the Maglite ML50L

[bykfixer]

^^^^Pressing like button repeatedly…

Great post.


Love, love, love me a warm toasty beam... from a lightbulb.

I think tints being used by many are getting pretty close to lightbulbs in terms of realistic appearance of the world lit by a flashlight.

 

[xxo]

I'm looking forward to the new ML150 coming out.......looks like a updated Mag Charger version of the ML50.

 

[bykfixer]

First heard of that one in spring 017. But that's the last we heard.
Thanks for the video.

 

[LeanBurn]

kinda gross blue green tint.

 

[xxo]

kinda gross blue green tint.

could be the camera, seems like most tints look weird on video.

 

[xxo]

First heard of that one in spring 017. But that's the last we heard.
Thanks for the video.

Yeah they must be behind schedule on this one, I think the same thing happened with the ML125 and ML100's (which were really the first of the "3rd Generation" full size Mags).

 

[bykfixer]

I've considered the 125, but am holding out for that 150...
If it aint out by spring I'll be buying the 125... heck after the 150 arrives I may buy one anyway.

 

[wacbzz]

I'll be buying that 150LR as well. My only wish would be for the matte finish that Mag now has, but in an email exchange, they said they were not putting that finish on this light...

 

[maglite mike]

I've considered the 125, but am holding out for that 150...
If it aint out by spring I'll be buying the 125... heck after the 150 arrives I may buy one anyway.

According to Maglite customers service. The ML150LR is coming out end of 2017 or beggining of 2018. I have 3 ML125s. Great light that runs on the rechargable it comes with or standard C cells.

 

[xxo]

I have a ML125 as well - good light but a bit dated. Runs real good on the NiMH battery pack, but you need to take it out to charge, though the standard charger is fairly fast, only takes about 2 hrs or so. The ability to run on 3 C cells is a plus, though I almost always use the NiMH battery stick. The LED is a Cree XP-G and mine has a very cool sort of ghostly white tint and the ML125 also uses PWM. The ML125 is a little longer and heavier than the ML50.

And the ML125 sure can take some abuse:

 

[bykfixer]

Nice to see Maglite still alive and well on CPF. Really wish they'd do these in a warm LED though. .

I remember when folks here said the ML25 was available with an incan version. I thought "huh? Have they not noticed all those incan minimags collecting dust on store displays?"... But late in 017 they came out with "colored" minimags, and solitaires saying XL50's aint far behind. Red, blue, green and "warm" tints available. Each with a removeable/reversible clip. So then I pondered if the incan ML25 was offered as a "feeler" for how the Mag market would take to a warm beam.

In another section here those W's got good reception from a few. Being limited availability a few members took a chance and scored one here n there. I was thinking maybe Maglites strategy is to see how well their lowest priced lights are received and if the market says "yay" we'll see some C and D versions offered in warm as well.

Double x, I finally watched the video in post #9. Very informative. And now we have a pretty good idea of how they can be disassembled along with the simple genious that continues to make Maglite products as reliable as always using more updated parts n pieces.

Love him or hate him; old Tony's still got it goin' on.

 

[gurdygurds]

Ha oddly enough I also watched that vid for the first time today. I'm enjoying my ML50L as my high power flashlight. I'm running it on 2 Tenergy Centura nimh cells and it's been working flawlessly. I think this light is maybe the best size to power ratio in the Mag lineup, but I'm open to other opinions on that. Bykfixer recommended an aftermarket acrylic lens that has a very light diffusion to it that is a nice and very inexpensive upgrade.

I remember when folks here said the ML25 was available with an incan version. I thought "huh? Have they not noticed all those incan minimags collecting dust on store displays?"... But late in 017 they came out with "colored" minimags, and solitaires saying XL50's aint far behind. Red, blue, green and "warm" tints available. Each with a removeable/reversible clip. So then I pondered if the incan ML25 was offered as a "feeler" for how the Mag market would take to a warm beam.

In another section here those W's got good reception from a few. Being limited availability a few members took a chance and scored one here n there. I was thinking maybe Maglites strategy is to see how well their lowest priced lights are received and if the market says "yay" we'll see some C and D versions offered in warm as well.

Double x, I finally watched the video in post #9. Very informative. And now we have a pretty good idea of how they can be disassembled along with the simple genious that continues to make Maglite products as reliable as always using more updated parts n pieces.

Love him or hate him; old Tony's still got it goin' on.

 

[xxo]

The 3rd Gen Mags are really a big step forward for Mag. A lot of people see that they look similar to their old ican Mag from back in the 90's and assume that these are just LED'ed versions of the old incan Mags (which is essentially what the 2nd Gen Mag LEDs are) and go into a rant about Mag never upgrading technology and being decades behind their favorite Chinese light of the day, but as Old Lumen's Vid shows, these are completely new designs built from the ground up to be high intensity LED flashlights. Yeah they still made out of nicely machined aluminum (in the USA), still have adjustable focus (although using a new and much improved system), still run on C and D cell batteries (which is a good thing for the vast majority of Mag's customer base), and still built for throw over raw lumens, but these are just things people have come to expect from Mags and have kept them buying them for all of these years.

 

[bykfixer]

Well said fellows.

In an early post someone said (paraphrasing) "dratz I thought this was an XL50 thread" since I had named it wrongly "XL50" instead of ML50.
I commented there would be comments about the XL50 at some point. I considered starting an XL50 thread, but since this one seems to encompass newer big Mags in general I'll post a comment here.

Note the comment is a direct quote I sent as a PM when asked what I thought of the XL50. Being it is my own words and none from the op I hope it does not violate rule 12 (or whichever one about using quotes from PM's)
Here goes: (quote is in italics)

The XL50 is one of my favorite flashlights. Oh, I'm sure it would get the thumbs down by the CPF crowd due to the tint and 3aaa carrier.

It's definitely a thrower. It may as well not be adjustable except you get a pencil beam with either a slight spill, or a bit larger spot that blends to spill. By the point of flood it has a big dark spot in the center.

The "candle" mode is pretty good as the LED being recessed into the body means you don't get blinded when it's sitting on a table in tailstand mode and look towards the light. The beam tint is very similar to the ML series too.

In use the tailcap switch is exactly like the ML50 and 300. On is 100%, two quick clicks for low (20%) and three for strobe. My only qualm with it is a couple of times I felt my pants leg get warm because it had turned on while sitting with it clipped inside my pocket. Yet you can twist the tailcap about a full rotaion to lock it out. And you can use that feature to turn it on/off at your last setting. You read that right... if you use the tailcap as a twisty it also acts as a memory feature. So I use mine like a twisty when pocket carrying at work. No momentary though.

Like many 3 cell carriers this one is easily able to be put in backwards in darkness or low light. Being reverse protected means no big deal. There is a small pin sticking out of each end. The front end pin sticks out much farther and has a brass "tit" in the center where the tailcap end actually has a small hole in the center. For the first time user that may an issue but once you get familiar with the XL50 it's easy to feel which end is which, even if blindfolded.

It has a serial number that is revealed when the head is removed. Grip is better than a Malkoff MDC but not as positive as an ML or classic Maglite. It's round. The kit sold at Home Depot is an XL50 with a rubberized octigon head covering that houses colored lenses and a removable plastic pocket clip that also acts as a grip ring. It also fits over the body of a Malkoff MD2 and Streamlight Scorpion to act an an antiroll on those as well. May fit some others but I have not tried yet.

Yup, it's a goody. I'm holding off on the warm Mags for now but the warm XL50 will be hard to resist when it arrives.
End quote.

To me the XL50 is meant for outdoor use. Tailstanding it on low under a kitchen sink is not an excersize in self blindness by any means. But it's strong point is the thrower beam. No "if's and's or but's". Some prefer a broader spill and the XL50 will not satisfy that request. But with a slip on cover with a lens from Flashlight Lens dot com that was well scuffed by the user it could easily become that in a reversible way using the antiroll attachment that comes in the kit from places like Home Depot.

 

[xxo]

My take on the XL50 for what it's worth (not much) is mixed. I had one for about a week before the switch died (got stuck in the ON mode), after that I returned it and never got another one.....not because of the switch failure (nobody has perfect QC, though Mag is generally very good in this respect), but more because I didn't feel a connection when the holding the XL50 that reminded me of shaking hands with an old or new friend (or whatever) like I have with most of the Mags that I have owned.

I like that the XL50 electronic switch, clean throwy beam and easy access to high and low mode (could do without the strobe), but there a few things I don't like. One is the 3 AAA/battery carrier set up, I have never liked these and would much prefer a 1 AA light, which would eliminate the need for a battery carrier (which is apparently a point of potential failure reported in many of the long term reviews on amazon) and would allow for a slimmer form; heck I would even take a single C cell configuration keeping closer to the original 3AAA form factor (would probably need to be a little fatter to accommodate a C cell). For the short time I had the XL50, I missed the lack of a momentary mode and it seemed that it ate up AAA cells fairly quickly. I also didn't much care for the round cylinder shape of the XL50, I found it kind of slippery and sometimes I grabbed it and tried to turn it on by pressing on the wrong end. I also missed it not having a clip, although I now see that the XL50 is often sold with a Mag Tac clip which should solve this problem as well as improving the grip and providing for the attachment of a lanyard. The construction of the XL50 also struck me as being not quite as solid as most other Mags including the similar Mag Tac and the Mini Mags; in fact the XL50 kind of reminds me of a pumped up Solitaire more than anything.

After returning my faulty XL50, I thought I would get a XL200 which has a few more bells and whistles I would like to check out, but I somehow never did.....now that the new warm white XL50s are coming out, might be a good excuse to get another XL50.

 

[bykfixer]

Giant Solitaire... good point. lol.
I tried the XL100 and 200 as well and like you did xxo with the 50 was the fate of those two. Neither failed. It was just that the operator(mwah) still struggles with my DVD player remote so getting my mind wrapped around those 2... my more logical son picked the 100 and the IT tech son picked the 200....

Perhaps the 3 cell carrier is a way of using molds and such from the 2x123 MagTach but in a $25 light?

It wouldn't hurt my feelings if Maglite did a 1x123 version of the XL50. The XL3.0 perhaps?... or a way to convert it to an 18500 instead of the 3 battery carrier. I use a LifePo4 18500 in a couple of LuxPro's that use 3 cell carriers.

 

[xxo]

Giant Solitaire... good point. lol.
I tried the XL100 and 200 as well and like you did xxo with the 50 was the fate of those two. Neither failed. It was just that the operator(mwah) still struggles with my DVD player remote so getting my mind wrapped around those 2... my more logical son picked the 100 and the IT tech son picked the 200....

Perhaps the 3 cell carrier is a way of using molds and such from the 2x123 MagTach but in a $25 light?

It wouldn't hurt my feelings if Maglite did a 1x123 version of the XL50. The XL3.0 perhaps?... or a way to convert it to an 18500 instead of the 3 battery carrier. I use a LifePo4 18500 in a couple of LuxPro's that use 3 cell carriers.

That carrier must have cost Mag a lot to develop and make....I doubt if it was a low cost solution to use the Mag Tac parts as few parts appear to be interchangeable between the XL50 except maybe the reflector and besides I think the XL100 might have come out before the Mag Tac and the XL50 was intended to be a simplified XL100. The carrier, if IRC would be hard to bypass with a Li Ion cell with all of little positive and negative contact pins. A rechargeable carrier with a built in Li-Ion battery pack might be a good option for XL series users, but that would require proprietary charger of some sort.

 

[bykfixer]

^^ Just conjecture on my part about XL 50 vs MagTac.

Yeah, I've thought about the proprietary stuff and by the time a "pack" was built there'd probably only be room for a RCR123... but hey, I'd be cool with that too.

Can you imagine the nay-sayers and pixel counters reaction to a USB capable Maglite XL50?... with warm tint?

"Well.... well... tsk, the body is too shiney" lol

 

[xxo]

They could probably adapt the XL50 to the battery/charger set up they use with the rechargeable Mag Tac; Mag seems to favor LiFePo chemistry over other Li Ion for greater safety and increased charge cycles.

The nay says will ***** no matter what - that's what they do. The XL100, that's been around since like 2010 has more unique flashlight geek features and functions than any light I can think of and it never really caught on - too complicated for the vast majority of Mag's customers and that it's a Mag is enough to cause the nay sayers to twitch.

 

[bykfixer]

Agreed,
The UI was simple, gimmick free ideas way over the heads of Wrangler jeans wearing Maglite customers (like me, but I wear Levis)... like some of David Chow's ideas that too were way ahead of the curve.

I wonder what even possesed them to do the XL100 and 200....