Saw a Mini-Mag LED in use today, UGH!

Had a repair man over my house today to work on my dryer. I was hanging around when he opened up the dryer and pulled out a schematic sheet. I noticed he had a Mini Mag to read the sheet. Bleh. I don't know how old this light was but the LED was wicked blue and a whole lot of yuck. I think (once I make a bit more cash) I will purchase some ProPolys to give these guys. If I had a ProPoly not in use I would have demanded he take it and park that mini for awhile.

That must have been one of the NiteIze 3 LED dropins. There are better replacements available, but it probably does fine for the close range work he's doing. The "real" MagLED would have been much brighter and whiter.

Geoff

That's actually quite an appropriate choice for the job. It's cheap, plain-looking, and has a long-running, floody beam. Nothing wrong with that...

Of course, if it were you or I, we would pick something ridiculously bright and cool; no question about that.

Did his light prevent him from reading the schematic sheet? Would a ProPoly have helped him read the schematic sheet better? If so, how? Was he happy with his light?

I used to do service work and if any of my customers had "demanded" I use one of their tools, I would have politely told them where they could shove said tool.

+1

If it met his ends, nothing wrong with that. Are there better options? Certainly, but no biggie if his light is doing it's job.

Now if he was behind the dryer and said something like "Man, I wish I had a brighter light because I can't see anything", then there might be an issue. But as it is, no big deal.

I've on VERY few occasions, offered a tool to someone working for me. Usually i keep my mouth shut b/c i agree, it's semi offensive. But just the other day i had a guy installing satellite in my house, he had a trowel to bury the cable...i used a mattock, saved us both a lot of time.

if it were the niteize 3led cluster...it was probably the best thing for him.

Loooong run time on a pair of alks.....especially if he paid/pays for light items on his own dolllar...

Himm, I just got my MiniMag today, and I must say I am very pleased with it. It has a nice white tint, and a good spill/throw ratio throught the focusing range. Also, the candle mode will be useful during blackouts/camping. Not to mention you can use standard AA rechargeable, for cheap and easy power. For the money, I don't think you could do much better.

I posted this rant because I felt sorry for the guy.

Someone had a post in another thread that stated "99.9% of regular people think the mini-mag led is cutting edge." I believe that may actually be the case. This guy was using a tool that was completely inadequate for his job. Yes, he could read the schematic sheet, it may have had some super runtime, but could he have really looked around with a very weak, very blue, beam? I don't think so. I looked in the toolbox he brought inside and that mag was the only lighting tool.

Take the panties out of the bunch. I would not have slapped him and said, "Take this new flashlight fella. Yours is a POS. BTW, I'm an a-hole." If I did have a decent spare light sitting around I would have gladly given it to him, politely.

My conversations never lead to someone telling me to "stick it where the sun don't shine."

SWMBO takes the dog for a 2-mile forced march every morning at 04:30. Her light of choice is a beat-up old mini-mag, worn around her neck on a rawhide thong.

It took me two weeks to talk her into trying a tail-clickie. She likes it.

I put a NiteIze 3-LED drop-in in it, and she loved it.

I replaced it with a 1-watt single, and she hated it. She made me put the NiteIze back in.

I would defend that anything more than the NiteIze for the repairman would have been a poor choice. He's working on appliances in tight quarters, and working inside of the appliance. Have you even taken a light with more than 30-40 or so lumens and tried to do close quarters work like that? The light washes everything out, and the glare blinds you. :duck: Too much light in a situation like that is counter-productive. IMO, 5-10 lumens is perfect for just about any EDC task

My question to you is, was he using the MiniMag LED, or a MiniMag with a NiteIze dropin, or something similar? Maybe he just took an incan MiniMag and stuck a single 5mm LED into the socket.

Gaffle said:

This guy was using a tool that was completely inadequate for his job. Yes, he could read the schematic sheet, it may have had some super runtime, but could he have really looked around with a very weak, very blue, beam? I don't think so.

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You still haven't explained how the light was "completely inadequate" for the job. Everything you have said so far has led the rest of us to believe that the light he was using was completely adequate for the job he was doing. What does an appliance repairman need a super-bright, super-white flashlight to "look around" for? Most of their work is very close quarters, and a small, durable, long-running flashlight is what they need, and just what he had. Sounds like he had the right tool for the job.

Yesterday, I saw a guy trying to fix something using a 2AA Garrity incan that wouldn't stop flickering. He was beating that thing like it had wronged him and his family. That's a guy who needs a new light.

This guy was using a tool that was completely inadequate for his job. Yes, he could read the schematic sheet, it may have had some super runtime, but could he have really looked around with a very weak, very blue, beam? I don't think so. I looked in the toolbox he brought inside and that mag was the only lighting tool.

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How do you know that it was inadequate, how do you know he does not have 1000 Surefires at home and CHOOSES to use this light because it is to him the best tool for the job? Sometimes more is not better, especially in an enclosed space where too much light is blinding or irritating on the eyes. This is especially the case inside of a white porcealin item like most washers and dryers, a bright white light will create a very strong white glow which can bother the eyes.

I have dozens of lights, and happened to have to clean my furnace and oil the blower motor this morning. What did I choose? I grabbed my AAA Minimag with an SMJLED. It was close, it was not so bright as to blind me inside the enclosed space, it is small and can be held in my teeth easily, and the runtime is superb, which makes it cheap and economical to use.

I would have used my Brinkman headlamp but I was too lazy to go get it, that would have been the only better light for the task in my opinion.

It still amazes me that most of the maintenance guys at work carry either a Mini-mag w/Nite-Ize 3LED module or a two D cell incan.I still think many people are unwilling to spend the money to get a better quality light.Of course I am probably a little biased from hanging around here.

I know a lot of peopel hate the Mag or mini Mag, but i think for repair people or up close work its the cats arse, especially with a Terralux drop in. Nice spill, tight spot, no glare or bounceback.

that being said nothing says OOOOOH YEAH more than a MAG85 in a access tunnel while approaching a tweaked out addict who has taken up residence.

I have a 2aa led mini mag and can honestly the light is pretty damn good it's clear and white I would suspect that it may have been a conversion for a standard mini mag
I know nothing about modern lights but have used mini mags for years as they are practically bomb proof

Screwball, mini-mags may be bombproof but drop them from waist-high to the floor and see how quickly those little bulbs cease to function! hehehe I have used mini-mags for many years...thinking they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. You know what? For a good portion of that time, they were! I recently replaced the bulb and reflector in my mini-mag with a NiteIze 1Watt LED with the IQ clicker combo. The light no longer has the hole in the center (further out than ~ one foot, that is.) I like it.

Earlier this week I purchased my first Surefire, a G2. A great light for the money. I immediately purchased the high output assembly just because. Wanted a 120 lumen SF L5 but it is not going to become available until after the first of the year, according to SureFire customer service during a call I made to them yesterday. I suppose I will just have to wait.

Screwball, mini-mags may be bombproof but drop them from waist-high to the floor and see how quickly those little bulbs cease to function!

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Thats not exactly true, I dropped my minimags probably hundreds of times in the almost twenty years I used them, the big C cell models were used in the vehicles. I carried and used 2 AA, 2 AAA, and Solitares daily. I dropped them on concrete, wood, almost every surface. I bought at most two packages of bulbs for them over that time period. Those bulbs were a lot more rugged than many people gave them credit for.

Marduke said:

Have you even taken a light with more than 30-40 or so lumens and tried to do close quarters work like that?

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Times like that are what make me really appreciate the mule. Not suggesting it would be a good choice for the sort of situation that started this thread, but it's what I've found works great for me personally in close quarters work.

Marduke said:

Too much light in a situation like that is counter-productive. IMO, 5-10 lumens is perfect for just about any EDC task

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I agree that too much light would be counter-productive. A HID would probably make it harder to read the schematic than no light at all. Everyone's different of course but I have to say that, IMO 5-10 lumens is perfect for just finding the right flashlight.