Magcharger How good is it?

How good is the Magcharger? I've been thinking of because it uses a USA made bulb and its rechargable. Can it use regular D batteries and does the beem stay a consistant brightness until the battery is dead?

It was pretty good 15 years ago.
It's still decent and can be used as a limited modding platform.
However it still comes with an old Nicad battery pack, 5 1/2 D cells. so an operating voltage around 6V. It can only fit 3 standard D batteries si it will not light up very much if at all like that. As with almost all incandescent lights it is brightest hot off the charger and gradually fades thru the battery life.

No you can't use the D's. but what are you planning on using the light for?

You CAN use regular d cells. However,it is rather dim.

Stick a Welch Allen 1160 bulb in it, and its almost as dang bright as a Mag85. That combo is still a great light. It uses the same battery and charger as the stock light. I own just about every light ever made (not really, but it seems that way), and the Magcharger-1160 combo is what rides in my vehicle. Great light. Powernoodle Top 10.

:twothumbs

Bobpuvel said:

No you can't use the D's. but what are you planning on using the light for?

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Walking the dogs and inside use when the power goes out.

PhantomPhoton said:

It was pretty good 15 years ago.

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...and pretty damn good today if you ask me!

I recently bought one for a friend of mine who doesn't share my obsession with lights, and he was blown away. Out of the box the Magcharger is a simple, bulletproof, "guilt free" and bright-enough-to-surprise-most-people-light.

Then you can start playing with it!

How does it compare to a stock Surefire 6P or 9P?

You can also easily and cheaply upgrade the battery stick to a 4aH nimh pack that almost doubles the capacity for a much more useful runtime without having to do anything to the charger.

I would say it is a pretty cool choice still. It is relativly cheap, rechargable, and pretty bright. Best stock Mag there is, IMHO.

If you don`t mind the size and weight, go for it.

The Magcharger is still a very good light, a really good thrower..And its HAIII :twothumbs

american lockpicker said:

How does it compare to a stock Surefire 6P or 9P?

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Eyeballing it, it's roughly as bright or a little brighter than the stock 9P (that might be due to my battery pack not having been charged in about a month though). You can also get a FM op reflector if you want the same beam quality...
With a WA1160, it gets on par with the SF M6 mn20.

The only downside that I found with the magcharger is really its switch which isn't as reliable as a SF lotc. I've had two die/become unusable from what I can only assume is the heat of running it.

Here's an old review that may help:
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglite_magcharger.htm

Personally, I'd give up some output for the Streamlight Ultrastinger. I prefer its size, better beam quality, and better regulation curve:
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_ultsting.htm

Akubra said:

I would say it is a pretty cool choice still. It is relativly cheap, rechargable, and pretty bright. Best stock Mag there is, IMHO.

If you don`t mind the size and weight, go for it.

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I have a 5D so size and weight isn't a problem.

I think there are some better lights for walking the dog that are smaller and brighter.... And still rechargeable. Take a streamlight stinger DS for example(or any stingers for that matter). The only reason I see using a mag is for the simple fact of both flashlight and baton.

Where are stingers made?

american lockpicker said:

Where are stingers made?

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Almost positive made in USA... Can someone correct me if I am wrong.

Stinger is from Streamlight, also made in USA...but from what we've seen recently...it really doesn't matter which nationality you buy from once the price range hits somewhere above $40

Fenix
Amilite
...:nana:

I would like to say that the latest version of MagCharger would be a great flashlight if:

1: The beam profile had been more even and smooth
2: If the output had been stable
3: If the charging time had been much shorter (it's whopping 16 hours!)

MagCharger is very bright from beginning (close to 350 lumens) but the output drops fast and after 15 minutes it's 75-80%. Already after 1hour and 8 minutes it's 50%.

The focusable head and the halogen bulb makes it a very good thrower; when hotspot is smallest it outperform Tiablo A9.

My MagCharger is in a drawer since some year ago. I don't use it anymore. But if some manufacturer could offer a good and much brighter dropin and a battery which could be charged much faster, I would grab it. Terralux has a LED dropin but neither the brightness or runtime is much better...

Regards, Patric

I own 2 MagChargers and I still use them regularly, mainly in-the-home to light under/in/upon all things one may have in the house

They have many positive properties, such as 50-60 hours lamp life, they are rechargeable, robust, bright enough for most purposes, focussable and quite hufterproof

OK, it's a fairly heavy and big monster, but as long as this is no problem (or maybe even desirable?) then I can only say one thing:

buy one!

You won't be disappointed... you'll have it for years!

Timmo.