Is there a good substitute for the Mag85?

I mean a step down to something in the 300-400 lumen range? According to what I have read the Mag85 will be putting out over 600 lumens and well, I wouldn't not mind sacrificing some lumens for a more reasonable runtime.

Thanks.

There are lesser WA bulbs, that will run w/ similar voltages but less amperage. I think the 1311 is one. It follows that if the bulb draws 1/2 or 2/3 of the amperage, then the lumens output will be less and runtime will be longer.

Best bet is a multiple LED mag mod, a tri or quad cree mod, could give you 600 lumens and if using 3 AA nimhs you could get a few hours, I would use a Shark Boost and 6 or 9AA's

6 AA's in a tri cree with 600 lumens would give you 78 minutes or more using the pot to lower the power

9 AA's 117 minutes 600 lumens or longer runtime less lumens, unless you are determined to use Incan.

The WA 1111 on some set ups will run quite a while. What is a good run time to you? Next, how long of a light will you accept as that is the limiting factor to power supply.

Here is an example to the problem you have asked about.
Both the WA111 and Phillips 5761 run at 7.2 volts. You can stuff 12 sanyo or powerx 2700 mAh AA batteries into a three cell or Mag Charger bored or into a 4 cell unbored. You could opt for a skinnier battery at slightly less amp/hours too. This pack therefore is 7.2 volts and has 5.4 Ah run time. The WA1111 runs at 3.67 amps and out put is 834 bulb lumens/542 torch lumen and the run time figures at 88 minutes. Change the bulb in that light to a 5671 and it runs at 5.46 amps for 1336 bulb lumens/ 868 torch lumens and the run time here is 60 minutes. Same power pack with both runtimes over an hour and two brightness levels, one above the 1185, one below the 1185. If you want the level of light between the two then you can use the 1185 at 10.8 volts, 776 torch lumens 3.35 Amps. On 18 of the same batteries mentions, 5.4 Ah you have a 96 minute run time. To get the run time up you need to drop the bulb voltage, (This allows more batteries for more Ah) or in combination drop the bulb amps (runs longer on a given supply)

For any given host, if you drop to a lower voltage solution that means you have more space to pack in batteries to increase the run time. I need run time and good bright lights. That is why I settle for the 5761, brighter than a 1185 but runtime is dependant on how many Ah is in the pack, so for my light about twice the run time as an 1185. A longer light, more batteries then you can get some run time out of most anything. So just under 900 lumens for an hour is fine or 500 lumens for 88 minutes and about half the brightness, 5761 and WA1111 expamples. To get more run time in 2,3 and 4 cell lights you may want to look at bulbs runing at 6, 7.2 and 9.6 volts (wa1164) and see if you can get the number of batteries you need into your host to run you slection.
This pile of confusion is what I faced when I first wanted to build a good light. I was pleasently surprised to find many high lumens bulbs ran on lower voltage than the wa1185. The wa1164 and the phillips 5761 are two that have higher output. Good luck, crunch the numbers.

Thanks Northern! That info was very informative. And I will crunch the numbers. Lol.


65535- your info is also very much appreciated. I don't really have a preference for light type, but I would imagin that the led are going to more resistant to being borked if the Mag should fall.

WA1306 and WA1331 are the lower power versions of WA1185. I would recommend you to try out WA1306, it give you 3 times the runtime of WA1185, but it still throws very well.