiently put out a little more light and also be more scratch resistant. The stock maglite lens will scratch easily if you use it quite a bit.

 

[MrGman]

I have the single LED Terralux that is rated at 140 lumens or so output. Measured into the recently calibrated (normal annual cal) integration sphere at work it measured 120 lumens from a 4 D maglight without the reflector in place (so I could get the actual light into the edge of the sphere with no loss) using 4 NiMH batteries. Output is very consistent and a nice cool white beam. Since it is now so bright, even when tightly focused the side spill is very useable to see with off to the sides. Its worth the$26 bucks to me. I also put one in the 4C maglight, both very handy.

 

[chewy78]

The terralux must be optimized for 4 cells then. I do have the 2d maglite cell version though I just gave it to someone i work with for their 3 cell. I also have a 4d maglite that i would like to get the original version for and also get a better lens for.

 

[chewy78]

I have the single LED Terralux that is rated at 140 lumens or so output. Measured into the recently calibrated (normal annual cal) integration sphere at work it measured 120 lumens from a 4 D maglight without the reflector in place (so I could get the actual light into the edge of the sphere with no loss) using 4 NiMH batteries. Output is very consistent and a nice cool white beam. Since it is now so bright, even when tightly focused the side spill is very useable to see with off to the sides. Its worth the$26 bucks to me. I also put one in the 4C maglight, both very handy.

Which d cell nimhs' are you running? Im thinking about getting some cheap tenergy 10000 mah cells to use in it. I already have a maha 808 charger to use. How do the nimhs compare to alkalines in that combo?

 

[MrGman]

Which d cell nimhs' are you running? Im thinking about getting some cheap tenergy 10000 mah cells to use in it. I already have a maha 808 charger to use. How do the nimhs compare to alkalines in that combo?

The batteries I use are nothing special. 2900mAH rated Rayovacs from the local Wallymart of hardware stores. More than adequate to run this size lamp.

 

[Jvalera]

Pardon the dumb question but shouldn't a light w/1000 lumens have more than 4300 lumens @ 1 meter? I'd like to get Gene's quad but they are very hard to get. Electrolumens seems like the best blend of price and power.

Well Im not happy with the EL MT-4 that ive got. Despite its ratings
the output is to me inefficient. The only throw about it that I can think of
is throwing it away...lol