MiniMag Solitaire LED upgrade

Does someone make one? If so is it a direct drop in or are further steps involved?

Unless you're really attached to the Minimag, buy a different 1xAAA flashlight. All the dropin upgrades I know of are not very good...can't even remember where they still sell them. Buying a new light would cost about the same as the dropin.

Agreed. I was reviewing my lights, was going to update my Solitaire, then realized that for a similar or lesser price I could just get an ITP A3 EOS Upgrade Edition that is brighter and more flexible.

Thanks.

Don't do it... it's a trap. Solitaire upgrade threads happen all the time here seems nobody wants to use the search engine to find out that they could have saved $5 towards a fenix E01 or better light instead of throwing it away on a cutesy flashlight that is dwarfed in output by a dollar store disposable keychain LED light.

While the rational and logical part of my brain is 100% aware that the little Maglite is not much of a starting point for an LED flashlight, and that my iTP A3 EOS is infinitely better in every functional aspect than any Solitaire ever will be, I also have this strange craving for an LED upgrade for my little ancient Mag.

I think it's partly because it was the first really tiny and (just about) usable torch that I ever owned, having bought it along with a Victorinox Spartan pocket knife approximately 13 years ago and having spent what was at the time a not-inconsiderable £30 on the two items (a lot of money when I was 13!). Also, it really is such a nice-looking little light and IMO no competing manufacturer has yet produced a 1xAAA LED light with such nice aesthetics.

It's just a shame that the little Sol is such a dim, gutless, unreliable and power-hungry thing compared to even the cheapest and nastiest offerings from various Chinese mail-order gadget emporia. Even a $0.50 Photon-clone offers much higher output and greater runtime.

Unfortunately I just can't bring myself to drop $30 on the most commonly-available dropin, whose manufacturer doesn't even state an output power (either lumens or watts) and openly admits to preventing the head screwing down fully :green:

If a half-decent dropin ever becomes available for sensible money (I'm thinking sub-$15) and offers a useful amount of light - say, 30lumens - without sacrificing the focusing ability or requiring anything other than an ordinary alkaline AAA cell, then I'll gladly buy it! Until then, the Solitaire will remain a pretty shelf ornament that only occasionally finds a use when I'm poking around in the depths of a PC tower, and I'll stick to modern LED kit for the job of actually illuminating things brightly :twothumbs

Just to add: There's a dropin on Fleabay that looks very much like a clone of the most commonly available one, for a mere $7; however, the feedback seems to be that although it works, it doesn't fit particularly well and that after repeated on/off cycles the LED may well break off...

Almost pulled the trigger on that, glad I checked all the feedback first!

eBay 香港: 13.5 lumen's Bi-Pin LED MODULE FOR MAGLITE SOLITAIRE ...

i have bought 3 of these and they work OK just don't try i on a Li-ion 3.7v or it will die quick trust me on that

Lynx_Arc said:

Don't do it... it's a trap. Solitaire upgrade threads happen all the time here seems nobody wants to use the search engine to find out that they could have saved $5 towards a fenix E01 or better light instead of throwing it away on a cutesy flashlight that is dwarfed in output by a dollar store disposable keychain LED light.

Click to expand...

I concur on everything written here. :thumbsup:

I've had four of the commonly available ones in use for a few years, bought from two different US suppliers, said to be different somehow (I forget how). They look identical, with "AAA" printed on the metal part. They're mostly valuable for handing to people who expect a dim little yellow light -- by contrast to their expectation they're plenty bright.

One of those quit working after a while. Anybody got ideas to take it apart and mod it? (grin).

The ones from the link Barrie gave above tempted me for a little while (I ordered their 'showerhead' dropin). But I declined for now; $7 and free shipping, so I can get'em any time.

Solitaires and similar little metal 1xAAA lights show up at garage sales for fifty cents or a quarter nowadays. My wife has decided any 25-cent flashlight can be improved, so she picks them up when she sees them. So, maybe ...

hank said:

Solitaires and similar little metal 1xAAA lights show up at garage sales for fifty cents or a quarter nowadays. My wife has decided any 25-cent flashlight can be improved, so she picks them up when she sees them. So, maybe ...

Click to expand...

They are probably worth 25 cents.... take the head off, throw away the bulb and use it for a AAA battery carrier for a decent light... or a pill container or roll up a $20 bill and use it for an emergency stash. There are simple very cheap mods for converting them to LED using button cells, a spring, and a 3 or 5mm LED but in the end when you go to using button cells it loses its appeal as there are thousands of cheap dollar store lights with similar runtime and output that are designed for those cells easier to manage with no effort involved to mod. I told a guy in a store to get a lighter instead of a solitaire as it has more output and runtime for a lot cheaper.

I had the TerraLux LT3. Unfortunately the led went in it but the circuit on the LT3 is a battery vampire. I haven't bothered putting another 3mm LED in it as in the the end it wasn't worth it and it'll be great in other things. It cost me around $20. It's cheaper not but still not worth it.

Keep the solitaire for tinkering if you are interested. A spring or spacer and 3 AG13/LR44 type batteries will drive a LED quite well but not all AG13/LR44 batteries will fit in the tube, thats if you are going to use this type of battery. 2 button cells and a red led works well too. Very simple mod. If you want something a little more complicated, then a joule thief circuit and a single button cell will work wonders.

In the end, it's probably not worth doing anything with it unless you want a bit of fun.