Mini Maglite LED 3 Cell AA upgrade question...

Swagg

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Mar 25, 2008
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Hey guys, I'm new to CPF and I totally love this place. I'm quickly becoming a flashaholic which seems abit crazy.
Anyway, I just purchased a Mini Maglite LED 3 Cell AA and was wandering if there are any upgrades that can be done to this light? Anything would be great, lights, power, lense, reflector or even bezel. Everybody in my office uses Surefire which is an awesome light but I think it would be fun to have a good ol' Mag give them a run for the money. I've searched through here and I've found upgrades that I will do to my Mini Mag AA(TerraLUX TLE-5EX) and also my 3D Mag(will buy upgrade from Malkoff) but what about the 3 cell AA? Anything will help.

Thanks
 

Gunner12

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Dec 18, 2006
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You could do a Seoul mod for your 3 AA Minimag. At least double the output with the same runtime. Should give some of those Surefires a run for their money(output wise).

:welcome:
 

Swagg

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Where is the best place to get that and is it a drop in or a complex install? I'm new but I am a quick learner...so the easier the better at first.

Thanks
 

Swagg

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Where is the best place to get that and is it a drop in or a complex install? I'm new but I am a quick learner...so the easier the better at first.

Thanks
 

Gunner12

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Well, it's a LED swap.

You'll have to remove the Luxeon III(last gen) and solder in a Seoul P4 U-bin(current gen). Many different sources for the Seoul, the cheapest is here but it takes a while to ship, 2 weeks to a month.

If you're good at soldering and have thermal compound, the swap shouldn't be too hard.

The main problem with the Minimag is the lack of heatsinking.

The easiest would be to buy a new light. there are good ones at under $20, but most of them take 2 weeks to a month to get to you(Dealextreme a,d Kaidomain, Current gen LEDs).
 

cfromc

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Well, it's a LED swap.

You'll have to remove the Luxeon III(last gen) and solder in a Seoul P4 U-bin(current gen). Many different sources for the Seoul, the cheapest is here but it takes a while to ship, 2 weeks to a month.

If you're good at soldering and have thermal compound, the swap shouldn't be too hard.

The main problem with the Minimag is the lack of heatsinking.

The easiest would be to buy a new light. there are good ones at under $20, but most of them take 2 weeks to a month to get to you(Dealextreme a,d Kaidomain, Current gen LEDs).

Is that the brightest swap that will work correctly with no other modifications? Is it as simple as de-soldering, removing the old emitter, adding some thermal compound and then resoldering the new emitter?
 

Swagg

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Mar 25, 2008
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Also, will buying some Eneloop batts make it any brighter with the swap? Thanks for the help, man I can see myself getting way too carried away.

I have never soldered but I have friends that can so I will probably give them the light and bulb to get the job done.
 

Swagg

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Mar 25, 2008
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And what about reflectors and/or lenses? Would changing these make a big difference with this light?
 

Gunner12

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The Seoul mod would be the brightest relatively simple one that I can think off.

I don't recall it being that simple. I think you'll have to remove the LED and driver module and go from there. Someone else would have to chime in.

Eneloops would give you better regulated runtime but should not affect output.
 
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