3d cell mag led conversion

Hi all,

Been meaning to convert the trusty old 3d cell mag to led for a while but just hadn't got around to it. Had a look recently and my oh my everyone's brought out a led conversion kit. Mainly of interest to me are the 2 kits brought out by maglite itself and nite ize. Both brands i trust and used before so just wondering people's thoughts on both if you have used them before. Here are the two products of interest.

http://www.maglite.com/LED_Mod.asp

http://www.niteize.com/productdetai...27&PHPSESSID=b5fbf8c1521ba429ee3d26126f289397

I am also curious for the people who have used it or have the know how, what are the exact output (lumens ) both products are putting out. Both have a lot on their respective sites about how much longer the battery life will be (stating the obvious) with leds but not much about if the output is equalled, diminished or exceeds of the trusty standard issue incandesent lamp? from what i can gather, the stardard issue 3d cell lamp puts outs about 85lms. Also if anyone knows if there are (trusted brand )led conversion kits that have a higher output than that? If any one can 'shed some light' pardon the pun on the matter, i'd greatly apprecite it. thanks

I had a Nite Ize in my 2D Maglite -- it was way too dim. I replaced it with the new Variable Power L.E.D upgrade from Sears, which appears to be made by Dorcy. Huge improvement over the Nite Ize and much better than the stock Mag bulb. Only costs about $15.

Gee.... good timing IlikeLEDs. This product will hopefully begin shipping this next week:

http://batteryjunction.com/tle-6k2.html

Scroll down to see the actual drop-in. Looks to be 100 lumens with a 3D M*glight such as yours (and mine).

Derek Dean said:

Gee.... good timing IlikeLEDs. This product will hopefully begin shipping this next week:

http://batteryjunction.com/tle-6k2.html

Scroll down to see the actual drop-in. Looks to be 100 lumens with a 3D M*glight such as yours (and mine).

Click to expand...

Jut orded one for my 4D M@G

And why do people always censor out the a?

Derek Dean said:

Gee.... good timing IlikeLEDs. This product will hopefully begin shipping this next week:

http://batteryjunction.com/tle-6k2.html

Scroll down to see the actual drop-in. Looks to be 100 lumens with a 3D M*glight such as yours (and mine).

Click to expand...

Thats the one I'm going for

The NiteIze and the MagLED are like night and day, literally. The NiteIze is a sub-1watt bulb that is very dim. It's main redeeming feature is that it will continue to put out it's dim light at very low voltages. So it does make a good back up bulb to provide emergency light if you break your bulb or your batteries get low. The MagLED bulbs on the other hand, are 3watt bulbs that offer about the same performance as the stock incandescent bulbs with longer battery life.

Here's the reviews on each of these from FlashlightReviews.com:
NiteIze Bulb
MagLED Bulb

In summary of his results:
NiteIze on 2D cells - Overall output 4.8, Runtime test stopped at 24 hours with output still at 92% of starting level.
MagLED on 3D cells - Overall output 47.5, Runtime test reached 50% of starting level at roughly 23 hours.
For comparison: Incandescent Mag3D - Overall output 23.0, Runtime test reached 50% of starting level at 1 hour.

Derek Dean said:

Gee.... good timing IlikeLEDs. This product will hopefully begin shipping this next week:

http://batteryjunction.com/tle-6k2.html

Scroll down to see the actual drop-in. Looks to be 100 lumens with a 3D M*glight such as yours (and mine).

Click to expand...

Nice; too bad they don't have a 2D version.

Greenlead said:

Nice; too bad they don't have a 2D version.

Click to expand...

No worries, they are releasing a 2D version with a booster circuit in 4-6 weeks. If you cant wait that long, buy 2 3AA to 1D converters and use 6AAs in your light. Youll get shorter runtime though. I'm not sure if you can mix 1D and one AA to D converter though.

IlikeLEDs said:

the stardard issue 3d cell lamp puts outs about 85lms.

Click to expand...

A 3D Maglite only makes about 35-40 lumens out the front, and that's right when you turn it on. It drops to about 30 lumens in 5-10 minutes.

I've never tried any of the drop-ins, but instead bought a couple of heatsinks here on CPF and put in my own Lux LEDs. I have one with a R-bin LuxI running DD off 3x alkaline D-cells that's as bright as a stock 3D Mag, but much more white and nicer beam.

Thanks for the responses guys! And thanks for pointing me toward battery junction too. Not too many small specific stores ship to australia but it seems like they do so i'm quite happy.

NOw following on while we are visiting the subject, has anyone got their hands on a mini mag 3watt led from maglite and how does that again compair with the 1watt version by niteize? I'm guessing it will go down the path of the 3d cell mags?

Also what are your view/recommendations/info on the new streamlight night com duel led/incadensent flashlight? On paper it looks quite good? But not too many reviews around yet? HAs anyone actually used it?

LAstly, does anyone know the website for LIGHTSAVER? they've just come out of no where and in my view, filled a couple of voids in the flashlight market.

Check out brigade quatermasters website

www.actiongear.com

alot of lightsaver stuff on there, i'm quite keen on gettin my hands on the improved tail caps switches for my surefie, but i just cant seem to find out too much about the company? IF anyone knows the website or know more about them, please share the intel. It would be greatly apprecitaed. Thanks

Hi all, why no takers on the last/above questions? Surely someone has used the light? or Come across lightsaver products? even their website address would help? Thanks

the 3aamagled is awesome right out of the box. a ton of flood and a decent spot with just a quarter turn. it kills the sandwiches for the 2aa maglite. this is of course until the terralux cree sandwich comes out. mmm... i'm hungry

I really like the NiteIze LEDs; they are great at providing a dim light for a very long time. If your needs include camping or power outages they are worth having.

I have the MiniMag LED in 2AA and find it OK, but there are better lights available.

TerraLux new SSC LED has me very interested. The 3 to 6 cell version is available now and the 2 cell version is forthcoming. This seems to be the best drop in option yet to maximize performance.

I have a pair of 2D Mags with Mag LEDs. Despite the heatsinking issue I'm still very happy with them. After owning the first one for a month, I picked up another one last week. My first one was still producing some light after 36 hours with a 12 hour break in between. The GF thought that I had accidentally turned it on and turned it off, spoiling my pure run time test. :thumbsdow

GeorgePaul said:

I had a Nite Ize in my 2D Maglite -- it was way too dim.

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It's considerably brighter in 3+ cell lights - Not really recommended for 2-cellers.