I need to upgrade 2D cell Maglite to led

jcm1107

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I need to get a new led bulb for my maglite. I have the old 2 D cell that came with a regular bulb. I had an led but it actually finally wore out!! I have been looking for a maglite brand with no success. I have found terralux TLE 1F and terralux 6 EXB and also maglite halogen and xeon and krypton. I need to know what will give me a bright light like the led and not break when I drop my lite and I need max battery life!! battery life and being drop proof are most important. I am using the regular bulb now and eating batteries with a fairly dim light. I work with this light all day and need something that will work when I need it to( I am a mechanic it gets dropped and beat around all day).
 

tre

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I don't know how bright you want it or what kind of beam you want or how much money you want to spend. That said, if you want bullet proof, you want a Malkoff MagLite 2D drop-in. 2.5 hours of full brightess followed by another 22 hours of declining output.
 

Lightdadark

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For a simple cheap LED upgrade... TLE-6EX/B TerraLux is the one you want for your 2D. You can order it from Lighthound.
 

jcm1107

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I don't know how bright you want it or what kind of beam you want or how much money you want to spend. That said, if you want bullet proof, you want a Malkoff MagLite 2D drop-in. 2.5 hours of full brightess followed by another 22 hours of declining output.

I am not concerned with brightness (I know any led will be bright) mostly battery life. I hate changing the batteries constantly. And I use the light frequently all day long. I also have three other old mag lights I need to find bulbs for too. I keep them in the truck and home and use them to hunt and the one I use to hunt with is on all night when I use it. the others I use for short periods of time mostly once in a while. I like the malkoff or the terralux which would have the longer battery life? I see the malkoff is brighter but says 3 hour run time? I see the price difference but I am not too concerned I would pay for the malkoff but I would rather the terralux for the price. I guess the run time and battery life would be my deciding factor.
 

jcm1107

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The best ones available are from www.malkoffdevices.com. It may be a good idea though to turn in the Mag and get the Fenix TK-50.

I just looked up the Feniz TK-50 and maybe I should try to replace the maglite with this. I think I will put the terralux bulb in them though and buy one of the fenix to see if I like it. Are they really water proof like the mag lite? I had a buddy drop my mag lite in the lake and it was still shining up from the bottom about 10 ft down the next night I went back and that was before led bulbs!!! that is what sold me on mag lites I figure if they can handle what me and my buddies threw at them you cant kill them. oh I am good at scratching lenses and getting fluid on them that eats them can you buy extras for the Fenix?
 

jcm1107

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The best ones available are from www.malkoffdevices.com. It may be a good idea though to turn in the Mag and get the Fenix TK-50.

one more question about the fenix, is the body plastic? it looks like it is. If it is plastic I need to stick with the mag lite. also I see it has some sort of light circuit board witch I don't like. I use the mag because it has proved to be indestructable or nearly and it will take a really good light for me to switch. I have a work light at work that has a supposedly shatter proof housing that only lasted about 2 months til I had to get a new plastic housing (at least I finally found one I can get parts too) which I had to order so I had to buy another light while I was waiting. I am sick of replacing all these plastic lights that they sell. I bet I have spent $300 on broken lights in the years I have been a mechanic. I have really thought of making a metal housing to go over them so you cant break it.
 

squaat

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jcm1107, the tk50 is definitely not made from plastic. It's made from aluminum. I would say much tougher than your maglight. Yes it is water proof. Rated to IPX-8 to 2m. And again I believe it would be more water proof than your maglight. As for circuit boards, almost all LED lights have them. Even the Terralux bulbs you were eyeing. in almost everyway the tk50 will be superior to a maglight. The only thing you are going to have to give up is the "focusing" ability of the maglight. though to be honest that's more of a gimmick and not really that practical.

The things you are going to gain with a tk50 are.
* much longer runtime
* 4 modes of brightness
* 3 signalling modes (strobe, sos and a warning mode)
* more solid build
* less moving parts
* much brighter (for longer too) than you expect.

However since you are a mechanic, and I assume are using the lights for looking into engines and what not I think the tk50 and your mags are too big for the job. There is an abundance of flashlights out there that are way smaller and have a longer runtime than your mag. I think something in the 1aa or 2aa format (or perhaps even a headlamp) would work well for a mechanic.
 

themandylion

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I'd love to have Malkoff upgrades, but not at thrice the original cost of the Maglite!

I upgraded my wife's 6 D with a Terralux. Older Mags have Mag or Nite Ize upgrades.
 

AaronG

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Do you use a 2D mag when doing mechanical work?! I'm an electrician and I couldn't imagine hauling one of those around and trying to get work done :eek: I use a zebralight H51F for two handed work and a Fenix LD10 for checking out crawl spaces and attics.

If your opposed to a good headlamp then a much smaller light would work better. My LD10 pumps out more light than my 2D mag with mag LED drop in. A 2 AA light (LD20, LD25 etc..) would give you a decent runtime too. The heads are sealed so you can't replace the lens but it's hardened glass so you shouldn't have to.

If you are open to headlamps I find that the 30 lumen setting on the Zebra is about right for close work and it works for six hours before dropping to the next output level. Check out the H51Fw or H51Fc.
 

kilogulf59

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Has there been any advancements made since this thread was originally posted in 2011?


I bought a TerraLUX Maglite emitter for my 2-D cell unit and I wasn't really overly impressed. Narrow bean and it doesn't seem very bright for an LED claiming (IIRC) 200 lumens. (Yes, I checked the batteries with my digital multimeter)


I should probably just give it to someone or throw it out but there's barely a scratch on it and I've had it for years.
 

bykfixer

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What I liked about the Malkoff is that the only mod needed was remove the cam from the reflector, or buy one pre-cut. It turned my dull incan 3D Maglite into a coon hunting light. I put a better lens in later but before that it certainly turbo charged an old flashlight with a reversable modification if you buy a pre-cut reflector too.
 

INFRNL

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Couldn't one just buy a new maglight for the same price or less of a retrofit?

How would the malkoff drop-in compared to the newer led mags?

One of my dads favorite lights is his old incan mag. I have an old 3d but it's been sitting in a drawer for yrs. I'm not really a fan of the size anymore and not really interested in investing in nimh batteries or buying primaries.

Knowing me, id probably be more interested in the xml drop-in over the standard, but cost is nearly double.not sure it would be a worthwhile investment with all the options we have now(even from mag)
 
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bykfixer

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An ML300 would cost about the same, sure. But as a CPF'r half the fun is making a flashlight a lot brighter than it came from the factory 20 years ago.
The Malkoff was conceived before the new Mag models came out.
 

xxo

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I have one of these in my old 4D Mag:



....Nice bright upgrade for a old Mag.

If you are looking for something with a lower output, the Nite Ize 55 or 74 lumen drop-ins are very good as well.
 

Buck91

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For a low cost long run time option Rayovac makes a decent LED drop in. Definitely not winning any lumens contests but should run forever. I also have an older magLED from when the LED was a drop in bulb. Replaced the Lux3 with a SSC P4. Again, doesn't hold a candle to modern LED lights but it does work well. The thermal regulation also improves runtime if used continuously.
 
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