Maglight ?

How do you get rid of the holes & imperfections in the beam of the mag light 3d cell? I realy like to buy a surefire or something like it, but I need the long run time 3hrs or so. I need a bright light, good beam(no holes) & long run time.Does any body make a light similar to the mag but with a better beam? Thanks for any info.

I understand wanting long runtime, but is there a reason that you could not carry spare batteries? My Surefire U2 on 18650 LG 2600mAh batteries run almost 2 hours on one battery, then just put in the spare if needed. Also you can set it to a lower level and get more runtime.

idukhunt said:

How do you get rid of the holes & imperfections in the beam of the mag light 3d cell? I realy like to buy a surefire or something like it, but I need the long run time 3hrs or so. I need a bright light, good beam(no holes) & long run time.Does any body make a light similar to the mag but with a better beam? Thanks for any info.

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It's funny you should ask, I've been thinking about this myself recently. Any flashlight that has the focus/flood out feature will have holes and imperfections in their beams when the light is flooded out. The rings and holes are products of the type of reflector used. To my knowledge, the ONLY light that is somewhat exempt from this imperfection is the reflector used by Streamlight's Ultrastinger. My Ultrastinger also has the focus/flood-out feature but has no noticeable rings or holes in flood mode; I don't know what kind of reflector the US uses.

idukhunt said:

How do you get rid of the holes & imperfections in the beam of the mag light 3d cell? I realy like to buy a surefire or something like it, but I need the long run time 3hrs or so. I need a bright light, good beam(no holes) & long run time.Does any body make a light similar to the mag but with a better beam? Thanks for any info.

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Welcome to CPF, idukhunt! :wave:

As to your first question, you could probably apply a diffuser of some sort (like the Glad 'Press and Seal' film) but the results are far from adequate on most lights.

Since you are mentioning 'holes & imperfections' I'm going to assume that you are looking for 'flood' over 'throw'. That is, you want broad short-range illumination as opposed to a long distance spotlight. (Mags are already pretty good at this for what they are, and there aren't really any holes if you use maximum focus.)

If you are looking for flood and long runtime, you might want to consider a 3AA MiniMag LED for about $28. According to FlashlightReviews, the light will run just short of three hours to 50% output. You can read the review here.

It might be a cheap answer to your question, as it's overall output beats the 3D Mag. The throw won't be as good, but it would be considerably lighter and easier to carry. They are somewhat focusable, with no holes. A couple of rings maybe, but no holes.

If you are looking for a better quality beam, you should probably consider a Surefire 5 watt LED based light (if my 'flood' assumption is correct.) can't beat 'em for quality, but the runtime requirement might be a problem.

Just a thought tho'. :thinking:

Frosting the bulb medium/heavy allows for a fair amount of flood before a hole shows...

It takes away some brightness/throw however...

But I value beam quality above most other considerations!!!

Everything is a compromise of SOME sort!

The Mag LED that I put in my 2D has a nice looking beam, with great throw, and is a pretty good color for an LED.

Other than that the only way I know to make the Mag get rid of imperfections would be to put one of the aftermarket reflectors in it, but I am not sure that would be worth it for and otherwise stock Mag.

If you are and incandescent kinda guy then the sure fire E2O or E2E with extended run time lamp has a decent battery life. You could also consider getting a rechargable light from Streamlight or one of the many setups available from some of the forums members.

PlayboyJoeShmoe said:

Frosting the bulb medium/heavy allows for a fair amount of flood before a hole shows...

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I forgot about that I still need to get to the hobby store so I can try this out.

metalhed,actualy i am looking for more throw than flood I just don't like the beam on the mag,even win it is tight focused it has holes & artifacs starting at about 40 to 50 ft

Maybe, a Mag 85 with textured reflectored is what you're looking for? If you're not sure about what it is, search!

idukhunt said:

I need a bright light, good beam(no holes) & long run time.Does any body make a light similar to the mag but with a better beam?

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If you want a smooth beam, I think that can be better acheived by LED than incandescent, plus LED can provide long run times. You want a light "similar to the mag" so what I am about to suggest may be too far off what you want, but look a the Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon 3C. It is reviewed here
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propoly_3c.htm
A bright beam, lots of throw, no holes, minimal artifacts, and 6 hours of regulated output. Of course, it is polymer, not aluminum, and uses C batteries, not D, so may or may not fit what you want.

You could try one of the textured reflectors from here:
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/index.php?cPath=48_56_73

You could sputter the reflector

Hello idukhunt and welcome at CPF

The perfect beam you'll find at a multiple Luxeon light, IMO. Take a look, here are many different lights of such a type.

Best regards

_____
Tom

I have 4D led conversion and I like it.

The output drops somewhat after 15 mins or so, but still kind of bright. I hope to get the 38 or so advertized hours.

Light/medium frost gives throw without swirls and artifacts. The WA01160 in my M*gcharger is just lightly frosted and throws nicely! Looks good on a white wall too.

Ain't NOTHING wrong with others suggestions of LED. I have diffusing lenses on my C/D M*gleds and get a smooth spot.

Streamlight PP 3C LUX is pretty damn nice too!