What's your favorite MiniMag drop-in?

I'm looking for good MiniMag drop in LEDs, preferably with high output. What are some of your favorite drop-ins that you can think of? How much did you pay, and what dealers did you buy them from.

I appreciate any input!

I put a mini pro (lambda lights) in my sons minimag and a terralux tle-5ex in my daughters. The mini pro has just a bit more output IMO but both are good drop ins. The mini pro will have better heat sinking.

think2x said:

I put a mini pro (lambda lights) in my sons minimag and a terralux tle-5ex in my daughters. The mini pro has just a bit more output IMO but both are good drop ins. The mini pro will have better heat sinking.

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Thanks for you response . The Terralux TLE-5EX is the one with 140 lumens, right? I'm curious about the Mini Pro. I went to the Lambda Lights website and it looks like the Mini Pro is a DIY kit that you have to solder and everything. Is this what you did, or are there ready-made versions. And do you know of any Cree LED upgrades for a MiniMag?

to Stream --

Just for your info . . . .

When you see the TerraLux TLE-5EX module
is rated at 140 Lumens, you should realize
that number is VERY uhmmm, Optimistic !




Yes, i have it, and i certainly do LIKE it.

But, that number is "Marketing", not "Real World".



_

Stream said:

I went to the Lambda Lights website and it looks like the Mini Pro is a DIY kit that you have to solder and everything. Is this what you did, or are there ready-made versions.

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I have the Minipro II (updated version with SSC P4 U bin emitter). I got it ready made. The site is a bit confusing and the ready-made versions are here. Both the new SSC version and the luxeon version show as out of stock. You could try emailing Lambda. Email address is at the bottom of the main page.

The Minipro II is a great module. Terralux obviously will be simpler to get.

I also have and like the Terralux TLE-5EX. Cree doesn't market a Mini-Maglite drop in upgrade directly, but Terralux uses a Cree XR-E LED in the TLE-5EX.

As for Terralux's 140 lumen rating, Burgess is right on about that. Check out Bigchelis' huge thread about actual light measurements with a 10.5 inch sphere for the actual light output of my Mini-Maglite with a TLE-5EX drop in.

It's a good drop in overall though and I'm more than happy with mine. It's my EDC backup light and it serves that purpose very well. I wouldn't expect too much from any Mini-Maglite drop in though. There are many more impressive 2 AA LED lights out there that will easily out perform any drop in-equipped Mini-Maglite.

Stream said:

I'm looking for good MiniMag drop in LEDs, preferably with high output. What are some of your favorite drop-ins that you can think of? How much did you pay, and what dealers did you buy them from.

I appreciate any input!

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Finding TerraLux dropins from European dealers seems a bit hard IMHO. I bought a TLE-300M and UV MiniMag dropin from here. (Not very shortwave UV - like 405 nm - might mod it with a real 365 nm sometime). Perhaps they can be talked into shipping to Sweden? Or perhaps there's some eBay dealers from usually UK or Germany who'll ship to EU without any effort from your part.

If you want a white drop in you're IMHO way better of ordering another light. Like a Fenix LD20 would be an obvious choice. It even fits perfectly in the belt holsters for the incan MiniMag I prefer the MM incan holster rather than the included one because the way it is build (not because of quality - the included one is quality wise good too).
While the UV doesn't seem to have any troubles with cooling as it's not driven very hard I can suspect the 140 lumen might have issues. A light like the Fenix LD20 has multiple levels and can even go higher without any cooling issues.
Or if you find a Fenix LD20 too expensive then you can find many 2AA lights on DX for the same price of a drop in or cheaper. Many which IMHO practically still are better deals than a drop in though not as high quality as an LD20. Might not be so efficient as an LD20 either but if running on NiMH and your fine with a little lower run time that perhaps can be acceptable.

Question for everyone who owns a Terralux TLE-5EX: have you noticed any excessive heat development? Can it run continuously without any problems?

Burgess,
Yes I realize the stated 140 lumens is probably a very inflated number, I was just trying to distinguish it from the 50 lumen version since I wasn't 100% sure what the model was.

Baterija,
Thanks for the link. Do you know if they ship abroad? I didn't see any info about that on the page, but I can of course just email them for more info if you don't know. I think I may order one if they come back in stock soon.

Locoboy5150,
Thanks for your input. I realize there are better options for a AA light, but I already have a bunch of MiniMags that are now just collecting dust so I thought it would be fun to update them into modern lights. I can certainly find uses for them, one of which will probably be an EDC backup like yours.

McAllan,
Thanks for the link. They seem to have a decent selection of stuff. I was originally going to buy the Terralux TLE-5EX from lighthound.com but they seem to be out of stock, my backup was batteryjunction.com since they seem to have it in stock now - I know they also ship abroad. I had a look around dealextreme.com, and you are right, they have a very wide selection of cheap 2AA LED lights that look interesting, so thanks for the tip. I already have a Fenix L2D Q5, which I believe is very similar to the LD20, but I still want the drop-ins since I have a bunch of old MiniMags lying around that I would like to modernize .

I ran my TLE-5EX until the battery died. It did not get hot.

Stream:

I have 2 Mini Pro ll and am extremely pleased with their build quality, light output and ease of installation. Our Calibration Lab shows 180 plus lumens out the front. Works well with alkalines or NiMh, again highly recommended.

I do know that Lambda is in the middle of a build of SST-90 flamethrowers and farming at the same time. Drop him an email. Kevin is good people.

F350

Notsofast,
That's good to know. Thanks for the info

F350,
Sounds awesome. I will certainly drop Kevin an email

F350 said:

I have 2 Mini Pro ll and am extremely pleased with their build quality, light output and ease of installation. Our Calibration Lab shows 180 plus lumens out the front. Works well with alkalines or NiMh, ...

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...or a CR123A.

gswitter,
That's a pretty sweet setup

I have the TLE-EX5 and it's no way 140 lumens but I really like it. Put a pure flood optic on it and it runs practically for ever .

rayman

Thanks for your input, rayman

I've run my TLE-5EX for more than an hour on a summer night and it didn't seem to overheat. I was using it late at night at the time and I didn't visually see the light output diminish at all. If you check post 90 in this thread you can see how it did diminish a bit after 3 minutes of testing with a light meter:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/260659&page=3

I couldn't tell the difference with my eyes though.

A Terralux TLE-5EX Mini-Maglite is a great back up EDC light because batteries will last a very long time with it, or at least that's the case compared to my main EDC light in turbo mode, a Fenix LD20. In an emergency when my main light dies, sometimes I just need a simple to operate, long lasting light and the TLE-5EX is perfect for that.

Locoboy5150, thanks for the link. Seems like it dropped about 11.5 lumens during the first 3 minutes. Not bad, really. Most LED lights drop off a little at the beginning, but it sounds like the output stays pretty steady after the initial drop off according to your experience. One thing I'm curious about, since there doesn't seem to be too much heat development, is it ok to continue using the original plastic lens of the MiniMag?

Stream said:

One thing I'm curious about, since there doesn't seem to be too much heat development, is it ok to continue using the original plastic lens of the MiniMag?

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The stock plastic lens will be just fine. In fact, that's what I had in my Mini-Maglite during its 1 hour + test last summer. I replaced it shortly afterwards with its current glass lens only because the stock plastic one was getting pretty scratched up after 20+ years.

Were you using NiMh or Alkaline batteries in your test? I've noticed I get very short runtimes with my Fenix L2D Q5 on turbo when I use Alkalines, but with Energizer 2650mAh batteries I get at least a couple of hours without diminishing output. I've stopped using the Energizers simply because I don't like the high rate of self discharge that regular NiMh cells have, which is why I have ordered a bunch of AA Eneloops.

In the meantime I have been using Alkalines, and they get crappy runtime on turbo (seems like only 45min before they drop). I remember one test with the L2D Q5 that showed almost two hours of steady output with Eneloops. Not as long as with 2650mAh NiMh cells but well worth the small cut in runtime if it will still be fully charged after a week or so of disuse.

Stream said:

Were you using NiMh or Alkaline batteries in your test?

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For my 2 AA EDC lights, I only use Duraloop (NiMh) batteries. They were being used for that light output test.