PR base dropin LEDS

SO in the past 10+ years it looks like high quality drop in LED bulbs are all but extinct. Looks like a few terralux bulbs are still floating around the web, usually for a premium price. Can't find any MJLED/SMJLED anywhere. Nite Ize and Rayovac do offer some options, as do the Chinese importers.

I'm looking to grab a small handful of PR and minimag style drop ins to stash in my EMP kit. Any suggestions? Obviously high output isn't the focus, but it would be nice to have some variance between lower output long runtime and higher output as well. Anything out there that isn't angry blue? Of course, all that would come second to quality/durability.

Re: dropin LEDS

I think you might want to be more specific about the host(s) you are using.

There are plenty of P60-type and similar dropins around, are you limiting this to just MagLite-type hosts ?

Re: dropin LEDS

Sorry, thought I was. Looking at PR style drop ins for this purpose.

Re: dropin LEDS

Buck91 said:

Sorry, thought I was. Looking at PR style drop ins for this purpose.

Click to expand...

Since P60 is so much more commonly discussed, you might want to consider adding "PR-style" to your title ?

I found it confusing, and others might also.

Re: dropin LEDS

For PR based bulbs, Nite Ize 55 and 74 lumen drop-ins are pretty good, these work with 2 to 6 cells.

If you want something brighter, specifically for Maglites, these are real nice:



For the AA mini Mags, the 30 lumen Nite Ize drop-in is also pretty good for what it is.

Re: dropin LEDS

some flashlights that use pr bulbs have reversed polarity, no problems with bulbs but with led pr drop ins, it creates a problem, usually 6v lanterns have reverse polarity. i still have few such drop ins, for reverse and not, they are about 30-50 lm. i'll see if i can find them, i have no use for them, if you interested we can make a trade.

found them


first and second from the left are everleds, 2-6 cells, straight and reversed polarity,, 3rd is first luxeon drop in, for 3 cells only, it stamped 4,5v, i bought it prbly 10 years ago or so, last one is original maglite drop in, to be honest they are all a bit blue, first lxeon more blue than the rest.

Re: dropin LEDS

I have a few RayOVac drop-ins, 30 lumen 2 cell and 40 lumen 3 or 4 cell. They seem to have a little bit of a bluish tint but not real bad.

If you are in the U.S. and near a Meijer store they have these on clearance. I saw a few on 9-14 for $1.99.

Re: dropin LEDS

PR base drop in LED's never really kept up with the times.

Rayovac has probably built some of the nicest tint-wise but high output was something that was never really the strong point of LED drop ins. Most were meant as an alternative to a light bulb in your grandfathers fridge mount flashlight.

Fulton manufacturing has the nicest drop ins I've seen with a nice neutral tint for their TL122 right angle military lights. And the Vietnam style, which I cannot recall the model number of now. Again meant for 2C or D applications.

Re: dropin LEDS

If you can find them Rayovac makes a cheap 2AA plastic LED light that has a dropin LED in it for around $2 used to sell at walmart and then a little more expensive at BigLots. I'm thinking Dorcy made the dropins for Rayovac they had them on their website awhile back not sure if they are still available or not. Energizer made a 1D LED light that had a dropin that would run off 2 cells but it would push the dropin hard and on occasion they would burn out I would recommend using nimh with these dropins if using 2 cells the lower voltage would helped to lessen the stress on the dropin. You can also find dropins on Ebay I'm not sure of the quality and such though.
Dropins are less popular due to the cheapness and availability of higher output LED lights such that a dropin costs close to the price of buying a new light these days that is a lot brighter sometimes with multiple modes and better tint and beam pattern.
I invested in dropins long ago to give new life to some of my incans but now they all sit gathering dust as I've gone to 18650 tech and USB lights now.

Those rayovacs on clearance for $2 are hard to pass up! Picked up a handful today while I was out and now I just need to wrap them in foil and add them to the kit.

Being a long time fan of PR base drop-ins I have tried a variety. The Nite-Ize drop-ins mentioned by xxo are probably the best value and the color temperature is considerably better than the Luxeons based models of the past. One of the problems with PR base drop-ins is that they often don't focus very well in some lights so getting several different types may be to your advantage.Some of the Chinese drop-ins I have purchased are pretty decent but it can be hit or miss with what you get compared to what you expect,that is where I have found neutral/warm drop-ins though.

Photography lighting filters/gels can be used to mitigate the blue in drop-ins like the PR base Dorcy/Rayovac 10MM. Most incandescent lights have removable lenses or reflectors that make adding filters an easy task. I use LEE filters but there are other brands.It shouldn't be too much bother to add several pieces of varying size to your kit.

Lastly,LED flashlights have pretty much taken over the market and I have to search to find incandescent designs. As incandescents disappear I suspect PR base drop-ins will as well since demand is already limited. In other words, if you want them get them now while they are still fairly cheap.