Is the Mag-Lite out of date?

I'm 84 years of age and don't like change and I bought a Mag-Lite a few years ago to give it to my son when he became a Paramedic and I have just found it in my garage. I guess he must have discoverd something not as expensive in battery costs or maybe more effective so the question has to be, Is it worth keeping?
I think the batteries are 1.5 so how long is normal life and I know thats a difficult question.
Is it possible to run this torch on rechargable batteries and if so how efficent are they also a difficult question.
Is it possible to fit LED bulbs to these torches?

Welcome to CPF! I have moved your post to a general discussion forum since you had some specific questions. Best regards.

There will always be people who are perfectly happy with a sturdy flashlight with a simple on/off interface. And Maglites are like that old Timex commercial - "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking."

Yes, you can get rechargeable AAA, AA, C, and D cells. But unless you plan to use your light a lot, it probably is not cost effective to go the rechargeable route. And as a personal preference, I would never use alkaline cells in any flashlight. They are too prone to leak and destroy your light. If you are not going to use rechargeables, you should use Lithium primary (non-rechargeable) cells. Their shelf life is phenomenal, and they work over a longer temp range.

Since your son is a paramedic, it is quite likely that he uses a light with a high CRI, because it gives a truer color rendition - something important to medical personnel. A light with an incandescent bulb will deliver that, but has the problems of being for fragile, using batteries up faster, and not lasting as long. So more than likely any light he is using uses and LED for its light source. It's been a while since I looked at Maglites, but I don't remember any LED versions with a high CRI.

Welcome aboard.

Is it an LED light or one with a light bulb?
It's best to store alkaline batteries outside of a Maglite. Kind of a pain but out of millions of them made, the vast majority were likely tossed in the trash due to leaked batteries.

You mention 1.5 volts, which indicates you understand batteries in general. Maglite are designed and built for use with 1.5 volt batteries. Many here use Eneloop aa batteries with space filling adapters you can find at Amazon or other establishments. Used to be camera stores and electronic stores sold them so if you actually have one still near you that may be a good place to find some. Perhaps adapters with ultimate lithium batteries if you don't want to go the rechargeable route.

Your son may have found something more pocket friendly that is just as bright or brighter. 18650 battery (18mm by 65mm or around 3/4" x 2.5") sized lights are huge sellers these days. So those are not much bigger than a aa light but are pretty bright and often times easily recharged.

Is the big Maglite outdated? In a word yes. But so is the toaster. Yet that doesn't make them useless.

First of all, what size light is it? If it's a 2AA, 1AAA, or 2AAA, get a new flashlight. If it takes C or D cells and takes 2-4 of them, you can find an l.e.d. drop-in bulb for it fairly easily. However, in the long run, you're better off getting a whole new light, not another maglite. Because of how maglites are designed, they have poor heat transfer properties to get heat away from the l.e.d. to the metal body of the light. In other words, the l.e.d. won't last as long as it should or be as bright as it could be otherwise. The best lights currently are 18650 and 21700 lithium ion lights. If you get one that is USB rechargeable or has a battery that has a built in usb port, you don't need to buy a separate charger and might be able to charge your phone with the same power cord. Maglite is slow to adapt to new technology, go with a different brand. Look into Fenix, Nitecore, Klaurus, and, Olight. Stay away from lights that take alkaline batteries. Alkaline batteries leak frequently and will destroy a light in no time. Technology has come a long way. You can get a light about the size of a quarter that is several times brighter than an old maglite.

[FONT=&quot]I think that the Mag-Lite takes a 1.5 Duracell CR2 High Power Lithium Battery but I have only seen 3v are they aceptable?[/FONT]

If it's a 2 cell Maglite it'll be ok to use 3 volts meaning 1 at 3 volts, or 2 at 1.5 volts. A 3 cell Maglite about 4.5 volts, 4 cell about 6 volts. That is except the MagTac light which operates from 2 123 batteries (total 6 volts).

Look up Nite Ize LED replacements for light bulbs. Rayovac makes some (called Varta in Europe).

bykfixer said:

If it's a 2 cell Maglite it'll be ok to use 3 volts meaning 1 at 3 volts, or 2 at 1.5 volts. A 3 cell Maglite about 4.5 volts, 4 cell about 6 volts. That is except the MagTac light which operates from 2 123 batteries (total 6 volts).

Look up Nite Ize LED replacements for light bulbs. Rayovac makes some (called Varta in Europe).

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Many thanks.
BML

What is the first number of the serial? Are there any letters in front of the first number?

xxo said:

What is the first number of the serial? Are there any letters in front of the first number?

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[FONT=&quot]The whole number on the barrel of the torch is as follows. 02006113603[/FONT]

Your light runs on 2 alkaline D cells. You can run it on AA's if you get a couple of AA to D adapters (Eneloop sells them).

xxo said:

Your light runs on 2 alkaline D cells. You can run it on AA's if you get a couple of AA to D adapters (Eneloop sells them).

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[FONT=&quot]I would like to use Lithium[/FONT][FONT=&quot] and have been told that a CR2 pack is 3 volt. Is that aceptable? [/FONT]

No letters in front of the numbers on a D cell light means it an oldy but goody. I think I read somewhere the letter D was added in '92.

I have some D to aa adapters in a late 90's 2D Maglite made by Edison Bright using Energizer ultimate lithiums and a Nite Ize LED module to replace the stock light bulb. The adapters came from an Amazon seller. The batteries and "bulb" came from Home Depot. But reading the term torch makes me think you are across the big pond from us Yanks BML.

BML said:

I would like to use Lithium and have been told that a CR2 pack is 3 volt. Is that aceptable?

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A CR2 is way too small, the Voltage is right but it won't fit without special custom made adapters.

If you want rechargeable get some Japanese made Fujitsu, eneloop or ikea ladda NiMH AA batteries and some of these:


be sure to get the newer ones with the cap on the back as shown, otherwise you will need a coin to make contact with your Mag's spring.

If you want to run non-rechargeable lithiums, use the same adapters with AA Energizer ultimate lithium AA's.

[FONT=&quot]Many thanks for letting me know that the CR 2 are too small. The problem was that it is impossible to determine the size battery from the illustration offered. I prefer not to use rechargeable batteries because I will not be using the torch often enough to justify the cost. I prefer to use a Duracell Lithium Battery and think rather than know that I need 3v power but after all the toing and froing over the last few days I still don't know the accurate title of these items so perhaps you would care to offer a suggestion. [/FONT]

These are what you need:




you will need two AA to D adapters to run them in your 2D Mag.

My favorite "maglite modification" was to buy a "shower head" to replace the bulb. It has a lot of LEDs and gives a really wide flood, and is very bright with alkaline 1.5v batteries.

Mine came from China years ago so I can't give you a source. Anyone? I'd buy another one for other D cell bodies.

I just bought a few mini mags. They're not the most amazing beam or brightness. They're just great to have in the collection because they tail stand, they take the most common batteries, the lamp is easily swapped out and changed, they're well-made and extremely common, the ones I have are incans which is a nice tint and a fun little zoomie. And they're cheap. For under 15 bucks apiece you cannot go wrong and everyone should have a couple.