Seeking info on Maglite incan generations

Yates

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Hi,

I searched all over, found nothing; please be kind if I missed this.

I'm trying to collect incan Maglites, and I've come across some different lumens and throw that I think are older generations, and was wondering if anyone here could help me.

The 2018 catalog lists the following lumens and throw/beam for a 3 cell C.

3xC
Throw: 274m
Lumens: 45

But when searching online, I've found Mags from 2005 with completely different lumens and throw.

EKJp0KG.png


It appears that at least two generations of incan Mags are currently on the market, and I would like to group them to specific versions or generations.

It's a shame Maglite makes it somewhat difficult to differentiate every version/generation of flashlight they made.

Any information or clarification would be greatly appreciated.
 

xxo

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They are not really different generation lights, just that they use different bulbs, the newer bi-pin xenon bulbs are brighter than the previous standard krypton bulbs.
 

Yates

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Thanks!

Very interesting, so they originally shipped all lights with krypton bulbs, and had the xenon as upgrades.

Then they simply shipped the light with xenon bulbs and pumped up the specs on the packaging?

Would a 2005 light should be compatible with the latest Magnum Star II Xenon Bulb?

Also, is this the correct order of brightness for the incandescent bulbs?


  1. White Star Krypton
  2. Magnum Star Xenon
  3. Magnum Star II Xenon (latest)
 

bykfixer

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Like xxo said, they are basically the same light that once used a PR base (meaning pre-focus) with krypton gas then later a bi-pin bulb like a larger version of a minimag bulb that uses a brighter "burning" xenon gas. That caused the light to appear brighter and the beam to travel farther.

In reality there are several versions of the classic D cell Maglite but they all used a PR base light bulb until the bi-pin bulb was introduced. The early D sized LED had an LED "bulb" for it's primary source of light with a krypton bulb in the tailcap.
https://flashlightwiki.com/Mag_Instrument
Here's a good source of basic info.

http://maglitehistory.blogspot.com/?m=1

A lot more specific Maglite info.

http://maglitehistory.blogspot.com/2017/08/d-cell-quick-dating-guide.html?m=1

A bit more specific

Welcome to CPF
 
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xxo

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Thanks!

Very interesting, so they originally shipped all lights with krypton bulbs, and had the xenon as upgrades.

Then they simply shipped the light with xenon bulbs and pumped up the specs on the packaging?

Would a 2005 light should be compatible with the latest Magnum Star II Xenon Bulb?

Also, is this the correct order of brightness for the incandescent bulbs?


  1. White Star Krypton
  2. Magnum Star Xenon
  3. Magnum Star II Xenon (latest)


Your light probably has a bi-pin xenon bulb in it if it's marked 60 lumens. They probably used a old box with a sticker for the new specs, I recently got 3C like that in a box from 2012.

BTW mine is in the 2,860,000 serial range and has the pre 2018 Mag-lite type bezel - looks like they were using up left over parts and packaging. Maybe LiftdT4R could add some info on this.

https://maglitehistory.blogspot.com/2020/03/2020-discontinued-incandescent-c-cells.html?m=1

I'm not sure on the dates, but the earliest bulbs were vacuum bulbs. At some point krypton bulbs were sold as a upgrade. Later krypton became standard and PR based xenon bulbs were offered as up grades - these were the best Maglite bulbs. Maglite than standardized the bi-pin xenons which use a separate white plastic bulb holder.
 

bykfixer

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To add to xxo post, here are the three bulbs Maglite produced after they started producing their own bulbs.

AE0-F33-F3-5032-42-E0-8-AEE-D69-BF16-D86-A3.jpg

PR base xenon (magnum star), bi-pi xenon (mangnum star II) and krypton (white star)

Lights shown are mid 80's 2D with upgraded bulb, 2017/18 3D stock bulb, 82-ish 3D Vare-Beam.
Early, early Maglites used GE and Phillips bulbs. Don Keller and Tony Maglica developed the krypton in house in the 1980's while Don worked for Tony. It was said Tony asked Don "what do we call it?" and Don replied "krypton, since it uses krypton gas"……

Now if you have one with a krypton bulb you can swap out that bulb with the new bi-pin xenon as the new bulb comes in a kit. The kit is bulb, bulb holder and a collar to hold the bulb holder in place since the bulb and bulb holder are a bit more narrow outer diameter than a PR bulb.
 
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novice

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There were some dimensional differences, too, at least in the D series. Gene Malkoff sells a "D-collar" to help with fitment issues when using Malkoff maglite drop-ins in earlier D-cell mags without a D in the serial number. I think those earlier D-cells were slightly larger both internally and externally.
 

Yates

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There were some dimensional differences, too, at least in the D series. Gene Malkoff sells a "D-collar" to help with fitment issues when using Malkoff maglite drop-ins in earlier D-cell mags without a D in the serial number. I think those earlier D-cells were slightly larger both internally and externally.

That is correct. LiftdT4R mentions this on his blog page dating D cell Maglites. I think the change was in 1992.
 
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Yates

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Thanks bykfixer and xxo for the information and pics.

I also found lots of details and pictures of Mag bulbs at https://flashlightsunlimited.com/magbulbs.htm

Not a big fan of the bi-pin design or upgrade kits, but I can live with it, as long it behaves well with twist focus.

Some questions.
My 5D Mag has a bulb with the marking MAG 5 CELL HK 1A2

HK
is probably the place of manufacture, is this a krypton or xenon?

Am I correct in saying that all Magnum Star II Xenon bulbs are bi-pin?

Also, can newer lights with bi-pin bulbs be reverted (the mechanism taken out) to use older style bulbs?

and sorry if this is a silly question.
Why are the older bulbs referred to as pre-focus, and are all non bi-pin bulbs pre-focus bulbs?


Thanks so much for helping me, after reading the forums I realise how much there is to learn

(not much focus here [mind the pun] on Maglite though, sadly)
 
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xxo

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You can tell krypton bulbs from xenon by the shape of the bulb.

Mag star II's are bi-pin.

You can use them but you need a old style bulb collar with a wider opening.

Pre focus bulbs usually have a flange, most other bulbs are not pre-focus.
 

bykfixer

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HK = hong kong. Yes at one point Maglite sourced their bulbs outside of the US. Germany and Hong Kong

The HK is probably krypton but it may have been pre-krypton as in uses argon gas.

Pre-focus bulbs were developed as an improvement to screw in E10 bulbs which are Edison base 10mm wide. The new bulb was labeled pre-focus but we call it PR base. Some call it flange base. It was introduced in the 1940's. PR base were used in headlights for cars and motorcycles as well as flashlights and radios. Really old flashlights used E10, later PR base and bi-pin became popular when xenon became the norm. A bi-pin with really long legs like used in SureFire or Streamlight light bulb modules are called wire lead bulbs.

The collar that holds the bulb screwed down in a Maglite had a larger opening to allow the larger globe of a krypton bulb to pass through. For the bi-pin Maglite made the opening of the collar a bit narrower to hold down the bi-pin fastener. You can oversize the bi-pin collar to allow a krypton to work but you're stuck with the bigger hole after that. You can get the old style collar eBay or elsewhere. It is part # 200-000-057 or MA200057 at flashlights unlimited (which is a great source by the way or zbattery dot com).

CPF is a great source for flashlight know how.
 

Yates

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As a big fan of incans, is it better to buy the older D/C cell lights with pre-focus bulbs and upgrade to the bi-pin later, or should I get the newer bi-pin lights, but no easy way back to the old PR bulbs?
 

bykfixer

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Probably best to buy a light with a krypton bulb and convert to bi-pin unless you buy the bi-pin version at a place that sells the krypton bulb holding collar. See, you can buy just that collar at some places but at $3-5 depending on price of the store plus $3-5 (or more) to ship it to you……if you are purchasing a light at a place that sells the collar you'd save money. But the difference is the collar that holds the bulb down. That's it. Well and the bulb itself.
 

xxo

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The bi-pin bulbs come with the new collar, so if your light has the old PR bulb collar you are good to go. If you have a bi-pin light, you have to track down a old PR bulb collar or open up a bi-pin collar to fit a PR bulb.
 

Icarus

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Hi,

I searched all over, found nothing; please be kind if I missed this.

I'm trying to collect incan Maglites, and I've come across some different lumens and throw that I think are older generations, and was wondering if anyone here could help me.

The 2018 catalog lists the following lumens and throw/beam for a 3 cell C.

3xC
Throw: 274m
Lumens: 45

But when searching online, I've found Mags from 2005 with completely different lumens and throw.

EKJp0KG.png


It appears that at least two generations of incan Mags are currently on the market, and I would like to group them to specific versions or generations.

It's a shame Maglite makes it somewhat difficult to differentiate every version/generation of flashlight they made.

Any information or clarification would be greatly appreciated.

The light in the picture is a 3D (not a 3C).
 

Icarus

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They are not really different generation lights, just that they use different bulbs, the newer bi-pin xenon bulbs are brighter than the previous standard krypton bulbs.

That's not correct. For the bigger lights there are 3 generations: Gen1 have no letter in front of their serial#; Gen2 have a 'C' or 'D' in front of their serial#. Gen 3 are the current generation of lights where most of them have LEDs while Gen 1 always had a bulb and Gen 2 mostly had a bulb, the later lights a drop in LED with a bulb in the tailcap. The Gen1 and Gen2 Mags have other differences as well: different switch, different retaining ring and different location of the o-ring. Battery tube of Gen1 = slightly tapered because the o-ring sits inside the head while Gen2 bodies are straight because they have the o-ring on the tube.
 

xxo

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That's not correct. For the bigger lights there are 3 generations: Gen1 have no letter in front of their serial#; Gen2 have a 'C' or 'D' in front of their serial#. Gen 3 are the current generation of lights where most of them have LEDs while Gen 1 always had a bulb and Gen 2 mostly had a bulb, the later lights a drop in LED with a bulb in the tailcap. The Gen1 and Gen2 Mags have other differences as well: different switch, different retaining ring and different location of the o-ring. Battery tube of Gen1 = slightly tapered because the o-ring sits inside the head while Gen2 bodies are straight because they have the o-ring on the tube.

There really are no official "generations" when it comes to the old Mags, just made up ones by collectors....it would be easy to claim any small change in some part or markings is a generation, leading to as many generations as you like to imagine.


The only time Mag used the term generation was for the "3rd​ gen LED" (later renamed ML300), in reference to the 3 generations of LED D cell Mags. I have never seen Mag reference a number of generations for their incan lights.
 

ampdude

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My favorites are the Mag's from the mid-2000's upgraded with the PR based Magnum Star bulbs. They seemed so bright and throwy back then for alkaline battery based lights. Even the kryptons back then were an improvement over previous generations. I don't know if the current bi-pins are officially brighter, but they don't seem very solid in there. And the lamps are a bit smaller. Me already having a serious distrust of bi-pins and their durability, these two things are a bit of a turn off. Dorcy made a decent xenon based PR bulb back then as well I'd use in plastic C and D lights. Still got an old Rayovac set up with one and a couple of 2AA battery holders.
 
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