Maglite ML 25LT 3 Cell

bykfixer

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Vestureofblood spoke of upgrading these at one point but I don't think he ever did.
Mag doesn't make it easy for the casual tinkerer to upgrade. And thusfar the ML25's haven't been on the list of "must tweak one of these" as far as I know.
Those proppelerheads over at Budget Light Forums may have something going though. It's certainly a host with great potential in the hands of the right person(s).
Frankly with all of the mega lumen stuff coming out these days the trend seems to be "off the shelf", unlike not long ago when getting 500+ lumens required some out of the box thinkers to have their fun.
These days 500 lumens from 1 battery is attainable.
 
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Mercyfulfate1777

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Thanks for your reply bykfixer! as always,appreciated!
so is it a good led that comes from the factory and if it goes out can it be replaced without sending it in?
 

bykfixer

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In a word... no.

Good LED? Well I'd have to speculate that Mag did a lot of R&D before it went into production to ensure as few failures as possible would result.
They have computer software that simulates real world situations.

Side bar: PK told me at SureFire he hired a Phd from USC to program computers to simulate real world situations of potential abuses of things they were designing. He said back then 1 math formula would take a week for the computer to calculate, so the guy had 4 computers doing calculations 24 hours a day so he would not have to sit around twiddling his thumbs while one computer did its thing.
Nowadays computers are much faster and better at predicting things.
End side bar.


I accidently killed a ML25 last year so I took it apart to see if what you are asking was an easy thing.
It's a proprietary pill that comes in it.
Note the photos were after figuring out how the thing was assembled so some destruction had occured.


The assembly.
I used (iirc) a 19mm socket and a hammer to pop out the assembly through the tail end.


Taken apart.
Flat head screwdriver using a twisting motion popped the switch apart.


The pill.


A razor knife removed the plastic ears that hold the pill in.


I bashed them apart after ears were gone.
Then I figured out that wasn't required


Vice grips and a wooden dowel driven through popped the LED out.


Repeat to get it this far.

Note the LED chip will be destroyed, but hey it was already broken.


Flathead screwdriver got things apart.
But as you can see the pill is a special Mag only deal.

Do not use 123's in the 2 or 3 cell as it will fry the LED.
No poof occured, but it did make a sizzling sound as it dimmed to darkness.
 
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Mercyfulfate1777

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Wow, thats incredible for sure! so basically when the light stops working thats it? at least it was only 23$ i guess,lol
thanks bykfixer.

(pics saved)
 

xxo

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Not too sure, but the LED might be a Cree XP-E2?
 

xxo

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xxo,
that would be good news! i wonder how to confirm that? call maglite i guess.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask, but I wouldn't be too surprised if the customer service rep doesn't know off the top of their head.

Some of the more knowledgeable people here might be able to ID the LED from the photos or by looking at it if the happen to have a ML25.
 

xxo

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Not too sure, but the LED might be a Cree XP-E2?


Took a closer look at the LEDs in my 3C and it's marked 015, which I think is the number Mag uses for the XP-G2, so it might be that. The 2C looks the same but is marked 017, I do not know the significance of the different marking.
 

Mercyfulfate1777

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xxo, mine say the same, thanks for looking.
on a quick sidenote, i bought the 2c version of the 25lt today in red that had a bonus red led Solitaire in the package and went to scan for price and got it for 10$ nailed it quickly,pretty cool, and the Solitaire looks like the other leds but smaller. And an addendum to the first side note, i also bought the ml300l with 625 lms and man that thing will burn a hole in the wall,lol and again the led in that one looks like the same as in the others. So Maglites have stepped it up it seems to me. I have Olights and Nitecores with 500 plus lms and the ml300 is easliy on par. (imo)
 

xxo

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That's a smokin deal on the 2C/solitaire!

And Mag sure did step up their game with the ML300 (and ML50).
 

bykfixer

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I was in a class today where we had to speak to a crowd of strangers about life without saying "um", "uh" or "you know".

Easy for this guy, so I commenced to say this n that without stumbling and the instructor says "so what are your hobbies?" And I say this n that and go "flashlights are my new hobby"... looked around the room and smiled and said "sooner or later everyone of you will need one."

The instructor says "see me after class, I need a good one."
So this other cat approaches me on break and says "are those ones on eBay any good?" I asked what uses does he have in mind and he says they are for work. Bridge inspector stuff...

I said "dude I sell some of the best you can buy but in your case I wouldn't hesitate to tell you to get a Maglite". He says "awe man, my friends say they suck, but I love 'em." I asked had he tried the new MiniMag C size... he responded "hell yeah I love that 3 cell one. Great run time and makes an awesome hammer." lol.
 

Mercyfulfate1777

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ive noticed all of my leds in my newer Mags start with a 0,as xxo stated mine have the 017 and it looks like 018. I have an email in to Cree now, Maglite said they were not at liberty to state on that? i would think they would state that right on the package.
 
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