What is the best lamp for 3D Maglite?

Is there a better performing lamp than the
one that comes with the 3D Maglite?
A "high performance' model that somebody makes?
Thanks

There are several out there. First is the Mag Lite Magnum Star. It's a step above stock. But not worth the effort in my opinion. Then there are halogen bulbs by various manufacturers. Next is the Carley Lamps Xenon Star. A much better bulb. But you have to make a $50 minimum order and get it directly from the manufacturer. They don't take credit cards. Radio Shack sells their xenon bulb the XPR103. I haven't tried it yet. The last one I know of is Dorcy's 3-D Xenon Oscillite Bulbs. Very good beam quality and brightness. I found them at Sears.

Scott, there are numerous lamps out there that you can use for the Mag.

You could use a Carley Xenon lamp. They, however, have a $50 minimum order policy. From what I've understand, you can ask Tim Flanagan (member #69) if he has any.

You could also try a 'Radio Shack' store near you. I'm not from the US but from what I've read on this forum, they have some pretty cool halogen and xenon lamps.

Personally I'm interested in how a halogen lamp from Sonca or a halogen or xenon lamp from Philips would do in a Mag.

I hope this helps.


Greetings,
Velcro

David, how good are those Dorcy lamps? Can you describe the beam quality? Would they be better then the Garrity xenon lamps (the ones that are used in the Steel Beam torches)?


Greetings,
Velcro

I have used halogen lamps in the 2D cell Maglights for many years. The HPR52 is rated for 2.8V and 0.8A. It's quite a bit brighter than the 'stock' lamp. I have a 3D cell Maglite and the HPR53, rated at 4.0V and o.8A provides a significant improvement over the 'stock' lamp. I expect a really good xenon would be much better than the halogen lamps; I just haven't found a good souce yet.

Gandalf, which brand do you use?


Greetings,
Velcro

I tried the RS XPR103 in my 3D Maglite and
it is a no go compared to the original bulb.
Reason is it does not have that sort of a
flatened area near the top. The result is
a really screwed up looking beam. No way
near anything resembling a nice round beam
like an original ML bulb.
Does anyone have a Carly Xenon they can
sell?
Thanks

This is just a thought but for all of you in Europe that can't visit the local 'Radio Shack' (however much we'd like to!) I have been experimenting with different bulbs in my 3D Mag to get a brighter beam using common bulbs available over this part of the world.
Basically I've simply been overpowering the bulb using bulbs designed for 2D flashlights.
The first bulb a tried (I can't remember what it was called) blew immediately.
Not to be disheartened I tried some Philips 2D cell batteries and they lasted for a while (20 minutes, very bright!)
At the moment I have an Energizer KPR 102 bulb also designed for 2D cells and it's still going strong although I guess it will go the same way as the others soon.
I'm not sure how wise this is, I'm not a technical buff.
The Energizer and Philips bulbs are relatively cheap,20 Kroner for two compared to 70 kroner for the standard 3D Mag bulb so even if it doesn't work out you'll not be feeling to bad about your little misadventure.
As for the difference in brightness, it is noticeable to say the least and much whiter.
If you want to see your 3D Mag working a little harder and marvel at it's new found brightness, by all means try it, if you're going on a dubious mountain hike or leaving your Mag at hand for an emergency DON'T.
This is not a serious alternative, it seems Carly or the XPR103 would make a more sensible decision, but then this is a man that goes to the supermarket to buy food with the meagre pittance I have left and come home sporting a new flashlight!
Try explaining how this could have happened to your girlfriend!

I'm running a Carley Krypton Star 3.7 V 1.70 Amp bulb that's rated at 6.3 Watts and 94 Lumen in my 3D Mag. I'm running 5.0 Ah Nicads and find the beam quite bright.

The lens at the tip of the bulb also fills in part of the black hole in the center of the flood focus.

Convert your 3d mag into a 4c mag!!!
take a piece of 1 inch thick walled pvc pipe and trim to fit inside the barrel just under where the tail cap threads on the barrell are, insert 4c batteries and take the spring out of the tail cap as well as the extra bulb and get a small rotary wire brush that fits on a drill or dremel and remove the anodizing inside the tail cap.
take pliers and trim the base off of the spring (not the part that touches the batteries) and then cut the spring down and bend both tips in so that they make good contact to the 4th c cell and also the base of the tail cap. Screw it on and voila
a 4c in 3d mag lite!!! Now go get a 4 cell xenon bulb from radio shack or even overdrive a "stock" 3d cell bulb for a while
you will be happy with the output.
You may also want to put a rubber washer down in the barrel for the pvc pipe to rest on and this will make it rattle free.

Mike,
I did the same thing except I didn't do anything to the spring but turn it around. I read that it wouldn't make good contact with the rear cap unless you ground off the finish in the cap. This never became a problem. I put a couple of layers of foil at the center of the spring just to make sure it made good contact with the - side of the battery. By not modifying the spring, you can easily go back to 3D if you want. TX

Not that a mod isn't fun to do, but, you can buy a 4C Mag for less than $20.

If you convert to a 4C (or start with one as I have), the 4R KS 5.0 V 1.7 Amp bulb is rated at 8.5 Watts and 150 Lumens compared to 96 Luments ofr the 3R KS. The 4C is much more impressive than the D. My C NIMH's from Radio Shack are rated at 3.000 ah, but I've seen ads for 3.800 ah C Nimhs.

I haven't measured run time before recharging but it should be considerably more than 90 minutes before dimming too much.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Empath:
Not that a mod isn't fun to do, but, you can buy a 4C Mag for less than $20.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Sure, but you can't make the 4C into a 3D, can you??? TX

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Empath:
Not that a mod isn't fun to do, but, you can buy a 4C Mag for less than $20.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

But it is cheap and now you have two lights in one. PVC and pliers and sandpaper is cheaper than $20

Well, Bushman manouvered me into trading him my spare Carley 3.85 V 1.70 Amp bulb along with some change for his Energizer DB 8AA.

It's spare because nobody responded to my posts with an answer about what 4AA flashlight reflector wouldn't melt with this bulb.

I'll be interested in hearing how Bushman likes the Carley 3R bulb.

Might be better to use it in a Brinkman, as it has a metal reflector. TX

TxWest:

A Brinkman 4AA light has a metal reflector? Which one?

I wish I'd heard that before I committed to Bushman. Oh well, I still want to overdrive the HPR 4.0 V 1.0 Amp bulbs I bought last week in a 4AA flashight with Nimh's.

I don't know about the AA lights. I was thinking of the 3D, since that's the heading of the thread. TX