3D Mag LED Mod Input

What do you think about the Trilight and Supersix?/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gifClick here for more info
I have a maglite 3D and am wondering if these are worth the money. Any other mag LED mod suggestions would be great. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Thanks! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Check posts on this forum for the last 2-3 weeks, there are a couple of threads about the Epieon LED replacement bulb for a 3-cell flashlight http://www.ledcorp.com

There also is a thread or 2 about a new LED replacement (EverLED) bulb that will begin shipping in March, info at http://www.ledsupply.com

I don't know if anybody has a review of the EverLED to share yet, but I can endorse the Epieon as a drop-in upgrade to a 3D Mag. The light is brighter than the standard bulb, smoother beam pattern, and longer battery life. It can't be nearly as bright as the InReTech products you mentioned, but the price is a lot less also.

We also have a 20x LED adapter for the 3D MAGLITE as well; its not as bright as the TriLight, but its much cheaper - in KingBright and Yoldol Whites

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Illuminatingbikr said:
What do you think about the Trilight and Supersix?...

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Here is a review of the Super 6 by Craig at the LEDMuseum (which is a most excellent site if you haven't checked it out yet): SUPER 6 .

Pat

Craig should be doing a review on the TriLight soon

I guess he just did the review

http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/trilight.htm

Super6 comments

Hello Illuminatingbikr,

Welcome.

I only have the Super6 and will limit my comments to that. My TriLight is on its way (isn't that right Mike?) and I should be able to compare them in a little while.

First I would suggest that you read Craig's comments at LED Museum Look under LED Flashlights C and D cell. While you are there, take a look around. He has a lot of good information on other lights and components.

Now I will give you my $0.02 worth.

The Super6 is an area light. Usually when you pick up a flashlight, you point the beam at something and light it up. This light just lights the whole area up. It is like haveing a lantern in a flashlight handle. There is no beam, just a wall of light. You don't point this flashlight, you just ease it into the general direction.

Now comes the compromise. With the light dispersed in a wide pattern, the throw of the light is limited. I am comfortable using it at a little over 20 feet. It will reach beyond that, but it gets dim fast. I can light up the whole side of a building at 50 feet, but at that range I can not read the address numbers (no comments about ageing eyesight please). It works best in areas where there is little outside light. If you turn it on in the daylight, you have to get within two or three feet of the object to see the light shine on it.

Where do you use such a light? Last week I found myself under my house checking on the shower plumbing. No problems, just making sure everything was secure. I replaced a shower valve and thought the pipes were a little loose. I took the Super6 as a drop light and it lit up the whole area under the house. I also had another light to look at specific details, but it was kind of like working under your car in the daylight. My work requires that I inspect the inside of pipes. It is dark in there. The Super6 is a good way to give background lighting to the area.

Craig shows the Super6 with a copper heat sink, and INRETECH has changed that to aluminum. Also, Craig had a prototype and the production modules have a more finished look to them.

My light (I was going to use the word beam, but there is no beam) color is interesting. Three of the LED's have a bluish cast to them, and the other three have a greenish cast to them. The mix is pleasent with just a hint of green to it.

Craig reports the draw at a little over 1 amp. I am using NiMh 9Ah batteries in it which should give 9 hours of theoretical light. Divide that in half to get a useful run time of a little over 4 hours, with the first two hours brighter. I have found that it still has plenty of useful light after four hours. It has a published run time of 2 hours with alakalines.

Bottom line, if you need a beam to examine a detail, the TriLight would be better, but if you need to light a whole area up, go with the Super6.

Others on this forum have posted comments on the TriLight and you should read them to better understand that light. When I get mine, I will also check it out and post any comments I have.

Tom

Re: Super6 comments

Just an update on the Super6 battery run time.

First 4 hours - good light,
Next 2 hours - a little dimmer, but still good
Next 3 hours - steady progression towards dimmer.

At the end of 9 hours (on NiMh 9000mAh batteries) I had to hold the light 2 feet from the wall to get close to the same illumination that I originally got at 20 feet. It was pretty dim. I stopped the test.

Tom

Re: Super6 comments

I just got a Super6 today, I like it a great deal. All of the Luxeons are white in mine, with the slightest, almost unmentionable bluish tint. Also, I must mention that I am running mine in a 4 C cell Mag. The LED museum states that the Super6 is underdriven at 3 cells, so I'm not sure if I am driving it nominally, or overdriving it. One of the reps of Inretech can answer that. I haven't seen the swath (beam?, no SWATH) of light on 3 cells.

In carrying the light down at my side, it illuminates almost my entire peripheral vision, and is great for walking at night. I echo the 20 ft reach of the Super6, that's what I was thinking on the way back from my walk tonight, 20-30 ft. (20 ft. is plenty for walking or working by the way.) It may be even better on a darker night, though. The main consideration is that I can see everything.

I told my mom tonight, using a "normal" flashlight is like looking at the world through a toilet paper tube. Using the Super6 is like looking at the world through a 55 gallon drum, well no, a 55 gallon drum cut in half, well maybe a quarter. No, using the Super6 is like looking at the world, PERIOD. (Yeah, guys, use that on your site as a testimonial.)

Oh, additional comments (complaints, observations?) are:
1. If the module sat farther forward in the head, the swath would probably cover the entire periphery of my vision.
2. I have a newer model than The LED museum, my Luxeons are mounted upside down on, and shining through holes in, the circuitboard. If they were surface mounted, none of the sidespill of the LD Luxeons would be obscured by the circuitboard.
[*UPDATE* Considering how it is constructed (Luxeons soldered to the circuitboard inverted, and the circuitboard is mounted inverted on the heatsink, w/Luxeons back to the heatsink.) perhaps if the holes in the circuitboard for the luxeons were countersinked on the side opposite the Luxeons, it would allow even more light output. *UPDATE*]
3. The module is extemely robust. When I received it in the mail today in nothing but a padded envelope, I was worried. But after opening it, my fears were allayed. It is a rock-solid unit.
4. It just looks WAY COOL. It has a quality look about it, I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this one to prevent pilferage or snarfage.

I have a question concerning the Super6 that may be addressed here.
Does the Super6 need to be in contact with the interior of the Mag head for heatsinking, or is the aluminum block it is mounted on sufficient? What about when being driven with 4 cells? I ask because the interior of the Mag C head has a "shelf". After installing it, I unscrewed the head just to the point of making contact with this internal "shelf". The head of the light warms after a couple of minutes of use. I have not a D cell Mag to install it in to see if it mates with this "shelf", if it does exist, in a D cell Mag.

Just for the record, here is a Super6.

Re: Super6 comments

Shankus,

I like to think of it this way, the standard InReTech D adapter heatsink is larger than the first Pentium heatsinks. We used every bit of space we could for the heatsink for the TRILIGHT and that was a lot. Although our current aluminum heatsink does not have the mass of the original brass, it has a lot more volume. We originally intended to maintain contact, but backed away from that in order to fit a wider array of products.

The heatsink is more than large enough to handle the 30W of power we put through the MEGA6, the Super6's big brother, in standard temperatures. Direct contact is not required. If you decide to fight fires with your Super6, let us know how it works out. I would not expect the light to survive extended periods at more than 200 degrees Centigrade.

I am glad you like the light and that this solution is working for you.

Re: Super6 comments

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shipinretech said:
We originally intended to maintain contact, but backed away from that in order to fit a wider array of products.

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On your site it is stated as a 3 D Mag adapter. It also works in C cell Mags, but what other lights?
You should list everything that it will work in on the site, you would sell many more of them. I think most of the CPF members probably don't even know that it fits in a C cell Mag, much less "non-flashaholics".



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shipinretech said:
I am glad you like the light and that this solution is working for you.

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This is an understatement.

Re: Super6 comments

Our original tolerance was set for side contact on a silver 3D MAG-LITE(R). Much to our suprise, what fit perfectly in a silver flashlight did not fit at all well in a black flashlight. The difference in coatings was too much for our original tolerance. With that lesson learned, we backed away from direct contact and pulled our machining closer.

If you feel a particularly strong need for additional heat sinking and want to arrange a conductive (as opposed to convective) heat transfer to the head of the flashlight, you can pack the flashlight head with a thermal conductor.

Please be aware that any such conductor will work both ways and that you would not want to take such a light into an enclosed fire. As somebody who has spent a lot of time learning to fight fires in a steam ship's boiler room, I think about such things. If you are not expecting to fight main space fires, go right ahead.

I don't think you'll need additional heat sinks for regular use of any of our products, but if you want more thermal protection, have a good time.