Pre-krypton minimag bulbs

[bykfixer]

A while back a question was asked if the minmag always used krypton bulbs. If I recall correct member Burgess said he had a minimag from 1984 (the year it was released). And that if he recalled correct it did not use krypton bulbs.

Well, in 1987 maglite released the aaa minimag. And thanks to my eBay scouring friend new England's own Joseph R. Houseplant I now have some authentic aaa minimag "vacuum" bulbs in the museum. Yup, at one point the aaa had its own line of bulbs.

What year they came out with kryptons? I cannot say. Maybe someone else can. Later on Maglite sold minimag replacement bulbs as aa/aaa.

Thanks for another contribution to history Mr. Houseplant. You're the best!!

 

[chillinn]

Who's to say the "Vacuum" bulbs were not krypton bulbs?

The first commercial incan bulbs were argon-filled. Krypton-filled bulbs were first developed in the 1930s, halogen-filled in the 1950s, but argon-filled bulbs remained dominant until the 1970s.

Krypton has an advantage over argon due to its higher atomic weight and lower thermal conductivity which permitted smaller bulbs to be made, but krypton's adoption was suppressed by extremely high cost. An advance in gas production technology lowered the price of krypton (only to about 100 times more expensive than argon) in the 1960s (according to the Smithsonian, and I can't find an explanation of what that production advancement was), leading to special designs like the Westinghouse Super Bulb, but it wasn't until the 1970s energy crisis that krypton took over.

Krypton doesn't conduct heat as well as argon which slows tungsten evaporation from the filament; both serve to boost efficiency. Though I can't find a source, I don't believe any krypton bulbs were filled with pure krypton due to cost, but instead mixed with argon.

Maybe the Vacuum bulbs are filled with pure argon? I think it is unlikely. Due to their size and the increase in popularity of krypton bulbs in the 1970s, they likely had some krypton in them, but maybe the krypton-labeled Maglite bulbs had a higher ratio of krypton to argon.

It's a shame this information is hard to get at (at least from the web): with very shallow details available.

Anyway, nice score, bykfixer.

 

[aznsx]

You're the best!!

Well, you ain't such a bad old bloke yourself. After all, you pass along a lot of good stuff once in a while (when we can pry it out of you)!

As an aside: I'm laughing - at myself. I ended up looking back at the image in your post ~4 different times over a short period; each time for a different reason due to something I wondered about after seeing it initially. I have a sort of subconscious awareness when it comes to documentation (a professional hazard), and about the fourth time I looked at it, I realized there was something I'd been seeing that turned on a little yellow light in my feeble brain, but I wasn't aware of exactly what.

I normally work 'left-to-right, top-to bottom' with things. There was something extraneous (to me) that I was having to look past in the documentation on the package each time in order to see the info I was interested in at the moment (something I kept tripping over). I realized that it was the rather large (~40 word) disclaimer paragraph at the very top (which nets out to ~10 words: DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT USING THESE IN ANOTHER BRAND PRODUCT).

I believe many, perhaps most manufacturers would have placed that at the bottom of the documentation / package (which is where I would have placed it), rather than at the top; for the same reason that it 'got in my way' and turned on a yellow light in my brain each time I looked at it and was annoyingly distracting (from the info I actually needed to get) to me. If I'm trying to read how to change a bulb, I don't need this right then. This paragraph is not essentially product safety or liability related, which might tend to make me want to put it at the top of the package panel.

This tells me something about this manufacturer, although I can't say I'm surprised by it. This ain't exactly a 'man bites dog' news story

 

[aznsx]

Hmmm. This bulb thing got me wondering. I just checked the only factory MM bulb package I have from the old days ($2.39 / pair), which I bought for AA MMs, and is dated 1986. It specifically indicates 'AA', both on package front, and 'Specifications' on the back, and also indicates 'Vacuum' (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vacuum) , just as your AAA package does. I do have only one 2xAAA MM, which I've never used much or changed the bulb in, and never really thought about this.

Are / were Minimag bulbs the same actual spec physical part except for being packaged / sold for AA or AAA specifically, or was there at one point a physical / electrical / optical difference?

EDIT: There's one other difference on the AA bulb pkg: Under 'Specifications', it does state the life of the lamp is equivalent to 4 or 5 sets of batteries', rather than '3 or 4' in the case of the AAA package.

 

[aznsx]

Found something I could snap a photo with.

Assuming conventional product nomenclature norms: Given that your AAA & my AA packages are of the same vintage, and the fact that not one number on the packaging matches between them, this would suggest that no part of the top-level assy. is the same - including the individual bulbs. If it is assumed that the bulbs were different at this point in time when they were sold in separate / different packages, but were later sold as a single / common product for AA & AAA, one would be left to wonder what the difference might be between these bulbs and the later ones. It's one of those things I'll probably just be left to wonder about, but will never know.

 

[knucklegary]

Boy do I miss Orchard Supply (OSH) use to get some great deals there, especially during their closing

 

[bykfixer]

Well..... a lot to digest there.

First off the aa minimag was introduced in '84. The aaa in '87. The bulb packaging in post 5 is from '86. Now with that said, it could be in essence and in terms of practicality that the aa and aaa were pretty much one in the same but marketing suggested separate labeling and part numbers in order to provide a sense of satisfaction that one did indeed have genuine aaa bulbs. Remember the verbage at the top expressing use of these bulbs in other is at your own risk. So there's an image they were going for at the time.

 

[aznsx]

Boy do I miss Orchard Supply (OSH) use to get some great deals there, especially during their closing

When I posted that photo, I just knew you'd pick up on that price tag

 

[aznsx]

Well..... a lot to digest there.

First off the aa minimag was introduced in '84. The aaa in '87. The bulb packaging in post 5 is from '86. Now with that said, it could be in essence and in terms of practicality that the aa and aaa were pretty much one in the same but marketing suggested separate labeling and part numbers in order to provide a sense of satisfaction that one did indeed have genuine aaa bulbs. Remember the verbage at the top expressing use of these bulbs in other is at your own risk. So there's an image they were going for at the time.

What year they came out with kryptons? I cannot say. Maybe someone else can. Later on Maglite sold minimag replacement bulbs as aa/aaa.

I suppose it's also possible that the vacuum bulbs were in fact a different PN (which they appear to perhaps be from our pkgs.), but perhaps the later gas-filled ones were in fact the same PN, and thus were sold as AA/AAA accordingly. One would have to check for time correlation between those 2 events (the switch to gas and the unified PN). There's a Minimag freak out there somewhere who'd know this, but since I'm not that guy and am not even sure what I ate for dinner last nite, I won't even speculate further.

 

[bykfixer]

Here is a 97 version sent to me by the one and only Fred Suburu

 

[turbodog]

MM bulbs were always awful about darkening.

 

[ABTOMAT]

I'm not really big into Mags but I have a bunch of old bulb packages here somewhere. I'll dig them out when I have a chance.

 

[sween1911]

Wow, according to that disclaimer, I was quite the rulebreaker in the 80's using Minimag bulbs in my Brinkman BlackMax 2AA, the one that was an exact copy of the Minimag except the non-removable head meant no candle mode. Now I wanna dig through my Maglite box to see if I have any spare sets of Minimag bulbs.

I still have an incan 2AAA with Eneloops in it for navigating around in the darkness without waking up the family.

 

[bykfixer]

Wow, according to that disclaimer, I was quite the rulebreaker in the 80's using Minimag bulbs in my Brinkman BlackMax 2AA, the one that was an exact copy of the Minimag except the non-removable head meant no candle mode. Now I wanna dig through my Maglite box to see if I have any spare sets of Minimag bulbs.

I still have an incan 2AAA with Eneloops in it for navigating around in the darkness without waking up the family.

👍
If you have any minimag bulbs with the word "krypton" on it please post a photo or the details.

 

[aznsx]

If you have any minimag bulbs with the word "krypton" on it please post a photo or the details.

"The Hunt For Red Herring"

 

[xxo]

from a sold ebay listing - AA MM krypton bulbs from 2006, made in Hong Kong:

Another sold ebay listing pre-kyrpton? AA MM bulbs from 2003, also made in Hong Kong:

 

[Burgess]

MM bulbs were always awful about darkening.

So *VERY* true ! ! !

< sigh >

 

[xxo]

Some ebay pics of MM xenon bulbs from 2014, made in Germany:

Before Mag offered xenon bulbs, Brinkmann sold them for their Nexstar light. Many of used these in the Mini Mag because they were much brighter than the old vacuum and krypton bulbs and even look to be a bit brighter than the current Mag xenons (another pic from ebay):

 

[aznsx]

Wow, according to that disclaimer, I was quite the rulebreaker in the 80's using Minimag bulbs in my Brinkman BlackMax 2AA.......

Yeah, you're clearly an outlaw!

And I must be a dummy. Those statements on the lamp card remind me of why I'm not a businessman. I'm clearly clueless where business is concerned and would likely starve if I got into it. My policy would have been different. If someone was using my bulbs in another brand light and happy with the performance, I'd be happy to take their money and sell them bulbs - just more bulb sales I wouldn't otherwise get. If they thought my bulbs performed well, they might recommend them to their friends, or better yet, even buy one of my lights instead next time when they needed one because my bulbs worked well for them. See, obviously I don't think like a successful businessman such as Mr. M!

Yes, I'm aware that there was a lot of needle between some of the light manufacturers back in the day, and things got pretty testy at times. I get that. I'm just not so stubborn that I'll cut off my nose to spite my face, either

 

[bykfixer]

Ole Tony has cut off his nose to spite his face so many times..... it must've a real honker at one point.... like Corparal Klinger (Jamie Farr) back in the day.

And from what some around him say he still does. Don Keller once said he and Tony fell out over on/off switch of a minimag because Tony never would consider making a clicky version. Now I side with ole Tony from a reliability standpoint. His minimag on/off switch is pretty dawg gone reliable.

Can't say I ever saw any minimag bulbs darken unless I dropped the light in cold water and heard "zzztt, zzzzt" until the light turned off. But back then most of my minimag type flashlights were from a chain of stores called A&N who sold a Taiwan made version with a tail cap clicky for like $4. I must've had a dozen of those things.

Twist to focus beam

Clicky switch
No spare bulb in the tailcap though.
This is my last one.