Old school Mag Light LED upgrades?

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  • Cameramonkey

    www.thechosen.tv
    Staff member
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    Rating - 100%
    35   0   0
    May 12, 2013
    31,686
    77
    Camby area
    Ive got an old 3C mag light with a 1st gen Nite Ize LED "upgrade". Its pretty pitiful.


    Before I throw away this old dependable workhorse, anyone know if there is a current reasonable LED upgrade for the Mag Lights that isnt like 30lm? Not looking for a 1,000lm torch, just something more reasonable. Even 100 or so would be cool.
     

    TomO

    Plinker
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    4   0   0
    Jul 12, 2014
    116
    28
    Central
    I’ve been meaning to upgrade my maglites for awhile now too. I’m along for the ride to see what everyone suggests.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    Opie

    Sharpshooter
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    61   0   0
    Feb 2, 2013
    525
    12
    Evansville
    Yep, You can check with Gene at Malkoff Devices and see if he has one in stock, or he might even build you one if not. I have a bunch of his conversions and everyone of them is top notch!
     

    Methos

    Plinker
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    May 13, 2011
    11
    3
    Indianapolis
    I swapped out last year to a set of TRLIFE Maglite LED Conversion Kit I found on Amazon. Beats the old school bulbs but not as good as the mags that were designed with led bulbs in mind.

    Overall decent cheap upgrade maintaining the 3 cell size that can double as a beatin stick
     

    PatriotX

    Marksman
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    6   0   0
    Apr 6, 2014
    146
    28
    Michiana
    You‘ll notice that the reflector for LED and incan bulbs is a bit different. You can cut reflector post down to optimize.

    I might also have an extra LED reflector; PM me if you need one, no charge.
     

    Bugzilla

    Master
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    0   0   0
    Apr 14, 2021
    3,568
    113
    DeMotte
    I swapped out last year to a set of TRLIFE Maglite LED Conversion Kit I found on Amazon. Beats the old school bulbs but not as good as the mags that were designed with led bulbs in mind.

    Overall decent cheap upgrade maintaining the 3 cell size that can double as a beatin stick
    Glad I read this post. Have a handful of AA Maglights. Looks like a good upgrade. The Maglights last forever compared to the cheapies out there. Have a few of the led flashlights. Crazy bright, but also crazy expensive. Can’t wait till they need batteries!
     

    88E30M50

    Grandmaster
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    12   0   0
    Dec 29, 2008
    22,748
    149
    Greenwood, IN
    I picked up the Litt D cell Maglite upgrade and am not impressed. My old 3 D cell Maglite worked fine before the swap, but when I put the upgrade in, it would not work until I dropped fresh batteries in. To me, that means a shorter useful battery life. Even with fresh batteries, it's only marginally better than the old bulb was with tired batteries. There's no way this is putting out 350 lumens.

    Maybe I got a bad unit.
     

    PatriotX

    Marksman
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Apr 6, 2014
    146
    28
    Michiana
    Sounds like you may have gotten one for the 4D units, they run off a different voltage range and don’t do well with fewer than 5V. They use a buck-style driver, or sometimes resistors, to regulate power the LED.

    The 2D-3D compatible units are a little different and should last a very long time while outputting multiple times the incandescent lumens.

    As mentioned above, reflector design is a bit different between incan and LED, as the LED doesn’t need to sit as high as the bulb. A craft knife can knock down a bit of the reflector post to allow for proper focus.
     
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