Best Drop-Ins for 3 C MagLights?

As the title says, I have a few of the 3 C MagLights that I want to upgrade.
What's the best/brightest one, and where can I get them?
Thanks all,
Lenny

Malkoff make the best dropin for the maglite's, but I don't think he makes them anymore, he's always out of stock. A cheap alternative that is decent is this http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-6exb.html Terralux makes another very bright drop in but 3 C cells won't power it.

Malkoff. The 3C drop-ins are in stock right now.

Woah, the malkoff is expensive.
Is it that much better than the Terralux?
Lenny

lenny said:

Woah, the malkoff is expensive.
Is it that much better than the Terralux?
Lenny

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haha, yes very expensive. Malkoff is American made and he makes some of the highest quality stuff available on the market. Malkoff also has some of the best customer service around so if you ever did have an issue, you know you will be take care of. That said, I've never heard of any issues with Terralux but I don't own any Terralux stuff so I can't really say for sure. I only mentioned Malkoff because you asked for the best and and good case can be made for Malkoff quality and customer service as the best.

lenny said:

Woah, the malkoff is expensive.
Is it that much better than the Terralux?
Lenny

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The Malkoff is 260 OTF lumens.
The Terralux is 140 LED lumens > 100 OTF lumens.
(The old Mag 3W LED upgrade is 50 OTF lumens).

The Malkoff have its own heatsink. This requires you to cut the cam off your reflector or buy a precut one from Malkoff.

The Terralux is just a bulb. This limits heat dissipation and maximum brightness.

ebow86 said:

Malkoff make the best dropin for the maglite's, but I don't think he makes them anymore, he's always out of stock. A cheap alternative that is decent is this http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-6exb.html Terralux makes another very bright drop in but 3 C cells won't power it.

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You said that Terralux makes another one that is brighter. I have a 3 D maglite that I want to convert to LED. Which one are you refering to? Will my 3 D battery power the one you are refering to?
Thanks, Shad

Hi deal4, this is it http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-300m-ex.html however, it needs at least 6 volts to run it (4 cell) and although it has the ability to run on alkalines, the performance will be poor. Many other will agree with what I'm about to say, but, the most I would do for your 3D maglite is give the $15 terralux a try, I would not put any more money into that big old mag, because, by the time you spend any significant amount of money you could have already bought a nice AA powered LED flashlight like a Fenix LD20 or 4sevens quark AA that will be better than your upgraded mag on many magnitudes including size, output, beam quality, and multiple output modes.

Upgrading the maglite's with LED drop in's was a good thing years ago when LED's were first getting their stride on, but with so many different high powered, efficient, and affordable AA and CR123 lights being available from places like 4sevens and Fenix, upgrading these old mag's isn't the best route to go if one is looking for a decent LED light. Just my 2 cents

I agree with ebow86 about spending a lot of money on a Mag Lite. That said, they do make great hosts and have a lot of room for copper heat sinks. I have a 3C Mag Lite that does just over 1000 lumens OTF and I just measured it at a bit over 90,000 lux @ 1 meter (measured at 10 meters and calculated back to 1 meter). Now that is a Mag Lite. You can't get that from a little AA light (or even a 2x 18650 light).

tre said:

I agree with ebow86 about spending a lot of money on a Mag Lite. That said, they do make great hosts and have a lot of room for copper heat sinks. I have a 3C Mag Lite that does just over 1000 lumens OTF and I just measured it at a bit over 90,000 lux @ 1 meter (measured at 10 meters and calculated back to 1 meter). Now that is a Mag Lite. You can't get that from a little AA light (or even a 2x 18650 light).

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That's a good point about them being great host's, but that light you have there is an extreme example. The point I wanted to make in my post was if someone is trying to spend less than $100 or so and looking for a decent light for real world useage, upgrading a old maglite isn't the best route IMO, not with the massive amount of affordable AA and CR123 lights out there today. Of course, if someone is looking for massive output and wants to spend some cash, like your example there, then yes, upgrading old maglite's is a good idea.

ebow86 said:

...that light you have there is an extreme example.

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hahaha, that is for sure :devil:.

ebow86 said:

The point I wanted to make in my post was if someone is trying to spend less than $100 or so and looking for a decent light for real world useage, upgrading a old maglite isn't the best route IMO, not with the massive amount of affordable AA and CR123 lights out there today. Of course, if someone is looking for massive output and wants to spend some cash, like your example there, then yes, upgrading old maglite's is a good idea.

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Were in total agreement.

the best\cheapest thing you can do to a 3C maglite is to get magnumstar 5cell bulb, and run it off 2 18650 cells, preferably protected ones.
that is not led mod, but for lm\$ most practical one.

I've considered getting the terralux TLE-6EX for an old 6D cell maglite I have just for the hell of it, however, I have always been concerned with heat buildup when running it off of 9 volts. The tiny bulb slot inside the maglite bulb holder is a terrible heatsink. I don't know, their only about $20 shipped, maybe I will get one and post back my thoughts on it.

What many of them are saying. My Fenix P2D on one CR123 battery is not quite as bright as the 2 cell MagLed in my 2C Mag. But it has 4 levels of light and a WAY more useful beam! And it is at least 4 or 5 years behind the times! But it fits in my pocket!

I once had two 3 CR123 driving a Hotwire in this 2C, but the MagLed was cheap enough and C cells are plentiful. I don't carry C or D Mags around!`

Edited to say DOH! I knew I had a Terralux and lo and behold it is in my 2C Mag. It's warmer tinted than ANY of my MagLeds!

ebow86 and tre,
Thanks guys for your thoughts. I completely agree with you and I am only thinking about converting my mag to LED as I already have it. I have a bunch of other lights that are way brighter and use a bunch more, but it's nice to have a light that any "normal" person can use.
The only thing i want is to make sure the LED version isn't going to be dimmer than the current incan. I just want to have better runtime and not have to worry about changing the bulb.
Thanks again!

double post

Deal4 said:

You said that Terralux makes another one that is brighter. I have a 3 D maglite that I want to convert to LED. Which one are you refering to? Will my 3 D battery power the one you are refering to?
Thanks, Shad

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ebow86 said:

Hi deal4, this is it http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-300m-ex.html however, it needs at least 6 volts to run it (4 cell) and although it has the ability to run on alkalines, the performance will be poor.

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batteryjunction has a custom version of that module for 3D mags. The module, a battery pack made up of 5*1/2D cells and a special charger for the battery pack.
http://www.batteryjunction.com/maglite-supercharger-combo.html

I agree buying a new dedicated light might be much better than a very expensive upgrade.

In addition to the Terralux TLE-6EXB bulb from batteryjunction or led-replacement, superbrightleds have a couple PR2-1WHP-9V and PR2-3WHP-9V.

LEDninja said:

In addition to the Terralux TLE-6EXB bulb from batteryjunction or led-replacement, superbrightleds have a couple PR2-1WHP-9V and PR2-3WHP-9V.

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I have never seen the ones from superbrightleds. They any good?

Hi all. What about a Mac's Customs Mag Drop-In? http://macscustoms.com/MagLiteDropIn.aspx 3 modes, hours of run time on high, days on low. $104 shipped in US. Am I missing something? It says up to 4 D cells. I assume 3 C cells will still drive it.

blinkjr said:

Hi all. What about a Mac's Customs Mag Drop-In? http://macscustoms.com/MagLiteDropIn.aspx 3 modes, hours of run time on high, days on low. $104 shipped in US. Am I missing something? It says up to 4 D cells. I assume 3 C cells will still drive it.

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it is great drop in, however it wont fit C mag.
-Compatible with Maglite's with a "D" in the serial number