Converted Mag Lite Solitaire runtime?

Hi,

This question is for everyone who has converted the Mag Lite Solitaire to single LED with an MN21 or equivalent 12 volt battery. Based on personal experience,(vs. calculation) how much run time (at full brightness) have you gotten with this setup? I know some people have used a resistor and some people have not on the basis that the internal resistance of this little battery is enough to prevent harmful current from flowing through the LED. But, this is a very low mah capacity battery and I can't imagine that it would last very long without a resistor even though it would be really bright. I'm quite happy to sacrifice some brightness for longer battery life.

Anyway, I've ready every thread on the Solitaire conversion and now I would like to gather as much data as possible before I do one myself. My thanks and appreciation go out to all who take the time to put in their .02 worth.

i have used a resistor with mine , and it works for about 2 hours at full power , but i only have used it a few mins at a time , so the battery had time to recover , the thought of putting 12v into the led even for a second does not sound safe ,,, but as you said some people have done it this way

Ant

The light is pretty bright for the first few minutes then it starts to dim. Let the batteries rest for a little while and it seems to be OK again the next time you use it. I don't think it lasted over two hours though. It's a fun project but the runtime just isn't there. Still a nice little pocket light if you don't need hours and hours of bright light.