mini mag led retrofit?

so i have a mini mag thats been sitting aroudn for a good 5 years at least. when i first got it i was very fond of it beign the best i had now i have a led one and am loving the whole led scene. i would liek to retrofit it to have leds in it. i knw there are kits out there jsut wondering what the best one for the mini mag is. and also is it is possible to focus the led like i can with the stock bulb system

I've had a smjled in my old minimag for a couple years now, although I never use it... black out light if you will. Just sits with L91's in it. More recently I've placed a Nichia "GS" 5mm in a minimag and run direct drive. A little floody and not terribly bright but should last forever.

And then there are the higher output options avaible from companies like terralux. What are you trying to get out of this upgrade? Most options will cost you more than a comparable new led light would cost.

Here is a good list of MagMods. Of those, the TerraLUX MiniStar2 TLE-5EX is probably the brightest for a AA MiniMag. I have the TLE-5 with a Luxeon I in it. That will focus so I guess the newer TLE-5EX with the Cree will focus as well.

For only 10 bucks Lighthound has a SMJLED kit that's got the cut down led on a blue aluminum base with some sort of electronics in it and the proper reflector. It's fully focusable and I really think the world of mine.

Any other brighter led has too short a runtime or has a short lifespan due to zero heatsinking in a minimag. When the light is in operation the LED is touching a plastic base disk and a plastic reflector, not a good thing. You could get an assembly from the shoppe that contacts the body but the cost is a bit much to spend on a minimag but that part's just my opinion.

I am just throwing an idea out there, but scince you already have a led mini-mag, you could put a hot wire mod in there to give you some pretty shocking output. For leds, a terralux would be a good option, and offers a wide rage of setups.

terralux for the minima to convert it to led
... ends in a minimag (nice form factor, colored anodizing) that has led light
but You have
* no multilevel,
* no powerful output
* not the materials/finsih that is standard by now
* a light that turns itself on when pocketed

... time is long over for the MM.

get an actual led light + mod the MiniMag with
a) smj-led for long runtime + as emergency light that runs in some years when needed but not cared for (is powered by lithiums)
b) hotwire kit from lighthound

A lot of the upgrades don't really seem cost effective to me. I have a Nite-Ize 3 LED. I got mine with the bundled not so good tailcap switch for about $5 on sale. A little tape on the lens made the beam pattern less blotchy and I ended up with a light with much longer runtimes, similar brightness to the stock incan, and no bulbs to fail. That or the SMJ LED provide cost effective ways to make your minimag into a more efficient and reliable backup. Some of the other upgrades are interesting but don't make sense to me for the cost versus buying a new light.

baterija said:

A lot of the upgrades don't really seem cost effective to me. I have a Nite-Ize 3 LED. I got mine with the bundled not so good tailcap switch for about $5 on sale. A little tape on the lens made the beam pattern less blotchy and I ended up with a light with much longer runtimes, similar brightness to the stock incan, and no bulbs to fail. That or the SMJ LED provide cost effective ways to make your minimag into a more efficient and reliable backup. Some of the other upgrades are interesting but don't make sense to me for the cost versus buying a new light.

Click to expand...

the more i get into it the more i think the same. i tihnk im goning to buy a new light. the onyl reason i wanted to put leds in the mini mag is cuz u can focus it and it has good throw. so what are some led lights that are really bright (cree emitter) and throw really well with the same form factor as the minimag (good for in pocket use iwth no lumps) and $30 CND and under?

Drop the dime and go for Fenix. I puttered around with el-cheapo lights for almost a year before I finally got a fenix E1. Then I got a Fenix L1D v2.0 Q2. I will never buy another cheap light (well, yeah I will but just for shits).

If you are going to use it a lot get some lsd nimh and a decent charger, if not just rock out alkalines or lithiums.

I also have a few GS leds left if you want one to throw in the ol' MM.

But if you want to have some fun and have a really bright Mini Mag http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/auroralite_hotwire.htm unfortunately Lighthound does not carry the "metal reflector and ceramic bulb holder" anymore.

baterija said:

A lot of the upgrades don't really seem cost effective to me. I have a Nite-Ize 3 LED. I got mine with the bundled not so good tailcap switch for about $5 on sale. A little tape on the lens made the beam pattern less blotchy and I ended up with a light with much longer runtimes, similar brightness to the stock incan, and no bulbs to fail. That or the SMJ LED provide cost effective ways to make your minimag into a more efficient and reliable backup. Some of the other upgrades are interesting but don't make sense to me for the cost versus buying a new light.

Click to expand...

I too have a Nite-Ize Led kit in my AA Mini Mag. Overall the LED has had a lot of problems especially when the light shakes, the LED goes in and out a lot. Don't get me wrong, it turns on when I press the tail cap but it doesn't as well as my other LED lights.

On the other hand, was thinking of also putting in a terralux LED upgrade and using it for the nightstand. Might have to give this option a try one of these days. (Now to wait for payday to arrive)

I have two minimags AA that are modded,. One of them has a Cree Q5 that's pulling about 0.9A, and the other is running an SSC P4 ~1.0A. Both are direct driven off of a single 14500 3.7 li-ion battery. Runtime isn't the longest ever, which is why I plan on going with 2 14500 when cash flow starts again

thank u all for you info now i see its not really worth it to do this to a mini mag. i tihnk i might go and get a good one. like a lumipower