Under $20 drop in LED upgrade for 3D/4D Mag?

Is there a decent drop in LED upgrade kit for a 3D or 4D Maglite for under $20?

I have a building inspector friend who uses 3D and 4D Maglites. I'd like to get him an LED upgrade kit if one exists.

I know there are more expensive kits, but at those prices I'll just buy him a new flashlight.

I got an Epion LED for $19.95. They used to retail for $39.95 but they woke up and smelled roses. Them dropins are worth 20 buck IMHO but not a penny more. Then again- I am spoiled and have REAL LED MagLites.

Where do you get epieons for $19.95?

Could you tell me more about these LED modules pictured here? Are these the indotech modules? I asked about these if they are but could never get a response. Someone reviewed one, but it was the cyan model and was just a wide flood light. It has like 5 5 watt leds in it.

NikolaTesla said:

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There is a 4 LED drop in for 4D available at this link. I have never tried it myself. For $5.99 its not a bad deal.
http://autolumination.com/flashlights.htm

For more info on theose modded Mag's --->http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/index.php?cPath=48_56_73

http://www.pocketlights.com/terralux_quadstar.asp
$15
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=LIGHTS
PR2-W1-WVR $5 The rest of the bulbs on that page are not worth it.

You can get a Dorcy 3D for about $23 at Walmart, or a Ledbeam 3C Luxeon III light for something less than $30, I think.

DUQ said:

There is a 4 LED drop in for 4D available at this link. I have never tried it myself. For $5.99 its not a bad deal.
http://autolumination.com/flashlights.htm

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LEDninja said:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=LIGHTS&cart_id=4197839.24318
PR2-W1-WVR $5

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Which of those 2 do you guys think is better?

LEDninja said:

http://www.pocketlights.com/terralux_quadstar.asp
$15

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And how is this one compared to the cheaper LED's above?

LEDninja said:

The rest of the bulbs on that page are not worth it.

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Is that because the rest draw less current?








I am looking to get about 6 or 7 drop-in replacements (for 3D cell Mags), and would like to avoid putting too big of a dent in the wallet.

I have not tried any of those yet. I guess i'll have to order one for my 4D. They should work fairly well.

SuperNinja said:

...I am looking to get about 6 or 7 drop-in replacements (for 3D cell Mags), and would like to avoid putting too big of a dent in the wallet.

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Here's the problem: the above TerraLUX QuadStar drop in LED replacement bulb produces costs $15.00 and produces about 16 lumens.

You can get an entire Streamlight Propoly Lux 4AA for $22.95 that produces 40 lumens and is one of the nicest low cost LED flashlights ever made:

http://www.fox-intl.com/item.asp?id=338

While there might be limited justification to upgrade a 3D/4D Mag with a $15.00 upgrade (run time, use heavy light as defensive club), in general for most people the PP Lux 4AA is probably better.

By contrast the Nite-Ize LED upgrade for the AA Minimag is only about $6.00, and is available at Wal-Mart. Don't know the lumen output, but the stock Minimag is so poor and has such a bad discharge curve I don't see how it could be much worse. So cost effective upgrades seem more attainable for a Minimag than a D-cell Mag.

http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=28&product_id=110

I have the following LED replacement bulbs in use, retired or died. Listed in order of overall performance not brightness.

Tectite LPR-113 for 4 cell lights
Tectite LPR-2 for 2 cell lights
[EDIT} The bulb for the 3 cell is LPR-3
$24
These are the best I got. Side emitter luxeon does not work well with some reflectors. Big bubble around emitter will not fit through the reflector hole in some 2 AA lights.

Terralux Quadstar
$15
Very bright for 4x3mm LEDs. Brightness similar to the luxeons (underdriven) above. Slightly blotchy floody beam. Probably needs metal flashlight for heat dissipation. Mine burned out inside a plastic flashlight.

Superbrightleds PR2-W1-WVR
$5
Their latest bulb introduced earlier this year. Uses a 10mm ?0.5watt? LED with a boost circuit/regulator to match. Fairly bright comparable to my TLE-10 Microstar but much whiter. [EDIT] I estimate 9-12 lumens.
Beam pattern:
2AA small reflector - hotspot with sharp edges then spill light
4AA wide reflector - medium bright center surrounded by brighter ring which gradually decreases in brightness moving away from the center
focussing lantern - Will focus to a single spot
Webpage says 1-4.9V. Sticker on package says 1-6V. Do not know which is the typo. I am using NiMH. 4x1.2=4.8V. 2x1.2=2.4V.

LEDcorp JM45-4PR-W
This is the bulb in the Turtlelight/Dorcy 4 AA 1 LED floating lantern. Fairly dim single LED. Wide viewing angle of the LED makes good use of reflector to provide a bright spot. There is enough spilllight not to trip over the furniture. i used to buy the flashlight and steal the bulb for my 4 AA/4 D focussing lanterns. The wide viewing angle makes for a good area light.

---------

The following bulbs are retired for various reasons:

Sino Union Night pearl for 2 cell flashlights. Similar to the LEDcorp bulb but dimmer. All replaced by Superbrightleds PR2-W1-WVR

Superbrightleds PR2-W-6V LED
Single 10mm LED focus thru the front of LED to giv big blob of dim light.

Superbrightleds PR2-W2
Dual 5mm LED is a little brighter, but not enough for me. 2 side by side hotspots.

Superbrightleds PR2-W3-4.5V
Superbrightleds PR2-W3-6V
The 4.5V bulb is dimmer at 4.5V than the 6V bulb at 4.5V. Use the 6V instead.
The 6V bulb is brighter than all but the 1st 3 listed. Unfortunately it has a terrible beam pattern - 3 overlapping donuts - sorta like the Olyumpic logo with 2 rings removed. Fiddling with the focus in my focussing lanterns did not help. Not recommended for that reason.

joema said:

By contrast the Nite-Ize LED upgrade for the AA Minimag is only about $6.00, and is available at Wal-Mart. Don't know the lumen output, but the stock Minimag is so poor and has such a bad discharge curve I don't see how it could be much worse. So cost effective upgrades seem more attainable for a Minimag than a D-cell Mag.

http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=28&product_id=110

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I just did the nite-ize minimag upgrade. It's quick, eazy and is exactly what I was looking for.
It's not super bright but you can see across a room fairly well and is good enough for most up close work. I wanted something that would have a fair burn time and 20 hours seems good.

It comes with a tail switch and maintains the head twist to turn on and off.
This is a series, not parallel deal.

Notice I said tail switch as it does *not* click.

Right now for a two cell flaslight I would get the Princeton Tec Matrix 2 headlamp from REI outlet.

http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/47868789.htm

Review

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_matrix2.htm

It uses a PR based side emitter luxeon that can be used in any 2 cell flashlight.

Not bad for $15. You get a very good headlamp and a bulb that can be used in a 2 cell maglight.

wwglen.

I agree with some of the above posts, if you are willing to spend $20 on a Maglite Upgrade, you can get a new flashlight for around the same price that will be much better overall.
As written above the Streamlight 4AA Luxeon is a VERY good light, and will destroy the Maglite LED upgrades in terms of power. It also gives 3.5 hours of constant light (regulated), and runs of 4 AA batterys (which most people can get very easily and are cheap).
If you like the size of the 3D Maglite, you will like the LEDbeam 3C. It is around the same size as a 3C maglite, and has very good throw! It is more of a spotlight (compared to Streamlight 4AA Luxeon), but is a very good light none the less. It is NOT regulated, but has some very long runtime (19hrs to 25%).


Both of these lights are far better than any LEDupgrade that you are going to get for under $20. I personally would get the Streamlight 4AA Luxeon, but you might like the LEDbeam 3C better.

The best easy mod to a 3D mag that I know of now involves buying a new flashlight.

Get the Craftsman 3xAAA from Sears. It has a potted Luxeon. Remove this pop it straight into the 3 cell mag for a light with amazing throw. Pics here (courtesy of MacTech):

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/103038&highlight=craftsman+3aaa

From the pictures it will seemingly outthrow a 6P, but with less sidespill.

Don't try and run the led with a 4D however, or you'll let out the magic smoke.

The Craftsman light is supposed to get 17hrs from 3 AAAs (according to the specs). If thats correct it'll run for approximately 4 years constantly on D cells (a rough estimate ). So if you want to make the Mag a little lighter get some AA to D adapters (about $2 each from various places). It'll still run for a LONG time but will be much lighter.

Hope this helps.

I second the Craftsman 3XAAA Lux $19.99 if you want to keep the Mag body. I dropped one in my 3D Mag and it is a huge improvement. Other than that I would go with the SL 4AA Lux, it will blow the 3D Mag away.

the_beast said:

The Craftsman light is supposed to get 17hrs from 3 AAAs (according to the specs). If thats correct it'll run for approximately 4 years constantly on D cells.

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A 3D M@g w/a Craftsman 1W LED is a lot brighter and has much more (Great!) throw than it has in its original host. So, the run time can't be directly compared to the PR bulb running off of 3AAA's. I've heard runtime estimates for using the 1W in a 3D of around 20 hours. I haven't run mine down completely yet and have used it for several hours.

The Craftsman is about $20 typically, or about $12 when it's on sale. You can also put a different PR bulb in the original host.