Reviews of TLE-6EXB (2-3 C/D Maglite Drop in)

I purchased and just received a TLE-6EXB from MattK at www.BatteryJunction.com which was my first purchase there and a great experience from the order and follow-up communication to the shipping. Frankly, I can't believe I received it so quickly.

I installed the unit in a 2D maglite hit the switch and it flashed once. I thought, oh no, there was a problem with the regulator, the LED was over driven and blew. Turned it off then on again and reproduced the flash. Checked the cells – 1.36v on each cell. Even though that's just standing voltage, that should be good enough. Nonetheless, I put a fresh set of cells in and presto, the whitest, brightest light I could imagine from this old flashlight. Unfortunately I have little experience to compare the performance to, so take that accolade with a grain of salt.

I know how standing voltage can be insignificant in testing a battery without a load, but I would expect that to play a larger roll in an older lead acid battery, not an alkaline. So, I am now wondering if I received a TLE-6EXA Rather than the B. If not, and it takes over 2.72V to drive this unit, I don't think it can be appropriate for the claimed 2 cell application.

BTW, this is my first performance LED light and my first post here after lurking for a bit and I have enjoyed the passion and technical expertise on this forum. However, I need another technical interest like a whole in the head.

First off I must say Welcome to the forum
I am now obligated to repeat the mantra of "Hold onto your wallet" as fair warning.

A very good and interesting first post. Gives a few things to think about...
Amazing that the boost can't function with cells at 1.36v. That means... so much of the cells potential will be wasted and not used. Thanks for this important report!

I certainly do hope "newbie" does a thorough review of this new TerraLux 6EX-B module. Like he did for the 6EX here. It might take him another month to get around to it though...if he does it at all. I'm impatient for reviews and a quick conclusion on new lights or upgrades.

I'm using mine is a 3D, so hopefully the 3D's, even when low, will still power it for awhile.

Cydonia said:

First off I must say Welcome to the forum
I am now obligated to repeat the mantra of "Hold onto your wallet" as fair warning.

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Thanks for the welcome and warning. I am well familiar with the latter. I read newbie's review. Is he/she an EE?

WadeF said:

I'm using mine is a 3D, so hopefully the 3D's, even when low, will still power it for while.

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Assuming my experience is by design and not a battery or unit issue, and it can be driven at 2.8v - all large assumptions right now - the extra cell will make a substantial difference, giving you a .9 average per cell. Of course I have no data that indicates it cannot require MORE than that. More information is need here.

I have several 3D mags.

I wonder which is better: a TLE6EX with 4 C cells, or a TLE6EXB with 3 D's.

AndyTiedye said:

I have several 3D mags.

I wonder which is better: a TLE6EX with 4 C cells, or a TLE6EXB with 3 D's.

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One also wonders what output difference exists between the 6EX on 3 cells and the 6EXB on 3 cells... the 6EX on 3 cells (running dim with low output compared to 4 cells) might produce the least heat of all these TerraLux modules overall. And the LED itself will certainly be contributing less heat due to it being underdriven. (Yet the 6EX on 3 cells is still far brighter than a MagLED on 3 cells.) So, the dimmest TerraLux configuration being the 6EX on 3 cells, and the coolest, should be the most durable from an overheating view? Hmmm :thumbsdow

I also ran into some old battery problems with mine. My light lit up enough to see fine w/ the xenon bulb, and same batts wouldn't give me more than a dim quick blick wih the led. But fresh batteries and it was great. Hopefully runtimes are decent, i would be pretty upset if im throwing away batteries that would still light up a stock flashlight. Other than that, it's a great light w/ this drop in, nice and bright.

Very interesting, folks.


Thank you for yer' reports so far.



Still trying to decide which one to buy for my 3-D cell Maglite

I guess I am glad I havent ventured out and bought one of these like I did with the SSC minimag module, I'll sit on my haunches and wait this one out...

well got in in today its not fully night yet but the room i tested is pretty dark but what i see is output is not bad i can hardly differ from what i already have it may be a bit brighter ...the major issue i see that boggles me is what its doing in regulation ..in both 2 & 3 D i was amazed to see this regulated pulling 1amp from good batteries , i was stunned cuz it didnt look like 1amp was coming out the front , then i had 2 other batteries @ 1.37v it still tested @1amp but again it did not look good, NOW the real mind boggler i had 1 coppertop that was .7v and i used that with a good battery so theres a little over 2v total and it was pulling 700ma but there was no light coming out at all from the led ??? i added another battery and it pulled an amp and it was dimm .....so where all that current going ?



another thing maybe its just me but i had a hard time to even screw it in cuz the can was so short

xhackr said:

I am now wondering if I received a TLE-6EXA Rather than the B.

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It looks like they are color coded. If the body is black it should be the B, Gray the A.

qip said:

another thing maybe its just me but i had a hard time to even screw it in cuz the can was so short

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It wasn't you, I did too. Without a reference point, I just thought that was normal. Although, I have been known to cross thread once or twice before.

Thujone said:

It looks like they are color coded. If the body is black it should be the B, Gray the A.

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Ahh, thanks for that info. It's black. It looks like others are seeing some issues as well. Hopefully MattK can clarify some of the operational issues.

I've been trying to screw this damn thing in for 15 minutes with no luck.

Delta said:

I've been trying to screw this damn thing in for 15 minutes with no luck.

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LOL i thought i was having a mental lapse too as it took a while to get it perfectly lined up to screw in

Took me a good 10 of messing with it to get it on there...don't break the boards...

WTF???

Let me get this out of the way first....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARE YOU FRICKIN KIDDING ME??

This LED is JUNK!! I CANNOT believe what I am seeing.

It comes on bright and white, and stays that way for like...5 seconds. At that point the transformation begins.

As it gets dimmer, it also CHANGES COLORS!! Thats right! It starts turning BLUE. I don't mean kinda blue, or blue-tinted, I mean B-L-U-E!! Output goes to sh*t, and this all happens in less than 30 seconds!!!

I tell you what.... I read about this miracle drop-in and thought to myself, you know, you don't have any big lights like the MagLite...a Maglite with an LED like my L2D would be kick ***! Boy did I get duped!

TerraSux LED: $24.95
2 D-cell Maglite: $16.95
UCL Lens: $6.95
NI Grip N Clip: $7.00
3 D cell Mag: $18.95 (after finding out the Grip N CLip needs 3 cells)
_____________________________________________

Grand Total: $74.80 Wasted (more than that with shipping!)

Yep, coulda got Quite a few good lights (Including a Fenix P3D Natural) for that money.

Sure, someday I could build a Mag85 or something, but that does me no good now.


I'm sorry for ranting. I'm just so pissed right now I can't see straight. This is my first experience trying to upgrade a light and it was nothing but a big waste of money I really don't have to waste.

whew....just breathe....breathe.....

You think I just got a bad one? Is this happening to anyone else?

for your 3d i would just get the tle-6ex ,that is still good and reliable ....mine hasnt turned blue but i wouldnt be suprised if it did as i put it in 3d for a minute and it got pretty warm and with the small heatsink it would only be a matter of time......im assuming something went wrong on the assembly line as why these modules are so small and something needs to be done with the volt buck/boost .....in the end its our fault as well as terralux ,they responding to our demands which was good on their part but it was kinda hurried from our inpatience and so the product was not fully put through the test and have the kinks worked out

qip said:

and so the product was not fully put through the test and have the kinks worked out

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I would say the product was put through any QA at all. Sure, If you flash it on for 1 second it looks good, but to go from blinding white to dim, tidy-bowl-blue in less than one minute, that's inexcusable.

I just got mine today and installed it in about a minute. With fresh energizer D cells x 2, the light looked great for the first minute but then it dims and shows its true color: barf green! A terrible product. Stay away. I hope Malkoff will have more of his drop-ins available soon.
:thumbsdow