Has the heatsink problem been solved with the MagLED C & D's?

I was thinking of picking up a 3 cell Maglight and an upgrade module, I was wondering if the heatsinking problem that degrades output has been solved?

I doubt it, Infidel. It has only been barely 6 months since MagLEDs came out, no improvement would come this quick from a company this big. They most likely will add some heatsinking to the LEDs, if they know what's good for them. The MagLEDs would be un-freaking-stoppable, no competition, hands down the best LED lights if they would just add 1) heatsinking to keep the LED at its peak performance beyond the first 10 minutes, 2) steal the reflector from the Streamlight Ultrastinger, it has the least amount of artifacts and rings/holes in its light for any adjustable flashlight I've seen.

It depends on what you mean by "degrades output". If you mean a heat problem that damages the LED, causing it's output to decrease over time, it's not a noted problem. If by "degrades output" you mean lessening intensity as the module heats, then that is intended. The options were to rebuild the flashlight with heatsinking, or construct the module with thermostatic power reduction. Since the only intent was to sell a conversion module, thermostatic power reduction, rather than heatsinking, was chosen.

A heatsink can likely be incorporated, through modifying the light, but it's not available as sold.

Since the only intent was to sell a conversion module, thermostatic power reduction, rather than heatsinking, was chosen.

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That is a good point. When you look at just about any properly heatsinked LED flashlight it is always larger than its incand. counterpart from what I've seen (Surefire E2L, Scorpion LED, Minimag LED). Sure Mag could have made the C&D LEDs with better heatsinking but that would have most likely made the designs proprietary to the lights that come with them. I don't think it is really that big of an issue. How many people really use high power lights for longer than a few minutes at a time anyway? Some high power lights have even worse issues when running for extended periods of time(melted reflectors, lenses, etc.). We must also remember how cheap these modules are. For the $65+ a company like Surefire charges for a LED conversion, I'm sure Mag could have done a lot better. Mag is keeping the average consumer in mind, thus they need to keep costs down.

since i dont have a mag-led i`m going to ask anyway.

when you buy a full D size mag-led flashlight, does it just have a drop-in, that you would buy from a shop inside.

or have maglite made an effort if you buy the entire flashlight to better heatsink it.

regards.

John.

It's just a standard D size Mag, with the LED drop-in installed. The spare lamp in the tail is still an incandescent.

From what I've read here it is obvious that the module decreases intensity when it heats up. I have been using mine lately for evening dog walks...(and more now in general as daylight decreases..) Maybe it is dimming after a few minutes, but it is not that obvious to me. It is a huge improvement over stock bulbs. I actually use my 3D/4D MUCH more than I used to because the batteries don't die so quick anymore.
Definitely a way to refurbish my existing lights instead of buying more expensive replacements.

P.S. I have actually started using these in "lantern" mode lately because I am not so paranoid about killing the batteries so quick now..If we were voting I would say "yeah" on this one.

has their been any decent CPF devised heat sinking ideas for the MAG C and D.

I suspect their would be quite a bit of money to be made if a simple MOD could be devised to get the heat from the drop-in to the wall of the maglite.

regards.

john.

TinderBox (UK) said:

has their been any decent CPF devised heat sinking ideas for the MAG C and D.

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Yea, that's all I was wondering about. I guess I wasn't clear enough in my original post. I know Mag is not going to do anything.

I was just thinking about that! I'm suprised someones hasn't attatched a copper band the emitter and spiraled it out to finally make contact with the head wall.

KDOG3 said:

I was just thinking about that! I'm suprised someones hasn't attatched a copper band the emitter and spiraled it out to finally make contact with the head wall.

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I could have sworm somebody was talking about something like that, but I've never heard anything. I bet if somebody make some they would sell like hotcakes. Maybe even something that goes in the base under the LED module. Well maybe that's not possible, but something like that.

bump

How about replacing the plastic tube where the bulb holder is attached with one made from metal?


And if Maglite managed to make proper heatsinking, they could probably start to sell 6.5W LED lights.

I made this a few months ago. I have no real way of testing the output. There is a complete metal path from the LED to the body. The old stlye switch comes apart fairly easily. this also maintains the focus ability of the maglite



the following is the CPF thread where I describe this in more detail

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=123340&referrerid=4688

That would be a good idea if somebody made one. I think it would help the incan bulbs too somewhat.

I don't know if it would work though, because I think that part might need to be electrically isolated from the tube.

InfidelCastro said:

... I bet if somebody make some they would sell like hotcakes. ...

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I have three Mags that need something like that, and if we're talking about a $10 part, I'd probably need more than 3! I'd say there's a definite market for a cleverly-shaped piece of aluminum.

Maybe a big, wide piece of aluminum which replaces the little ``nut'' that holds the bulb in, and almost touches the sidewalls of the light? It wouldn't work with the stock reflector, but that seems like a small sacrifice to make. After all, the defocusing is one of the more objectionable features of the Mags, to my mind.

If the new, heatsinking nut had a circular, sloping groove cut in it, and the reflector were modified to have a short little nub sticking out to ride in it, we could even keep some of the focus-ability. A better idea for my tastes (remember, I don't like the Mag focus system) would be to make the new nut be a tight fit with the sidewalls, for better heat transfer. Then we could either cut the focusing extension off the stock reflector, for cheap, or buy a higher quality reflector, for a better beam.

I'm guessing that the nuts could sell for close to $10, and the nut/reflector combo for close to $30? Any comments? Any machinists in the crowd?

Nels

I finally used my MagLED conversion for more than 20 mins, and yes, it does veyr gradually and unnoticeably diminish in output. Probably not to 1W levels but some.

I wish I could buy a whole new head for it, same or slightly higher lumens and same 40 hour run time.

InfidelCastro said:

That would be a good idea if somebody made one. I think it would help the incan bulbs too somewhat.

I don't know if it would work though, because I think that part might need to be electrically isolated from the tube.

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the part I made is not electrically isolated from the tube. it is part of the negative circuit - no problem at all.

The new style switches are basically 2 halves that are molded. The old stlye had the tube I made as a separate piece. There is a lot of machining on the part that I made. In addition to the tube with a flange on the end, there is a slot, which you can see. there is also a square groove on the inside, like a keyway, that holds a flat spring that makes the negative electrical connection to the bulb.

I would not guess what that would cost to make for the newer style switches, but ceretainly a lot more that $10.

Will, what you made looks as if it would work a lot better than the replacement nut that I was proposing, but it might cost more, too, and be a bit more bother to install. Do you have any idea whether it would make sense to try that replacement nut idea that I proposed just a little way up the thread? Do you think that it could be made fairly cheaply?

I like your replacement bulbholder, but I'm reluctant to spend loads of money and time upgrading the Mags, which are not _that_ great to begin with. At some point, it makes more sense to just buy a better light.

Nels

will said:

The new style switches are basically 2 halves that are molded. The old stlye had the tube I made as a separate piece. There is a lot of machining on the part that I made. In addition to the tube with a flange on the end, there is a slot, which you can see. there is also a square groove on the inside, like a keyway, that holds a flat spring that makes the negative electrical connection to the bulb.

I would not guess what that would cost to make for the newer style switches, but ceretainly a lot more that $10.

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nelstomlinson said:

Will, what you made looks as if it would work a lot better than the replacement nut that I was proposing, but it might cost more, too, and be a bit more bother to install. Do you have any idea whether it would make sense to try that replacement nut idea that I proposed just a little way up the thread? Do you think that it could be made fairly cheaply?

I like your replacement bulbholder, but I'm reluctant to spend loads of money and time upgrading the Mags, which are not _that_ great to begin with. At some point, it makes more sense to just buy a better light.

Nels

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I would not try my solution with the newer style switches. There was a thread here on CPF where an aluminum 'plate' was put in the head. I tried to find it earlier - could not. The focus ability was lost with that solution. Envision a large washer - the hole in the center just fits over the bulb holder.

I will see if i can find it again.