Need Advice/Suggestions for Malkoff Quad Drop in for Maglite

Hello,

My name's Steven and this is my first post in the forums. I'm still new to flashlight mods and upgrades and hope to learn and turn it into a hobby.

Well let's get straight to the point, I'm willing to spend around $300 bucks for an LED upgrade.

I just bought a MagCharger and thought about purchasing the TLE-300MR ($85-99)for it but may be returning it, if you guys think the following is a viable LED to purchase.

I was looking in the forum and someone mention the Quad Drop-in for Maglite 4-6D flashlights.
Link - http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_15&products_id=24

It's for $250 and though it's a bit expensive, my desire to have something this bright has made me save enough money on the side (goodbye Wii) and thinking of buying this upgrade. Though WA blubs are very inexpensive, my preference light source is from a LED.

I need your guys thoughts on this and if most people think it's a good option. If so, I might be returning the MagCharger and buy a 6D Maglite then order the Quad Drop-In from Malkoff.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.


Steven

Steven,
:welcome:

Gene Malkoff's products are somewhat legendary around CPF, but they're very difficult to obtain. You really have to buy right when you see they're available, as usually they're gone within hours of being offered at malkoffdevices. You can always run NIMH batteries in a 4D to get the required voltage level, and that way it will be a little smaller (6D is huge, if you've never held one). You won't be dissapointed in the Malkoff dropin, and Gene's great with Customer service. If you've got the money, I'd say go for it. It's a great product, and if you don't end up liking it you can always sell in B/S/T for it's value and recoop your earnings.

I hope this helps!
-Max

The quad is the brightest, and generally considered "best" upgrade for a big mag. However, there's no low mode, and it's stupidly powerful- do you actually need that much light? If you do, then go for it- you won't be disappointed! You also need to factor in the cost of a decent charger (something that'll charge at .5C or so for the bigger batteries is fairly hard to get hold of- that's 5 amps for 10,000 maH D cells) and the cells themselves. The 6D is surely the best host for this, as for once light output matches the size of the light

How floody is this drop-in?

I've had a Quad for about a month now and I can say that I'm quite happy with mine. There have been numerous threads related to mag dropins lately, so instead of getting too long winded here I'll refer you to a recent thread where they're discussed in a bit more detail. The Quad is a bit hard to find much info on since its not too common (try a CPF search for "quad" in all forums), so I've been trying to get some out there.

Fantastic combination of throw and flood (which is good since you loose focusability), wide operating voltage range, extremely solid build, not upgradeable (keep that in mind as new emitters are always around the corner), silly bright (sometimes embarassingly so) but fixed output, and yes, it's pricey, but worth it for me. Its a lot of fun so far.

I had it in a 6D with NiMHs (from thomasdistributing.com, also has good chargers from Maha), which you can see here. 6D is a little cumbersome, but it depends on the application. You will see a link to a 2D Li-ion cell from Kaidomain that I'm now using with excellent results, truly an amazing light in the 2D form.

Happy to answer any questions otherwise.

Thank you for all your responses. It's kind of ironic, I've been saving that money to buy a Wii but they're hard to find. Now I want to spend that money on the Quad but they're sold out. Guess I can wait and check the site once, twice a day.

Also, is this a good charger and batteries for, I guess I'll go with a 4 or 5D Maglite.
http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1662

Steven

Steven,

I considered that charger myself but its pretty slow for D-cells, charge current is only 1A. Also, your average NiMH battery (like those included) will loose its charge relatively quickly in storage which is not what I wanted for a flashlight application. Otherwise, it will definitely do the job if you don't mind these drawbacks.

This charger from Maha is a bit better, doubling the charging rate to 2A, but of course its more expensive (no batteries included). You can also find "low self discharge" D-cells there as well which are a significant improvement over standard NiMH (but also pricey).

Check your PMs, I have some advice for you regarding Malkoff.

If you do not ming being stuck with 3D NiMH cells Elektrolumens offers a simpler DD drop in with a choice of 3, 4 or 5 LEDs.
The MT-3 & MT-4-20 have more throw while the MT-4-17 & MT-5 have more flood.
Prices range from $90 to $150.
More info over at illumination forums.
http://www.illuminationforums.com/IlluminationForums/index.php

You may also want to consider low self discharge batteries. I find I get tired of remembering to charge up regular NiMH at least once a month or so.
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...batteriesbrprecharged-2-battery-pk-p-997.html

I really think elektrolumens is the way to go, Malkoff is more expensive and is less available than the one from Wayne (elektrolumen) 5 emitters for $150 vs 4 emitters for $250 while one has a 2 week lead time the other is pretty unpredictable.

I recommended Steve look into Elecktrolumen's products as well in a PM, but they are also listed in the link I posted above (which was intended to give him some overview instead of rehashing in this thread). I also recommended low self discharge batts, which has also been repeated - I wish more people scanned the thread before posting, but, whatever. Just trying to keep the thread on topic. But, while we're at it...

There were several reasons I chose Malkoff over Elecktrolumens. Firstly, Gene has an excellent overall reputation here (I know nothing of Wayne, so not trying to suggest he is anything less). The Quad is built like a tank and looks significantly more sturdy to me compared with the Elecktrolumens designs (judging by pics only, so can't say for sure but the epoxy fill on the Quad is solid as a rock - couldn't be any better IMO). The Quad is a more advanced (regulated) design with outstanding voltage flexability (3.8-9V, so you're not restricted to a 3D mag and you can consider other power sources like Li-ion - I think Elecktrolumens dropins are direct drive, please correct me if I'm wrong). So, comparing the number of emitters for the price is not really fair. Also, the Quad uses what I consider to be better reflectors.

And.... I happened to be at my computer when the "Malkoff Available" email arrived!:twothumbs

Yes, they're hard to come by, but good things sometimes come to those who wait.