new guy need help with Mag Lite charger

Hey Guys,
I'm new to the forum and need some help getting started.
I have an old Mag Lite Charger rechargeable and It is not holding a charge very good and doesn't focus very good any more.
I wanted to know if there were any mods to bring this good old light back to life, but only better than before?

And also need advise for small bright pocket sized led tactical light.

Thank's Wally

On the pocket sized light check out 4sevens

I'm not sure about the focusing issue but you can easily get new Magcharger battery packs. Just search "Magcharger battery" on Google and you should see a few.

For the smaller sized light, a few more preferences would help narrow down the selection. Such as:
Size, (how small is small?)
Modes, (low, high, strobe, etc.)
Battery type,
Beam pattern, (throw, flood, etc.)
Price,

:welcome:

You can get the battery here:

http://www.zbattery.com/Maglite-6V-NiMH-Rechargeable-Battery-Pack?sc=7&category=1289

Note that there are NiCd and NiMH, the NiMH is newer technology, released 2008 I think. It should give you a little performance boost over NiCd.

Thank's for the info,

For the small light I would like something 3 1/2"- 4 1/2" long with good amount of light, comfortable to keep in front pocket and around $85.00 or less. and maybe something that will accept a drop in up grade.


For the mag charger I wanted to know if there is a brighter led that is a drop in mod. or would the ni mhd give me more light?

Thank you wally

wally12 said:

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For the mag charger I wanted to know if there is a brighter led that is a drop in mod. or would the ni mhd give me more light?

Thank you wally

Click to expand...

yes there is a terralux 300r, just new battery would not give you more light.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=203876
that is considerably brighter than your stock bulb, you will however loose focus ability, but from personal experience, i'll say you wont miss it, i have one of those bulbs, i like it a lot.
as for battery, what those guys above said.

thou weather or not you want to spend close to 100$ to upgrade your mag is your choice, you can get smaller, lighter, brighter light for that much nowadays

Undependent of battery (NiCad or NiMh) or choice of bulb to MagCharger I recommend Empire Charger LINK. This makes it possible to charge the battery outside of the flashlight and at much shorter time, around 6 hour for a 3,5Ah battery. I have now totally 3 batteries and can have one in the flashlight and 2 spare batteries.

Regards, Patric

As far as a drop in LED upgrade, the Terralux TLE-300MR-EX is a nice one that is very bright. It's available here:

http://www.batteryjunction.com/terralux-tle-300-mr-ex.html

http://www.aexpertsecurity.com/index.php?item=1106

Note that if you buy from Battery Junction there is a 5% discount code for all CPF members:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=181841

The Terralux drop in will not improve the throw distance of your light very much. It produces a very wide hot spot with almost no spill due to its use of optics on the three LEDs rather than reflectors. It also will remove the spot/flood adjustment of your stock MagCharger. It is extremely bright though and it will light up an extremely large area. I have one in my 4D cell Maglite and it works great for my use. There are some pictures of it here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/locoboy5150/4331208321/in/set-72157623355387676/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/locoboy5150/4331211391/in/set-72157623355387676/

For the smaller light, since you want it easy to upgrade, I would suggest a P60 compatible light, but most are around 5 inches (and use CR123, RCR123, or 18650 batteries). I'm not sure what you think is comfortable, but to me, anything larger then a small AA light is too big, so something like the Dereelight Cl1H V4 (one of many P60 accepting lights) will not be a good fit for me.

There are other lights that are smaller, but they won't be easily upgradeable.

Well IMHO, your best bet is to acquire a MagCharger NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) pack and a new version of the MagCharger bulb. This will have several benefits:

1) Duration of the charge goes up from about an hour to two hours in my experience.

2) The newer NIMH pack is more resistant to 'memory effect'-where the cells start losing capacity due to partial recharges etc. NiCad cells as originally supplied were particularly vulnerable to this.

3) The two combined will produce a nice little increase in your light output from around 30000 candlepower to over 51000 candlepower.

4) Your MagCharger is fully compatible,no need to upgrade anything else.


I can't vouch for any LED upgrades-I'm waiting for Mag Instruments to release an official version-though I'm sure other members can help here.

If the focussing is out it may be worth contacting Mag Instuments direct. They should be able to effect a repair either FOC or at a reasonable price-though you may have to pay shipping both ways.

I'm aware of the arguments about LED torches-I own an LED Lenser P14 after my partners grand daughter decided she liked my MagLite 3AA LED and asked for it.

However, I still wouldn't be without my MagCharger for several reasons:

1) PROVEN durability, my old MagCharger was soaked, dropped and knocked many times yet it never failed.

2) Convenience-still has the very best charging system around. No need to have the torch at a particular angle just drop it in the cradle and away you go.

3) Produces a good reliable beam with formidable throw. No it isn't as good as some LED torches (the beam tends to be very round,bright and blue-white in colour) but that comes at an increase in price, running costs (CR123A Cells over here in the UK are,as far as the High St goes ASTRONOMICAL in cost)

A MagCharger competitor is either more expensive to buy or run or sometimes both,so I would recommend the above course of action.

Hope this helps.

:welcome: Wally!

Sounds like you MagCharger needs a new battery. Also, the new genuine Maglite batteries are NiMH, while the older ones were NiCad. That means that the new battery will last longer. The focusing problem happens to most older Mags. My old 4C will lose focus if you look at it wrong!I don't know how to help, but if you call Maglite they might be able to help.

Good Luck,
Alex