mini maglite aa led upgrade what one

ok i do not want to set things on fire" not this week any way lol" but i am looking at low cost upgrade for my mini mag i have a 3 led from nite ize but after needing on there website about a 1 watt led i was wondering what is better or is there something better for under $ 25 i am already get the push buttion for my mini mag nice thing to have...... but on a budget any ideas...

hey Dogbert, get one of these:

"TerralUX TLE-5EX
MiniStar2 EXTREME
LED Replacement
bulb for your 2AA
Mini-Maglite®"

http://www.led-replacement.com/tle-5ex.html

its a 5 watt replacement, costs around $25 (use CPF in the coupon area for a discount) and they ship FAST!. I'm very happy with mine. Its BRIGHT.

:thumbsup:

I bought a couple of smjled from lighthound, they are brighter than nightize and have insane runtimes. Some people reported over 35 hours on alkies. The best part they are only $6.99

The Terralux Seoul is probably the brightest Minimag drop-in around your proce range, $25 without shipping. The SmJLED Drop-in is another good drop-in with about the same brightness as the Minimag but with a longer runtime.

Terralux TLE-5 is the way to go in my humble opinon. I have banged one around in my bike bags as a backup light at -35C and they work fine even in very old maglites.

I have to admit that the Terralux people gave me one as I had explained the Canadian institutional flashlight market to them, so I guess I am not neutral. Still, I have found it to be very good kit!

enlightenment!

info link says 3W? :shrug:
no biggie though - it is still motivating me to dig some old minimags out of storage

Bushman5 said:

...

its a 5 watt replacement, costs around $25 (use CPF in the coupon area for a discount) and they ship FAST!. I'm very happy with mine. Its BRIGHT.

:thumbsup:

Click to expand...

sorry... double post

triple post? :shrug:

Bushman5 said:

hey Dogbert, get one of these:

"TerralUX TLE-5EX
MiniStar2 EXTREME
LED Replacement
bulb for your 2AA
Mini-Maglite®"

http://www.led-replacement.com/tle-5ex.html

its a 5 watt replacement, costs around $25 (use CPF in the coupon area for a discount) and they ship FAST!. I'm very happy with mine. Its BRIGHT.

:thumbsup:

Click to expand...

How easy was it to install? Do you have any beamshots or pictures of it installed? I'm curious to see how it looks. Thanks!!

I'm also interested in doing this upgrade myself. I'm eying the LED-replacements TerraLux 5ex.

However, I'm also thinking about getting a different flashlight. I've been looking around at some of the discount online stores, and like the single 18650 lights. Would it be a better investment to get a whole new light or upgrade the mini-mag? (for around the same cost) Probably the top of my list is the DX Eastward YJ.

From what I understand, a decent 18650 light should be quite a bit brighter than even the new 5ex drop-in. How do run times compare? Anything else I should consider?

i got no camera, but the install is VERY easy:

remove the minimag bezel
remove the reflector and replce with the Terralux reflector

remove the head,
remove the stock bi-pin bulb, replace with the Teraalux Bi-pin LED dropin

put the head and bezel back on, put a set of new batts in , twist the head to light and there ya go.

2 minutes tops.

:naughty:

I bought one recently on ebay and give my maglite AA a new lease of life. Now I start to use the maglite aa again with that kind of brightness. Also I bought the 5 lights modes multi-function push-button switch end cap (make Nite IZE).

+ 1 to TLE-5EX. Like Bushman5 said, it's very easy to install. But if you don't ever need to adjust the beam by twisting the head, I recommend removing the "do not remove" part from Mag and replacing it with washer. Not that it should need any extra heatsinking, but my Mag flickered every time I touched its head, or even slightly shook the flashlight.

Would it work for a 3aa maglite? (It's just says 2aa)

Stromberg said:

+ 1 to TLE-5EX. Like Bushman5 said, it's very easy to install. But if you don't ever need to adjust the beam by twisting the head, I recommend removing the "do not remove" part from Mag and replacing it with washer. Not that it should need any extra heatsinking, but my Mag flickered every time I touched its head, or even slightly shook the flashlight.

Click to expand...

Where can I get the washer? I used the switch end cap and don't need to twist the head at all. If I can find this washer and that will solved my problem.

Is it possible to use rechargeables Li-Ion with the TL5-EX ?

Gladius01 said:

Where can I get the washer? I used the switch end cap and don't need to twist the head at all. If I can find this washer and that will solved my problem.

Click to expand...

I guess you can get suitable washer from a nearest hardware store. You can read perfect instructions for the washer mod from here:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1911975&postcount=163

I did that but with only one washer and it seems to work well.

dogbert614 said:

ok i do not want to set things on fire" not this week any way lol" but i am looking at low cost upgrade for my mini mag i have a 3 led from nite ize but after needing on there website about a 1 watt led i was wondering what is better or is there something better for under $ 25 i am already get the push buttion for my mini mag nice thing to have...... but on a budget any ideas...

Click to expand...

I have the Nite-Ize 1watt LED in one of my Mini-Mags, combined with the switch that comes with their 3-LED assembly. Not as bright as what Terra-Lux offers. But the 1watt Nite-Ize LED is cheaper and I've seen it available at both Target and ****'s Sporting Goods stores.

Tubor said:

Would it work for a 3aa maglite? (It's just says 2aa)

Click to expand...

The 3AA LED light does not have a drop-in style thing. It has a specially built regulator and the only way to improve it is to open up the flashlight and pry out the Luxeon and install in a newer LED.

Li-Ions might burn out the regulator, but I'm not sure.

+ 1 to TLE-5EX