The Battle to beat a 5D

Hi guys,
I'm new to the site and infact new to maglites so I was pretty surprised when I came accross this site! The deal is I was given a 4D Maglite from a mate for my 21st birthday and he said the only reason for choosing the 4D was because he has a 5D! As you can see I cant have him have the last word, so that's where you guys come in!!

So far I have replaced the globe with a Xenon globe and UCL lens! Although i have noticed some diffrence, not the amount i am looking for. The next modification i want to do is the refector and batteries although I need some info about these two mods! Also with these mods will the maglite become too hot? I only use it for camping once a fortnight or so.

Can anyone please give me some info so I can have the last laugh!:twothumbs

"camping flashlight", eh ?

get something like this here instead: http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=362

Check out this thread.

There are a TON of things you can do with a Mag4D... I think it all boils down to intention and as always.... budget.

You'll probably want to choose whether you want it LED or incandescent. I don't know so much on the LED side, so maybe someone can chip in on that. I'll just comment a bit on the incan side - although you may get better comments from others - I'm relatively new to Mag Modding.

Either way, you may want to switch out your reflector for a metal one.

With incans, if you want to go brighter, you're definitely going to have to change your power supply. 4xAlkalines just won't cut it when it comes to delivering raw power.

Next, you'll have to choose whether you want PURE BLINDING POWER or something a bit less bright - and more practical. The tradeoff here will be mainly runtime. Also, if you get something real bright, you'll have to swap out your UCL lens for a borofloat. (Handles heat better)

All that said, personally, I feel that the easiest & most practical way to battle the 5D is to go with the ROPs mentioned previously. The 5D probably puts out ~100 lumens (just an educated guess), so even the 3854-L bulb on ~7V should put out just ~500 lumens.

If you're adventurous, you coudl try the 3854-H which would put you close to 1000 lumens.

Afaik, the 'standard' way for batteries is to use 6x Sub-C cells which would give you 7.2V.

Of course, at this point, you could just buy a Mag 5D bulb and overdrive it with these 6 cells (Or just the 6D bulb). I'm not sure how long a 5D overdriven bulb would last, though.

........................
(Unverified information below)

Of course, if you want HUGE POWER, you could always buy 5x Li-Ion cells (IMR26500) [may require tailcap mod], and overdrive a superbulb like the Osram 64447 12v bulb at 18.5V which would then give you ~ 5000lumens for maybe 10minutes before dying, heh. (And this would require a Kiu hi-temp bi-pin socket for the heat)

Or you could get 4x D-size LiFePO4 cells (for 12.8V) and run an Osram 64625/62138 in a Kiu socket for 3k-4k lumens.

For camping you'll need a lantern.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001H9NR6C/?tag=cpf0b6-20
and a flashlight.
http://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=297_306&products_id=1656
for the 4D Maglite.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/273443

You need to make a few decisions about your flashlight before buying anything: LED or incandescent? Do you want long run times or bright? Easy or involved?

LED or incandescent: LED can provide more efficient, brighter light but the light coming from an LED offers low CRI, as a general rule of thumb. CRI is difficult to explain but I'll try my hardest here: Light from the sun (and incandescent light bulbs, too) provide all colors of the spectrum. Because of this light reflected from a colored surface is reflected back to your eyes and you see color in all its vivid glory. This is known as high CRI. LEDs only produce a narrow spectrum of light so anything that is outside of this spectrum of light doesn't reflect the colors back to your eyes well so it's going to look washed out. That's the trade-off of an LED light. Incandescent lights are better for use while outdoors trudging through the woods for this reason.

Long run times or bright: Brighter lights require more current. More current means shorter run times. Brighter lights are cool for the "wow" factor but are terrible for extended use as they tend to run their batteries down faster so you either don't use the light as much to conserve the batteries or you carry lots of spare batteries. LEDs have an advantage here as they produce more light with less current and LEDs can be run at lower currents than is needed to light up the filament on an incandescent bulb and still provide a low level of light. LED drivers can be set up for multiple modes (low, medium, high, for example) so that you can have the "wow" factor while still having a useful light for camping.

Easy or involved: Easy would be something like swapping bulbs and/or batteries. Involved would be something like taking the switch assembly out, cutting off the tower, buying a heatsink, installing a bare LED emitter onto the heatsink, then wiring up this whole mess. An easy mod may not yield the results you may be looking for but the involved mod would take time and money and some soldering skills to complete. How far do you want to take this?

As yellow has alluded to, a modern LED light in a small form factor can actually outperform an older incandescent 5D MagLite. The MagLite may offer longer run times, ultimately, due to the 5D cell configuration, but that Fenix will give it a run for the money and fit in your pocket while doing so. You cannot, however, use the Fenix as a club should the need arise. A 4D converted into a multi-mode LED light could be what you are looking for.

About the easiest thing you can do with a 4D (i.e. without even changing your cells) is to use the Pelican 3753 bulb as I've done in my thread here (read down a bit to get to the Mag 4D part). If I was to guess, it's maybe ~250 lumens on fresh cells, perhaps ~double the stock configuration? It's a modest step up from your Xenon 4D bulb, but definitely the easiest upgrade. Any more (incandescent) power than that and you will need cells with higher current capabilities like NiMH rechargeables.

Stock Mag 4D bulb__________________ Pelican 3753-H


By changing your cell configuration as others have noted here you can get to ROP level performance (w/ the 3854) which is definitely brighter. There is a lot of info on the very popular ROP here on CPF.

4d is my favorite light, after lanterns.
the cheapest 4d mag mod i did (10 years ago) was a 5.2v 850mah iirc radio shack halogen bulb, it is whiter and brighter, costs about $3.

for more you can swap your original bulb with terralux drop ins from $30to $70 i bought tle300 drop in several years ago, and it is the brightest one out of terralux line, i love it thou cost about $70

there are also awesome malkoff drop ins but they are sold out as of now, hopefully he'll restock them soon.

for anything more you need to invest more, in batteries, reflectors, and in some cases switches.

If you want an easy way to show your buddy how your 4 D Maglite is better than his 5 D Maglite and not cost you a dime, just go out on a night hike or stroll anywere with him and each of you bring your Maglites. The 4 D cell is a pain to carry anywhere, but it's a whole lot easier to live with when on the move compared to the larger 5 and 6 D cell models.

Once I got my TK40, my 4 D cell Maglite pretty much stays at home. Anything larger than a TK40 falls into the "pain to carry" category.

If it were me I would go with 4xNiMH D cells, a warm tint MCE, and a 2.5A driver. Not the cheapest route, but its not crazy $$$ either. NiMH D cells weigh a freikin' ton, so its also good for a nice should the need arise.

Welcome to CPF!!! My very first CPF post in 2005 was very similar to yours. I never did get around to modding my 4D.. I prefer the smaller 3D and 2D sizes.

:welcome:

kramer5150 said:

NiMH D cells weigh a freikin' ton, so its also good for a nice should the need arise.

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I wonder if two Eneloop/Duraloop AA's could be used instead of the NiMH D? I got a bunch of D to AA adapters from Ebay for about $1 each, and the 2AA is much lighter than alkaline. I still have the large light, just without the extra weight.

Robin24k said:

I still have the large light, just without the extra weight.

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than it defeats the purpose of .lol
but yea 2aa-1d adapters will make any d light a lot lighter,

Malkoff dropin for 4-5-6 cell Maglites might be a much simpler way to do it, all you need to do is cut the cam off the reflector and pop the module in and voila! you're all set.

Or if you don't want to do the cutting, you can check out Kaidomain's mag accessories

Good luck with beatin the 5D man!

hyperloop said:

Malkoff dropin for 4-5-6 cell Maglites might be a much simpler way to do it, all you need to do is cut the cam off the reflector and pop the module in and voila! you're all set.

Or if you don't want to do the cutting, you can check out Kaidomain's mag accessories

Good luck with beatin the 5D man!

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they have been sold out for at least few mounts

hyperloop said:

Good luck with beatin the 5D man!

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Better luck if you can actually find a Malkoff drop in. Beating a 5 D Maglite is a *LOT* easier than buying a Malkoff Maglite drop in.

Robin24k said:

I wonder if two Eneloop/Duraloop AA's could be used instead of the NiMH D? I got a bunch of D to AA adapters from Ebay for about $1 each, and the 2AA is much lighter than alkaline. I still have the large light, just without the extra weight.

Click to expand...

should work, provided the adapters do not have a high resistance. Although the high resistance might help extend the life of an incan bulb, if oyu are pushing it near its limits.

Kestrel said:

By changing your cell configuration as others have noted here you can get to ROP level performance (w/ the 3854) which is definitely brighter. There is a lot of info on the very popular ROP here on CPF.

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I'll have to agree with you on the ROP, it gives a much brighter light and def worth it.

At the "other" end of the incandescent spectrum is a "hotwire Mag"

* 12xAA battery carriage
* Aluminium reflector
* Glass lens
* Kiu high temp socket/tower
* Halogen Bi pin of your choice (overdriven 12v spec)

SWEET! :thumbsup:

M@elstrom said:

At the "other" end of the incandescent spectrum is a "hotwire Mag"

* 12xAA battery carriage
* Aluminium reflector
* Glass lens
* Kiu high temp socket/tower
* Halogen Bi pin of your choice (overdriven 12v spec)

SWEET! :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

where would you get the battery carriage from?
does that mean a 12AA carriage would give you 18volts??
sorry I'm a noob and keen to learn

Thanks guys for all the help! Just new to the whole thing but really keen to learn about it all :thumbsup:

I will be sure to let you know how i do!!:twothumbs

Crewsy ure an idoit! haha