A Diamond 3w LED in a 3D mag? or what else?

I have kept a 3D Mag in my car for a while. It was upgraded with a Diamond 3 watt LED drop-in bulb. It is(was) decent, but I'm sure there are brighter things out there now. Since the light was kept under my car seat, it regularly got damp. The batteries needed replacing and, when I opened it up, found that at least one battery had completely "exploded". I can't get the battery out of the light's body, so I guess the light is junk. I can replace the Mag light with a new 3D Mag (<$20), using the Diamond LED, or get something different. Ideas?

I don't mind the bulk/weight of the Mag light, since it can also be used as a weapon in a pinch. I want something that has greater throw than a pocket/EDC light and 5-10 hours of runtime. I like the form factor of the Mag. If you suggest something else, it should cost less then $80, out-shine the Mag (not necessarily throw), batteries should last as long, and I'd like at least 2 levels of brightness.

Thanks for any ideas.

P.S. Here is a link to the review of the Diamond 3 Watt LED, if you are unfamiliar: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/diamond_magbulbs3w.htm

well I am about to buy one for a friend maglite and modded with a SSC. This mod is very easy and cheap

Currently this drop in is probably the best. If you do a search for Malkoff you'll find a lot of talk about it. Works best with 4 C or D cells. Note: they're aluminum now.

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=15

I guess part of my question was: "Is the Mag body a good platform for upgrading to LEDs?". From those responses, it appears that it still is decent. I was also wondering if others would come out with some factory alternatives... still yet to be seen.

Thanks for the responses - that's a good place to start. I will consider doing a Mag-mod.

I had an incandescent 2 AA MiniMag that had a battery leak inside of it. The battery died when I left the flashlight in my black backpack inside a closed car during the summer. It was difficult (but not impossible) for me to remove the dead battery. I was about to throw away the flashlight when I figured I'd try cleaning it anyway. The battery acid had eaten away at some of the paint on the inside of the flashlight, but disassembling the light and rinsing it out with water eventually got all the chemicals out. I had to wipe/clean the contacts on the spring and bulb, but I eventually was able to reassemble the light. A new set of AA batteries later, my MiniMag was working fine again. Today, it has a Terralux TLE-5 (original) in it (although I'm seriously considering a TLE-5EX upgrade). So to make a short story long, if you're going to throw the body away anyway, you might as well try and dislodge the battery, clean it up, and see if you can get it working again. Or are you trying to look for an excuse to upgrade?

P.S. I have a Diamond DB-3W bulb in a 3D Mag too. I've tried in the past to justify upgrading it, but after considering it's brightness, runtime and my flashlight needs, I ended up choosing to keep the money in my wallet (which is pretty hard around here).

The Terralux might be a good drop-in. It uses a Seoul P4 U bin LED which can produce twice the output with the same power compared to the Luxeon III.

I removed the LED off of my Diamond 3w bulb and replaced with a cree emitter.

Much brighter, than the stock Diamond. So I wouldn't completely give up on it.

after trying to re-solder, I over heated the Emitter and the lens popped right off of the cree.

The Mag became a throw monster after that with a nice warm tint.

terralux is better than the diamond, the malkoff is better than the terralux. An ROP is another alternative and is cheaper and brighter with shorter runtime.

I have a terralux, a diamond "6.5w", multiple ROPs, and mag leds in 2, 3, and 4 cell sizes.

-Pete

Elektro Lumens MT-I Maglite Drop In
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/181157

Elektro lumens also make a MT-3 Drop in. Erns has not got it yet for review.
Uh, he has run out of stock.

ICCAFSN said:

...if you're going to throw the body away anyway, you might as well try and dislodge the battery, clean it up, and see if you can get it working again. Or are you trying to look for an excuse to upgrade?

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No, I am not looking for an excuse to upgrade. That battery is pretty well stuck in the flashlight. I have tried to get it out by hitting the flashlight body with a hammer, dropping the light on a concrete floor, hammering a screwdriver blade alongside of the battery and prying, putting a hole in the battery and pulling (using a pin puller), tearing the metal and pulling with pliers, etc. I managed to rip the bottom part of the batter off, but the sides of the battery are still in the same place. I haven't put any water in it, but I will try to get that to work later.

sb_pete said:

terralux is better than the diamond, the malkoff is better than the terralux. An ROP is another alternative and is cheaper and brighter with shorter runtime.

I have a terralux, a diamond "6.5w", multiple ROPs, and mag leds in 2, 3, and 4 cell sizes.

-Pete

Click to expand...

The Terralux you recommended must be a new design than the one that was tested by flashlightreviews.com, here:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/terralux_tle-6n.htm
In that review, the bulb received a higher score (4.5, compared to the Diamond 3w's 3.5), but the overall output was much lower and the throw was nowhere near what the Diamond did. The Terralux did last longer.

LEDninja said:

Elektro Lumens MT-I Maglite Drop In
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/181157

Elektro lumens also make a MT-3 Drop in. Erns has not got it yet for review.
Uh, he has run out of stock.

Click to expand...

The MT1 is an option, but I think I like the Malkoff for it's claimed regulation.

Where can I read reviews or comparisons, now that flashlightreviews.com is not in operation? Erns??

The Seoul P4(Or Cree XR-E?) Terralux Drop-in came out the first half of this year I think.

There was a long thread about the buck version(4-6 cell version, 3 would be dimmer, the one I liked to is the boost version and works with 2-3 cells).

The Terralux should hit over 70 on FLR's overall output charts.

smg said:

Erns??

Click to expand...

Sorry. Ernsanada who did the review of the MT-1 called himself Erns over at Illumination forums.

LEDninja said:

Sorry. Ernsanada who did the review of the MT-1 called himself Erns over at Illumination forums.

Click to expand...

Is that where I should go to read reviews of current flashlights??

This is what we have established so far...
The LED drop-in that I have should be upgraded

So, I'm starting fresh. I want something durable and kinda like a Mag light. What is the best option??? Again, this is under/around $80.

Thanks for all the help.

Maybe I should start a new thread to ask this?

sb_pete said:

terralux is better than the diamond, the malkoff is better than the terralux. An ROP is another alternative and is cheaper and brighter with shorter runtime.

I have a terralux, a diamond "6.5w", multiple ROPs, and mag leds in 2, 3, and 4 cell sizes.

-Pete

Click to expand...

i've found the terralux to be brighter than the "6.5w" diamond. pete (and anyone else with both), is your experience the same?

half-watt said:

i've found the terralux to be brighter than the "6.5w" diamond. pete (and anyone else with both), is your experience the same?

Click to expand...

Sorry, talk about your late replies

Yeah, I have found the terralux to be noticeably brighter although it should be said that I bought the terralux 3 or so months later and the diamond got some good use (maybe 4-5 nights of real at-work use per month) in the interim.

All that said, I find that these upgrades are more about battery life than anything else although they certainly kick the crud out of the standard (uselessly anemic to my eyes these days) magnum star bulbs. An ROP low is brighter and cheaper, but has nowhere near the runtime. I really like the regulated aspect of the terralux though. The thing I hate most about the magled's is how they creep down in output so slowly that you don't notice it till the end.