AA mini-mag?

G'day, Hope I'm posting this in the right area, could some one please help with some advice, specifically which AA mini-mag drop in mod is best? The Lux tle5 or the Nite Ize3led ?? I am after brightness, not run time.
Thanks, any help would be appreciated.

4D223 said:

G'day, Could some one please help with some advice, specifically which AA mini-mag drop in mod is best? The Lux tle5 or the Nite Ize3led ?? I am after Brightness, not run time.
Thanks.

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Depends what you mean by best, 4D223.

The newer TLE5 with the high dome luxeon is probably not a bad way to go , although I'm sure the hardcore mag modders will disagree with me. It's cheap (probably $30 to Australia), has a nice bright white beam and decent runtime (5+ hours in a 2AA mag).

Avoid the older side emitter TLE5, which will give an abysmal beam.

Thanks Gadgetnerd, I know of a Auroralite hotwire than can be done but I am a new modder and want to start off "walking before I run". I like the TLE5 myself but don't know all the tech stuff yet

Consider a drop in sandwich from "The Sandwich Shoppe".

Nite-Ize 3LED module and brightness is an oxymoron. Skip this one.

Instructions for upgrading a minimag.
Warning: LOOOOONG load time due to many pix.

Dummy Reference Guide to Minimag Modding(many pix)
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=83903

Sweet, thanks LEDninja, I have saved it to disk so I can check it out for a full read over the weekend, I am liking the tle5 high dome for a first time drop in mod.

All the sandwich shoppe drop in sandwiches are uniformly well made and some are very bright. If you want the brightest and easiest then something like the Nexgen 750 would probably be your best bet although it appears they don't have them in stock right now. After that the Nexgen 500 or Madmax Plus would be the next brightest.

I think that the Madmax lite is underrated for a nicely balanced beam.

Sigman said:

Consider a drop in sandwich from "The Sandwich Shoppe".

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Good choice, slightly more expensive than the average drop in module [excluding the nite-ize which is only $5]
but...you'll have to buy an o-ring and a reflector for it also...

I think sammies are regulated.... :thinking: but I can be wrong

That's how this went with me.
First, the NiteIze drop in
Then, the TLE5
Now, the Nexgen 750
I guess I'm at the stage where I need a soldering iron now!

4D223 said:

specifically which AA mini-mag drop in mod is best? The Lux tle5 or the Nite Ize3led ?? I am after brightness, not run time.

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Given your criteria and options you're considering: TLE-5. There are other options, of course, but they do require some degree of playing with the details, etc. The TLE-5 is as simple as it gets in terms of Luxeon drop-ins.

I just posted some beam shots of minimags with drop in modules.
It's under "The Great MiniMag Shootout"

I have the TLE-5 high dome and really like it. I'd start with that. But now that I've seen pics of that Nexgen 750 BAD boy that Hogokansatsukan posted in the other thread, I may have to get one of those!

a very simple mod will be upgrading the plastic len to mineral glass. then using 2 x lithium AA battery(the 1.7v NOT the 3.7v!!). can someone check if the StreamLight Twin Task 1L Lamp fits in the minimag? that will be good?

Don't know how long it is going to take before it reaches Oz or how much it will cost there, but Mag's Mini Mag LED 3W is starting to appear in some stores in the U.S. For us in the States it's a low cost off-the-shelf item that will probably be more reliable and brighter than some of the niche-market modification items that you may end up paying much more for.

I have a TLE-5, nite ize, and a nexgen 750.

in order of brightness
nite-ize, then TLE-5, then the nexgen 750. The nexgen went into a maglite with a McR-27L reflector and a lithium battery. the price goes up significantly.

I would look at the new LED lights - I also put a LED replacement in a Maglite 2 C - that does better than any of the Mini-Mags

will said:

I have a TLE-5, nite ize, and a nexgen 750.

in order of brightness
nite-ize, then TLE-5, then the nexgen 750. The nexgen went into a maglite with a McR-27L reflector and a lithium battery. the price goes up significantly.

I would look at the new LED lights - I also put a LED replacement in a Maglite 2 C - that does better than any of the Mini-Mags

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That's good to point out Will......the price difference goes something like this :
- Nite-ize upgrade : about $5
- TL5 upgrade : about $20
- Sandwich upgrade with reflector : about $60 - $75 depending upon which one you go for.

That's a BIG dollar spread...of course the lux output increases dramatically as one increases in cost ! Bottom line.....there's no free ride.

-regards

In response to Chestergw's comment about the lithium AA's and the Twintask bulb, that was the first mod I tried with one of my mini-mags. You have to bore out the reflector just a bit, but its very easy. I did not upgrad the lens, but even without that it was still very bright compared to stock and it threw as far or further than the first Surefire I had just purchased at the time. I did not like the Nite Ize and killed the only one I owned running partially depleted lithium AA's in the light. I now have the TLE-5 and think its alright, and would have been very impressive three years ago........now I'm kind of jaded I suppose, but it is much, much better than stock and really quite useful.

phosphor said:

That's good to point out Will......the price difference goes something like this :
- Nite-ize upgrade : about $5
- TL5 upgrade : about $20
- Sandwich upgrade with reflector : about $60 - $75 depending upon which one you go for.

That's a BIG dollar spread...of course the lux output increases dramatically as one increases in cost ! Bottom line.....there's no free ride.

-regards

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You have the prices right on, I am curious to see how the maglite LEDs in the 2AA and 3AA compare, under $30, and that includes the whole light.