Terralux Mod

I just ordered a 6D Maglite off ebay, and i read someone talk about the Terralux LED for it. Are these pretty good upgrades? I like the LED better, because i would like it to run as long as possible. What is the runtime and brightness compared to the stock maglite.

The stock brightness is going to be impressive at first, but it will rapidly fall off thanks to the increasing internal resistance in alkaline batteries. Stock runtime will be practically forever at vastly reduced output.

The Terralux modules have a checkered reputation around here... many have and like them. However, there have been numerous reports of driver problems, lousy LED tint, and overheating problems. This last is to be expected, since the Terralux dropin isn't heatsinked properly. To make a long story short, I've heard enough bad stories that I don't want one. Still, YMMV... They are sold at http://www.batteryjunction.com, and MattK, the owner, doesn't usually sell junk.

The best drop-in mag-mod out there (IMHO) is made by Gene Malkoff, one of the mad scientists here at the forum. His webpage can be found here. Gene's dropins ARE heatsinked properly, which means that the emitter can be driven at maximum capacity (read: as bright as possible) without damaging it. Unfortunately, Gene's dropins only work in up to 4-cell mags, so your 6-cell would fry it.

If long runtime is your goal and you want to use the 6-cell mag but with decreased output (as in it will be bright for a few minutes and then decrease in output as it heats up), go with the Terralux. If you want to get more output with a slightly smaller mag (starts out brighter than the Terralux's maximum and stays there because it doesn't heat up) get the Malkoff. The Malkoff dropin will produce a reasonable amount of light for several days after it falls out of regulation.

Thanks for the link to Malkoff's site. I am looking to mod my maglite and was thinking of the Terralux but was aware of the heating up issues. Now I am thinking of one of Malkoff's mod set-ups.

reguarding terralux and heat issues...when the first batch of the 6exB for 2-3 cell there was heat issues for me , but the 6ex for 3-6 cell was flawless and no heat issues and reliable, but im sure NOW all bugs have been worked out and both should be trouble free "knock on wood" for you since you have the 6d get the 3-6 cell 6ex as it will be great for runtime and pretty good output, best in 4d though where it pulls most current @ 550ma where as 6d is less but still good enough....the malkoff is very good though but you can only have it MAXED AT 4D anymore and it will fry as mentioned above ,so you either need a new 4d mag or get your 6d cutdown & rethreaded or use 2 dummy cells

qip said:

reguarding terralux and heat issues...when the first batch of the 6exB for 2-3 cell there was heat issues for me , but the 6ex for 3-6 cell was flawless and no heat issues and reliable, but im sure NOW all bugs have been worked out and both should be trouble free "knock on wood"

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I'm curious about the current version of the Terralux dropin. I'm wondering if the old Terralux Mod was ever incorporated in production. Seems to be a dead issue though. Guess it's good enough as is for everyone concerned.