Maglite 2D 3 Watt LED vs. ?

Last night I bought my first LED flashlight. A Maglite 2D 3 Watt LED at Target. I was impressed when I played with it later that night, but even more so when I swapped out the LED bulb for the backup Krypton bulb to see the difference. Wow! Like night and day.

However, I felt guilty for spending $35 on a flashlight, so I said to myself, maybe there's cheaper but comparable flashlights online at ebay or other places I can could consider instead.

I didn't realize there was a whole new flashlight world out there! Entire forums dedicated to flashlights! I've been devouring this forum all morning long. All of a sudden I'm considering spending even MORE than my initial $35 to get these fantastic 100+lumen flashlights! I'm already addicted.

After regaining my senses I realized I already bought a flashlight, and with a "3 watt led" which seems pretty bright. I couldn't find any lumens or lux values posted for my maglite online or comparisons between it and the other brands of flashlights or LEDs.

So I'll ask the experts. Do you know how my maglite rates against some of the <$50 units sold by the other popular brands on this forum? Or should I return my mag and upgrade to a ???

I've read that the some of the Fenix models are very powerful. But are they more powerful than the one I bought? If so by how much? And for what price? $35 isn't cheap by any means; however I'd be willing to spend a little more for a much greater value.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thor

You came to the wrong place: HOLD YOUR WALLET!!!

but You entered at the right time.
Just a few years ago, there were only REALLY expensive lights, now there is Fenix (imho the best package for a really good price) and these even use the new generation of leds, that are double bright than the ones in the maglite, while consuming a bitt less power.
Plus all the better lights offer good heatseeking, so the led suvives and the output stays stable - while the Mag-led dims down.

... in short: any Fenix kicks the Mags butt, double brightness is no problem, but in the size of the minimag.
(mags are considered good hosts to modding projects, the electronics are years behind)
You will love Your Fenix model

watch for the "official" CPF statement:

Welcome to CPF,

There are alot of different flashlights with high lumens output out there and some very expensive. The maglite 3W give out about 90 to 100 lumens. I have the WiseLED Tactical give out 1500 lumens, one of the powerfull flashlight. Depends what you want it for, but like myslef and many others like to have more lumens so it is kind of nice having to turn on full power when you need it. The beauty having LED lights, some are adjustable setting, like WiseLED have 13 setting, from 350 lumens all the way to 1500 lumens by just pressing a button, and also if need be, you can activate the SOS signal and strobe functions, and many more because you can get accessories for this lights.

http://www.wiseled.com/index.aspx?articleid=+916&shopCId=9&menuid=916009

Thanks for the advice; however the ones you are recommended cost way above the $50 price range I'm looking to stay in/under

To the previous poster, What source did you use to obtain the MAGlite 2D 3 watt LED lumens?

Thor

i like the fenix l2d ce.
they are right now 2.5 times more efficent than your magled, even though it is three times more efficent than a bulb.
it runs on 2aa, so it's a good battery set for a beginner, no fancy batteries to buy.
plus it's much brighter than your magled, 135 lumens for the old cree, and 175 for the two new ones the cree q5 and the rebel100.
exciting time to join by the way.

The Fenix L1T V2.0, L2T V2.0 L1D, L2D, P1D, P2D, P3D all have more overall output then the maglite 2D LED(review) but none of then have more throw(The Maglite is around 52 lumens and 6800 Lux out the front). This is because of the larger maglite reflector.

There are many lights under $30 that will out lumen and about 2 that will out throw the Maglite. Most of those lights are in Dealextreme's Cree/Seoul/Rebel section and most use the 18650(18mm wide, 65mm ling and cylindrical) 3.7V Li-ion battery.

One that I would recommend would be the WF-600 with 2 18650 3.7v Li-ion batteries and a charger. About $45 total shipped, smaller then the 2D Maglite, has 16000 Lux according to this comparison, and over 100 lumen out the front.

Quick LED 101:

The LED used in you Maglite is the Luxeon III. The newer LEDs, Cree XR-E(P4-Q5 bin) Seoul P4 and Rebel 100 LEDs are twice or more efficient then the Luxeon III(they have the same lumen at 350 mA as the Luxeon III has at 1000 mA) so for the same power, the newer LEDs will have twice or more output.

That means if you replace the Luxeon III with the Seoul P4(most similar emitting pattern), you should get about twice the output and Lux figure.

:welcome:

Gunner12 said:

The Fenix L1T V2.0, L2T V2.0 L1D, L2D, P1D, P2D, P3D all have more overall output then the maglite 2D LED(review) but none of then have more throw(The Maglite is around 52 lumens and 6800 Lux out the front). This is because of the larger maglite reflector.

There are many lights under $30 that will out lumen and about 2 that will out throw the Maglite. Most of those lights are in Dealextreme's Cree/Seoul/Rebel section and most use the 18650(18mm wide, 65mm ling and cylindrical) 3.7V Li-ion battery.

One that I would recommend would be the WF-600 with 2 18650 3.7v Li-ion batteries and a charger. About $45 total shipped, smaller then the 2D Maglite, has 16000 Lux according to this comparison, and over 100 lumen out the front.

Quick LED 101:

The LED used in you Maglite is the Luxeon III. The newer LEDs, Cree XR-E(P4-Q5 bin) Seoul P4 and Rebel 100 LEDs are twice or more efficient then the Luxeon III(they have the same lumen at 3500 mA as the Luxeon III has at 1000 mA) so for the same power, the newer LEDs will have twice or more output.

That means if you replace the Luxeon III with the Seoul P4(most similar emitting pattern), you should get about twice the output and Lux figure.

:welcome:

Click to expand...

I think Gunner12 meant to say: "they have the same lumens at 350 mA as the Luxeon III has at 1000 mA" Rather than adding the extra 0 onto the 350mA.

Welcome Thorin_2. I too have got the LED bug after learning how to mod a very cheap Ray-O-Vac 2AA flashlight to put out the illumination of one of these new LED flashlights. And that was using regular incandescent bulbs.

I got back into this forum a few weeks ago because a neighbor actually had one of those MiniMag 2AA LED flashlights the other night helping me change and ignition module in a suburban. That little light was perfect to use in close quarters and gave off good light. As much or better than I saw a year ago from a coworkers LED flashlight. It was the perfect little light and figured they would make some great Christmas presents. Have times changed in a year or so I thought.

So I got back on here. If you want to really be dissapointed in Maglight, go to your local Lowes and get their Task Force 3 Watt LED Flashlight. There are two different kinds all with the same stock number of 225285. I paid 29 bucks plus tax for this nicely made aluminum flashlight that is super, super bright. I got out the 2 D, and the 3D Maglights with new batteries to compare, or should I say show the difference. Amazing. Try to find the package that has a red arrow about 2/3's up that I think says 150 lumens. If it doesn't have a red arrow, it will be last years model which has a very impressive Luxeon LED in it, but the newer one is brighter yet.

A couple of Chinese Fenix flashlights I just got (in the mail today as a matter of fact) are of suprising fit and finish. You can read about others opinions and experiences here.

If you already have some Maglights, you might look into the mods that are offered here for review. I am looking seriously into the Malkoff mod for the full sized Maglight since I have a number of them laying around the house. And since Maglight couldn't or wouldn't a QUALITY lens will be installed on any Maglight mod to get all that wonderful light out front.

As others have said above. Good luck, this could get very expensive. I would suggest you read here extensively. I think I will get a SureFire light next. You can get a realitively cheap one the upgrade it. It's just no fun unless you mod too!!

Bob E.

Melven said:

I think Gunner12 meant to say: "they have the same lumens at 350 mA as the Luxeon III has at 1000 mA" Rather than adding the extra 0 onto the 350mA.

Click to expand...

Oops

Thanks for pointing that out.

If you are willing to pay, the best drop-in IMO for the maglite is the Malkoffdevices drop-in.

Gunner12 said:

One that I would recommend would be the WF-600 with 2 18650 3.7v Li-ion batteries and a charger.

Click to expand...

I wonder if its wise to recommend potentially hazardous lithium ion rechargeable batteries to novice users?

Like the OP who just purchased his first LED, a 2-D MagLED at Target?

It seems like, at the very least, a word of caution should be offered...

Gunner12 said:

Oops

Thanks for pointing that out.

If you are willing to pay, the best drop-in IMO for the maglite is the Malkoffdevices drop-in.

Click to expand...

While that's about as bright as maglite drop-ins get for now, if you don't want to spend the money on Gene's drop-in (high price, but a damned good product), try this. This will be about as bright if not brighter then the fenix lights and will about half the price. It will also give you runtime in in the mid teens compared to the 2.5 hours on high the fenix lights will deliver.

Thanks for the pointers on the drop-ins! I'll definitely consider the latter one mentioned: (TLE-6EXB TerraLUX MiniStar5 – sold out on link you gave me).

Last night, based on recommendations above I picked up the new taskforce 150 lumens rated 3 watt LED at Lowes. I took it home and compared it to the Mag 2D 3 watt LED I bought two nights prior. To be honest, the Taskforce left me disappointed. Yes, it was a bit brighter (but not nearly as much as I expected for 150 Lumens!), however the light had a greenish hue, vs. Mag's almost pure white. Also Mag's flood seem larger than that of the Taskforce flashlight, especially at a distance (50 feet or more)

I LOVE the solidness of the Mag. It doubles as a baton and could knock someone silly whereas the Taskforce (and most other small lights), while light weight, cannot serve as a weapon (other than blinding your attacker momentarily). The difference in quality of the Mag vs. the Taskforce when disassembled is also enormous. There is no comparison to the US made Mag vs. the made-in-China Taskforce!

I realize that there are many more brands touted here that are superior to the Taskforce; however most start at $50 or more, while the Mag is only $35. I'm trying to compare lights in the ~$50 range. Most people wouldn't think of paying more, unless the needed it for their job (which I don't).

Mags are solid flashlights, being very well-built, can focus the light(not many can do that), are comfortable to hold/grip, and IMO, are a great value for $35 for ~90 lumens. That being said, I can't wait to they come out with the next gen version with the new LED. I'll be the first in line to buy it (btw, I'll probably keep the taskforce as a backup or for my 7 year old son to use (he loves flashlights, so this one will rock his world!).

Thanks again for all your advice!

Thor

Did you get the Cree TaskForce? Mine is much whiter than my Magled. You're right on about build quality though.

Yes, I'm pretty sure it was. It had the red label (70x brighter), and showed 150 lumens of power in the comparison chart (lower left of packaging).

Note: The batteries in my Maglite were at ~1.42 volts each. I wanted to do a fair comparison; therefore I didn't use the provided new Duracell' in the Taskforce package, but rather used a pair of Panasonics I had that were also rated at ~1.42 volts. So it is possible that it is much brighter with new, 1.5v batteries, as I've seen comparison pictures in other threads and the Taskforce does appear brighter than the Mag in those.

Also, my copy did exhibit a greenish tint. I *think* what I'll do is return the Maglite, purchase the cheap mag with krypton bulb, then order a TLE-6EXB TerraLUX MiniStar5 SSC P4 U bin LED upgrade for 2-3 C/D cell Maglites, which will give me the same lumens as the Taskforce (supposedly) for roughly $46 ($19 for Maglite + 27$ for LED upgrade).

Thanks again

Thor

I belive if your alkaline batterys are reading 1.4 volts they past there peak performance, although with dc-dc regulation and boosts circuits it might not make a differance, but in my race car if my batterys are at 1.4 volts it doesn't have enough power to turn the servos, I would throw fresh batterys in both lights and recompare....

Thorin_2 said:

Thanks for the pointers on the drop-ins! I'll definitely consider the latter one mentioned: (TLE-6EXB TerraLUX MiniStar5 – sold out on link you gave me).

Click to expand...

Here's another. I didn't notice it in the last link.

Thorin_2 said:

I've read that the some of the Fenix models are very powerful. But are they more powerful than the one I bought? If so by how much? And for what price? $35 isn't cheap by any means; however I'd be willing to spend a little more for a much greater value.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thor

Click to expand...

Depends on what powerful means for your usage.

A hose without any attachment is more powerful than a hose with jet nozzle parallels Fenix L2D CE being more powerful than Mag 2D LED.

Water just pours out, but there's more gallons coming out per minute than with jet nozzle.

Mag 2D LED is more powerful than the Fenix L2D CE like a jet nozzle is more powerful, because the stream is more concentrated and goes further, even though there's less gallons per minute.

lumenal said:

I wonder if its wise to recommend potentially hazardous lithium ion rechargeable batteries to novice users?

Like the OP who just purchased his first LED, a 2-D MagLED at Target?

It seems like, at the very least, a word of caution should be offered...

Click to expand...

People ***** at me when I suggest that.

This really brings me back to oldCPF. I even found a light I wanted in 2010 and forgot about.