4D Maglite - Should I upgrade it?

Disclaimer: I am a flashlight newbie.

That said, I've got a 4-D-cell Maglite - naturally it's reflector provides less than a smooth beam (I'm being polite here) and the "rings and holes" in the beam make the light frustrating if not downright useless.

Is it possible to upgrade the reflector with a stipple/stochastic/faceted reflector and upgrade the output power of the bulb, or should I just trash the Maglite?

The Maglite's one redeeming feature is its comforting heft when wandering down a dark hallway trying to find what went bump in the night.

a maglite is an excellent host for mods. Try searching ROP or mag 85. There are many reflectors avialible.

Hello craigsharrow and welcome at CPF

You will have a lot of possibilitys. What DrifT3R mentioned or you could go the Led-way. Single Led drop-in, single Led-mod, multiple Luxeon mod, multiple Lux-drop in.

Best regards

____
Tom

there is lots of info here on MagLED 3W module.

I got it, and I also have the very dim but very long running Nite Ize module.

Both are light years away from the incan lights (pun intended)

Both designs needs heat sinks. For the ultimate, have to go custom at 10x the cost.

I think the OP was asking a rhetorical question.

I just upgraded mine to an ROP. One of the simplest mods I did. I ordered 20 sub-c batteries 3600mAh and some shrinkwrap for them. They work great. If you decide to go this route, let me know. I have an extra pack and they'll be a hell of a lot cheaper than cheapbatterypacks.com. Those packs will go for about $33 for 6 sub-c inline cells.

Spend the 15-20 bucks and try the MagLED drop-in, and go from crappy yellow to WHITE.

I am also interested in doing the same thing for a 3D Mag. Yes, I have searched CPOF a little and I came up with the M2. But I must say that certain posts can be hard to understand for a newbie, so it might be good to just throw in some suggestions here for the simpler mods.

For the light, the obvious easy thing to try is the Mag LED module.

For the reflector, there is the M2. But what else is there? Has anyone tried to rough up the original reflector? What options are there to maintain focusing ability? Etc.

Heatsinking: with the LED module, it seems like power will progressively drop down to 50% withing about 15-20 minutes. if you use the Mag a few minutes at a time, it is not a concern. But you want bettter heatsinking, what are the easier options?

Think from a newbie's persepective: no machining, no soldering, etc.

pilou said:

Heatsinking: with the LED module, it seems like power will progressively drop down to 50% withing about 15-20 minutes. if you use the Mag a few minutes at a time, it is not a concern. But you want bettter heatsinking, what are the easier options?

Click to expand...

The Led drop-ins without a heatsink like the stock Mags are IMO a waste of energy and brightness.
Cooling the Led with a good heatsink is equal important like to drive them with the right current.

This drop-ins will have their market, specially for people outside of CPF to upgrade their old light, but if I have the choice between a good heatsinked light and such a "bulb-drop-in", I would ever go with the heatsinked one.

Here at this great forum you will find the source to build your own heatsinked light with great output also at longer runtimes, much more efficiency and, if you want, with a full current regulation, perhaps with different brightness levels. And all this for not much more $$.

The multiple drop-in in this thread could be interesting, but I have no experiences about it, so I can't say anything about the quality:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/135365

Best regards

_____
Tom

craigsharrow --

I can't tell from your original post what your priority is. Is it most important to:
Have a flashlight with a very smooth beam?
End up with something brighter than the 4D Maglite?
Keep the heft of the 4D Mag?
And also, how much money are you willing to spend?

If you want to keep the heft of the 4D Mag, then modding is the best route, find the mods that fit your smoothness/brightness requirement.

If your priority is brightness, and you don't mind a smaller light, there are many options, using 2xCR123, or 3xCR123, or rechargeable batteries, and how bright you want the light to be depends on how much money you want to spend.

If your priority is a very smooth beam, consider going with an LED light, it could get you good run time and regulated output which approaches a standard 4D Mag's ouput. One example is the Streamlight Propolymer Luxeon 3C, reviewed here:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_propoly_3c.htm
There are plenty of other lights to consider, too.

And even if you buy a different light, keep the 4D Mag and mod it later, you can never have too many lights.

EssLight

I like the throw of a mag's reflector with luxeon IIIs. In the dealer section, you can find a heatsink and a U binned luxeon three for ten US dollars each shipped. Then you could just decide if you'd like to use a certain driver (a downboy perhaps) or go cheap and resistor it down.


If you're just wanting to play with the reflector, you could try sputtering it with clear spraypaint. That smooths the beam out, more or less depending on how much you sputter.

No don't up grade it. Works perfevctly poor off the shelf. But instead if you want a M@g sized X990: How about a 4D sized Li_Ion powered 125 watt over driven ' Osram 100 watt 625 bulb regulated, runs 50 minites, 3000 lumens.......This is a TORCH!

i want to know how to build something like that............ i have a 6d lying around

>But I must say that certain posts can be hard to understand for a newbie<

you can say that again! plus it is tough trying to wade through searches because a lot of the hits that come up are irrelevant.

i've got 2 4D mags that i'd like to mod to get brighter, smoother light output. longer runtime would be a plus also but not as important. sure would be great if there was a thread or www page that had several options for mods that started easy and progressed into the more advanced so one could pick and choose.

An ROP-HI would be your best bet.
Direct drive, no switch or bi-pin mods.
6 Sub-Cs (3300mAh) would provide good run time, 6 1/2Ds would be even better. Both of these batter combinations require little more than some spacer pipe/paper or an extended spring.
A glass lens or aluminum replector would be required for long continuous run times. However, if you're just using it for 30-45 seconds (longer than it sounds) at a time, the plastic reflector and lens should work for a while.

tm3, there is a lot of knowlage out here on CPF. Read thru it. I did mean to be crass at all. There also are some VERY serious builders out here if you want to spend $$ they can help you. And really cool lights don't come cheap.

Plastic reflectors and plastic lenses melt in NO time on any bulb over 10 watts. A plain Jane M@g 85 needs a metal reflector and glass lens. Stuffing more shorter sub D or C size batteries in a tube and using a higher voltage higher powered lamp which is over driven voltage wise is the ultimate in hot wire lights- pure white beam with no artifacts (Custom reflector and/or frosted bipin bulb required as well).

If you want to turn darkness into daylight, keep going. Read on. The cost is only photos of Ben Franklin you need to part with. So what. You only live once:lolsign: . Have patience. You need alot of that in the Custom FlashLight World. This ain't a instant gratification store unless you find already made Custom's for sale on B/S/T. That CAN happen if you stay tuned....

I am a FlashLight JUNKY. I buy parts for projects yet to be even worked on /designed / made MONTHS ahead of time from the likes of FM, KIU, or AWR (Though we work together, scheming up new rediculuosly over powered lights late at night) Can't say its ever made me unhappy. Just reduced the $$ in my bank account....

Read on. The data on CPF page is .... mmmm... there!:rock:

i 2nd the ROP opinion. build one that takes 6subC cells.

A little brighter? 5C in 1" PVC.

A smooth beam? ArmourEtch cream! Soak the bulb and wash it clean after about a minute. We call this frosting... and a search will find all you need to know!

Quite a bit brighter? 6 SubC and a ROP LO bulb. At this point frosting isn't absolutely neccesary, as when output gets up there rings and holes are less noticeable.

Brighter still? ROP HI

Smooth WHITE beam that is still 100% better than what you have now? M*gled drop in. EVEN IF output drops 50%, color doesn't change. And it happens gradually enough that you probably won't even notice!

thanks -- i'm going to investigate doing the ROP.

Yeah, the ROP thing is not bad. You retain the heft of the Maglite and the beam ends up being shockingly bright if you do it right.

Sub-C is the way to fly especially with 4D cell Mags. They cope best with the massive amperage draw from the bulb. Wimpy AAs are the source of so much misery - increasingly I see folks asking "it only runs for 5 minutes on AAs, why?" naww, don't ask, you went cheap on the cells, sorry to tell ya.. can't run your dragster on dishwater can you?